"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." ~Mahatma Gandhi
Guess at which point we are now? The democratization of information that the "Web 2.0" brought was initially lauded, but now people used to being the "information elite" are feeling threatened.
Case in point: Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture actually arguing for the expertise of the traditional media in disseminating information to the masses. Huh? Where have you been the last 10 years, Keen?
Not to be outdone, NPR's Mara Liasson (and FOX News consultant, naturally) declaims the "vast, left-wing conspiracy" of the progressive blogosphere as unduly influencing politicians like Harry Reid. Excuse me while I suppress a big ol' giggle on that one, Mara. I guess enabling propaganda from a White House bent on invading a sovereign country on trumped up grounds is so much more noble...
In fact, if it wasn't proven time and time again that the right wing is completely irony-impaired, this whole "All-Star" (*cough, cough*) episode of FOX's Special Edition bashing the progressive blogosphere could be considered a post-modernist work of performance art.
NPR's Mara Liasson also compared bloggers to the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth because "that was on the internet too."
Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer added that conservative blogs are "more analytical and restrained" while "the more liberal blogs are a lot more pungent and profane."
Absolutely bizarre.