Calls from the Virginia Blogosphere for James Webb to fire Lowell Field? Say it ain’t so.
But that’s precisely what you’re hearing, and some Democrats are getting tired of the free-for-all mudslinging Jim Webb’s netroots co-ordinator is marshalling. Alton over at I’m Not Emeril (of Martinsville fame) is posting his objections, while Chris Green is noting that not all are pleased with Lowell’s performance, especially with the consistent and disgusting mangling of Allen campaign director “Dick (Wad)hams” name.
UPDATE: Just in case you’re wondering what kind of dirty-tricks we’re talking about here, ask yourself what you would say if someone identified a counterprotest of a rally of ethnic minority groups as a — and I kid you not — a monkey fest? Who did this? None other than Democrat Webb booster Lowell Field.
One can’t help but notice that with the contraction of the Virginia Blogosphere as of late (Jaded JD being the most notable absence) and the proliferation of both new blogs and blogs-for-pay (we call them mercenaries, but “bloggers-of-fortune” might be a better term) that without a reading population trained to instantly question what they see on blogs without discrediting them all, someone has to play referee.
Welcome Mike Shear.
For those who will remember Shear’s remarks at the 2006 Sorenson Blog Summit meeting, I drew a few conclusions, notable of which was the following:
What I do find interesting about Sorenson: the tables are turning. No longer are bloggers the conscience of the MSM, but rather journalists are reminding bloggers of their responsibilities to the public square. Mike Shear, for all of his constructive criticism of blogs, is proving to be the Socratic gadfly we all need to hear.
So what does this have to do with Lowell Field and his outrage? Everything.
Mike Shear and the WaPo don’t deserve to be placed on the spot, nor do they deserve to be forced into the position of refereeing the public square. Yet simultaneously, that’s what good journalists and editors do in the end. Cut through the crap and get to the meat of what’s going on.
Lowell Field’s tabloid blogging has no place in politics. Period. Virginia’s Republican bloggers have started to beat the drum, but the experiment is yielding a he-said/she-said stalemate.
Someone gets to blow the whistle, and while certain bloggers do have the reputation and the clout to call nonsense when it exhibits itself, few if any have the reputation of the Washington Post or Richmond Times-Dispatch.
What was predicted in June — the MSM watchdogging the blogs — is slowly coming home to roost.
Don’t interpret this as a “put up or shut up” rant directed at anyone in the MSM. That certainly isn’t my intent; not by a long shot. Rather, I’m doing two things: (1) reading the ethical tea leaves and (2) offering what I see as the outcropping of the proceedings of the 2006 Sorenson Blog Summit have offered. Mr. Shear just happens to be the one on the other side stretching his hand across the fence.
That the offendee is a Democrat shouldn’t scare anyone. In fact, I would wager that most Democrats highly disagree with many of the things Lowell Field and the lunatic fringe have done to their party, and most especially to their candidate. Unethical political bloggers are painting the rest of us into a corner (Republican and Democrat alike), and once where blogs kept the MSM in line, now the MSM has the golden opportunity to keep the public square in line and set the rules of fair play.
That opportunity starts with exposing Lowell Field and Raising Kaine.
UPDATE x2: Ben Tribbet over at Not Larry Sabato agrees: Lowell Field should be held accountable. Some other thoughts as to what paid staffers do to the credibility of the blogosphere as well in a pretty darned good post.