Sorry Jarvis, you are completely wrong here. Totally. 100%.
A little background on this. I email Jeff asking him his views on how the blogosphere (or, as I'm calling it "Citizen's Band Media") has uncovered a major hoax perpetrated by Dan Rather and CBS. As a media critic, Jeff has always talked about the wonders of Citizen Media and how effective it can be. I asked him about his feelings on this and then I see a half-assed dismissal of the findings.
To paraphrase:
First, yes, CBS did quote and link to all the questions prominantly on the CBSNews homepage. They say they're still standing by the story. I have no way to know who's right, who's innocent, who's guilty, who's scamming, who's not. Which leads to my second point:I still don't care. It's all about mud. I don't care about the mud. If, as Rex says in the post below, all the mud that has been slung is true it's not going to make a difference in how I view these candidates -- and it's only distracting from the debates we should be having. It's just mud. {Emphasis mine}
First, yes, CBS did quote and link to all the questions prominantly on the CBSNews homepage. They say they're still standing by the story. I have no way to know who's right, who's innocent, who's guilty, who's scamming, who's not. Which leads to my second point:
I still don't care. It's all about mud. I don't care about the mud. If, as Rex says in the post below, all the mud that has been slung is true it's not going to make a difference in how I view these candidates -- and it's only distracting from the debates we should be having. It's just mud.
{Emphasis mine}
This isn't mud, Jeff, this is an actual case where thousands of bloggers and normal average Joes uncovered something insidious. What they uncovered is a intentional lie perpetrated by those who are supposed to be harbingers of truth. This is along the same lines as a police officer abusing his power or a politician using his position for illegal purposes.
It's not about the mud. It's about a new form of media exposing the truth. Forget about the documents being about Bush's TANG service. Pretend the documents were regarding SAT scores for minorities. The fact is, the documents are patently faked regardless if CBS says they're not.
In his zeal to ignore the mud, I think he's ignoring the bigger story.
From my Comments over at Q and O
Had these documents been about Girl Scout cookie sales no single person in their right mind would buy it, but tack on W's name and crude scribbles on the back of a Waffle House napkin become gospel.