June 28, 2010
Frummage
I don't do a whole lot of "inside baseball"-type blogging anymore (I pretty much ignored Charles Johnson's returning to the liberal left and Dave Weigel's much more recent collapse at the Washington Post), but found this story from John Hawkins interesting.
Cocktail circuit Republican David Frum apparently asked to join the Blogads Conservative Blogging Hive (full disclosure: I am a member of both the conservative hive and the Military Hive on Blogads, and they both promote great stuff).
John Hawkins of Right Wing News manages the Blogads Conservative hive, and denied Frum's inclusion, since Frum seems to mainly exist to be a critic of conservatives and the conservative movement.
The real story seems not to be Frum's exclusion, but that his representative then took what John interpreted to be a threatening tone, suggesting that the exclusion was "newsworthy."
I can't read the mind of Frum's rep, and don't know if issuing a veiled threat was really his intent, but if it was, it was a entirely toothless threat. David Frum may carry some weight among dead-tree media, but his influence in the new media is low, and fading, as is his influence on new media's advertisers.
Instead of issuing threats, perhaps Frum could start his own hive of blogs. There has to be a market for his kind of writing. Disappearing creams, maybe.
One of the problems with the give and take of opinion on blogs is the exclusion of opposite opinions. As case in point is KOS, if you say anything that is not in keeping with the party line, then they block you. As you read the material that they have, it is evident that the material is factually incorrect, the arguments are not grounded in reality and there is a childish aspect to the devotion they have to their "cause". Maturity of religion, opinion or anything that we do necessitates a weighing of various views. Formulation of an opinion would thus be informed and stronger with oposition. Hawkins should have included Frum.
Posted by: David at June 28, 2010 01:01 PMI wasn't aware Frumm had any standing among conservatives
Posted by: Willam Teach at June 28, 2010 01:48 PMDavid,
This isn't about the exclusion of an argument (Ann Althouse is part of the conservative hive) but the refusal to help fund a man who many feel is simply ripping on conservatives to make a buck.
Whether you agree or not many conservatives are of the opinion that Mr. Frum is simply saying what the media want to hear in order to get their accolades (e.g he ripped on Rush and was awarded with a Time cover story). Why would anyone seek to help a man that they feel is deliberately undermining their political beliefs?
The problem is not that nobody wants to hear a counter argument, it's that nobody believes that Frum is arguing in good faith and therefore they don't believe there is any need to humor him.
On a side note I really must say that I love hearing the man who quite famously expelled all conservatives opposed to the war in Iraq from the republican party whine about being shut out for his opinion.
sorry meant Newsweek
Posted by: john at June 28, 2010 05:32 PMFormulation of an opinion would thus be informed and stronger with oposition. Hawkins should have included Frum.
Posted by David
By that logic, Hawkins should throw the Conservative Blogging Hive open to any lefty who wants to join. At which point it will cease to be conservative.
Frum is perfectly free to oppose conservatism from the outside, his voice is hardly being silenced.
Posted by: flenser at June 29, 2010 12:05 PM
