January 10, 2002
The Snarkiness Continues. Fresh off of vanquishing a score of targets, most recently those dastardly anti-circus activists, the current pattern of relentless Blogger A-List snottiness continues with Tim Blair’s Thursday post about an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current events roundtable. I was drawn to the post by Glenn Reynolds’ link stating that "Tim Blair outdoes himself with this one," and I can certainly concur.
The discussion is certainly worth either ripping apart or ignoring completely, filled with the standard assortment of above-it-all self-satisfied ruminations, with a few Australian references mixed in for good measure (the panel, as well as Blair, are all Australian, of course). Rather than pick apart a few choice bits of nonsense, Blair instead includes the entire, lengthy transcript, and then proceeds to insert heckling comebacks into the text, the columnists’ equivalent of drawing mustaches on campaign posters. And while there are one or two decent and relevant lines, for the most part Blair is content to offer up a personal insult or interject some nonsense:
MAXINE McKEW: Well, I was just going to say, aren't you putting a lot on one man? I mean, why do we only look for leadership from the political class?
LINDA JAIVIN: I think, you know, Australians never look to cultural figures for leadership. You know, we look to sports figures for leadership.
TIM BLAIR: Linda, given the quality of cultural figures around this table, it'd be more sensible if we looked to sports equipment for leadership.
MARION HALLIGAN: We don't look to articulate people for leadership but I suppose we are thinking of this because we've just had an election where I think there was no vision, there was no imagination and I felt it was a very low point, that there was no sense of any ideas, let alone ideals.
TIM BLAIR: (whispering) Marion, take your hand off my knee!
And so on. Here’s another example, with my addition.
MARION HALLIGAN: In a way, we are them, aren't we? I mean, my grandfather was a boat person. My great-great-grandfather was a boat person of a kind.
LINDA JAIVIN: I'm a migrant.
TIM BLAIR: I'm a moon alien.
KEN GOLDSTEIN: Hey Tim, you’re ugly and your feet stink! And yer mudder wears combat boots! Nyah!
I mean, sure this is fun to do, but it’s certainly not fair or insightful and barely even counts as commentary.
If I’ve been writing more blog-related items lately, it’s because I’m becoming disappointed by attitude shifts I’ve seen the last few weeks in some of my favorites. I’ve recommended several of the big sites lately to friends, and the response I’ve been getting is that while the form is promising and some of the information is valuable, much of it is wrapped in a self-congratulatory tone that leaves a bad taste in their mouths. In any case, the reaction is certainly a lot different than when I was reading and forwarding these same sites a month or two ago.
Of course, the attitude is a big part of what makes the form so valuable and readable, but lately I've read too much writing from people utterly convinced of their rightness, flush with the knowledge that their readers would readily agree and applaud. It's attitudes like that which turned me off to most other forms of news and commentary. Though my comments only refer to a small percentage of what I'm reading, that small percentage goes a long way.
The discussion is certainly worth either ripping apart or ignoring completely, filled with the standard assortment of above-it-all self-satisfied ruminations, with a few Australian references mixed in for good measure (the panel, as well as Blair, are all Australian, of course). Rather than pick apart a few choice bits of nonsense, Blair instead includes the entire, lengthy transcript, and then proceeds to insert heckling comebacks into the text, the columnists’ equivalent of drawing mustaches on campaign posters. And while there are one or two decent and relevant lines, for the most part Blair is content to offer up a personal insult or interject some nonsense:
MAXINE McKEW: Well, I was just going to say, aren't you putting a lot on one man? I mean, why do we only look for leadership from the political class?
LINDA JAIVIN: I think, you know, Australians never look to cultural figures for leadership. You know, we look to sports figures for leadership.
TIM BLAIR: Linda, given the quality of cultural figures around this table, it'd be more sensible if we looked to sports equipment for leadership.
MARION HALLIGAN: We don't look to articulate people for leadership but I suppose we are thinking of this because we've just had an election where I think there was no vision, there was no imagination and I felt it was a very low point, that there was no sense of any ideas, let alone ideals.
TIM BLAIR: (whispering) Marion, take your hand off my knee!
And so on. Here’s another example, with my addition.
MARION HALLIGAN: In a way, we are them, aren't we? I mean, my grandfather was a boat person. My great-great-grandfather was a boat person of a kind.
LINDA JAIVIN: I'm a migrant.
TIM BLAIR: I'm a moon alien.
KEN GOLDSTEIN: Hey Tim, you’re ugly and your feet stink! And yer mudder wears combat boots! Nyah!
I mean, sure this is fun to do, but it’s certainly not fair or insightful and barely even counts as commentary.
If I’ve been writing more blog-related items lately, it’s because I’m becoming disappointed by attitude shifts I’ve seen the last few weeks in some of my favorites. I’ve recommended several of the big sites lately to friends, and the response I’ve been getting is that while the form is promising and some of the information is valuable, much of it is wrapped in a self-congratulatory tone that leaves a bad taste in their mouths. In any case, the reaction is certainly a lot different than when I was reading and forwarding these same sites a month or two ago.
Of course, the attitude is a big part of what makes the form so valuable and readable, but lately I've read too much writing from people utterly convinced of their rightness, flush with the knowledge that their readers would readily agree and applaud. It's attitudes like that which turned me off to most other forms of news and commentary. Though my comments only refer to a small percentage of what I'm reading, that small percentage goes a long way.
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