Time Immortal

So sayeth Andrew Potter, national editor of the Ottawa Citizen, and Scott Reid, political speechwriter. Now, I’m sure this stunning revelation of the true nature of bloggers comes as news to, respectively, my nose, my apartment, and my 36.5-weeks pregnant wife…but members of the liberal media said it, so it must be true!

Here’s Andrew Potter, getting things going:

AP: What worries me, though, is that we’re seeing the “democratization” of politics, in the most literal sense of the word: The people — the great idiocratic mass of mouth-breathers out there frantically swiping the drool off their keyboards as they Google around for “dirt” — are running the campaigns now. There aren’t war rooms anymore, directed by parties with smart, educated, responsible adults in charge — it’s Hobbes’ state of nature as imagined by Mike Judge.

To which, bold as brass, Scott Reid — yes, that one, Mr. “Beer and Popcorn” himself — replied:

SR: I actually think it’s A-OK for the media to maintain a few measly standards that separate them from the likes of ‘chubbylover69′ and the rest of the self-defined blogsphere press gallery. One of my pet peeves is the habit of mainstream media ‘reporting’ on bloggers who have posted rumours without source or sense of motivation. The Internet is a wonderful thing for people like me (newshounds with a gambling addiction), but that doesn’t excuse the mainstream media from doing their jobs any more than it excuses Jack Layton’s vetting squad from doing theirs.

That reminds me: what are the three things you need to be a blogger? Your laptop. Your basement. And your virginity.

Note: this also comes as news to my desktop PC, from which I do 90% of my blogging.

It’s at once interesting and alarming to see media mucky-mucks being so bald-faced and open in their contempt for the average citizen and his/her ability to articulate personal opinion freely and openly. It’s at once interesting and alarming to see media mucky-mucks so utterly dead-set against the very idea that an average citizen should have any say or influence over the shape of policy, or any contribution to national opinion. The disconnect from reality that so infests the mindset of the average media flunkie is…profound.

And it should be noted that seeing that contempt here, displayed plain as day, can only serve to embolden the blogosphere that these media types so heartily detest. If only to spite them, bloggers will not shut up.

Update: Welcome, Steynians!