Commentarama: Fringe Sleaze?

The other day, I was checking around the internet to see where Commentarama’s name might come up. Within a few minutes I’d found a mention of our humble site in the comments at Slate -- a run-of-the-mill leftist e-rag. The comment, made by someone I shall call “Idiot Girl,” described our site as a “fringe sleaze site.” Hmm. We’ve been many things, from a Nigerian bank to a dispenser of invisible t-shirts, but we’ve never been about sleaze. And we certainly aren’t about the fringe either.

Much of the blogosphere, left or right, is about following the crowd and posting a link to some well known article along with a couple sentences that say: “I’m hopping mad about ___. Isn’t ___ a jerk.” But that’s not us. We do our best to provide original content everyday. And even when we do hit a popular topic, we always try to give you more than you’ll find anywhere else (sometimes with a little humor tossed in). We like to think of ourselves as more of a magazine than a blog.

Our goal at Commentarama is to provide you with a fair analysis of issues that we see, in the hopes that this will challenge your views and get you to understand your own beliefs more clearly (plus, we like to hear ourselves talk!). Thus, we try to present you with the facts and the arguments of both sides, and we give you our honest opinions -- not the opinions we think you want to hear. Nor do we repeat right-wing talking points, or left-wing talking points, or anyone’s talking points.

Indeed, you’ve seen us take many stances that ran counter to the rest of the right-wing blogosphere. Take, for example, my article on leaving Afghanistan. Or consider our CommentaramaCare plan that doesn’t fit cleanly on either ideological spectrum. Nor do we refrain from criticizing the right when they are wrong, nor do we withhold our contempt for corrupt Republicans any more than we withhold our contempt for corrupt Democrats. We believe in principle above party, and truth and logic above all else.

All told, we think that’s helped separate us from the rest of the blogosphere pretty well. For example, we told you that Obama was failing (here, here, and here) long before anyone else did, way back when everyone else was still screaming that he was an evil genius working according to a secret master plan that would guarantee him permanent power. We told you (here and here) what was happening in Honduras a few days before even the Wall Street Journal became “the first” to figure it out. And we continued to walk you through Obama's surrenders in Honduras step by step, when others were merely screaming about his love of dictators (here, here, and here). We showed you how Investor’s Business Daily was wrong about ObamaCare, when everyone else was running around feeling outraged by IBD's incorrect conclusion. And in other instances too, we gave you the actual analysis while others merely ran with the most extreme rumors they could find -- Climategate, ObamaCare, the economy, Copenhagen, China and its dangers (here and here) but also that we shouldn’t overstate China's powers, cap and trade, etc.

In none of these instances, did we act like a fringe site. Yes, we weren’t particularly flattering to Obama and the left, but that’s because they did not deserve to be flattered. There is a difference between being fair and uncritically accepting the arguments of both sides. We are more than willing to identify those instances where we agree with the left, or where they have valid points -- even if we don’t share their views, or where we think the right is simply wrong. But when history has shown that a particular policy has failed repeatedly, or when something is illogical or just plain stupid, or someone is lying, we will call them on it. In other words, expect us to be fair, but don’t expect us to be patsies.

So what I’m trying to say is that we do our best to be accurate. When we aren’t, call us on it. If you disagree with us or you hold a different opinion, speak up. We won’t be offended. We want to hear from each of you -- not just the conservatives (and yes, I know some liberals read this site. . . I can name a couple of you).

So make Commentarama your daily read, and feel free to participate. And if you ever run across something you want us to talk about, just ask -- we’ve probably got an opinion about it.

In the meantime, if you run into Idiot Girl, tell her that if she thinks that we are a fringe site, then maybe she should consider that she’s the one on the fringe. And as for “sleaze”. . . tell her to get her mind out of the gutter.

Thanks for listening!