Ha, no one likes blogs unles they're saying what they want them to say.

Clearly blogs are a menace to the social order.

This sounds like something some wacko McCarthyist would say before dispatching goons to quell some college protest.

This sounds like something some wacko McCarthyist would say before dispatching goons to quell some college protest.

I meant to say, "...in the '60s."

Reminds me of my all-time favorite blog comments: "Isn't the problem with Lieberman that he's inside the tent pissing in?"

Yes, I have to say that if someone were outside of my tent pissing into it, I would think that my inviting them in would only serve to get even more piss all over the things I cared about inside the tent, including me. Now, I suppose, if you're into golden showers, then inviting them in makes sense but otherwise, not so much.

You should have quit while you were ahead, dipshit. McCarthyism was the 50's.

You really are too fucking stupid to buy a clue, aren't you? Your echolalia on the "Bombing Iran" thread would be a humiliating embarrassment to anyone with active cerebral synapses. But not to SwaN! No! He is a sentient and valuable contributor, and we would all be weaker without his singular brilliance!

What a maroon.

I think a lot of McCarthyists are still around, even if usually they keep it quiet. I heard a student openly defend McCarthyism in front of a whole class of law school students in a class I had a year or two ago (ironically, I think it was Con. Law II). They didn't of course all magically disappear when that Senator said "Have you no decency sir?" to Joe McCarthy.

The only way to silence those bloggers will be with money, assuming every man has a price. It's always worked with the Main Stream Media.

Off with their heads!

Well, 50s-60s, whatever - Sort of like David Brooks writing about On the Road and Kerouac this morning, and going off on Boomers. Yeah, a whole lot of Boomers back in the 50s.

My, my, Con Law II - Guess history was closed that semester - And the student ranting about McCarthy was merely reciting Ann Coulter.

But, do try to get your decades straight when posting for adults.

But, do try to get your decades straight when posting for adults.

Ok, this is nit-picking. First of all, as I made clear, my use was a lot less than figurative. Second of all, by your standards, any figurative, analogous or illustrative non-literal use of a group's name, like calling people in modern times Yellow Dog Democrats or Tories is "not for adults," or incorrect, or inappropriate, or whatever.

By the way, the student was specifically referring to the McCarthyist movement and those specific events, not talking about anything modern and analogous. I called him a McCarthyist defender in my comment because that was what he was literally doing.

swanny, did you sit there and brood for an hour and a half before you wrote that comment? learn when to shut up, will you?

get offline, go study for the bar and maybe you'll pass it this time.

I'm sure the comparison's been made many times before, but see this on coffeehouses in the 16th/17th centuries:

In 1706 a French visitor [to Vienna] reported that "there is an incredible degree of liberty in these places, where not only generals and ministers but even the emperor are torn to shreds." Things had not changed a generation later, when an observer found "every kind of discussion of current affairs and loud-mouths sounding forth about the actions and plans of great sovereigns and a thousand-and-one other bits of political business."

(Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815, p. 331.)

Coffeehouses, the blogs of yesteryear? The complaints about both sound very alike ...

to Swan re "...when that Senator said...".
The person you are referring to was Joseph Welch, a lawyer from Boston who was representing the Army against charges of favoritism and communism.

Sounds to me more like the critics like being critical and don't really have any substantive suggestions...

Good point, Crissa. I used to write for the blog in question (Orange Juice) but have now moved to another Orange County blog.

Several of the Orange Juice bloggers are very outspoken, particularly about politics in the city of Santa Ana. That's where 5 of them hold positions on city commissions.

I don't agree with everything written on the Orange Juice blog, but I would say that the 5 who are commissioners do have substantive suggestions. Their ideas may or may not be excellent ones, but they are offered.

As an example, one of the OJ bloggers is Thomas Gordon, a Santa Ana Republican who serves on the Early Prevention and Intervention Commission. I almost always disagree with Thomas's posts on the blog, but I'm impressed by the efforts he puts forth for his city. Recently he ran for the office of Mayor against Democratic incumbent Miguel Pulido. Though he lost he continues to do what he can to improve his city.

At Drinking Liberally in Santa Ana a few weeks ago I talked to Art Pedroza, the founder of the Orange Juice blog, about a post I thought was over the top. I told him I thought he needed to dial it down a notch. Art's response to me was that his city was in crisis and that he didn't intend to sit quietly by and watch it continue to deteriorate. I sometimes find Art to be rather histrionic but I think his motivation is pretty sincere.

Being on a city commission requires some time and effort. While I suppose some do it for the bragging rights, most do it because they want to be involved and make a difference. In my personal opinion the OJ bloggers have the latter, not the former motivation.

Californians are so uncouth. Here inside the beltway, a couple of invitations and some cocktail weenies and the commoners stay bought.