Another 15 minutes of fame

So, the long-awaited (for some) Times Leader story about the local blogosphere finally hit the newsstands. Front page, below the fold. Not bad. Not bad for a ragtag tribe of political junkies who can type and spell somewhat proficiently. Somewhat.

Getting the message across by the minute

The excerpt: PITTSTON – He’s known among his peers as “The Blogfather.”

Mark Cour’s blog – Circumlocution for Dummies – began in 2000 when he became disenchanted with the condition of Wilkes-Barre City and wanted to get some things off his chest. He said he wrote letters to editors of the local papers, but they often weren’t published due to their length.

The freaking "blogfather!" Argh! He just had to start with that, didn't he?

Gort, I know that moniker was affectionately penned, but it makes it sound as if I regularly run with some of Valenti's boys. It's as if so many of those upstart bloggers vanished so quickly over these many years after I made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

For the record, I have never decapitated a single horse. But I will admit that the thought of doing such a thing intrigues me.

This is by no means my first go-round with being written about by the paid local scribes, and hopefully this will be my last such assault on an unknowing public. Imagine waking up on a sunny Sunday morning only to find my ugly mug in the morning paper. Actually, those pictures of the lot of us looked like mug shots to a great degree. And rightfully so, I suppose.

As for being "unmasked," I do take exception to that angle, considering that when I first started writing on the Internet back before most people even had access to it, I was the exception to the blogging rule about anonymity in that my name was prominently displayed on my site. That was my way of letting the local politicos and their staunch supporters know that intimidation tactics ought not be misspent on me. Still, some of them tried. Oh, did some of them try.

I know the article focused on the bloggers who religiously cover local politics, but I admit to being somewhat disappointed that some of the newer writers were not included, as well as that brilliant mind blogging out of Nanticoke--Another Monkey.

This guy, D.B. Harold, can bore me to no end with his posts about stained glass windows and his rose bushes and his hundred or so kittens. But when he does decide to delve into local issues, his take on things is usually spot-on.

Another local political writer I would have liked to see included is Tom Borthwick, who is relatively new at this muckraking stuff. But what he lacks in experience he surely makes up for with intelligence and sometimes, aggressiveness.

Then we have Stephen Albert, who was also in attendance at the big blogger soiree at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston. While he's not limited to writing about politics, there is no doubt that he is as sharp as a carpet tack.

And while we're tossing superlatives and accolades at practically everyone, it should be noted that, in my opinion, the overall quality of the writing in the local blogosphere has never been better than it is right now.

Not too long ago, the local blogging scene was a veritable Sargasso Sea of intellectual misfits, the grossly ill-informed and the hilariously ill-equipped. And the most frustrating part for me was, all of the name-calling, the blatant, sometimes intentional inaccuracies and the incendiary vitriol was posted by those desperately clinging to their anonymity. Cowards, I tended to call them. Cowards who were quickly and rightly dispatched to the Internet graveyard, wherever it is.

Anyway, the event at Rooney's was fun, and I got yet another fifteen minutes of fame for having attended. But I still maintain that the attendance of so many politicians and those selling their brands should not cloud our vision, nor give us any delusional visions of self-importance.

For the most part, those people were there to use us as a means to an electoral end.

Now let's get back to making them earn our votes. Let us continue to hold them accountable for their actions as well as their words.

Sez me.

Markie in Nord End

Buh-bye