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Schapiro
has even drawn a nickname, “Good Copy,” based on
this line from his February
20th column: “Enough with this idea of a
press-Democrat conspiracy. If reporters vote for
anything, it's good copy.”
It is in the pursuit of “good copy” that
bloggers, particularly those in the “Old Dominion
Blog Alliance” see Schapiro pursuing an agenda.
Leading
the pack in pursuing
Schapiro for bias against Republicans and undue
cheerleading for Russ Potts has been Norm Leahy of One
Man’s Trash. John
Behan of Commonwealth Conservative has been an
active player, too, but often he just links
to Leahy’s thorough skewering.
Yesterday, Leahy
almost seemed disappointed that he had no obvious
hook because Schapiro’s column didn’t appear:
“With Jeff Schapiro out on vacation (or in
recovery from last week's nasty bout of columnist
fever) …”
The
“columnist fever” he referred to was
Schapiro’s obvious anti-George
Allen piece, where he dredged up donations to
Allen by Smithfield Foods as a possible hindrance to
a presidential bid. Leahy
quickly pointed out that Smithfield had made major
donations to Tim Kaine and Mark Warner without
raising questions from Schapiro.
Without
engaging in blog triumphalism, this focus on
Schapiro is a positive development.
To the extent that Schapiro reads his
critiques (there is some indication he likens
blogging to “ranting”), it forces him to sharpen
his arguments. Where
Schapiro’s view often became the de
facto conventional wisdom, there are now
alternative viewpoints, forcing more thinking and
discussion.
Is
Bob Gibson Next?
Like
Schapiro, Charlottesville Daily Progress columnist Bob
Gibson wrote positively of “Independent
Republican” gubernatorial candidate Russ Potts and
disparaged certain elements of the Republican Party,
“Addison” of Sic Semper Tyrannis was immediately all over him with the headline, “Bob
Gibson tastes bile.”
In
a less controversial column, Gibson reviewed several
upcoming
races in the General Assembly.
Meanwhile,
Across the Potomac
Melanie
Scarborough of the Washington Post tracked what she called “shining”
and “tarnished” moments for Virginians in Washington. Sen.
George Allen got kudos for introducing a resolution
to allow general aviation back at Reagan National
Airport. Congressman
Tom Davis was slammed for his backing of the “Real
ID” Act.
Davis
also appeared on Meet
the Press yesterday to discuss and defend his
hearings on steroid use in baseball, including
possible legal action against subpoenaed players and
former players who do not appear. National pundit opinion appears to be heavily
against the hearings.
Breaking
with the Times
A
self-professed supporter of most positions taken by
the Roanoke
Times editorial page broke with its opposition
to state illegal immigrant control measures.
Deena Flinchum, a retired IT professional,
wrote, “The federal government has been
dangerously lax in enforcing laws against illegal
immigration for some years. The states and the
people are starting to do what they can in this area
for themselves.”
Meanwhile,
an entertaining blog, The Salt Lick, devoted to countering
the “liberal” positions of the Roanoke
Times, has set up shop.
No
More Downloads
Shannon
Henry, who has covered technology for the Washington
Post since 1995 with her “Download” column,
is hanging up her laptop.
She said farewell in this online
chat and summarized the last 10 years:
In
Washington circa 1995, there was no real tech
community linking entrepreneurs, very few sources of
venture capital, and not that much
"experience" in commercial technology
success or failure. Now there's all that. Those who
launched companies will start new ones, there's more
money to be had and there is a real network of
people who help each other do business. But that's
not to say the hardest part is over. The biggest
challenges today are finding new ideas and keeping
successful companies going strong by taking on new
risks.
She’ll
be missed.
Apology
for a Price
Kerry
Dougherty of the Virginian-Pilot
awoke one morning to a radio
apology from VDOT for delays in I-64
construction. She
thought it was a news report until she heard,
“VDOT. We’re keeping you on the go and in the
know.” After
learning that running the advertising spots cost
$163,000 (some of it Federal money), she suggested a
less-costly and more sincere alternative:
How
about having the head of VDOT march up and down I-64
wearing a sandwich board that says “I’m Sorry”
for a couple of weeks? He could knock on the windows
of stalled motorists and pass out $163,000 worth of
sandwiches.
Frankly,
the only thing more annoying than the massive
ineptitude on the interstate is that an apology for
it costs us money.
-- March 14, 2005
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