Mountain Blog

Why political blogs - and Rush Limbaugh - have no impact

...and why they will go the way of the Kiwi.....

As most of you who have read my ramblings here and in various newspapers, I am not all that smart. I am extremely slow to "catch on." That's why it has taken me months to transform an uneasy feeling I have about the thousands - perhaps millions - of Internet political blogs into a theory.

In brief, there's nothing original about them. They people who create them feed off those who report news. Virtually none of them creates anything based on their own reporting.

Here's something to consider: What would happen to the political bloggers if all the news reporting organizations stopped reporting news for a day - or a week.

Would any of them have the news gathering personnel to get the news frokm which to spawn their commentary? Hardly.

What's ironic is the fact that most of these folks - especially the right wingers - spend most of their time bashing and belittling the sources of the news on which they depend.

I write opinion, but I admit that I rely on the news gatherers to keep me supplied, and it's why I never bash the reporters, the reportage or the news organizations that produce the news. And even with all that, I sometimes wonder why anyone reads what I write.

What we're dealing with in the political blog arena are opinions based on what others report as news. And when these bloggers run out of news upon which to comment, they turn their ire to the messengers, the very people who supply them fodder.

I have no idea what the ultimate fortunes of the political bloggers will be, but I suspect most of them - and perhaps all of them - will eventually disappear. Their impact is minimal at best as the elections of 2006 and 2008 will prove. Their influence and ability to change hearts and minds is minimal as well. Why? Because I believe the average American realizes all they create are smoke and mirrors.

posted by Dave Peyton @ 10:47 PM 1 comments

Sometimes you just want to beat your head against a vein of coal

Robert "Doc" Foglesong appeared on "Bray Carey Presents and Endorses" this morning on West Virginia Media TeeVee. He tells us that he is politically independent and will stay that way while he develops his own plan to promote leadership and stuff among West Virginia's young people with his own foundation.

The Mingo County native had an illustrious career in the Air Force. No one can deny that. Now that he is back in West Virginia, apparently to stay, he has received private and corporate donations for his foundatiion from such folks as Buck Harless and Don Blankenship.

And he is proud of the fact that he is a spokesman for Friends of Coal.

Well, we know who this "politically independent" superstar is aligned with, don't we?

Foglesong could make an imprint on West Virginia if he were to remain politically independent. But once he became a Friend of Coal, he ended that independence.

What irony! Too many people believe that, to do anything worthwhile in this state, one must get money from coal and sell out to the coal interests.

Politically independent? I don't think so.

I'd love to ask Foglesong his opinion of West Virginia's most i mportant natural resource. I'll bet he'd say "coal" in a heartbeat.

That's our problem, you see. Too many people believe that. And if you do as well, you need professional help.

posted by Dave Peyton @ 9:33 AM 2 comments

Best Bluegrass Gospel Song of the Century - so far.

A friend who relishes the country-bluegrass music and traditions of Appalachia, sent me this mp3. We have nominated it at the best bluegrass gospel song of the century - so far.

Be aware that if you are upset by four-letter words, don't listen to it. But if youi aren't, listen to it now.

posted by Dave Peyton @ 7:37 PM 1 comments