“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
— Oscar Wilde
The signs that a blogger is making a difference are often subtle and indirect. An issue or idea you brought up is mentioned in other media. A politician stops using a line of argument after you’ve debunked it. A member of the legacy press takes a gratuitous swipe in your direction.
Sometimes it’s less subtle. I have been, at different times, congratulated and sneered at by Vermont’s First Citizen. I’ve gotten some off-the-record praise from leading politicians.
But the blogger’s most unique currency of notice — the sign that you’re being read and having an impact — is when people get mad at you. Badges of honor, I call ’em. And I’ve received two new ones this week.
First, Senator Joe Benning’s inept defense of his repeated use of the word “rape,” as posted on VTDigger. I didn’t notice it at first because we were all focused on his persistent rapeyness. But there it was, in his response to the press release from Vermont Democratic Party head Julia Barnes’ taking issue with the use of “rape” in a political debate:
Her press release mirrored an earlier blog essay, written by an anonymous blogger who seeks relevance through savagery with acerbic wit.
That earlier blog essay was mine. And I’d like to thank the Senator for honoring me with his vitriol. Indeed, if I hadn’t just gotten some business cards printed up (including my picture and real name, Joe), I’d get some now, if only to include the motto “Savagery with Acerbic Wit.”
That’s the kind of thing, like Seven Days co-owner Paula Routly’s characterization of GMD as an “angry mob of partisan bloggers,” that makes a blogger proud.
And speaking of Seven Days, my second Badge of Honor comes from Paul Heintz, the self-anointed Emily Post of State House journalism. My diary about the VTGOP’s hiring of Brent Burns as its new political director didn’t meet Heintz’ standards of decorum:
Runner-up loser: Green Mountain Daily’s John Walters for his unwarranted, but typical, 3:22 a.m. trashing of Burns. Welcome to Vermont!
Sorry, Paul. I hadn’t realized that “Welcome Wagon” is one of the duties of the State House press corps. Next time, I promise I’ll chip in on the fruit basket, ‘k?
I do a variety of things in my GMD work. There’s some serious analysis and commentary; there’s some actual journalism; and there’s a fair bit of afflicting the comfortable. When a little acerbic wit is called for, even a touch of savagery, I provide it.
That’s what blogs like GMD do.
And, if you’ll pardon the acerbity, it’s what Seven Days used to do.
So thank you, Sen. Benning and Mr. Heintz. I am honored, and I shall wear these badges with pride.
But he sure ain’t no Peter Freyne…
If he thought your examination of Burns was a “trashing”, let alone “unwarranted”, he really needs to adjust his journalistic barometer. A political blog examining the new “Political Director” of the state Republican Party is precisely what it should be doing.
Not sure why Heintz thought he needed to take a weird shot like that… strange.
So, you just couldn’t resist descending to Sen. Joe B.’s level of inappropriate, casual, dismissive use of the word rape.
You’ve lost my respect because of this deliberate hypocrisy. It’s really not okay for you to bludgeon Joe Benning while committing a similar egregiously callous error.
I don’t know whether you’ve ever been raped, but given you’re male, the odds are very low compared to those for women. You could clean up your jokey reference first by acknowledging that most women are way more affected by – and experts on – the lived experience of rape than nearly any man.
Second, I think you owe your female colleagues and readers an apology. Our experience is neither a joke nor a subject for callous snarky use as a club to beat Joe Benning (or any other object of your ire) over the head.
C’mon, JV, you’re better than this – or at least I used to think so.
NanuqFC
I’d still thought that everything I thought about that night – the shame, the fear – would fade in time. But that hadn’t happened. Instead, the things that I remembered, these little details, seemed to grow stronger, to the point where I could feel their weight in my chest. ~ Sarah Dessen, Just Listen
I can only say I’m in full agreement. And yes It is an honor. Those who have fired nasty digs & creepy comments do so solely because they disagree with the stances you’ve taken and are doing nothing more than attempting to silence, such as Bruce Posts objection to the use of ‘tin foil hat’ to describe the nuttiness of certain individuals & hiding behind the strawman that mentally ill are being targeted when it is clear that as one who is firmly anti-wind, this is nothing but a silly, childish excuse for his tirades.
The attacks from the roving dummies who descend here are in actuality nothing but mere trolls who also disagree with your politics but can’t just say so as it would show them as nothing more than big babies with an ax to grind, so it’s because you’re ‘too snarky’. Sheesh.
Equally childish is Heintz’s spitball-hurling & the rest of his petty comments.
Then, following these attacks it becomes a dog-pile, the bottom of the barrel behavior of the blogosphere. The aggrieved line up, axes in hand to express their poutrage. It’s fair to say that none of these ‘children’ could or would stand for the treatment they so generously dish out, much less availing themselves of a forum or any venue where they themselves faced such loyal opposition.
They should be ashamed of their cheap shots. Get a life kids and take your meds angry ones!
Facepalm.