We do think about odd items to embroider on the banners we fly as battle flags in the political conflict, don’t we.  ”Do you know how much the RNC has spent on outfits for Sarah Palin?”  ”Do you know how much Barack Obama spends per suit?”  Do you know how unspeakably irrelevant these things are to anything germane to the real world?  Um, probably not.

There’s a growing disconnect in this land permeating both left and right when it comes to those who communicate and those who accept the communication.  Preaching to the choir while accepting a generous love offering from the congregation is now standard operational procedure in this era of “look at me — SQUEE!” snark and snipe passed off as journalism.  Opinion and commentary no longer reside on the op-ed page.  They live everywhere.  Rare indeed is the news story not marinated in personal viewpoint to where it is the overriding flavor.  Let not facts get in the way of a good blast, pro or con.  Aren’t I clever?  Am I not speaking truth to power?  Where’s my Pulitzer?  Where’s my Weblog award?  When’s the next social gathering of my tribe’s mutual admiration society?  Lather rinse and repeat daily.

The main thrust behind blogging on a level other than the personal journal once was creating a new kind of journalist and/or columnist.  There would be a different fundamental, one based on genuine communication not to, but with the people who read their material as opposed to one dispensing pearls of wisdom from atop their ivory tower.  That was the idea, anyway.  But do we have this?  No.

An illusion of inclusion is the fuel behind most major blogs these days.  Agree with me or us, you can be part of the cool kids.  Look, your comments in print!  Aren’t you special.

Actually, no you’re not.  Do you genuinely believe the author or authors at Huffington Post or Daily Kos or Michelle Malkin or Instapundit care one little bit about what you think?  Embrace reality.  They don’t.  Their purpose is broadcasting their views and in most cases padding their bank account.  Certainly there’s nothing wrong with writing for a living.  But at least be honest about it. Don’t strike a pose as the great facilitators of interactive dialog.  You’re not.  You never were.  You never will be.  You speak, they listen.  The relationship goes no father.

But what about you, comes the question.  You hold forth on your viewpoints.  You almost never print comments disagreeing with you.  Correct on both counts.  So what’s the difference?

Simple, really.  It’s in the sidebar: “one man, one voice, one opinion.  Consider it as you will.”  I’m not seeking to be a leader; I’m not preaching any evangel save Jesus Christ crucified and risen along with a set of four tenets I’ve developed over the years I call the blogging evangel:

  1. The ability to broadcast your opinion neither elevates nor validates your opinion.
  2. If you’re doing it for love, blog.  If you’re looking to get paid, try porn.
  3. E-mail.  Answer.  Always.
  4. Never become what you profess to oppose.  Never.

Not that I always live up to any or all of the above.  I often fail.  That does not negate the principles any more than a Christian who commits a sin negates the Word of God.  No, I’m not comparing or equating the blogging evangel to the Gospel.  It still matters.

Someday, somehow, it’d be nice to have blogging back.  This will start when the “leaders” demonstrate leadership in the manner Jesus spoke of:

When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road”  But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.  Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all (Mk. 9:33b-35).”

Don’t hold your breath waiting, though.