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
Yeah, and the crap this assclown spews is journalism? Hardly.
And it served as a laudable counterbalance in the '90s, a period of leftist hegemony so powerful that the mass media never batted an eyelash when American civilians were incinerated by the federal government and US military right here on US soil. A mass media that LAUGHED at the public outrage which stemmed from a small boy in Florida kidnapped at gunpoint by jackbooted thugs who DID arrive in helicopters. A mass media that cheered as Clinton ordered Serbs shot while protecting Muslim terrorists - the consequences we will continue to reap for a VERY long time to come. A mass media which acted as the willing apologists of the Clinton administration whenever a witness turned up conveniently dead or an incriminating document was conveniently shredded...it was always an accident, a coincidence or an honest mistake, while we conservatives were told we are paranoid. The mass media never ONCE questioned why it collectively only asked softball questions of leftist politicians.
In fact, it was the mass media that had mainstream Americans convinced that our beliefs were in the minority in this country. Thank God for talk radio and the internet, which balance traditional mass media hegemony.
cowing the mainstream media even further into submission to the powers that be."
Balance, Rall, it is called Balance!!
That is AWESOME! Is it yours?
"conservative blogs mirror their mainstream counterparts by applying a far angrier and more violent tone than that of their liberal foes."
Interesting that he uses the freudian word 'mirror.' If he believes this he's on another planet.
Isn't it amazing how much like Arab terrorists they sound? "We're so afraid, we're so OPPRESSED!"
Good one
I don't remember Buckhead, Scott Johnson or Charles Johnson claiming to be journalists. I believe all they were doing was pointing out something the idiotarians have trouble with -- you know, FACTS!!!
Dear Ted: I understand from Mich al-Moore that there's plenty of room in the Irrelevant swimming pool. Be sure to enter by the SHALLOW end.
Rall is projecting so far he probably qualifies for more than one zip code. I've never seen the daily, detailed death wishes against opposing politicians on FR that I see all the time on liberal blogs, or ANY for that matter.
I wonder if he realizes that claiming conservatives didn't answer him as violently as he hoped only to make him look like a liar makes him sound like a complete lunatic.
How can people writing little diaries and putting them where people can see them threaten anyone? It's totally innocent. Buy these people some jackboots, they are everything they claim to detest.
"And he wondered how many bloggers are "fake independent voices" actually being funded by the right"
Where do I go to get my check.
Absolutely. We can add this to the story a week ago about the university prof who, in defense of Ward Churchill, said that "Bill O'Reilly should be shot" for his pestering of the left's favorite fake Indian.
The original artwork was an "Idiot" card for some Dungeons and Dragonish game. I just altered it to make fun of the DU types out there.
Yeah, mine must be getting lost in the mail, too.
He sounds like the front man for the FEC's attempt to control information on the internet.
I'm getting SICK of bloggers myself. That doesn't change the fact that Rall's a Clymer.
Same deal with Morford IMHO.
Well, it was an excellent idea.
All one has to do is take a walk down DU street to find plenty of incitement to violence. It seems to be what they are all about!
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