The Power of Blogging
I’m a big fan of blogging. I’ve been doing so for about 6 years now, and I’ll read just about any blog at least once. There are several blogs, of course, that I frequent (including a new one added to my roster that I was turned on to by Wil Wheaton’s blog yesterday, it’s neat, if you like to talk about the failures of the Disney people, but I digress), for one reason or another (interest in the person’s daily life, good short stories, etc.). There is nothing that you, or me, or anyone can say that hasn’t already been typed up and posted by someone else (and yes, other languages count), and that’s kind of a beautiful thing, if you think about it (or maybe I’m just going all “art school” here). But what I like best about reading blogs is when the author stands up and says “This is me, this is what I believe in, and damn it, too bad if you don’t like it.”
More after the jump.
One blog that I read, Joe.My.God., has not only been an interesting window into the world of a homosexual living in New York City, but, as of late, has set out to change the world. Now, I know a lot of people think that blogging is wildly important, the wave of the future, can change the world, etc. And I agree to a certain degree. Sometimes, though, I really have to tip my hat to certain bloggers for really “putting it out there” and speaking up for social change (not to say that some of us here aren’t/haven’t doing/done that).
I myself don’t have a thick enough skin to speak up on the internet; I’ve been put in my place enough times by mean-spirited comments to know when to keep my opinions about certain things (namely politics, for the most part) off the internet. So, three cheers for Joe.My.God. and everyone else brave enough to speak up and put an impeachment banner on their blog.
Blogging really will change the world, and honestly, it already has. But I mean in bigger ways. Yay for not being articulate!
My favorite line in Joe’s rant is that “[e]ven Wikipedia has a compendium of resources devoted to Bush’ [sic] impeachment.”
Yes, my folks, wikipedia is no longer just an online collaborative encyclopedia of questionable reliability.
No . . . it’s far more than that now.
It’s a source of moral authority too now!
Why else would they ever “devote” a “compendium of resources” to such a matter?
On other matters, it’s further amusing that the author:
1) doesn’t realize that an X approval rating does not necessarily mean a 1-X disapproval rating (Any legitimate poll is going to have a percentage of people who neither approve nor disapprove of the person in question),
2) thinks that non-Americans — for reasons undeclared — require more explanation of his erroneous interpretation than would be required for Americans, and finally
3) that if he calls a Congressional authorized action an “undeclared war” that somehow doing so will make it be so.
Anyway, what’s all that courageous about putting a banner or posting on a blog about impeaching Bush? It seems like a pretty trivial, easy, and essentially inconsequential thing to do, especially when given the circumstances of the blog in question.
Ok, so maybe Joe’s blog is a bad example of someone being courageous for sticking their neck out politically, since he’s pretty much already stuck his neck out over every other would-be controversy. But even so, I still think it takes guts?
Why? Comments like this one. I know, this is a medium designed to spark discussion (and sometimes debate), but, like I’ve said in the post, I don’t really have the skin for it (though, I’m trying, I really am), and to see someone else who can just do that, and not give a shit, that’s awesome.
Though, I suppose, in the big scheme of things, none of this really matters; this is, after all, just the internet.
Also, no question mark after guts. It’d be nice if I learned to proofread.
“Why? Comments like this one.”
That’s a very vague answer.
What I infer from your comment, which may or may not be correct, is that you consider it brave to make a post and face possible criticism for it?
I’d ask then whether if I take the stance that Star War’s Jar Jar Binks wasn’t all that bad in a post, thereby creating the mother of all debates in the comments section, that counts as bravery?
What happens if I post without enabling comments?
I can understand if Joe’s blog made a post that resonated with your personal beliefs. I can further understand if it provided you with a sense of happiness that he had put forth such a message in public view, but I’m not sure I understand why you consider it a particularly courageous act.
C-
1- I do realize the discrepancy in the approval numbers, I said so in the comments. I left it like it is because I don’t like to backtrack and erase my mistakes as if I didn’t make them. Unlike many other bloggers.
2- I restated the numbers in reverse for my non-American readers (and I do have a few thousand, unless Sitemeter is lying to me) merely to further illuminate to them that not all Americans are the dumb fucks that they think we are.
3- We are indeed engaged in an undeclared war. Congress is mandated by the Constitution to declare war when hostilities commence. Fat chance of that though, with zog’s nutjubs running the show. Fuck the UN Charter. Fuck our own Constitution.
4- And as for your smug “sic”, bite me.
But hey Nicolette, thanks for the post! :)
C-
Look, man. It seems to me that you’re just arguing for the sake of arguing now. You’ve noticed something about what I’ve said that you can pick apart, something that you can harp on until you feel like you’ve been proven right. Why do I think that Joe (or anyone else who “gets political” on a blog) is courageous? Because, I guess, it’s the “getting political” isn’t hard, but it’s the sticking to your guns part that is. Some people just ignore comments (or don’t enable them, which is petty), and other people, the people that I think are “courageous” (I suppose) don’t. They stick up for themselves. And since I’ve been doing a pretty shitty job of doing that with you, since I’ve been trying my damnedest to be articulate but continue to feel like I’ve come up short, that, C., is why I admire people like Joe.
I admire the guts to stick to your guns and hold your own, because I’m just so fucking bad at it.
Also, our very own Nikkos pretty much rocks at doing that, too.
Thanks for te shout Nicolette! Just keep doing what you’re doing. C’s always pissed off about something.
In response to Joe, I’d first point out that there is nothing wrong with editing your posts. So long as you include a disclaimer noting your correction, there shouldn’t be any question of integrity in that regard. However, I don’t think that relying on your comments section is the best place to note your corrections, as I doubt most people read them.
On your second point, I’ll leave your comment alone, as I see no need to discuss your prejudices.
Third, your feelings about the UN Charter or the American Constitution aside, I suggest that you read the War Powers Resolution and the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution in 2002. On the Iraq resolution, you should read in paritcular Section 3(c) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS.–
An authorization for the use of force pursuant to the War Powers Resolution is, for all practical purposes, a declaration of war under American law.
Finally, to paraphrase what Freud supposedly once said . . . sometimes a sic is just a sic.
Nicollete,
Thank you for your most recent comment, as I think that actually answers the question I raised earlier. In particular, what you wrote here was particularly insightful:
While I’d still wonder if you feel that your definition of courageousness extends to non-political situations, it’s more than adequate to express what you are defining courageousness to mean in political terms.
Anyway, I think you’ve done a pretty good job of responding to comments so far. Unlike some other comments made here by others, you haven’t engaged in snide personal comments, but rather worked toward providing a more articulate point of view on your position. So at this point, I think you are on the right track to getting where you want to go.
Booyah. I love it when someone says, “This is who I am and this is how I feel–take it or leave it.” And maybe, okay definitely, I like it so much because it’s been hard for me to do. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m basically anti-aggression. I don’t want to brawl or be slapped around skin on skin or comment on comment. So I guess that this is what bothers me: when someone’s proclamations are inherently aggressive–they’re war–they’re sans compassion and the willingness to give others equal space to be who they are. Yep, that’s it. I don’t like hypocrits that say, “Hear ye, hear ye, let me speak my mind. But the rest of you, shut the fuck up and agree or I’ll give you something to complain about.” I am more like, “Hear ye, Hear ye, this is where I stand, what I believe, how I feel. May each of you have the security and caring to jump in with who you are and let’s all have a big hug.”
Yes, Nikki, as you know, I was raised by therapists.
–Gina
:)