The Political Chase

NYT and the National Journal Attack Bloggers

I almost don’t want to post this piece because of the irony timing of this post and the one immediately preceding it. However, that would be nothing short of an act of duplicity. Furthermore, it would be contrary to the mission and core principles of this blog and many others like it.

With the prelude to this post stated, I’ll get to the point. Daniel Glover, of the National Journal’s Technology Daily, is an op-ed contributor to The New York Times today. Glover’s piece is an egregious statement against bloggers and the Times is complicit by publishing it.

New on the Web: Politics as Usual

“THE Netroots.” “People Power.” “Crashing the Gate.” The lingo of liberal Web bloggers bespeaks contempt for the political establishment. The same disdain is apparent among many bloggers on the right, who argued passionately for a change in the slate of House Republican leaders - and who wallowed in woe-is-the-party pity when the establishment ignored them.

You might think that with the kind of rhetoric bloggers regularly muster against politicians, they would never work for them. But you would be wrong…[T]his year, candidates across the country found plenty of outsiders ready and willing to move inside their campaigns. Candidates hired some bloggers to blog and paid others consulting fees for Internet strategy advice or more traditional campaign tasks like opposition research.

Here is a listing of some of the most influential bloggers who went to work for campaigns this year, what they were paid according to campaign disclosure documents, and praiseworthy posts about their employers or critical ones of their employers’ opponents.

Glover, obviously with his head up the posterior end of his anatomy, has made serious and harmful implications of bloggers selling out. I hope Mr. Glover has his posterior end covered quite well, because his statements may be deemed libelous.

If bloggers are selling out, then Glover is selling out on a considerably grander scale. The National Journal, which Glover’s Technology Daily is part of, is a very expensive political periodical - hundreds of dollars for an annual subscription. Where does Glover think he gets his paycheck from? Politicians and the political environment are the subscribers.

I subscribe to the National Journal because it is a substantial reference tool and source of inside-the-Beltway information. That notwithstanding, Glover’s nasty implications taint the integrity of the Journal. After today, I’m not so sure I need to pay hundreds of dollars annually to an organization that purposefully insults its subscribers, which includes other bloggers and myself.

Even if there is credibility to Glover’s allegations, can he not find something more productive and revealing to focus on in that plethora of corruption in and around Washington? The total amount of slush fund money Glover references is a gnat’s derriere compared to the shenanigans in the Capital and the White House.

What Glover fails to note is that bloggers are dependent upon advertising and contributions for any income. The funds received at the sites he references are the sole or primary source of income for the owners/editors and contributors. But more important than that, people start and maintain blogs to serve a hobby or a passion, and the passion is always more important than any potential revenue. The only corrupt blogger I am aware of is the blogger President Bush hired to publish his deceitful propaganda and pose stupid, distractive questions in the White House Press Briefing Room. Bush always had a person with an easy or topic-changing question he could call on when the real questions became too stressful or embarrassing. But, that blogger was caught with his pants down and doesn’t go to the White House anymore.

Technorati tags: Daniel Glover, National Journal, Daily Technology, politics, bloggers, contributions, New York Times