Comments on: Maps, Money and Morons: Chris Bowers Oversimplifies Things Again

By: Sorry to give everyone indigestion… « Marisacat

Sorry to give everyone indigestion… « Marisacat — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:30:14 +0000

[...] case you didn’t know, Atrios sucks. But, he’s not alone. For example, Matt Stoller and PsiFighter37 and Oliver Willis andsuck too. Of course, Kos sucks. My Left Wing sucks. I suck too. Chris Bowers sucks not once but two times. Armando sucks. Meteor Blades sucks. And in case you are not sure, Steven Dsucks too. [...]

By: Not Paul Begala

Not Paul Begala — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 02:14:16 +0000

Beth,

Glad you liked my vent. I don't remember where I saw it, but some study (not sure how credible, but i liked the results) said something about 10% of the contributors to a group site like Wikipedia do 90% of the contributing.

I feel like there is a similar metric in the blog world. 10% of the posters/commenters account for 90% of the content. But I think statistics on the readers are probably different. I think there are a bunch of readers out there that feel the same way as we do.

NPB

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:07:13 +0000

DavidNYC:
WHY are bloggers so thin-skinned?! Sorry, but sometimes frustration brings out the vitriol (and really, this post wasn’t that vitriolic). Sometimes the urge to smack people with a Cluebat takes over. I’ve done it too; in fact, I made a similar (although MUCH MORE venomous) post about my own “side” this week, myself. It’s not a habit, but sometimes shouting is the only way to be heard above the loud cacophony of clueless babble. And really, don’t you get frustrated at times as well? Think about it: there are a lot of “influential bloggers” out there who really don’t know what they’re talking about, despite appearing to because they speak the language of politics.

Thankfully, Joe Schmo Voter doesn’t read blogs much–yet. Unfortunately (and I know I’m a lone voice among bloggers in this view) the media (also usually clueless) seems to be taking their cues more and more from blogs with this election cycle. Blogs have their place and aren’t ALL BAD, but there’s a lot of crap out there that carries undue influence.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:52:53 +0000

Not Paul Begala,

I’m a committed Republican, but you know what? This is probably the best post I’ve read in months–and it’s not because of Chris Bowers. I feel the EXACT same frustration with “influential bloggers” on the right. I’m no pro, no “expert,” and certainly not a particularly influential blogger, but DAMN, it’s like the political blogosphere exists solely to give people who flunked Common Sense 101 something to do. They don’t understand human psychology, logic, statistics, sociology, or any of the variables, much less REAL politics, politicians, or elections at all. It’s not rocket science, but it sure as hell isn’t regurgitating what their favorite talking heads say, either.

We the frequent readers miss out on this catharsis and sit here, perpetually pent-up and ready to throw our computers, phones and cats at the wall in frustration at people who don’t know what they are writing about. Guess I need to blog more often — so thanks to Blog P.I. for allowing me this chance to vent.

Trust me, you’ll be throwing things at the wall far more often if blogging becomes a habit. I go through phases (like right now–so how did I find this post???) where I can’t even read other blogs because they drive me nuts. I can’t even be bothered to write about it, either. As Walter Sobchek would say, they’re “a buncha f*ckin’ amateurs.” Save your sanity–guest-blog like this on occasion, but don’t tie yourself to a regularly-updated blog. You might end up rivaling me as the most cranky anti-blogosphere blogger!

: sigh :

–”Not Mary Matalin” ;-)

By: DavidNYC

DavidNYC — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:03:10 +0000

To expand briefly: I have no problem calling opponents names when warranted. But when I am trying to convince people ostensibly on my side of the rightness of my views and the wrongness of theirs… I try to be a little bit more politic. Calling someone a “moron” is a pretty sure way to get them NOT to listen to you.

So for all “NPB’s” big talk about his one day having to “refute” certain viewpoints again later, it hardly seems like he really cares. If he did care about changing minds, he wouldn’t have used such abrasive language. For someone who claims to be a political operative, this seems elementary to me.

By: DavidNYC

DavidNYC — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:56:03 +0000

It’s pretty hard to take seriously someone who angrily spouts off about “morons” and “idiots” and “fools” non-stop. Cut out the silly invective and try again.

By: hmmm. Don’t want to go too far here… ;) « Marisacat

hmmm. Don’t want to go too far here… ;) « Marisacat — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:35:54 +0000

[...] Blog P.I. correspondent and Dem strategist Not Paul Begala is tired of “the simplistic rantings of unqualified morons” that he sees on blogs. NPB then offers a detailed response to MyDD’s Chris Bowers latest call for the DCCC to spend more of their money in “blue districts.” NPB writes: “What pisses me off to no end about this is the macro look this moron just took at winning the House - as if you can tell by the Partisan Voter Index (supplied by Cook Political Report) how easy it is to win a district. Or how he just forgets conveniently that Red districts have leanings where it’s much easier to define a Democrat as a liberal, [feline], God-hating yuppie.” [...]