A lament from blogosphere exile

Hello from blogosphere exile! Can’t say I miss it all that much, but I do still follow closely along. I get a special kick out of all the speculation about who I might be disguising myself as – and of course, Hickmania never fails to amuse. But I digress.

Lately, the state of the blogosphere in Ohio makes me wonder what the hell happened here. This thread, which I will bet contains the most comments GCJ has ever had on any post, kinda forced the issue. Bottom line - you all are a shadow of yourselves.

It’s become comical. You got MTB interviewing themselves and the business partners on their speed dials (how lucky! he’s available!), half the state is getting played by a former George Bush speechwriter, the PD is co-opting blogs with what I am certain is a pittance, and Naugle has turned the entire Ohio GOP into a caricature of right-wing psychosis. Even Jerid, who’s summer project is probably the best thing anyone in Ohio has done in years, gets wrapped up in some jackass wingnut who just baits him to build traffic. The most bankrolled “blog project” in Ohio, which as of this writing has precisely zero comments on its front page posts, is chiefly known for being subject to periodic spasms of Hickmania – talk about the least bang for the biggest buck.

The atmosphere in Ohio blogging has become so poisonous that a kid’s letter to the editor in their freshman year of college is a firing offense. The inaudible din of phones ringing among panicked staffers is louder than the debate – I guess it’s no wonder people are shying away from their keyboards. I’ve been tempted to jump back into the fray every now and then, but said atmosphere has had its intended effect on me, too. Why the hell anyone would ever get involved with politics in this atmosphere is beyond me.

That said….can someone please step up to the plate? Don’t we have a presidential election next year? Isn’t the Buckeye State about to be in the center of the political universe, again? I loved the NH Project, but its chief lesson was the extent to which the presidential campaigns still, to this day, refuse to engage in real discussion about ideas. Where was the blogging about that, Jerid?

Is the Ohio blogosphere just going to resort to parroting press releases? Where is the Ohio Republican blogger who will finally say the Iraq war is a total catastrophe? Won’t that person be a hero, even if it’s merely an admission of the absurdly obvious? Where is the Ohio Democratic blogger who will hold candidates to the fire on issues? Is anyone out there? (for pointers, check this shit out.) If Ohio bloggers are AWOL, make no mistake, the same folks who littered this state with their incompetence will do it again, helping make the atmosphere that much worse in the process.

I’m going back into my bunker. Cue ironic laughter.