Cotton Boll Conspiracy says few in SC should be surprised by a CA report that political bloggers are getting paid to promote candidates.
I'm surprised to be told I need to not be surprised.
In the SC blogdom it's hard to find a political blogger who isn't an employee- or owner- of a political consulting firm who uses a blog to promote his candidates. Mostly they don't even make a secret of it. Except when they do. Which is all about the paychecks and whether it's an election year. The sad part is, as they peddle candidates as being the new avatars of "ideas", they are afraid of actually discussing or defending any ideas whatever. And if called out on it, they set the operatives and the flying monkeys of Mordor out to try and silence whomever's annoying them at the moment.
Of course, as Sylvester Pennoyer once wrote, it's a long road that has no turns.
The sad part is, this sort of money under the table stuff just hastens to day when the free-wheeling, if mostly idiotic- nature of the blogdom comes under government regulation.
It is interesting that all the bought-and-paid-for-SC-political-blogs absolutely refuse to engage in any kind of substantive debate on any of the key issues. If you call their candidates on something, they'll either blackball your comment, try and label you as you as a political hack or launch an ad hominem attack.
ReplyDeleteThere's little meaningful dialogue to be found on blogs in this state because there's little meaningful dialogue going on. Everything degenerates into name calling and finger pointing.
South Carolina continues to lurch along, No. 49 of 50 in just about everything that's worthwhile, but the powers that be keep their power and the consultants keep getting paid.
Your points are well made and they are why I've stopped trying to engage virtually all of the right-wing claque. I've had four blogs launch investigations into me not because they ever lost an argument on points, but because it annoyed them- and/or God- that anyone should have the effrontery to challenge them. On or about anything. Any time.
ReplyDeleteWe learn, we move on. Wanna poke a stick in a fire ant mound? Tackle Earl Capps on his Obama/Nazi Party video post. I did, abd learned the limits of highmindedness in the SC blogdom.
I can't figure out if other states are this devoid of meaningful political discourse, or if we're an outlier.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, "any" discussion would be welcome - even irrational, deluded discussion - as long as it didn't devolve into ad hominem attacks. I'm not holding my breath.