It was an intersting return to South Carolina , to say the least. In fact, even before I got back, I had people calling me en route in Virginia to tell me the latest poop. While a lot of blogs were dispensing viewpoints ASAP, I thought for me , it was best to digest it all, and then try to make some sense of all of the stupidity going on around the blogosphere....
No, it was an easy week to be a Republican. We've had much worse, but there have been easier weeks to be in the GOP. Many of those who stand in the forefront of our party have been making way too much bad press for totally non-political reasons. I don't agree that some of these things are much ado about nothing. But, that is the target you make yourself out of when you go into politics, and especially when you push your faith to the forefront. People love exposing hypocrites - for some bloggers and media, it is a sport - another notch on the treetrunk. Mark Sanford and Kristin Maguire are finding that out bigtime lately....
The contraversy involving Andre Bauer is much dicier - and much more troublesome. Is Andre Bauer a homosexual? Hell, I don't know. I think the lowest number of people there have been in a room we were both at was about 50. Does it really matter? No . I know that two or three years ago, all the talk was that Bauer had a penchant for college girls. But, when you hit 40, the whispers change. I understand the chatter - I'm 40, not married, I'm pretty neat, and I don't hunt or own a single article of clothing that has camoflague on it... Well, I used to be married. That's the natural chit-chat. But, that's all it takes for rumor to be accepted as fact - and we bloggers start accepting the rumor as fact.
It doesn't take much to ruin a candidacy with innuendo and bullshit. I sat down with a statewide candidate this week, and you can see the concern things like this have on candidates. Even those candidates with clean slates worry that even they can be taken down for nothing buit rumor. If you're single, you're gay. Maybe you do drugs... Oh, you're married and never go to bars ? Well, then you must be cheating on your wife.... We put it in the 'insider' file, and it gets accepted as fact, and down you go. If I were ready to kill a candidate's campaign, then my accuser better be prepared to out themselves as well....
Yeah, we do owe to our readers to give our readers facts, and to be the eyes and ears of the political landscape. While The Big Scoop is something we all look for, with that great power goes a greater responsibility. Candidates need to keep their noses clean, and their wicks dry. But, we bloggers also need to be very careful on what we print, and whether we really know it as fact or fiction. I know I've messed up once or twice along the way. No one is perfect. I suppose that's what my advice is - just expect to be perfect, just try to be. Aim small, miss small ......
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1 comment:
The left is already hanging "queer" on Tim Scott as he's declared a bid for "Governor Lite". Ahh the hypocrisy of you may libel and slander anoyone you like, as long as they're Repubican or Libertarian (though you must preface the libertarains with images of independants Kinky Freedman of Texas and Al Lewis of New York).
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