THIS MODERN WORLD

Apparently some of you missed this when I mentioned it last week, but yes, it is true, many parts of the site are currently inaccessible. Had some trouble with bandwidth leeching this month. That problem has been resolved, but I needed to keep bandwidth down. Will try to find time to get everything back up and running once we’re into September.

An anti-Kerry journalist apparently once let the Moonies vet his work. Details here.

Forget the journalists. Bloggers can best be compared to what I once heard Garry Trudeau refer to as “opinionists” — a category which encompasses everyone from Trudeau (and myself) to Robert Novak. And opinionsts of every stripe can be found at the conventions of either party. No one denies Novak a credential to the Democratic convention because he is a right winger. And if I didn’t have some family stuff keeping me close to home next week, I could most likely have scrounged up some credentials for the Republican convention (though as an “opinionist” — not as a blogger). Lord knows Trudeau could, easily.

When bloggers can get credentialed for either convention, or any other damn thing, regardless of their personal ideologies, then blogging will have grown up. Until then, getting credentialed as a blogger is about as impressive as getting credentialed for the Weekly Reader.

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(A small note: Though I do have obligations next week which mostly preclude any blogging from New York, I have some interesting stuff lined up the week after. Stay tuned.)

So the New York Times informs us, in Sunday’s Arts & Leisure section. My short critique: bullshit. My slightly longer critique: the stereotype of the “humorless left” was never really true to begin with, but now there are so many high-profile liberal/left comedians and humorists that the falseness of that stereotype can no longer be ignored. But rather than acknowledge that there have actually been quite a lot of left-leaning funny people out there all along (and I will immodestly include myself in that category — enough of you seem to at least get an occasional chuckle out of what I do), the new paradigm is that the left has suddenly become funny in response to GWB.

Which brings us back to my short critique: bullshit.

(Memo to those of you who think it will be very clever to point out that this is a relatively humorless post: golly, what a zinger! I sure didn’t see that one coming!)

…but in what parallel universe is the “Swift Boat” story not getting any mainstream attention? I haven’t been able to turn on the shouting heads shows lately without seeing something about it, and I just heard a rundown on NPR this morning.