Riehl World View

WCBSTV - NY: This Is Good To See

This isn't CBS network, it's WCBS-TV 2 in New York. They've launched a blog watch page. It has some solid links that to me reveal a genuine desire to actually engage the broader blogosphere as many of us know it everyday. It isn't just Politico, or the large media blogs for a change.

The 21st Century has seen the rise of an increasingly powerful political force, one whose influence stems from its diversity of opinions and experiences.

The Blogosphere is a virtual community of millions of web logs - websites run by everyday people from around the world, posting their opinions on a litany of topics online.

Stacy McCain: Jacksonian Conservative?

A revisitation of Levin v Squishes, commentary on Stacy and our very own Conor (with one N) Friedersdorf. I didn't know he wrote for Culture11. That explains a lot.

Still, despite some myths Stacy concocts about himself—ol’ Stacy wasn’t just a columnist down in Georgia, he delivered the papers, even printed ‘em up, makin’ the ink and pulp with his bare hands, all between drags of a de-filtered Marlboro Red—Stacy’s actually quite capable of producing prose that’s light on its feet and even (gasp!) reasoned arguments.

... This one (feud) involves the priggish J-school grad Conor Friedersdorf, a former guiding light of the thankfully deceased Culture11, who got his panties in a bunch when he heard Mark Levin use harsh language on his talk radio program—oh dear! Rod Dreher soon stopped by to wag his finger, opining that “conservatism” would win if only its adopted the gentlemanly rhetoric of Wendell Berry.

Whenever I come across people like Dreher and Friedersdorf piously attacking movement types, it miraculously makes me want to stick up for the Dittoheads (quite an accomplishment.)

Does Sullivan Have Womb Envy?

Via JWF, who points out Sullivan can't even keep his distorted facts straight. Other than mental ilness, as some suggest, I really can't think of another explanation for his obsession other than womb envy.

You would think the endless ridicule might make the guy reconsider going down this road again, but here he is back with the Trig Palin conspiracies. This is really bizarre.

Links Abound

Via Larwyn and Doug.

Credibility And The Tea Party Movement

In a video at link below - after some brief side discussion between people with both the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party - a fairly obvious nutcase gets up in an open mic forum and makes some outlandish claims. Contrary to Charles's claim the audience as a whole is not eating it up. But of course Andrew Sullivan is quick to jump in to use it as proof that the Tea Party movement is deranged.

I neither know, nor care what lgf's problem with Glenn Beck is. But in allowing his own bias to get the best of him, Charles is casting aspersions where they don't belong and squandering his own credibility in doing so. It's unfortunate to see.

At Glenn Beck Tea Party: 'Burn the Books!'

This is some really deranged stuff, and the audience is eating it up.

Looks like the Tea Party people need to switch to decaf.

I thought the idea of the tea parties was a good one. Unfortunately they seem to have been hijacked by the kooky right.

Where are all the sane Conservatives?

The problem is that they were given airtime and the audience was allowed to respond in such a way as to show that they agreed with them: demonstrating the kinds of people who attend these kind of events.

This makes conservatives look bad.

Why Culture11 Failed

Dan Collins links to a Washington Monthly item on the Culture11 fail - evidently it dismissively discusses Big Hollywood, as well. I'm familiar with Breitbart's BH.

I sure don't know everything out here. But I've been knocking around the Internet for too many years to count and blogging daily for five on the Right. There are few if any major memes I miss, even if I don't blog on them.

I never even heard of this Culture11 site until I read that it was gone. If someone wants to know why it failed, extrapolate that out to other bloggers and web surfers, that was it.

Having never seen it, all I can conclude is that it really must have sucked.

Step Away From The Keyboard

I hope Maguire's use of the word "train" here carries no hidden sexual intent. There are people watching for such things, obviously. Maybe Dreher was over tired having saved conservatism from Rush Limbaugh just last week?

Rod Dreher initiates a train wreck with this post that is a little bit about a ghastly home invasion and murder in a small Texas town and more about a comment made by one of the victims.

Obama: No Point Reading Blogs

Originally via Twitter. Life just isn't as simple as that.

Mr. Obama rode to the White House partly on his savvy use of new technology, and he has a staff-written blog on his presidential Web site. Even so, he said he did not find blogs to be reliable, citing the economy as one example.

“Part of the reason we don’t spend a lot of time looking at blogs,” he said, “is because if you haven’t looked at it very carefully, then you may be under the impression that somehow there’s a clean answer one way or another — well, you just nationalize all the banks, or you just leave them alone and they’ll be fine.”

Good Grief

Via Russ at Ace's to a still on going debate between Patterico and Jeff. Last I checked, Patterico is a fan of Michelle Malkin. And somewhere in all this Hot Air is drawn into the conversation to some small degree.

The Left does the same thing to Michelle all the time. It isn't right then and it isn't right when the Left does it to Limbaugh. Yet, I believe Patterico has been one of the first to come to Michelle's defense on occasion when they do it to her. Not that she needs defending.

I don't quite get the difference here. And I don't anticipate Patterico telling Michelle to mind her tongue any time soon. There seems to be two different standards in play for Patterico here.

I guess Reagan shouldn't have gone over the media's head to the people with his Evil Empire shtick either.

Jeff Goldstein: Loser

Unbelievable - 3/4 of the way across the country to blog at CPAC and complaining, while I'm in DC and don't rate an invite. Which isn't my point, really.

As far as I can tell from reading this he didn't manage to nail one be-(but otherwise un-)banged Christian co-ed on her first real trip away from home. And there were bars in the Hotel!!

Loser, indeed!

I hope he atleast tried by inviting a dozen or so up to his room to see his latest catch.

Ke-rist, Jeff, I've been doing an Ace groupie for over a year. And yes, she's female.