« "Jacksonian America" | Main | Zell Miller: Segregationist »
Helpfull Schmelpful
So a few of the posts I've written lately have been criticized from one quarter or another as "unhelpful." Either they're too shrill, too elitist, or too whatever. That's all probably true, but to raise a point I've made before, even though I would like to see John Kerry win the election, I'm not employed by the Kerry campaign, nor is the purpose of this site to help Kerry win the election. The purpose of this site is to say what I honestly think about stuff. I'm not going to go all Kausy and become obsessed with random piddling critique's of Johnny K., but if my work sounds elitist that's because I'm an elitist, and that's just the way it goes.
September 2, 2004 | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345160fd69e200d83456a4b969e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Helpfull Schmelpful:
» Meme Time from Discourse.net
William Saletan in Slate:But the important thing isn’t the falsity of the charges, which Republicans continue to repeat despite press reports debunking them. The important thing is that the GOP is trying to quash criticism of the president simply... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 2, 2004 4:03:09 PM
» Meme Time from Discourse.net
William Saletan in Slate:But the important thing isn’t the falsity of the charges, which Republicans continue to repeat despite press reports debunking them. The important thing is that the GOP is trying to quash criticism of the president simply... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 2, 2004 9:55:03 PM
Comments
Good Man. Don't let the harassment get to you. They wouldn't be harassing you if you weren't doing so well.
The negatives you are hearing are not realistic, your voice is from your heart and it is true. I wish there were more journalists with your dedication and passion. Thank you for everything you have written, and what you continue to do here and at TAPPED.
Kudos. You are a valuable addition to the national discourse.
Posted by: patience | Sep 2, 2004 11:25:32 AM
Don't let the bastards grind you down. Keep up the good work, and say what you think.
Posted by: someguy | Sep 2, 2004 11:36:45 AM
Librul Hatefest!
Lubril Hatefest!
Hatefest!
Posted by: MattB | Sep 2, 2004 11:37:27 AM
Um, okay... Funny site. Checkout www.americantriator.us for even more fun! LOL!
Posted by: Lars Kabutnik | Sep 2, 2004 11:44:27 AM
Working the refs, dawg.
Point out lies, shine a light on hate, bring up the facts, and YOU are the problem.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2106109/
The only way to help anything is to get these incompetent, corrupt, dishonest, and mentally unbalanced fools out of office.
Posted by: MattB | Sep 2, 2004 11:47:42 AM
I don't know, *I* find your site "helpful". ;)
Posted by: Brett Bellmore | Sep 2, 2004 11:52:53 AM
I think they dost protest too much... must be hitting nerves. I find myself more and more feeling that little thrill of fear as the party in power increasingly sounds a fascist (and vicious) theme. I have never been so frightened for our country's future... and I've been voting in presidential elections since the 70's. We need clear young voices like yours. Keep calling them like you see them, Matt.
Posted by: TheNag | Sep 2, 2004 12:01:16 PM
Fine, Matt, you have Brett on your side. An important victory there. I'm sure Al will weigh in with his support any minute now.
Why is it NOT the purpose of this site to elect John Kerry? Does the idea that you might be labelled a partisan Democrat fill you with horror? Do you feel that if you don't try very hard, it will be less painful to see Kerry defeated? Looking for a better-paying job?
The elitism question is something entirely different.
Posted by: Zizka | Sep 2, 2004 12:04:19 PM
I may think you're an elitist, Matthew, (even though you're presently living in the ghetto), but you still crank out one of the best damn blogs out there. Peace. --s
Posted by: j.scott barnard | Sep 2, 2004 12:04:38 PM
The purpose of this site is to say what I honestly think about stuff.
Amen. Go -
Posted by: cerebrocrat | Sep 2, 2004 12:07:14 PM
Hey, I'd be an elitist, too, if I were as talented as you are.
Come to think of it, I'm not as talented, but I'm still an elitist.
Posted by: praktike | Sep 2, 2004 12:07:50 PM
Bush hid in a class of children because he is impotent when he is under attack. Like a doe caught in a car’s headlights, he was useless as a leader.
He went AWOL on 9-11 like he has through out his life!!!!
(sorry, i'm in a mood)
Posted by: NeoDude | Sep 2, 2004 12:07:51 PM
Dude, you're doing fine. Don't let them work you, ref. The only criticism I might have is a warning not to let your mockery of Jenna 'n' Barbara eat in to your valuable Zell-Miller-and-Dick-Cheney-mocking time (cackle, cackle, snort giggle).
And one other thing: I've never thought of you as an elitist. To me, elitism and populism are two sides of the same coin. They both fail to recognize diversity within a society and seek to reduce the populace to an undifferentiated "masses" or "people." Elitists, who fail to equip the populace to think and act as responsible citizens, inevitably must rely on demagogic populism to rally political support. And populists all-too-often wind up as being strong-man authoritarian types.
