Sunday, March 27, 2005
We Fucking Need Tas
Loaded Mouth's Tas has posted a retirement letter (I send e-mails and...yeah...he sent it to me first...kind of obvious though from his title which plays off of Atrios' "We get e-mails" headline when he posted mine). Not from blogging. But from "conversations about the state of the blogosphere."
What can I say? I know that I've taken a lot of shots at various bloggers since the first week of November (the first week of November being the time when most left-leaning bloggers seemed to say "get me off this crazy ride...I don't care if 2004's election is more questionable than 2000's selection...I don't want to go there again.").
Believe it or not. I've held back plenty. I didn't link to my friend Jesse's post that criticized Atrios which Atrios linked to...nor did I link to the posts that Pam Spaulding wrote at Big Brass Blog and that Tas wrote at Loaded Mouth which supported Jesse (In Search of Telford is Jesse's new blog, which is mostly devoted to bio-fuel but fun to read as well). I also have a ton of unpublished posts which I decided not to run.
I've received letters and comments from readers who stopped reading me because I have continued to push this. Which pains me. But I blog what I want to blog, and I can't help it if my language or my targets offend some or many.
But maybe it is time to try the "flies with honey" approach (as a blogger I admire and respect...but have also "blobbidy-blobbed"...said in an e-mail). So, even if I don't receive a response to an e-mail that I've sent to an ally on the left about a story I wrote or someone else did that I think needs to be promoted everywhere so we can get the Press to hear us, I'll just keep doing it over and over again but without attacking the blogger for not responding to me. Shit. I still owe an e-mail or two to people who wrote me during the Atrios flare-up. It took me hours and hours to read all of my e-mail that week, and guys like Atrios get that every freaking day so of course they can't respond to every one. But that doesn't mean I don't want to hear from you. I do. Write me anytime you want at ronbrynaert@yahoo.com and you will get a reply (the same goes for the comments you leave) even if it's a little late or only a word or two.
That said or blogged. I will never, never, never hold back from criticizing the left for partisan reasons. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror...and I would be just like the liars on the right (or the guys on Crossfire that Jon Stewart dissed).
One more thing I'd like to add.
I am specifically talking about the smaller blogger vs. bigger blogger meme.
The other parts of this "war." The parts that concern women blogger or African American bloggers or Asian bloggers or Gay bloggers or every other kind of blogger that isn't getting enough exposure on the blogs written by white, male bloggers (I'm one, too) remains a concern of mine. This is a civil rights issue and I will never abandon that fight until things fucking change.
Please go to my buddy's blog at Loaded Mouth. Tas - easily - runs one of the best blogs we have. Please leave a comment and tell him not to rob us of his voice because we fucking need it. I know I fucking need it. Peace.
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