Overheated on the Internets

by shamanic

Typically, when bloggers or other writers use anonymous comment threads to bolster an argument, you know the argument is in trouble. But this American Spectator piece on the lefty reaction to liberal talk radio host Randi Rhodes' recent injuries is actually pretty spot on.

It addresses my biggest complaint about the blogosphere. I seldom read comment threads and almost never take part in them. I remember once adding a few facts to the comments on a breathless Atrios piece about troop movements in Iraq or something and being called an asshat who was propping up Dick Cheney.

Clever, yes, but the story Atrios linked to was ultimately inaccurate (not a criticism of him - it happens in blogland), and despite several Eschatonians' suspicions, I was not a right wing troll. I was told by a commenter here that I had "eaten right wing talking points for breakfast". Yum!

This is all just to say that, yes, there's plenty of overheated, hateful rhetoric on the Internets, and I don't think it really helps anything.