Keeping the world safe from bloggers

7/24/08

So who’s a bigger threat, the terrorist or the blogger? They’re both convenient stand-ins for the downfall of society.

But as we consider the dangers, maybe we can all agree on one thing — no more hyping the existence of bad guys as if there are people out there disputing the matter.

“There are terrorists out there who really do want to destroy our civilization and murder millions of Americans,” said U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman this past week. Against whom he was arguing remains uncertain.

It’s become something of a cudgel against people who disagree about how we deal with these problems. Someone — say, oh, I don’t know, Lieberman — will pull out the old favorite: “Don’t you know we’re at war?” It’s not meant to encourage debate; it’s meant to shut people up.

It’s not a question of whether there are bad people out there. But it is about capabilities. If some two-bit nobody down the street says he wants to wreak havoc on the planet, by all means, do what it takes to stop him. But don’t pretend his words are the same as his abilities.

And don’t pretend that those who want the country not to stoop to tactics beneath us — torture, detention without trial — don’t care about security.

We get it. They’re out there. No one’s arguing that point.

Lieberman made the above statement at a much-criticized appearance with the group Christians United for Israel, whose leader, Pastor John Hagee, has a history of indecorous statements about any number of groups. The senator’s speech made big news, but it’s hard to see why; he didn’t say anything he hasn’t repeated elsewhere the past few years.

But he did make one interesting comment, talking about those who criticized his Hagee trip. “Dear friends,” he said, “I can only imagine what the bloggers of today would have had to say about Moses and Miriam.”

Those darn bloggers.

Estimates show there are between 50 million and 100 million blogs in this country, so it’s doubtful the senator is talking about everyone who has one. Even accounting for people who write more than one, you’re still looking at millions in the U.S. who could reasonably be called “bloggers.”

Generalizing about blogs or bloggers makes no sense. Someone criticizing them might as well say, “I just don’t like writers.” People have blogs written from all levels of expertise, about any topic imaginable, and they reveal as much or as little about themselves as they want.

But it’s safe to say Lieberman was not talking about people who record for posterity their dinner menu. He — and he’s not the only one — is mad at a certain substrain of online writer who, in Lieberman’s view, degrade our discourse with uninformed political analysis and the occasional swearword.

What really bothers him, though, is people calling him on statements that might’ve gotten a pass 10 years ago.

Some criticisms of bloggers are true; for instance, most political bloggers do little original reporting. But that’s not why people read them. At their best, blogs pull in bits and strands from news around the country to help fill in the gaps.

In the past, the only sources of national news were television or the local newspaper, and most of that came from a wire service. Now, with access to different reporters’ takes from around the country, it’s a lot easier to pull together stories that would have disappeared in years past.

And it’s harder for politicians, because everything they say is in the public record. The benefit there isn’t about reporting everyday gaffes; it’s about establishing patterns.

That’s why no one who’s followed Lieberman over the past decade was surprised about his embrace of someone like Hagee. He hasn’t taken a sharp turn to the right since his 2006 Senate campaign, as some recent detractors have argued; he’s been out there for years.

And if it takes the dreaded bloggers to get that kind of message out to people, so much the better.

Hugh S. Bailey is assistant editorial page editor of the Connecticut Post. You can reach him at 203-330-6233 or by e-mail at hbailey@ctpost.com.