Further Irony
Just the laugh I needed ...
Alternative media like blogs and talk radio must be very frustrating for editorialists in mainstream media who have grown accustomed to having the last word always. But, time and technology march on, whether professional editorialists do or not.
That's Houston's own Kevin Whited offering a high-minded rant about someone not approving his comments as well as those of LST's Matt Bramanti on the weighty topic Diet Coke and Mentos (seriously, I just don't have the comedic chops to make that up!). The "someone" in question - Chron ed. cartoonist Nick Anderson had this to say via email (via Matt Bramanti):
I didn’t approve yours and Kevin’s earlier mentos/diet coke comments because my online dept. asked me to stop approving comments that added nothing of substance.With today’s blog post about Spangler, it became relevant (barely). He should have posted it under the Spangler entry, but what the hell.
I am amazed that you two have time to worry about things like this.
"Nothing of substance" ... nice!
Actually, I'm still debating whether this qualifies as simply ironic or another low plunge in hypocrisy for Kev ... I seem to recall him banning comments from a certain blogger. Let's hop in the wayback machine and go to that email, shall we?
However, your comments in particular are not welcome on either of my two blogs. Your antagonistic insistence that I don't allow other views is a case in point. This isn't about other views, but about your behavior. There are times when your antagonistic style is off-putting to the point of being rude, and I think it tends to bring out the worst in other commenters. The antagonism in comments is one of several reasons I left another group blog. It's not the sort of blogversation that I hope to generate from posts.
Seriously, somehow in the midst of his lecturing email, he actually used the word "blogversation." I can't make stuff like that up if I tried. What's doubly ironic (or double-dipping) is that my own "offending" post way back when was on something slightly more substantive than Diet Coke and Mentos. Sheesh, is this the blogging equivalent of Lewis Black opening a newspaper and getting his comedy material? Who needs a "Joke of the Day" feed in their RSS reader?
Anyways ... pot, meet kettle; kettle, pot.
*yawn*
ADD-ON: Seriously ... Mentos?!?!?!?
Bramanti's post was actually funny and substantive, pointing out two facts:
1. The Chron's "hipsters" are pathetically out of date
2. The Chron will not approve any comments not entirely adulatory. They approved other, very "non-substantive" comments, only for the right-on factor. Same as their longtime Letters to the Editor policy. We'll always be a second-class city as long as Mrs. White is the sole daily newspaper.
However, your comment about Whited's hypocrisy is exactly why some conservatives like myself have more fun at sites like yours than at those of professional (read: “ungoddly amount of time spent”) conservative bloggers like Whited and Chris Elam. They spend so much time with their masturbatory little posting rules and newfound glory that they add little of substance to popular debates. Rather than transcend the archaic pomp of the old media, they bask in awe of their self-declared authority. It's really quite depressing.
In addition to which, you'd think someone like Whited, who posts comments on every blog known to man (Google verifies), would be more tolerant.
But self-importance is a delusion unto itself.
Word for the day: Blogvurbation
Blogvurbation ... I love that, John. Have a Mentos!
If it were just a matter of Bramanti's exile from Chronicle commentland, I'd agree with you 100%. It's silly to exercise commentary rules (such as they are) whether it's the Chronicle or Chris Elam ... or someone who thinks himself far more important than either. Bramanti nails that. Seeing Kevin dish it to the Chron for being dictatorial with comment allowance, though, is laughable at best. Add a dash of disingenuity for lacking the testicular fortitude to mention that his comment was among those not "approved" and you start to see what I've seen for a while now ... someone who can dish it out, but very literally cannot take the heat.
Then again, what do I know, I get heat from the left and the right. Screw it ... you're all wrong ;-)
Statler & Waldorf. Out!
PS: A fresh, shiny Mentos to whoever gets the two references I've combined.
This was a really flaming tempest of nothing. The only blog the Chron has that had a very strict commenting policy was their new pro-war Republican, who they seemed to have spoken to and he has gone off far in the other direction and he has thrown it open to everyone.
For Kevin wanting to comment about Mentos in Coke bottle rockets and then getting huffy about is just hysterical.
Talk about a big burst of fruity foamy air....