You peel off that little advertisement with your thumb. Already there is a blemish. That blemish is the knowledge that the peach was grown only to make a profit. Who cares? It’s going to have huge teethmarks in a few seconds. And, you’re hungry.

This peach, folks, is Salon. You admire the warm fuzzy outside, and you just know it’s going to be good. You take your first few bites and they are incredible. You tell anyone within earshot, “you gotta have some of this.”

You’ve eaten peaches before, but they always have a new sweet taste. Those tastes are the brilliant articles posted daily on Salon. Most of the time you don’t even know what the topics are going to be, but you’re enthralled by the fourth sentence. One morning you’re consuming some neuroscience, the next it’s an exposing interview with a gourmet chef.

As you eat the peach, all is right. I mean, you could be eating a cheeseburger, but you’re savvier than that, you need these nutrients. You’re doing something good for yourself. You’re reading about global warming or the Bush administration or about foie gras. It’s sweet. You keep eating that peach. Sooner or later part of the pit peaks through. You knew it was down there, but it’s always a little startling.

That pit is the letters section at Salon. It’s not nearly as attractive as the peach flesh. It is brown, shriveled, sharp, hard and ugly. Most peach eaters will get near the pit and chuck out the peach. They just go on with their lives. These are the people who read a great article and leave. Others are a little hungrier. They eat all the way down to the pit. These are the people who now want to discuss the article. To study the pit.

Some people just can’t believe it. That great peach you ate came from that pit. The pit nourished the peach, allowing it to blossom into a beautiful fruit. So you try to study the pit. Eeew. This ugly raw thing is the whole reason for the peach. The peach wouldn’t have existed without this naked natural thing. This is where a lot of problems happen. This fundamental curiosity to appreciate the pit is why Joan wrote this article.

A lot of us trolls are simply trying to make people appreciate the pit. We poke you with it. It happens when people say things like this gem from peach eater LydiaS:

Can we all agree that the biggest problem with the AIDS crisis in Africa is that Bush and his ilk are more worried about preaching a certain ethical stance than giving effective aid?

I think even Clark-Flory can get on board with that one, yes?

Poke. I mean the USA is the blade of the sword fighting AIDS in Africa. We give more than any other country and we really care. But, this peach-eater isn’t appreciating the pit. She forgets that we’re the biggest ANSWER to AIDS in Africa, the opposite of the biggest problem. LydiaS must be intoxicated off the sweet peach juice. I can’t blame her. That peach is heavenly. She – and I’m implying most Saloniks – just don’t have the depth of understanding to appreciate these situations.

Many of us trolls think that these Saloniks are too safely insulated to really have a valid viewpoint. Most of us trolls are damaged goods. We’ve been exposed to what the world is really like. And we want you to know about it. So, we when you get a little too peachy, we poke you with the pit. We know it hurts, but we think if it makes you step back and say, “wow, he’s right, I’m really proud to be an American and participate in the greatest democratic experiment in the history of the country. We really got something good going.”

Allow me another metaphor. The US is like a great office building. The cornerstones were placed and the foundation was poured by our founding fathers. The building grew upwards. Filled with bustling workers, the most efficient in the world. President Bush is the flag on the top of the building. Just because you hate the flag, doesn’t mean we should denigrate the building or it’s history.

(too long of post, go on to the next one)