When Sarah Palin hates you, you know you’re doing something right
Sarah Palin is the political equivalent of Tourette Syndrome. You don’t want to talk about her. You really don’t want to talk about her. And yet she keeps popping up, bursting out of your mouth (or more precisely: blog post) like some sort of unwanted yet uncontrollable expletive. Try as I might, I can’t stop writing about her. Because she keeps, y’know, doin’ stuff.
Mind you, I do think it’s legitimate to raise this new Sarah Palin attack. Because it’s an attack on me. Oh, and you. For reading me.
That’s right: Sarah Palin has attacked blogging. As surely as night follows day (except in Alaska, where night follows night), Palin is now criticising not just the “filter” of the mainstream media but the filter of the blogosphere, too.
According to Sarah, bloggers sit in their parents’ basements (or presumably just the one basement, if their parents aren’t divorced), “wearing their pyjamas and blogging some kind of gossip or lie”:
Well, I’ve got news for you, Sarah: I don’t live with my parents any more. And they never owned a basement in the first place. I will, however, admit to the “pyjamas” part. I regard it as one of the perks of the job (who wouldn’t work in their pyjamas if they could?) - and guess what, Sarah? Sometimes I blog in my pyjamas from my bed. Put that in your moose chilli and smoke it!
Ahem.
But on that point about blogs versus the “real” media: as Rachel Maddow jokingly notes, who’s to say that those who write in their pyjamas are to be taken less seriously than those who write in suits? (And what if you sit at home writing your blog in a suit?) Unsurprisingly for a blogger, I think that while the blogosphere is clearly not exactly equivalent to the mainstream media (any Tom, Dick or Harry can set up a blog. Not any Tom, Dick or Harry can get a job on the New York Times), it should absolutely be considered alongside such media as an important news source.
Indeed, if this year’s election proved anything, it’s how valuable blogging has become in the provision of news and information for an electorate which has previously been forced to rely on the corporate-owned, politically motivated likes of Fox News. The internet and its resulting independent news websites and blogs have shown that the public no longer has to depend on the old media - and the government - for information. Bush and co. only giving you their version of the Iraq war? Don’t worry - you can watch Al Jazeera online. Sarah Palin denying something? No matter - someone, somewhere will have posted the footage proving she said it. Busy British person who hasn’t got the time to sift through all the current news stories about the American election? No problem - England For Obama has done the work for you. 
Like I say: if Sarah Palin attacks you, you must be doing something right. And if politicians are begging for mercy, you must be doing something really right. Here’s to Arianna Huffington, Markos Moulitsas, Jed Lewison, AKMuckraker, Andrew Sullivan, Bob Cesca, the blogosphere and all who sail in her. Huzzah!
And now I’m off to get dressed.
Tags: andrew sullivan, arianna huffington, barack obama, blog, bloggers, blogging, bob cesca, daily kos, england for obama, huffington post, internet, jed lewison, jed report, markos mulitsas, michelle malkin, obama blog, pew research, rachel maddow, Sarah Palin
November 17th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
What lies and gossip have bloggers been saying about her? I would think that bloggers have just simply quoted her from the same idiotic speech she gave day in, day out for the last three weeks, and gave a genuine critic of those words. Just because someone believes your views are wrong, does not make them a liar. Personally Thank God for the blogs. If you simply followed the Election from the msn, you’d have given up on it and gone back to Deal Or No Deal. The British press coverage was abysmal for this election. Frankly the death of the National newspaper can’t come quick enough.
All those classic Pailn moments, which no doubt will be on a compilation dvd by Xmas. Where did you hear about them first? For me and undoubtedly many others, it would have been HuffPo, Kos, or Bob Cesca et al. And then possibly 12 hours later on the MSN. So recycle the paper, and Kill your TV.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Blogging venue: Home office. Uniform: tanktops and sweatpants
November 17th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I remember when rightwing bloggers were accused of exactly the same thing… sounds like a case of Republican sour grapes to me.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Sabrina - you sound far too overdressed to be a blogger! get back into those pyjamas *now*!
steven - I think you could be right. indeed, SP has been the queen of sour grapes ever since she first appeared on the national scene, whether it was accusations of sexism, the “filter” of the media, or whatever.
Darrell - I couldn’t agree with you more. I think bloggers have filled a vacuum left by the MSM during this election; top blogging sites like HuffPo and Kos did a much, much better job of covering important stories quickly and in depth. I will always remember the Todd Palin subpoena story breaking on Mudflats, and going to the CNN and MSNBC sites only to find no one covering it. at. all. disgraceful.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Work venue: a basement
Blogging venue: a third floor flat
Yeah, suck on that, SP.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
ha!
November 18th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
If only I could wander the streets taking my out of focus images, in my PJ’s, without arousing the suspicion that I am part of a care in the community programme. Who knows maybe one day….
And hopefully very soon, SP might have to resort to PJ’s as well, when the RNC come to get those clothes back. Ha!!
November 18th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
haha! Darrell, you’re in the wrong job.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Believe it or not your not the first person to say that.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
[...] said the other day how important the internet has been during this election; that it’s been the first truly 21st century [...]