Power of Blog

Since the technology has existed, I've been writing and debating politics via computers. I cut my teeth on various old bbs's, and even ran a simple one (on GT Power, for those who remember the "good old days") from my dorm room on the campus network (doesn't sound like much now, but this was back in the late 80s and 1990, when getting such a thing to work was no small deal). I remember in those days that those of us who were regular posters on politics felt compelled to answer damn near every post, almost obsessively.

The internet is great because I no longer have that compulsion. At some point, I know that some blogger is going to blow up bad "mainstream" writing in his area of expertise. The trick is simply knowing those areas of expertise. So when I read these two pieces in the NY Times earlier this week, my initial "bbs" reaction was to start thinking about a critique. Except I was at work, and they don't pay me to write critiques of the NY Times on their time. So I stuck the links in the PDA for later, fairly confident that Charles Johnson would weigh in with some wisdom, and in a timely manner.

And of course Charles didn't disappoint.

The power of blog.

[Posted at 21:05 CST on 02/22/02] [Link]