WaPo discovers Maryscott
Everyone should read the Washington Post piece about the host of My Left Wing, the remarkable Maryscott O’Connor. Entitled “The Left, Online and Outraged,” it appears on the front page today.
The writer, David Finkel, told Maryscott he had never been to a blog before, which is telling about the disconnectedness of Beltway reporters. Anyway, he does a good job conveying her famous zeal as a progressive activist.
He also gives the impression that what goes on at MLW and likeminded blogs is mostly expletive-filled railing against Bush, which is less accurate, though the righteous wrath is certainly part of it. Finkel writes:
They do indeed. And still, for endless white-glowing rage sans analysis or reasoned discussion, the websites to try remain Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, and their hateful ilk. Why the wingnuts of those parts are so grumpy is mysterious given that their heroes control all branches of the US government. Perhaps they are simply mad at reality itself, which stubbornly resists the effort, as a senior Bush adviser bragged, to “create new realities” without “judicious study” of the discernible one.
But I digress. If you haven’t yet, go read about Maryscott. She is an inspiring example of what civil society is all about, as well as a funny, fair-minded, and all-around likeable person.
Update: The more I reflect on this article, the more I feel it was a hatchet job, perhaps even payback from the WaPo to leftist blogs for exposing its wingnut blogger as a plagiarist. The horrid photo chosen is a give-away.
For those of us who know and love her, Maryscott shines through in this piece. For the garden-variety reader, maybe not so much. The naked fury is at center stage, and to many it may be disturbing, even pathological. This isn’t Maryscott’s fault, of course. And if anything, it illustrates why liberal blogs are needed in the USA.
The “liberal media” is the evanescent daydream of unicorns.
