The Colossus

Gerard sees it pretty much like me.

. . . And the ratings tank, tank, tank, and the circulation of newspapers creates ever widening unemployment in the news rooms, and still the cracked bell beatings go on in the hope that Americans everywhere will say, "Hurts. Hurts! Make it stop!"

But it won't stop because, like bears hooked on garbage, the mainstream media of the United States knows only two things and tells only two stories.

In the end, the old media is dying off because the only stories they know are "Vietnam" and "Watergate." Everything they've said for nearly half a decade are just variations on those themes and we've become sick and tired on these old moldy tales; a sickness unto the death of the old media.

Read the whole thing.

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Looks like Gerard Vanderleun is finally getting settled in, in Seattle.

It's kind of like the old Kolchak the Night Stalker series/movies -- when they moved the series to Seattle, it was just that much cooler.

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(Image courtesy of Warner Brothers)

Gerard takes on the penguins.

They're still my heroes.

UPDATE: Don't make me quote "Wind Beneath My Wings", Gerard. I'll do it, you know.

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Vanderleun is back; A weary blogosphere rejoices.

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One of my favorite essayists, Gerard Vanderleun, hasn't blogged in 8 days. What gives, Gerard? We need you.

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Gerard van der Leun is in much the same mood I'm in, which is one of disgust with the media . . .

Your feelings about this war, unless you are very alert, are in the main manipulated and determined by the tacit collusion of several generations of ex-Vietnam/Watergate media professionals and their professional children and grandchildren. These people, now institutionalized, form what is for all intents and purposes both a Fifth Column and, more importantly, a Fifth Estate -- an unelected and self-appointed shadow government that was not envisioned by the Founding Fathers, and hence is not provided for in their system of checks and balances.

This Fifth Estate's habit of mind, coupled with an absence of either duty or honor in its thin traditions, has so long afflicted them that there is, literally, nothing else they can do except shape their narrative of events to parallel a long dead and highly irrelevant historical scenario. They cannot report or discuss this war outside of the strait-jacket of Vietnam because it is, quite literally, the only thing they know how to do. They have never been given an education in either their "Journalism" schools or on the job that allows them to think or report anything that does not echo their shallow catechism.

You really can't say it any better than that.

James Wolcott is attacking the post, in his usual "oh, please blogosphere, notice me!" mode, where he attempts to bait Gerard into an argument through his usual technique of ill mannered, gratuitous insult. The stuff of which the careers of second rate critics are made, I guess. He is like a dysfunctional adolescent who so craves attention that he acts out, because even getting a beating is better than being ignored.

Hack.

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. . . administer a beating to Cousin Oliver. Ouch. As rough as anything Goldstein has done.

Not that it's not well deserved.

UPDATE: Actually, upon further review, it's not as rough as I thought. Really, Gerard is trying to just give a basic grammar lesson, a la Strunk and White.

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James Lileks always seems able to take those half-formed thoughts that sit on the blurred edge between reason and intuition and hammer them out in well-structured prose.

I had this same thought flicker through my mind this weekend, but only as a will o' the wisp. On the Bleat, they spring fully formed from the head of Lileks.

The Schiavo matter is the Elian Gonzalez case of 2005, a person who stands at the nexus of a variety of irreconcilable issues. Some people wouldn’t care at all if she died, unless she had been the sole occupant of a hospital in Baghdad leveled by an errant Tomahawk; then you’d see her face in every protest march. Some see another step towards the triumph of euthanasia – they stop at the idea of someone being starved against the wishes of her parents, and there’s not another fact that matters.

The same people who insisted that Elian Gonzalez must be returned to Castro's Cuba at gunpoint post-haste seem to be the same folks who are insisting that Terri must die. Today. No waiting. Smother her with a pillow if she doesn't die fast enough, dammit!

Armed men at gunpoint must prevent her from being fed! Boil that dust speck!

I would ask, what's the rush? Does Michael Schiavo have the caterer for his next wedding lined up already? Is the settlement money burning a hole in his pocket?

And why is it that the folks on the left, who are so quick to defend the guilty, are in such haste to snuff out the innocent?

Gerard Vanderleun is also moved by the story; another craftsman of fine prose, his must-read essay on the story is here.

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On the ancient virus known as Anti-Semitism. Profound.

It is a common misconception by intellectuals that once something is defeated, it no longer has to be worried about. This is the attitude that gave us the Second World War -- no one was willing to believe that German nationalism could ever rise again after the defeat of World War I. The intellectuals ignored the evidence before their own eyes, even when it took on the virulent, transparent, and evil form of Naziism.

In our times, it has become fashionable in some circles to bash Israel, or to speak of the "influence" of "certain people" over American foreign policy. Vanderleun recognizes this for what it is -- anti-semitism, in a mildly disguised form.

