The Internet Is a Dominatrix
Because Dave Weigel is a friend of mine, and because apparently every other friend of mine on planet Earth has weighed in on the matter while I spent several hours in an airplane drinking a goopy bloody mary, I am obligated to say something about Dave's resignation from the Washington Post in the wake of what I am probably obligated to call JournoGate. This is very inside baseball stuff, I know, but it raises a very broadly relevant point: the more you live by the internet, the more you are likely to be whipped and debased by the internet. Even for ace reporter-bloggers, the internet is a cruel mistress. You cannot control it. You can never be sure. You cannot beg, plead, or threaten the internet if something you don't want out is about to get out. Zees ees your fate, you vurm: a brutal new sentence handed down to the new new journalism.
It also reminds me of my new new favorite quote from my old favorite sociologist: “In every culture, the best are those who know they have dreamt what the worst do." A version of this problem crops up again and again for me as I forge ahead with a life spent in no small part trying to distill the character of our strange time and critique it honestly, fully, and accurately. In an atmosphere like ours, restraint all too often looks like cowardice at best and an empty, snobbish pose at worst; I throw around the #generationperv hashtag on Twitter because nowadays it is expected that a person on the make be comfortable with crassness and sleaziness, even celebrate, wallow, revel in it. If you are not an enthusiastic foulmouth in public, you are boring. Rude is rewarded. (Exhibit A: Jon Stewart.) For the record, what Dave emailed about Matt Drudge pales in comparison to what Ezra Klein tweeted about Tim Russert. The cruelest aspect of the internet is its arbitrariness. Some are cut down, some grow big flowers. Who knows why.
- Comment (2)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
Jun '10
Re: The Internet Is a Dominatrix
Wasn't Dave's most important infraction that he was pretending to be someone he wasn't? If that was his attitude towards conservatives, he could've been replaced by Paul Begala, with nothing lost but the mask.
May '10
Re: The Internet Is a Dominatrix
Weigel seemed to want to be judged professionally only on what he posted on WaPo site and be forgiven his "private" musings but I am not sure that's possible. He is of a generation that uses the Internet for interactions that might otherwise be made at the back of a bar and in that world you have to be prepared to be judged for all your public statements .
The new Internet haiku journalism which is all about speed-to-market and frequency wants to be taken seriously but with all due respect to his entertaining and wry observations, I saw nothing on his WaPo posts that seems to rise to the level where his craft might excuse his lack of judgment in other venues. Ezra Klein offers incredible subject matter expertise, Jonah Goldberg remarkable insight, Dave Weigel offered gossip and was a fun guest on cable TV. He might want to take his next job more seriously.
Finally, shame on Daily Caller for its faux outrage. It was perfectly obvious that his schtick was about explaining the exotic conservative to the incredulous liberals of which he was obviously one.