Comments on: The Bonfire of the Political Vanities http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/ Keeping a jaundiced eye on the corporate media. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:46:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Susie http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/#comment-138511 Susie Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:40:33 +0000 http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/#comment-138511 According to the quiz on Booman's site, I'm a B-lister. I think Richard is, too. According to the quiz on Booman’s site, I’m a B-lister. I think Richard is, too.

]]> By: snuzy mandrake http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/#comment-138508 snuzy mandrake Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:08:28 +0000 http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/#comment-138508 when i read posts like richards' the one thing that always bugs me is how unclear it is who the "a-listers" are exactly. sure, kos is always one of them, but after that it gets really murky. it seems that anyone who has a higher hit count than the writer is what writers mean when they use the term "a-lister." and from the perspective of my lil ole blog, that means just about everyone but me qualifies. so it's funny seeing a post like that from richard when i think of richard as maybe an A-/B+ lister himself. at least that's what it seems like back here from my z-list perspective. when i read posts like richards’ the one thing that always bugs me is how unclear it is who the “a-listers” are exactly. sure, kos is always one of them, but after that it gets really murky. it seems that anyone who has a higher hit count than the writer is what writers mean when they use the term “a-lister.” and from the perspective of my lil ole blog, that means just about everyone but me qualifies.

so it’s funny seeing a post like that from richard when i think of richard as maybe an A-/B+ lister himself. at least that’s what it seems like back here from my z-list perspective.

]]> By: Macjazz http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/#comment-138502 Macjazz Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:31:16 +0000 http://susiemadrak.com/2008/03/15/13/33/the-bonfire-of-the-political-vanities/#comment-138502 Good piece, and Howard Beal references are always appreciated ^_^! I do disagree with Blair slightly, in that blogs actually can make some difference in the world, even if the degree of it may sometimes be overestimated. One of the biggest examples of this for me personally, and for many I suspect, was the blogosphere response to Colin Powell's U.N. speech - I knew almost immediately where the massive, gaping holes in Powell's presentation lay, because various bloggers provided links to the relevant information at sites like Truthout. (At the time, I think it was mostly Atrios I was reading ... hmm, was he one of those awful "A listers" even then?) This didn't enable us to stop the war, but it was a vital part of the eventual surfacing of the truth in the larger public sphere. So it did and does matter in that way. Where Blair gets it right is in pointing out the excessive self importance and futility in the blogosphere of the infighting over Obama/Clinton. I'm baffled ny it. There's VERY little difference between the two on substance ... maybe that's why people get caught up in personalities and minutiae with these two. I don't know. Good piece, and Howard Beal references are always appreciated ^_^! I do disagree with Blair slightly, in that blogs actually can make some difference in the world, even if the degree of it may sometimes be overestimated.

One of the biggest examples of this for me personally, and for many I suspect, was the blogosphere response to Colin Powell’s U.N. speech - I knew almost immediately where the massive, gaping holes in Powell’s presentation lay, because various bloggers provided links to the relevant information at sites like Truthout. (At the time, I think it was mostly Atrios I was reading … hmm, was he one of those awful “A listers” even then?) This didn’t enable us to stop the war, but it was a vital part of the eventual surfacing of the truth in the larger public sphere. So it did and does matter in that way.

Where Blair gets it right is in pointing out the excessive self importance and futility in the blogosphere of the infighting over Obama/Clinton. I’m baffled ny it. There’s VERY little difference between the two on substance … maybe that’s why people get caught up in personalities and minutiae with these two. I don’t know.

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