Today has left me in a funk. I have always taken great pride in researching information for myself and forming my own opinions. I never take one person’s word as the gospel truth. I prefer to read the info for myself. While I am a novice blogger, I am an expert lurker. I have spent many an hour surfing the net, reading blogs and posting in various political forums. You tend to develop a kinship with those that you read and listen to every day. A bond of trust develops in the anonymous world of the blogosphere.
I was SO proud that it was the alternative media that exposed the fraud at CBS, the fake Koran flushing at Gitmo and the “missing explosives” in Iraq prior to the election. I even had a bit part in exposing the obvious bias in the mainstream media’s reporting of the war in Iraq when my article “Accentuating the Negative” was turned into a much forwarded email and prompted a NY times article about the media’s “rethinking” of their Iraq war coverage in August 2005. One thing I found in the right side of the Internet was a determined quest for the truth – facts, facts and more facts. God forbid you should post something on Free Republic without a source or links to back it up. The oversight was much more intense in the “Pajamahadeen” than the mainstream media ever dreamed about. Sure there was an occasional “tin foil hat” moment but it was soon corrected by other readers.
Since the DP World ports deal hit the news, many of the “famous” pajama warriors on the right have turned into mini-me’s of the Far Left blogosphere. Innuendo and misstatements ran like wildfire. Finger pointing and name calling became the norm. If you supported the ports deal or even had a “wait and see” attitude, you were called a Bush-bot, Bush apologist, ignorant or stupid. If you dared call the other side out for not reporting the facts, you were accused of flinging the racist label. Many “professional” bloggers spent time posting clips of article after article from other “professionals” to support their position. While compelling, most of these articles were nothing more than ginned up op-ed pieces.
The bashing of the President and his administration was so profound I had to check the site address to be sure I had not been transported to the liberal blogosphere. The intolerance to other viewpoints was rabid. If I read it once, I read it a thousand times - this was another Harriet Miers moment. The bloggers that lauded President Bush for his stance on national security now said the President was weak on national security. Those that applauded the President’s unwavering commitment to keeping our country safe now chided the President as “out of touch” and “ignoring the best interests of Americans”. The bloggers that had supported the troops through thick and thin were silent when the House GOP attached the bill blocking the ports to funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So while the “other side” in the ports deal is dancing in the streets over this so called victory, the rest of us are wondering what alternative universe we ended up in. Our President has been undermined by those that claim to support him. The GOP Congress, many of whom ended up in their little seats thanks to President Bush, are slapping each other on the back and high fiving each other for “rebuking” the President. Their campaign managers are already tallying up the amount of contributions this display of “backbone” will bring. The professional pundits on the right that tossed the President out with the bathwater are calculating how to get the next media appearance or book deal. The bloggers on the right who spent more time posting trackbacks from the “Higher Beings” in the ecosystem than researching the information, are hoping their own ecosystem rating will skyrocket.
Meanwhile, those that choose to take a step back and do some research, will move on to the next “crisis” that the Liberals drum up in their relentless quest to take down the President. I will continue to expose the media bias and inaccuracies from the Left and their accomplices. I still have a voice, no matter how small. In the big world of blogging, I would rather stay a “flippery fish” than compromise my beliefs and let someone think for me.
The Strata-sphere lays it all on the line.
Mike at Mike's America voices similar concerns.
Sister Toldjah is as tired as I am of the tug of war over the ports.
The Anchoress speaks out in her well-reasoned and intelligent response.
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