The End of the Blogosphere
Dave Schuler will kick off a grand project that focuses completely on the issues. He announced the project in a blogpost earlier today at this blog Glittering Eye.
He decided to launch the project because he was fed up with the political debate; it’s all mud, all slogans all the time. There’s no serious discussion about policies, it’s all about image and easy to remember slogans.
I agree completely with David and will link to each and every single one of his posts. Luckily, he isn’t the only one nor the first one to kick off such a project. Here at PoliGazette, for instance, we have published many posts looking at the issues. A sample:
for foreign policy, here are serious posts already published by us:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
http://poligazette.com/2008/
http://poligazette.com/2008/
economy:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
http://poligazette.com/2008/
http://poligazette.com/2008/
Welfare:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
energy:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
general look on the issues:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
blogospehre: http://poligazette.com/2008/
national security:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
immigration and border security:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
climate change:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
education:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
health care:
http://poligazette.com/2008/
Anyway, as I told Dave, I’m supportive of his project and will try to contribute a post or two to it myself, but I am afraid that the ‘blogosphere’ has become a hell hole infested with partisans whose only goal it is to destroy ‘the other side.’ I’ve lost all faith in the blogosphere and in the so-called mainstream media. As such, I celebrate Dave’s initiative, but fear that it won’t matter one bit. Good initiative, and I’ll contribute to it, knowing that all efforts will be in vain nonetheless.
Meanwhile, we’ll just continue to work on a project to change this site into a true online magazine - it is my goal to get it in print as well, many years from now - with a blog much like the way NRO and other magazines have blogs; there is a blog, but it’s not the main point of the site. Our online magazine and news site will be different from all others simply because there’s no magazine or news organization out there ran by those who are center, moderate liberal and moderate conservative - we have a healthy bunch of authors and will continue to expand our staff in the coming months and years. We’ll try to offer good analysis, opinions, and news - generally from a moderately conservative, or right of center perspective. PoliGazette will also be different in yet another way: the main point will be pragmatism, not idealism.
Why? Because that’s where my heart lies - analysis, news reporting, serious opinions not the stuff that passes for opinions in the MSM and on blogs these days - and because this part of the market isn’t covered yet.
As I said, I applaud Dave’s project, but I think that his attempt to appeal to reasonable people in the blogosphere will not pay off. The blogosphere, I think, is doomed.
I think you need not fear for the blogosphere. There are still sane voices. Poligazette, for one. TMV for another (yes…TMV…I just don’t see them the way you do). Andrew Sullivan is good when he’s not attempting to bite the head off of Sarah Palin. Andrew is still a conservative above all else.
There are others. Ed Morrissey is hitting some good points nowadays, even while batting for McCain. There are more out there who’ve "realized the errors of their way" regarding either Obama or McCain that are probably worth reading.
There are partisans on both the left and right, to be sure. They specialize in being very loud. We specialize in quality discussion over vociferousness.
And no, no doubt, I’ll be labeled a "blog elitist" by some partisan somewhere. So be it.
TMV left being serious and sane a couple years ago - Poligazette is heading the same way. The more authors a site has - the more it goes - especially when all authors do not lean the same way. Typically when an author forgets their roots and what drew people there to begin with. It’s just reality - whether people want to admit it or not.
Blogs are based on opinion - not fact. There is no other ending point to be had.
If a blog has all the same type of thinking authors, is it not by definition partisan? This is what Michael wishes to avoid.
Course it is, partisan has a better likelyhood to survive. Look at even Tom for example - a thinking Liberal who for awhile listened. Even Tom got tired of the non-Liberal aspects here and left.Blogs will I think - die out in a way. The versitility of people to get out their thoughts will not, but it’ll turn much more - dynamic, mobile.
Thank you, Michael.
Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for.