Libertarian Librarian

I had not checked in on Jimmy the Turd lately, so I surfed on over for some pompous hypocrisy served with the assuarance and condescension that only a New York "intellectual" can seem to muster in sufficient quantities for 24/7 derision of any who disagree. Actually, that's not fair. There are lots of folks who maintain 24/7 levels of assuarance and condescension on both sides of the political spectrum-- there's just something particularly grating about Jimmy's desparate need to sound intellectual and cultured. Perhaps because he's a C level journalist/pundit who simply can't understand why he doesn't get the regard that folks, clearly much stupider than he, like Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken and others seem to receiving. Not to worry, Jimmy, I got your back here-- I should be bringing in at least... um... one?... new reader your way. Maybe.

But I digress. Seven posts on the current front page of his blog called simply, James Wolcott. The first deals with the anti-military bias of the media, which Wolcott dismisses easily because the Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman stories were so easily embraced by said media. He dismisses both as "propogandist concoctions." Why they are propagandist concoctions must be evident to all of his other more cultured and nuanced readers, because he certainly does not offer any actual... oh what's the word... wait, it's coming to me... evidence or anything.

For Jimmy the Turd, the fact that Lynch's story was overhyped beyond the actualities of the story and that Tillman was sadly killed by friendly fire while he was leading a patrol in a dangerous area of Afghanistan after leaving his job because he loved his country and wanted to serve it somehow proves that journalists aren't anti-military. And Wolcott no doubt supports our troops. Right... moving on.

The middle five posts are mostly rants and raves and cryptic references to things long-time readers may understand but which I don't. Nor do I wish to spend enough time on Jimmy's site to find out just what the heck the silly putz is babbling about.

The last post is a doozy. Short, only six sentences total, yet he manages to link to: a guy that calls Repbulicans "cornpone Nazis"; a woman that calls Condi Rice an evil vampire and believes that Newsweek retracted because the White House pressured them to and not because, you know, they were wrong or anything; a woman who thinks it's great that China is helping Palestine and bemoans Bush's lost opportunity to do the same; and Wolcott wraps it all up by calling the President a selfish bastard for bicycling in a wildlife reserve for which he cut funding.

That's some pretty heavy lifting for six sentences. Of course, Wolcott doesn't note the irony of linking to an article using the term Nazis that is published in an online "journal" run by a noted anti-semite. He's too busy sneering at the administration to look beyond Riverbend's nearly constant bashing of conditions in Iraq and the U.S. policies there and maybe check out some more positive blogging from that country. And the fact that the refuge where Bush bikes has to be cleared of others ahead of time is Bush being selfish, and has nothing to do with security or anything. Wolcott's too busy being an elitist putzbag to realize how childish his little rants are.

So, why do I bother with the guy? Honestly, I'm not sure. A bit of masochism, perhaps, or maybe it's the realization that in years gone by, I would've agreed with him wholeheartedly. Would have found his little assinine barbs and florid prose to be most agreeable, even charming. So, maybe I go to remind myself of where I came from, and why I don't want to go back there again. Because it's easy to sew yourself into a safe little coccoon where you dismiss those who disagree with you out of hand without really thinking about what they're saying.

Jimmy the turd helps me keep my perspective from skewing too far left, much like this turd, helps keep my perspective from skewing too far right. So, periodically I visit, and then I rant. I'll put Jimmy the turd in the post titles from now on, so if you don't want to read my rants on this topic, you can skip right over them.