Posted on 03/04/2005 3:42:29 PM PST by sully777
NEW YORK When Ted Rall wrote a column Tuesday criticizing conservative blogs, it was no surprise that conservative bloggers would respond.
One of them, Edward Morrissey, wrote that Rall's "problem is that he expected bloggers to exist only to agree with his radical beliefs. Of course, that's Rall's idea of free speech."
Rall had revealed that, given the need to monitor the mainstream media, he was initially thrilled by the explosion of blogs. "Once you spend some time surfing this ocean of likeminded righties, however, you realize the awful truth: the 'populist' blogosphere is cowing the mainstream media even further into submission to the powers that be."
The Universal Press Syndicate columnist, whose weekly feature has 40 clients, added: "At a time when simply having a conservative Democrat spar with a conservative Republican is enough to earn the tag 'fair and balanced,' the fact is that the political blogs are dominated by the hard right. Such a development might have served as a laudable counterbalance during the 1930s, a period of liberal political hegemony. But when talk radio, cable television news, and all three branches of the federal and most state governments are under the control of the right, the blogger wolf pack merely serves to further ossify a dangerously out of whack ideological imbalance. Moreover, conservative blogs mirror their mainstream counterparts by applying a far angrier and more violent tone than that of their liberal foes."
Rall -- who also does editorial cartoons for 150 clients via Universal -- cited three examples of threatening language used by Republican bloggers, including one who wrote: "When I flush the toilet, it isn't considered violence, is it? So killing Ted Rall should be no different."
Among the bloggers responding to Rall's blog piece was Morrissey of Captain's Quarters. He wrote: "What qualifications does Rall have to write opinion columns for Universal Press Syndicate? He draws cartoons -- badly -- and expresses opinions similarly. I don't pay much attention to him as a rule, as he generally makes almost no sense whatsoever, and [his Tuesday] column is a perfect example."
Writing in her blog after Rall's Tuesday piece, Creators Syndicate columnist Michelle Malkin called the Universal commentator a "liberal bigot," and added: "Keep stepping in it, Ted. It's the only (mildly) funny thing you do."
Rall told E&P in a phone interview that some of the reaction to his column was "more restrained than usual." He attributed this to his column mentioning the "far angrier and more violent tone" of conservative bloggers. So, Rall said, they didn't want to prove his point by getting too nasty.
The columnist/cartoonist acknowledged that some bloggers have expertise in what they discuss, but many don't. And he wondered how many bloggers are "fake independent voices" actually being funded by the right -- or, in some cases, the left.
"I'm a fierce critic of the mainstream media, but the right-wing blogs are not an improvement," he added. "Right-wing bloggers are trying to destroy the mainstream media, but they don't have a plan for the occupation."
Rall said mainstream journalists -- while often wrong or biased -- do reporting and sometimes take risks before writing stories. "A 48-year-old doing a blog in the basement of his parents' house? That's fine. That's the First Amendment," he told E&P. "But it ain't journalism."
David Astor ( dastor@editorandpublisher.com ) is a senior editor at E&P
Wah, wah, wah! Ga-ga goo-goo.
From Rall! Never stopped him.
LOL
What "powers that be"? We could only wish that such powers existed. The thing is this: if the MSM (specifically those who have come under the withering fury of the blogs for their sins) were above reproach, they wouldn't be cowed by anyone. The fact that the blogs have the MSM's number is the reason they have "power," as Rall refers to it, over the MSM. The only reason the blog hits on the MSM have had traction is that the MSM have been guilty as charged.
LOL...that one has my sides aching.
I wish I'd written that.
Hot off the presses today, when I should have been doing something more productive. I'll be posting it on many liberal idiot threads.
LOL
where did you find that at ?
What can be more productive than that? LOL
It's a shame the "mainstream" media is just a few liberal-minded objects of propoganda who think that the millions of bloggers (like us) don't represent the majority in America. It's funny how there are many more conservative bloggers than liberal. I guess they don't have computers in NYC, LA, or Boston.
I haven't seen this, but I predict that it was written by some nut in the comments section of a blog, not by the blogger himself. Any time some lefty decries a whacko "blogger," it almost invariably turns out to be somebody commenting. Then the lefty drops back to saying, "yeah, but the blogger left it there, so he must agree with it." Bullbleep.
. "Right-wing bloggers are trying to destroy the mainstream media, but they don't have a plan for the occupation."
Little does he realize, it's already too late.
He won't be laughing when he's dragged kicking and
screaming before the dreaded Flying Cartoon Tribunal!
I'm not aware of any restrictions on liberals from posting their own blogs.
The difference between Ted Rall and a toilet? A toilet serves a useful function.
I don't even need to read this, if it is something is A$$ said it has to be off the wall and makes you want to punch him in the face.
I'm pretty sure location has nothing to do what is journalism and what is not.
Ted doesn't, actually, write any better than he draws. He has to infuriate people or he'd starve.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.