The state of Israel is not perfect. But it is a democracy in a land full of dictatorships. It must be supported. Does one imagine a Palestinian state, run by the likes of Hamas, would be anything but a brutal, corrupt, malevolent dictatorship? Does one imagine that this state would allow freedom of religion to Jews -- or even allow them to exist?

Imagine a scenario in which Hamas (let's say, backed by a coalition of Arab states) militarily defeats Israel. What is your wager about what would happen to the citizens of the state known as Israel?

Would there be a broad peace in which these people were granted freedom of religion, freedom of worship, or the right to own property and to have a job? Or would Hamas simply try to exterminate them?

I think we all know the answer to that question. People who call for the defeat of Israel are, whether they intend to or not, actually calling for the extermination of Jewish civilians.

Where Israel sins, it must be called to account. But make no mistake about it -- they are the only hope in the Middle East for democracy and freedom until the states around them embrace democracy, free trade, and the rule of law. Iraq is a start to this. Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Palestinians must also embrace these things. If they fail to do so, we must support Israel. If we fail to back Israel, there will be a second Holocaust, and we will be largely to blame.

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Vanderleun and Wretchard have some thoughtful essays on this subject.

I think they are both right when they speak of true, ideological leftists. I do not ascribe the opinions of the fringe left to the vast body of people who still call themselves Democrats. I don't think many Democrats think of politics this way. I think they are Democrats as a matter of birth and habit, not out of fixed ideology. I don't think they think about what their leaders are saying much. I think they are going through life, doing their best.

I think an increasing number of these people vote Republican. There are a lot of 9/11 Democrats in Bush's coalition -- more than the Democratic party wishes to admit.

This is a case where the Democratic leadership is prepared to march off the cliff. It remains to be seen how much of the party follows. And it also remains to be seen whether different leadership will emerge that marches them away from the cliff. I think that there are some folks in the Democratic party who want Hillary Clinton to run because it is the only chance the party has of marginalizing the unhealthy people further to the left. Only she has the ability to position herself in the center without losing her base, and you can't tell me that she doesn't know that the center is where elections are won.

Now I don't believe Hillary Clinton is a centrist. Not at all. But I think that she has come to the conclusion that "Paris is worth a mass." You've got to win elections in order to be able to do anything.

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Vanderleun is right on this one.

I missed quite a bit of grade school; my mother was somewhat indulgent of my absences. I read like a fiend (in school, I was known as the "kid who read encyclopedias" -- a rap which was entirely deserved as I had read a set of 1955 World Books from A-Z), and was generally no trouble at home if I had a book in my hand.

At school I would also sometimes feign illness and come home. Sometimes it was more convenient for my mother to put up with me being at home for the whole day rather than having to come get me.

Grade school is relatively unimportant. A shame we don't realize this. My happiest moments at that age were the days that I could stay at home and read books.

I had a lot of friends; I had not yet developed the intellectual biases that made me think certain people were beneath me which it took the Army to finally erase. It wasn't until seventh or eighth grade that I became a snob.

I had also not experienced the pain of life that has made me reluctant of meeting people or undergoing the difficulties of human interaction, which actually becomes more pronounced as the years go on. Sad to say, but other than my wife, my family, and a few close friends, I do not feel comfortable around people. I used to. I no longer do. Sad to say, but I often prefer the company of machines. They are cranky, inflexible, capricious, and hopelessly limited in thier interactions with you. But they do not think ill of you. They do not make up their minds about you without a fair hearing. While they are, at times, hostile, they bear me no particular malice or hatred. And I can curse at them freely, unlike people, who take righteous offense, or the gods, who mark down our transgressions in their big books under the heading of blasphemy.

In retrospect, fifth grade was a pretty good time, despite school. I had friends and was not self-conscious. I was, at times, indulged and left to read my books. While Gerard is correct in remembering what a prison school could be, there is a lot we can bear when we are young and the world is still full of potential.

Posted by The Colossus at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

And evidently, it's not dying out.

Imagine, if you will, a young Drew Carey, sitting at his computer in his dorm room, lip-syncing a cheesy Romanian pop song.

But why imagine? Go here and see it. I'd like to say it's worth the download time, but I think my description of it is pretty much all you need to know.

It is, evidently, generating strange traffic spikes in websites around the world.

Hat tip: Vanderleun, who also has links to disturbing alternate versions.

As a side note, Desperately Wandering has been added to the scout team. Third string running back.

UPDATE: If you think Numa Numa is disturbing, then you better not click here. Fat guy sings Titanic love theme. Don't click. I WARNED you.

