Friends And Allies Of Rome: Michael Hiltzik Returns
Leave it to Hugh Hewitt to force my sickly butt out of bed and onto the computer. Marcie showed me his post this morning regarding Michael Hiltzik, the LA Times "pseudo-blogger." It seems that he has been outed, and in one of the worst possible ways. Patterico has had a long-running feud with this fool, and it has now come to a head.
Patterico has presented an extremely compelling argument, backed up with evidence and facts, that Michael Hiltzik is using pseudonyms in the comments section of his blog and others--including Patterico's--to drive debate. And not just any sort of debate, but the same venomous, vitriolic debate so often attributed to the Left. Straw-man arguments, ad hominem attacks, faulty or misleading "facts" and arguments, etc., represent the norm for the commenters known as "Mikeoshi" and "Nofanofcablecos" on Hiltzik's worthless site.
Now in December of last year, Hugh Hewitt had an interview with Michael Hiltzik. This interview I listened to, and blogged about. And Hugh was gracious enough to link to it. (TY Hugh.) In that post I made it plainly clear to our readers, and those that ventured to our site from Hugh's link that Michael Hiltzik wasn't a blogger. He didn't understand the idea of blogging, or what it entailed. His blog was little more than a ranting board for left-wing ideals. His facts were anything but credible, and his analysis was slip-shod and poor. He didn't get it then, and it's pretty damn obvious that he doesn't get it now.
What I find to be worse than the fact that he doesn't understand what it means to be a blogger is the fact that through Patterico's investigative talents, and rock-solid reasoning, Hiltzik has been using phony names to comment on blogs to attack his critics, and on other blogs to attack those conservative bloggers. Patterico has a lengthy post proving Hiltzik's "crime," and there is little left for Hiltzik to do other than the non-denial he posted about this issue.
The easiest way for a blogger to blow his or her credibility is to post lies or non-truths on their site. We have come across a couple (sent to us by readers which include this and this). If we had posted these stories up, our credibility would have had a one-way ticket down the toilet. And while we can pass people like Tom Flocco off as conspiracy nuts, we couldn't spin ourselves out of such a mess had we run with such stories. (Barbara Olsen arrested in 2005 at the German border? Kind of hard to do when she died in a plane crash on 11 September, don't you think Tom?)
You don't play games wiuth your blog. Integrity and credibility are the two things bloggers need to survive. With over 36 million blog sites tracked by Technorati, the sea of information and opinion is as vast and diversified as the ebb and flow of the oceans. To get noticed as a blogger isn't an easy task. We link to prominent blogs when we pick up a story from those sites (as it should be; citing and noting those sources are just as key to a blogger as anything else) and we always give credit where credit is due. Again, this is part of being a blogger. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and most bloggers go unnoticed by the elites in the blogosphere. A link or a mention by prominent bloggers in the industry makes one's day. We ought to know. The first link we got sent out hits through the roof. And we celebrated. But we didn't let that go to our heads, and start making up garbage in response to that. Notoriety in the blogosphere comes with a level of responsibility, and it's clear through Patterico's investigation that Michael Hiltzik isn't up to the challenge.
Hiltzik has committed the unforgivable. No matter how he tries to explain it. No matter how he tries to spin it, there is no excuse for this sort of behavior from anyone who maintains that they are a blogger. It is contrary to the very ideals of being a blogger. Bloggers--serious bloggers--don't engage in such high school games. This reminds me of a former co-worker who, in an effort to "save" his relationship with his girlfriend at the time, text-messaged death threats to her, and to himself to throw suspicion off of being connected to those threats himself. It's sick, and it's wrong. And people like that need therapy.
If Hiltzik wants to live in a world where he is master of all that he surveys, and everyone agrees with him, I suggest a regression back to adolescence and imaginary friends so that he is never wrong and always is on the right side of every issue and decision. Bloggers don't do that. Bloggers stick their necks out on the chopping block everyday, and allow the pundits to beat on them. They bring to the table reasoned, well thought out debate and facts, and expect sensible debate. They don't attack critics with imaginary people. They don't resort to ad hominem attacks. They debate. The center-right blogosphere is outstanding in this regard, which is why pseudo-bloggers like Michael Hiltzik will fail everytime. And in this respect, he has proven it.
Michael Hiltzik has just been relegated to the realm of nutter, and deserves it. Patterico outed him cleanly and clearly, and there's no way he can try to explain this away. If I were Hugh, I'd call up Michael Hiltzik, and invite him back on. Allow him to try and explain this heinous act. I doubt he'd accept the invitation. He's been on Hugh's show twice, and had his ass handed to him both times. What I'd suggest to Michael Hiltzik is some soul-searching, and figure out what is more important. Would he like to continue living in the Neighborhood of Make Believe with himself in the role of King Friday. Or would he like to live in the world of reality where bloggers deal with prevalent issues of the day, and don't make things (or themselves) up as they go along?
