Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
Don't pay the ransom, I've escaped. The explanation is as simple as it is ironic. I spent most of the day pushing back against this story:
“It’s standard operating procedure” to pay bloggers for favorable coverage, says one Republican campaign operative. A GOP blogger-for-hire estimates that “at least half the bloggers that are out there” on the Republican side “are getting remuneration in some way beyond ad sales.”
As Ace of Spades put it: Blogola! Having recently argued that conservative bloggers need to pay more attention to campaigns and candidates, and warning against the assumption that mere polls assure a midterm triumph for conservatives, I woke up to this unfortunate assertion. If every time a blogger promotes a candidate, there is a suspicion that he's being paid to do so, this obviously undermines the political effectiveness of blogs. Therefore, I felt compelled to compose first one response, and then a second response. The irony, of course, is that I'd just agreed to spend a week guest-blogging here at Ricochet gratis -- rewarded only by the prestige
of being associated with such esteemed luminaries of the conservative intellentsia. So while "one Republican campaign operative" is assuring a reporter that half the blogsophere is on the take, I'm pretty much advertising myself as a cheap date.
Further compounding the irony is that Republicans are supposed to be the "Party of the Rich," greedy capitalists, one and all. Why is it therefore scandalous that a certain California blog managed to collect $125,000 from Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign? Let's have more such "scandals" -- this is the kind of economic stimulus I heartily endorse!
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Comments:
May '10
Re: Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
Someone tell Meg (and any other interested right-leaning candidate) that I will blog in support of them for half that rate! As long as I can keep my day job as well...
Though I am not sure why $125k is so scandalous...it is only halfway to the magical cut-off for identifying evil, rich people to be scorned and driven from our new worker's paradise...
Edited on August 24, 2010 at 4:30amJul '10
Re: Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
I will gladly blog on Tuesday for a hamburger today.
May '10
Re: Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
Which puts you... let's see... $3.47 per month divided by 4... 87 cents up on the rest of us.
Apparently we're all cheap dates at this dance...
Edited on August 24, 2010 at 8:19amJun '10
Re: Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
Robert, you may be a cheap date, but are you a cheap drunk? There's a big difference between sippin' and chugging your Kool-Aid.
May '10
Re: Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
Very true. Intertube profit seems to only lead to the vague promise of greener pastures. Like being a waitress in LA. But we're allowed to quote Ace of Spades now? In addition to Red Eye and South Park? Hmmm...
Edited on August 24, 2010 at 8:41amRe: Please Excuse My Day-Long Absence
Which Swiss Bank account did Rob open for you?