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The
turn of events put state commentators in a difficult
position. Cover
the usual down-home events during the aerial
bombardment of Baghdad and they risk irrelevance;
cover the war in the face of major media saturation
and they risk ridicule.
No
such Hobson’s choice faces a new breed of
commentator in Virginia: the “webloggers.”
A weblogger, sometimes called a “blogger,”
is one who publishes a “weblog,” on the
Internet, a personal commentary on news and events.
A weblog links to major media coverage,
offbeat sources, and the work of fellow webloggers.
Weblog publishing took off in the aftermath
of 9/11 and many writers who concentrated on the
War on
Terror
ism became
known as “warbloggers.”
Weblogs
have become a powerful force.
The most popular sites receive in excess of
100,000 “hits” per day.
While professional writers publish some
Weblogs, one of the most popular is Instapundit,
developed by University of Tennessee law professor
Glenn Reynolds.
Those
who write Weblogs feel free to comment on any topic
and regard themselves as a “check” on the bias
and conventional wisdom of the major media.
Weblogs also typically offer an opportunity
below every article for readers to react.
Virginia is well represented in the ranks of
Weblogs that are providing commentary on the War in
Iraq.
Radley
Balko
is a libertarian living in Arlington who opposed the
war, but offered a balanced appraisal:
Despite
my general reluctance to embrace this war, I'd like
to make one point that simply can't be emphasized
enough: To my knowledge, no country in the history
of warfare has spent more money, employed more man
hours, and taken more precautions to a) prevent
civilian casualties, b) clean up when it's finished,
and, c) respect captured enemy combatants. It's
something to be proud of, even if you're not so
proud of the decision to engage in action to begin
with.
There
was no reluctance to embrace war from another
Northern Virginia resident, Patrick
Ruffini, but he thoughtfully sought explain his
feelings:
In
case you’re wondering, I don’t exult when a bomb
explodes on Baghdad. More and more, I feel deeply
saddened that it had to come to this. In these days,
a grave solemnity has settled over me, as I suspect
it has over most of my fellow hawks. I was once
anxious to see this war begin, to get the business
of Iraqi freedom started, and now I can’t wait for
it to be over. The only deaths I will cheer for are
those of Saddam and his band of murderous thugs.
As
someone who has felt spent countless hours these
many months advocating for this course of action, I
can’t help but feeling a strong sense of
responsibility now that it has come to pass. I
wasn’t decisive in making this happen – none of
us were – but for better or worse, the
responsibility for seeing that this is done well,
including anything that may go wrong along the way,
rests collectively on our shoulders now. We must
show the world that we accept this responsibility.
And by taking on this burden, we will appreciate
more clearly the moral cowardice of doing nothing.
Weblogs
can be outlets for extreme opinions, pro- and
anti-war that are too strong for even the Letters to
the
Editor
page of
newspapers. Bill
Cimino’s weblog offered such “no holds
barred” commentary:
Anti-war
protesters are staging “die-ins” where they lay
down and draw chalk lines around themselves like
they're dead. May I make a suggestion - why not just
die? Really. These people are so magnificently
stupid that they embarrass me to be a member of the
same species. So please kill yourselves.
Meryl
Yourish
recently left New Jersey for Richmond and her weblog
features all aspects of the genre: observations on
her personal life, commentary on world events, and
advocacy for causes. She
is a strong supporter of Israel and exposes
anti-Semitic activity throughout the world.
Over a photo
of a U.S. plane preparing to load ammunition, she
wrote this headline: “A
Bellicose Broad Brigade moment.”
Yourish
spoke out on a Virginia controversy that made
national news: the flag flap at Richmond City Hall.
Here was her take:
Okay.
I'm no lawyer, but let me think. City Hall, city
government, American flag—it's a no-brainer. Call
me crazy, but I think displaying our nation's flag
in the seat of local government is, well, completely
normal.
--
March 24, 2003
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