Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
One thing about being a blogger, you get some interesting mail. Lately I have seen a lot of requests for me (and sometimes other writers) to vamoose from the Polipundit.com site. Some of this has come from people upset with Polipundit’s nearly sole interest in pursuing his position viz a viz Illegal Entrants to the United States, and some of this has come from Polipundit supporters who think that if I do not agree with Polipundit on this issue, I cannot remain a writer on his site.
What to do, what to do? Well, for starters I would remind the readers that Polipundit.com is a unique site in blogging, precisely because the writers do not hold identical opinions. This not only allows readers of a range of opinion to find a compatible position here, but more importantly, it prompts serious debate, with a bit less of the stupidity found in certain echo chamber sites. More than a few readers have commented that they have learned things here which they did not know before, which increases comprehension and raises the level of discourse. Also, there might even be a certain entertainment value in reading hosts arguing cross-positions on an issue.
I must also admit that from a personal perspective, Polipundit.com affords me a much larger audience than I ever pull at my personal site, nor frankly could my little site stand the strain of any serious traffic. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t mind a little more attention to Stolen Thunder, though I should mention that I rarely post political thoughts there which do not also appear on Polipundit.com; I use my personal site more for personal thoughts, most recently a discussion about business schools. While I am on that point, I would remind the readers that Lorie Byrd also has a personal site, as worthy of your attention as much as anyone else out there. So if I took my long-winded self away from Polipundit.com and spent all my time at Stolen Thunder, Polipundit would continue to draw tens of thousands of readers a day, while I should be likely to fade into obscurity. I think well of my writing ability, but as Clint Eastwood’s character said in a movie once, “A man’s got to know his limitations”.
That said, I would venture to suggest that I have carried my weight here, and brought some attention and readership to the site. While the numbers would remain high without me, I still dare to suggest that the quality of our site depends on the individual character of the writers, and that each of us adds something, the loss of which would be missed were they to move on to another gig. Then again, I must say bluntly that this site belongs to Polipundit, and if such a time comes when he wishes to show one or all of us the door, he has that power and option. I hasten to mention here, that not once has Polipundit made the slightest attempt to control what I write, or to dictate what opinion is acceptable here. We are sharply divided in our opinion of the President, but we both are free to speak our mind and opinion. It says something about Polipundit, that he allows me to write in strong support of a man whom he presently holds in deep contempt; Polipundit does not even comment on the threads of my articles, further proving the independence of every writer here. I must remind those readers who are angry with Polipundit’s treatment of the President, that he is very much a man of principle, and this quality is distinctly worthy of your respect, even where you disagree with him.
In summary then, I have no intention of leaving the site. If Polipundit should one day find me beyond his patience and change the locks, that is his prerogative, but it seems to me that what we have here at Polipundit.com is an academy of sorts, a place of learning but also of debate, and while we are all of us Conservatives, we are by no means clones of each other. This advances the discussion, and improves the quality of the participants on many levels. Just don’t expect us to grade on a curve.
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