UPDATE 2: The folks at Newgrounds object to a direct link. To view Numa Numa, go to this site here.

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The folks at American Digest have provided Christmas gift tags for your holiday needs. They really have to be seen to be appreciated.

Here's my favorite.

Thanks, Paris, I didn't know you cared. The coke's in the cooler on the porch with all the other soda. I've got Diet coke, and some great IBC root beer, too (The Official Root Beer of the Colossus).

Gee, isn't America great. A nice, wholesome girl like Paris still drinks Coke. Warms the heart.

The full set is here.

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If I ever need to ride into Hell to do battle with the Dark Lord himself, and I needed two essay writers to ride shotgun, no question in my mind who they would be.

Gerard Vanderleun at American Digest -- consider this remarkable piece.

Wretchard the Cat at Belmont Club. I mean, this essay isn't even in his top twenty, and it combines more scholarship, research, knowledge, and skillful writing than I have ever accomplished.

UPDATE: And I think Mr. Chrenkoff would probably be choice #3. Consider these 2 gems.

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A very sobering article from Dr. Bob which Gerard Vanderleun republishes here.

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Gerard Vanderleun is an everyday, must read. Here's his story on the day John Lennon died. Really an interesting tale. When you're done reading him, bookmark the site. Put him somewhere in the top 5 you read each day (you know, Lileks country), and you won't be disappointed.

My John Lennon story is far less interesting and cool. I was a teenager. I remember buying the "Double Fantasy" album -- and I mean album, crappy vinyl with the Geffen "G" on the middle label -- right around the same time he got shot. A few days before, if I'm not mistaken. My best friend at the time was an insane Beatles and John Lennon fan, so I am certain we both bought it the second it was released. It had been five years in the waiting, for him, since Lennon's last album release.

I remember being pissed off because the album skipped, right out of the sleeve. And I don't mean one or two minor skips on unimportant Yoko "B" side tracks. I mean, four seconds into "Just Like Starting Over" the sonofabitch started hopping around like a coked-up kangaroo. I returned it the next day, and got another -- same damn thing. The guy at the record store was very pissy about me returning it, too, saying it was my turntable, etc., but I assured him that it had played Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" over twenty thousand times without incident. I remember vowing to never buy another piece of vinyl with the Geffen Records "G" on it. A vow I kept, incidentally. I made a bootleg cassette of the album.

Continue reading "Vanderleun's John Lennon Story . . And Mine" »

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Was over reading a pretty impressive essay at Vanderleun's American Digest, and in the comments there is one from Allah, using Allahpundit's email address. According to the comment, Allah (if he is indeed the Allahpundit) has quit. I quote from "Allah's" comments, below.

Interesting post, Gerard. The reason I quit blogging was because it was no longer fun enough to be a hobby and never had been lucrative enough to be a job. Your post, I think, presages that same Catch-22 on a vast scale: As the medium becomes more "active" and competitive, people who come to it wanting nothing more than a place to spout off in their spare time will face an expectation that they should be out on the street digging up stories. Some of them will ignore that expectation, content to spout off into the void while the medium leaves them behind. Some of them will adapt and discover that they have a knack for newshounding. I expect the average joe, though, will toil away at it for awhile with mounting frustration until one day it occurs to him that if he had wanted to be a f**king journalist, he would have been a journalist. That's when he'll shut down his computer and go get himself a hobby that actually reduces his stress. Imagine this happening en masse and "The Great Consolidation" starts to look more like "The Great Weeding Out."

I'm not sure I agree with Allah's point here. I don't blog because I want to be a journalist. I blog because it amuses me. Believe me, if I thought someday I was going to wake up and realize "I don't want to be a journalist" I wouldn't blog at all. Who the hell ever wanted to be a journalist in the first place?

I guess that means I fall into Allah's category of "those that the medium leaves behind."

Yeah? Says who? If Allah, or Glenn Reynolds (for sake of argument) decides that blogging is journalism, does that make it so? Who defines the medium that's "leaving me behind?" I mean, if I want to post Friday night pictures of my cat, is a big blogger going to tell me that I'm not blogging?

I think that the blogosphere is an exercise in vanity, and not much more. Always has been. Always will. The fact that it is destructive of journalism just shows you that journalism, as practiced today, is something worse than vanity.

Mere journalism ain't something we should aspire to.

I do not think the blogosphere will replace the news media. I do think it will, by pointing out their excesses and incompetencies, make the news media get better.

But who cares about them, anyway? It isn't about journalism. It never was. It's about posting pictures of your cat on Friday night, among other things.

UPDATE: Arthur Chrenkoff has linked to this post. Welcome, Chrenkoff fans. I have additional comments (or as they say on C-Span, I have revised and extended my remarks) here.

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