Publius II
Leave it to Hugh Hewitt to force my sickly butt out of bed and onto the computer. Marcie showed me his post this morning regarding Michael Hiltzik, the LA Times "pseudo-blogger." It seems that he has been outed, and in one of the worst possible ways. Patterico has had a long-running feud with this fool, and it has now come to a head.
Patterico has presented an extremely compelling argument, backed up with evidence and facts, that Michael Hiltzik is using pseudonyms in the comments section of his blog and others--including Patterico's--to drive debate. And not just any sort of debate, but the same venomous, vitriolic debate so often attributed to the Left. Straw-man arguments, ad hominem attacks, faulty or misleading "facts" and arguments, etc., represent the norm for the commenters known as "Mikeoshi" and "Nofanofcablecos" on Hiltzik's worthless site.
Now in December of last year, Hugh Hewitt had an interview with Michael Hiltzik. This interview I listened to, and blogged about. And Hugh was gracious enough to link to it. (TY Hugh.) In that post I made it plainly clear to our readers, and those that ventured to our site from Hugh's link that Michael Hiltzik wasn't a blogger. He didn't understand the idea of blogging, or what it entailed. His blog was little more than a ranting board for left-wing ideals. His facts were anything but credible, and his analysis was slip-shod and poor. He didn't get it then, and it's pretty damn obvious that he doesn't get it now.
What I find to be worse than the fact that he doesn't understand what it means to be a blogger is the fact that through Patterico's investigative talents, and rock-solid reasoning, Hiltzik has been using phony names to comment on blogs to attack his critics, and on other blogs to attack those conservative bloggers. Patterico has a lengthy post proving Hiltzik's "crime," and there is little left for Hiltzik to do other than the non-denial he posted about this issue.
The easiest way for a blogger to blow his or her credibility is to post lies or non-truths on their site. We have come across a couple (sent to us by readers which include this and this). If we had posted these stories up, our credibility would have had a one-way ticket down the toilet. And while we can pass people like Tom Flocco off as conspiracy nuts, we couldn't spin ourselves out of such a mess had we run with such stories. (Barbara Olsen arrested in 2005 at the German border? Kind of hard to do when she died in a plane crash on 11 September, don't you think Tom?)
You don't play games wiuth your blog. Integrity and credibility are the two things bloggers need to survive. With over 36 million blog sites tracked by Technorati, the sea of information and opinion is as vast and diversified as the ebb and flow of the oceans. To get noticed as a blogger isn't an easy task. We link to prominent blogs when we pick up a story from those sites (as it should be; citing and noting those sources are just as key to a blogger as anything else) and we always give credit where credit is due. Again, this is part of being a blogger. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and most bloggers go unnoticed by the elites in the blogosphere. A link or a mention by prominent bloggers in the industry makes one's day. We ought to know. The first link we got sent out hits through the roof. And we celebrated. But we didn't let that go to our heads, and start making up garbage in response to that. Notoriety in the blogosphere comes with a level of responsibility, and it's clear through Patterico's investigation that Michael Hiltzik isn't up to the challenge.
Hiltzik has committed the unforgivable. No matter how he tries to explain it. No matter how he tries to spin it, there is no excuse for this sort of behavior from anyone who maintains that they are a blogger. It is contrary to the very ideals of being a blogger. Bloggers--serious bloggers--don't engage in such high school games. This reminds me of a former co-worker who, in an effort to "save" his relationship with his girlfriend at the time, text-messaged death threats to her, and to himself to throw suspicion off of being connected to those threats himself. It's sick, and it's wrong. And people like that need therapy.
If Hiltzik wants to live in a world where he is master of all that he surveys, and everyone agrees with him, I suggest a regression back to adolescence and imaginary friends so that he is never wrong and always is on the right side of every issue and decision. Bloggers don't do that. Bloggers stick their necks out on the chopping block everyday, and allow the pundits to beat on them. They bring to the table reasoned, well thought out debate and facts, and expect sensible debate. They don't attack critics with imaginary people. They don't resort to ad hominem attacks. They debate. The center-right blogosphere is outstanding in this regard, which is why pseudo-bloggers like Michael Hiltzik will fail everytime. And in this respect, he has proven it.
Michael Hiltzik has just been relegated to the realm of nutter, and deserves it. Patterico outed him cleanly and clearly, and there's no way he can try to explain this away. If I were Hugh, I'd call up Michael Hiltzik, and invite him back on. Allow him to try and explain this heinous act. I doubt he'd accept the invitation. He's been on Hugh's show twice, and had his ass handed to him both times. What I'd suggest to Michael Hiltzik is some soul-searching, and figure out what is more important. Would he like to continue living in the Neighborhood of Make Believe with himself in the role of King Friday. Or would he like to live in the world of reality where bloggers deal with prevalent issues of the day, and don't make things (or themselves) up as they go along?
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:40 AM
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