Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The Audacity of Obama Neutral

tmj links to Althouse linking to a Tom Toles cartoon sans further commentary. Tmj labels it "Obama neutral", which sounds like what a Dungeons and Dragons player, who supported Dean in 2004, and has now fallen for Obama, might say.

I am labeling it "Buckleyesque" for using an audacious word like "audacious", "spun" since it is adopting an Obama term and passing it along without comment just like Obama would want, and "geek" for the obvious, if unintentional, D&D reference.

ETA: Only a true Althouse geek would know that while Palladins are "lawful good", Palladians are definitely "chaotic evil."

Monitoring Monitoring The Cruel Neutrality

Too many jims writes, "Prof. Althouse has taken a vow of "cruel neutrality" in the presidential election. I think it is great and I wish her the best of luck in the endeavor."

He has taken it on himself to monitor her compliance with the vow of cruel neutrality. I think her vow is great and tmj's vigilance is great, and I wish them both luck in the endeavor.

Personally, I couldn't do it. I find that merely the choice of which things about which to blog would be prone to subconscious interference by political preference. Further, is neutrality all it is cracked up to be? Is it neutral to give a Ralph Nader candidacy equal time? How? Has he earned equal time? If Obama goes on saying nothing much very well and McCain goes off like a volcano, is it neutral to give both equal postings and both equal doses of positivity and negativity? Or does that benefit McCain by not penalizing him for his hypothetical lack of presidential composure? Or does it benefit Obama by making it that he does not need to be substantive to get equal time?

At any rate, tmj created this blog "to keep track (for myself at least) of Prof. Althouse's vow of neutrality." Although he "make[s] no claims that [he] will be consistent, fair or neutral", it is only fair to keep the self-appointed gatekeepers of accountability accountable, because only through multiple layers of people spending their own valuable time on such things can we ensure that the inefficiencies stemming from bias can be stemmed. And people need to have gatekeepers to do the thinking for them, anyway.

I mean, it is not like anyone who reads a blog is going to make up their own minds, anyway. They will decide based on what Althouse says, and therefore we need tmj to make sure she is being as balanced as she says (because people won't be making up their own minds on if she is doing so, anyway), and therefore we need me. Although I have lost track of exactly why, we need me.

At any rate, I have created this blog to keep track of tmj's keeping track of Prof. Althouse's vow of neutrality. I intend fully to abuse this privilege that I have bestowed upon myself, until such time as I lose interest. Which may have occurred already.

And if anyone dares to want to copy my copy of tmj's original idea, sorry. You have missed the boat and it will come across as a lame copy. Do something better with your life, like Monitoring the Implied Vow of Celibacy.