Posted by: ChristianPinko | Sep 2, 2004 12:09:04 PM
elitist bastard!
Posted by: Capt. Jean-Luc Pikachu | Sep 2, 2004 12:09:24 PM
Oh, Zizka, cut MY some slack. Doesn't he take enough crap from the troll mob that attempts to disrupt this site and divert attention from the latest GOP fuckup? Let MY be MY, which I interpret to be a budding journalist. You know as well as I that we can find our purely partisan red meat on other sites.
Posted by: Bragan | Sep 2, 2004 12:10:04 PM
I'm sure Al will weigh in with his support any minute now.
Heh. Yep!
I always thought that Tapped was supposed to be the "helpful" (to Democrats, I suppose) site, and this site was for random other stuff (hence, it not being as "helpful").
Posted by: Al | Sep 2, 2004 12:11:01 PM
BTW - the self-awareness on the elitism thing is impressive.
Posted by: Al | Sep 2, 2004 12:13:04 PM
Hey Al,
Bush hid in a class of children because he is impotent when he is under attack. Like a doe caught in a car’s headlights, he was useless as a leader.
He went AWOL on 9-11 like he has through out his life!!!!
He was a coward in 1968 and on 9-11, cowards should not be President...If you loved your nation, you would realize this. You should respect your nation more than your party and stop defending a coward.
Please, help America…Jeez, help Bush and do not defend this horrible behavior.
(just some thoughts, homeboy)
Posted by: NeoDude | Sep 2, 2004 12:16:22 PM
Huh? Who cares about Kerry? The purpose is to help Bush lose the election.
And if it's not the purpose of this site - what the fuck kind of elitist are you?
Posted by: abb1 | Sep 2, 2004 12:23:59 PM
Matt,
I'm an occasional reader of your blog, and I admire both your skill as a writer and your amazing ability to produce so much high quality and thought-provoking commentary. I think the word "elitist" isn't always pejorative any more than I think "patriot" is always a compliment.
Take heart that you are being bashed mostly by a gaggle of right-wing grocery clerks and other assorted dipshit papier-mâché patriots, knee-jerk pseudo intellectuals, and mouth-breathing reactionaries. What I find so hilarious about your comment threads is how thet get mired in silly shouting matches over petty and often inconsequential semantics while missing the larger points you are making. It is fact checking being performed by people who wipe their asses with Q-Tips for fear of having that one molecule of shit remaining on their butt crack. Meanwhile, in their neurotic and zealous quest to rid themselves of feces (hint: to be 100% right all the time), they've pissed themselves. Funny, funny, funny.
God help us if this represents the "best and brightest" of the Republican Right.
I say let the little snarky bitches vent. It has a certain comedic value.
Posted by: mat | Sep 2, 2004 12:26:16 PM
You think you got problems. Having abandoned Rawls and hedonic consequentialism, Wilkinson puts his hopes in Sen/Nussbaum capability theorey but yesterday discovered Nussbaum inadequately accounts for moral hazard! I mean, there's a poor kid out there who is on the verge of nihilism and deciding there ain't no justice in the world!
I reserve my compassion for those who actually suffer, you...you...elitist.
Posted by: bob mcmanus | Sep 2, 2004 12:27:38 PM
Hack gap, indeed. MY: Personally, I wish you were more partisan, but it's not like you're a Kaus or a Richard Cohen or one of the multitude of other wishy-washy "moderate and non-partisan" types who are really, um, unhelpful. Unhelpful to rational discourse and the truth, that is.
As for your elitism, you go girl! One of my favorite books (still on my bookshelf in my office) is a small tome called "In Defense of Elitism" by the late Time mag writer William A. Henry. It was the first time I saw elitism portrayed as a good thing.
Posted by: pdp | Sep 2, 2004 12:37:37 PM
Well, it would seem many of us are "elitist" according to Mosca and the other elitist theorist, so fucking what...my parents (and I) didn't invest in my education to keep me hoi-polloi.
Posted by: NeoDude | Sep 2, 2004 12:39:13 PM
Matt, you've just shown to your reading audience a prime example of how the right-wingers love to dish it out, but they sure can't take it.
Oh, and the Bush twins' performance Tuesday night was an embarassment.
Posted by: Constantine | Sep 2, 2004 12:40:11 PM
Basically, I think most of your readers wish we could have been able to meet chicks via our political rants when we were in our early 20s the way you seem to be doing. When my roommate and I got a good snarky discussion going the women would start quietly drifting out of the room...
If you are going to make any changes in your style, I would simply suggest being more upfront and direct when you change your mind and/or admit an error. Just say post an update saying, based on comments received I have decided to change my mind on this issue. And Cheney you!
Oops - you can leave that last part out.
Cranky
Posted by: Cranky Observer | Sep 2, 2004 12:51:01 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
