Some Republicans from Minnesota bash bloggers as they criticize a Star Tribune editorial for partisan bitterness.
Sen. Norm Coleman and Reps. Jim Ramstad, Gil Gutknecht, Mark Kennedy and John Kline accused the paper’s editorialists of allowing “personal, partisan bitterness to trump the facts.”Aw gee, thanks. One day people will wake up and realize that top-quality bloggers have got traditional media beat for content and commentary hands-down.“These sort of charges aren’t worthy of an Internet blog, let alone a respectable newspaper,” they declared. “Either present real facts and evidence, or leave the Bush-bashing nonsense to the bloggers.”
I know nothing of the politicians in question, but two points to keep in mind:
1) "Blogger" is in that state of transition at which people of power know what it means and know that other people of power scoff at its mention (usually nervously).
2) Every now and then, I stumble across the Dark Side of the Blogosphere, and it reminds me that a Republican politician may think that it's representative. In other words, their personal experience may be skewed.
Just a thought. These guys sound like they were shooting for a buzzword that they've noticed bothers the media folk.
Oh sure, but it's still irritating and ignorant.