you are what you blog.

[Please excuse me if I am at all late to the party going on over at E-Brechi.]

On Wednesdy of last week, one of my favorite reads, E-Brechi posted quite a conversation starter. In it he expressed his disdain at the amount of attention that Cindy Sheehan was recieving and the events that led to her arrest on Mondayof the week previous. Instead of presenting a case in his own words, Brechi bravely chose to alienate half of his readership by taking the words out of [bigot]Anne Coulter's mouth.

As if that was not enough, he continues twisting the knife by adding a quote from war widdow, Mitzy Kenny, that cites such protests as the reason for giving the 'enemy hope'. Kenny, even goes so far as to say: "Don't be a group of unthinking lemmings." I can't express how fitting this final statement is in summing up all three parties involved in the construction of this post: Coulter, Kenny, and Brechi.

I highly suggest reading the comments left on account of Brechi's opinion-post.

Fast forward to yesterday. I, always up for constructive debate, was eager to get over to Brechi's site and check out how things had evolved. There were many personal attacks ("Brechi, Brechi, Brechi. Who knew you were a closet conservative?") and threats ("I'm afraid we can't be blog-friends if you're going to link to Ann Coulter"); and by both accounts, such items are expected and predictable to the point of boredom. And the Brechi points this out in his subsequet post.

[I will wait here while you head over to read his retort ....]

I was disappointed to find him saying more of the same blogger bullshit: "don't judge me because I linked to Satan. I just agreed on one topice, and besides, Satan was an angel at one point. [sic]"

I am so sick of this; the blogging equivalent of the Jerry Springer Show chant "You don't know me!" Give me a break. If you want to be judged soley on your beliefs, don't bother linking to other's ideas. And if you are going to throw stones like "lemming" at anyone who decides to oppose your borrowed right wing ideals, then you had better be sure that you have more to back it up than just: "It doesn't take much thought to parrot someone else's entire agenda and make it your own", becuase you're further proving your oppositions point.

As with any form of self expression, blogging is a window into the personal thoughts and beliefs of its author, and I like to think that the blogs I read regularly are as honest as they can be. Maybe I'm not being realistic, but I've deduced that even blogs of the over-the-to variety are somewhat honest from time to time; that any avid reader can begin to get a feel for the living breathing person that is sitting at the keyboard.

I hope that Brechi continues to post his opinions and that he continues to link to other pieces that he is reading (I love informative networking -- even A. Coulter). But, at the same time, I hope he learns to give his readers a bit more credit and shy away from the stone throwing that he, while criticizing, ultimately became a part of. Just let the debate happen naturally. I echo what one of Brechi's commenters said:

I believe you've succeded in blogging where others have failed. My hat's off to you, Brechi. I only hope my blog stirs as much debate someday.