Views from Bloggage Claim

The events leading up to my leaving E. Punditaly notwithstanding, I must say that the experience was not entirely worthless. For, while I'd rather not ever set foot in the confines of the place ever again lest I be hung from a public square by my toenails, I did pick up a few survival tips:

1) When in doubt attack your opponent's intelligence.
2) Never tell a small lie when a real whopper of a lie will do (useful for dinner reservations, btw)
3) Politeness is for those who don't want to make the Op-Ed page.
4) When having 'gravitas' issues, ditch the bow tie.
5) Champion the 'little guy' but always, in the end, blame the Private Sector.

In the end, it's a society built on Machiavellian principles. I remember travelling in the States a few years ago and making a similar remark to a man sitting next to me at a diner counter while reading about how the county government took a family farm to build a dog park in the local newspaper. He looked at me and said, "Hey buddy! This is America, speak English or go home!"

But, I can tell that here in Blogahnistan, things are different. It's about information and ideas... intellectual capital. It's a meritocracy. Be interesting... get paid, increase your stock. The people here hold their heads differently then in Punditaly, or worse Liasionstien. In those places a priveleged few get to set the terms of the debate, decide not only what we discuss but how we discuss it and with whom. Because of this no one knows what to think or how to express themselves. They just read what other people say and burp it back up like a baby besotted on Soy-milk formula and mashed bananas. Worse than that, they are, in the end, the very ones paying those others to do their thinking and emoting for them, protected, not unlike some endangered tree sloth. Actually, come to think of it, exactly like some endangered tree sloth!

The adage may certainly be true that opinions are truly like assholes, but at least here in Blogahnistan, no one is being forced to pay for and then watch you shake your ass in public.