Early today Left of College Station lost its internet connection. The world had essentially ended.
So, it is at times like these that you are left to sit and ponder the great mysteries of the world, or whatever. The internet is down, and there is no cable television to feed me what a cable modem usually brings. So, I flip through my newspaper, but there are no links to click on. What is going on outside?
It is hard not to laugh when you think about how much we rely on technology, and how much it has affected our lives. There is a constant flickering of lights and a constant barrage of information. Although, even though the newspaper is my only source of information it is still comforting to flip through its pages, in the same way that I find it comforting to flip through the pages of a book.
Sometimes I think I have more of nostalgia for the past than my contemporaries. I regularly buy a local newspaper, even though I can read it for free on the internet. There is something about the feel of the paper, much like the feel of pages in a book. I feel somewhat melancholy when I hear about the downsizing of newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.
It makes me wonder where this thing called blogging will fit into all of this. I used to have a romantic view of journalism. I read about journalist like Woodward and Bernstein, and held the profession in a very high regard. Today I am much more cynical about the media, but I still hold journalist in high regard. So, as I have been rounding out this blog that has been part of my influence. I want to provide a bias opinion, but I also want to keep close the ideals of journalistic integrity. I want to provide an opinion with substance.
I understand the anger and resentment that many journalist feel towards the blogosphere, particularly sports writers. Sports, more than any other topic or issue, is completely centered on facts. These facts are usually indisputable because they are meticulously kept statistics. The interpretation of these statistics may differ but the statistics are universally agreed upon. When Michael Wilbon writes a column for the Washington Post and references a statistic John McClain of the Houston Chronicle does not write a column refuting the statistic because of the organization that recorded it.
But more to the point, I understand why Buzz Bissinger let loose on Costas Now and blasted the blogosphere, because the many sports bloggers and many bloggers in general, care more about style than substance. The sports blog Deadspin has as its mantra: Sports news without access, favor, or discretion. However, it is exactly the access that allows the sports writer the ability to bring us into the world of sports.
The political blogosphere seems to be a somewhat different animal. There is a difference in arguing why your team is better than another team, and arguing why your political point of view is the best direction to take for the country, state, or local government. However, even in politics there are teams, and there is still a need to have a winner and a loser.
So sometimes I wonder what the hell we are all doing. Are we really trying to add to the political discourse? I would like to think that there is something more that we can accomplish. I would like to think that we can do more than list the opposing candidate’s suspicious campaign donations or complain about how our nominee is not living up to our romantic expectations.
I think in the end we have the power to do what our politicians cannot always afford to do. We can fight the good fight. We do not have to compromise our values and we do not have to pick our fights. We do not have to fight the fights we can win; we can fight the fights worth fighting. We can chose to fight against the death penalty in the most pro-death penalty state in the union. We can choose to fight against intolerance and prejudice even if that means acknowledging our own. We can choose to fight against injustice and the violation of civil rights even if that means defending the rights of those who stand accused of crimes against us. We can fight the good fight.
In the end, I am just a guy with a keyboard. Some days I have internet connection and some days I don’t, but I always have an opinion.
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