I was worried about Salon's intellectual future yesterday when a freeper (or freeper look-alike) named Bill blogged on and started a chat revolution on a brief piece in the War Room about Bush's fluffy schedule not having room for Iraq. It blew away all the wonderful character of Salon's many sassy, smart-ass, insightful, intelligent readers who write their take on a piece from interesting and uniquely smart perspectives. Most are generally close to a stand-alone piece. Until yesterday, it was my main source of political and social commentary.

And now this. Camille Paglia is more than a has-been. She is pretty much a never-was. A public shell of a public persona. Maybe it was her pioneering lesbianism (or bi-proclivities) that intriqued, and made gave her a maverick imprint. I don't know. But her positions have been offensive on every front to truly thinking people. She completely lost me when she implied that there was no such thing as date rape. To women like Paglia, I guess it follows that anyone who is able to actually want or get a date is "asking for it".

In addition to being a self-proclaimed Queen/Princess/Empress of commentary...thank you for validating her gross misperception...she is a mean and petty person...not to mention a little over the top.

Years ago, my son (an very early and enormous fan who admired her long before everyone else knew who she was) wrote her a letter and mailed it to her home expressing the hope that when he was home from college he might have the opportunity to actually meet her. He's not a stalker, he knew her address because we are/were neighbors living a couple of houses away. She personally called his dorm room, got his roommate and unloaded. Who did he think he was? Did he realize who she was? How important she is?

Apparently not. Imagine the nerve of a lowly college student (and neighbor) thinking he was important enough to contact the likes of her. I raised him to believe he could approach ANYONE on an equal footing. Intellectually or otherwise. I won't even mention the time she came out with a hose and doused her neighbor's small pile of yard-cleanup burning twigs.

One word, professionally and personally. Bitch.

Maybe he was just shopping for a new car. (Republican Government Discount included) After all "living in this beautiful White House" (see Tim Grieve above) where he is shielded from Iraq, doesn't it make sense that they should spare him a trip to the showroom as well...

It's good to be the king.

Joan:

May I call you Joan?

That's what I like about the blogosphere as opposed to the New York Times. There, I would have to call you Ms. Walsh. Just as I have to call Dubya, President George W. Bush...even in spite of the fact that I believe he should get what he gives...no respect.

Blogging allows a wide open playing field. And that's why it is exciting and that's why we all do it.

Unfortunately, even "Lefty" bloggers have been prone to be more respectful, polite and democratic (in the pure, not the party, sense) On the right, we have seen vicious, off message, personal-attacking, rabidly blithering bile.

So it now follows that any opinion we have has to be firm, and the right takes that to mean contrary, obstructionist, wrong. So to offset that, our opinions have to be FIRM. And that means we have to play the guerilla game, too. And it is virtually impossible to fail to add passion into the mix...something journalism (UofW, class of 1974) declines to endorse as a characteristic of good reporting, or even "opining".

Can bloggers be partisan kingmakers and independent journalists? Yes. But generally only if they are on the left of center. And even though they may be independent, the very act of having an opinion in that "leftist" neighborhood will set them up as not being "objective" by their scorched earth "right" counterparts.

The blogosphere is exciting and much more interesting and compelling that print or TV. But it's down and filthy dirty a lot more often. Once you figure that out...it's all journalism.