An Apology Is Tendered

The best damn blogger on the intertoobs has just tendered an apology for the Tina Korbe “ThighGate” incident. Personally, I don’t see the need for the apology myself, but that’s just me. Here’s a short excerpt…the whole post is around ten thousand words, practically a novella;

“Television, naturally enough, is biased toward compelling visual imagery, and in almost all cases the charms of a human face take precedence over the capabilities of a human voice. It is not essential that a TV newsreader grasp the meaning of what is being reported . . . What is essential is that the viewers like looking at their faces. To put it bluntly, as far as TV is concerned, in the United States there is not one sixty-year-old woman capable of being a newsreader. Viewers, it would appear, are not captivated by their faces. It is the teller, and not what is told, that matters here.”
– Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood (1994)

“As for my own personal feelings, who cares? While I’m often accused of unfairly hurting other people’s feelings, no one ever seems to care about my feelings. I’ve long ceased to expect anything except insults from anyone, and those expectations are seldom disappointed.”
– Robert Stacy McCain, Aug. 29, 2011

When the draft of the e-mail passed the 3,000-word mark, and was still clearly not half-finished, I gave it up. What had begun as a mea culpa had metamorphosed into a treatise explaining the entire history of my engagement with conservative New Media, and what the past 15 years had taught me about the apportionment of status, prestige and influence within the universe of political communication.

But why should I burden anyone with all that? Ed Morrissey has neither time to read such a thing, nor any interest in discovering why I view things the way I view them. It would have been an arrogant imposition to foist upon him that document — which surely would have neared 10,000 words if completed — with any expectation that he would actually enjoy reading it, or that the anecdotes and observations might inspire him to exclaim, “Oh, now I understand!”

So never mind all that crap, and I’ll just apologize.

My part in what has been dubbed “ThighGate“ was rude to Tina Korbe, and my analysis of the personnel policies of Salem Communications was, at the very least, uncharitable.

It is a known fact that women in public life — and most especially, attractive conservative women — are exposed to a level of scrutiny that few people would wish for themselves. Any woman who enters the online world in a public way is routinely subjected to peculiar types of stalking, harassment and/or defamation by strangers, and therefore deserves sympathy and support from her friends.

Melissa Clouthier and I had a long talk the other day, and she defended her generic criticisms of young ladies’ dress and decorum at CPAC, even while criticizing me for having called unwanted attention to Tina Korbe by name. (Melissa’s criticisms were not — repeat,  not — directed at Miss Korbe, whose decorum is beyond reproach, whatever one might say in regard to the length of a particular skirt.)

Melissa was furthermore concerned, and somewhat agitated that I was not concerned, about how this unfortunate episode would augment my already notorious reputation. Was I not aware that I was regarded as an irresponsible loose cannon? Was I not also aware that there were horrible rumors about me?

OK, I said: What have you heard? Melissa cited one specific horror story (evidently dating back to the NY-23 campaign in 2009) which was ridiculously false, and I asked why — if she was my friend — she hadn’t told me about this gossip when she first heard it?

Like I said, I don’t think the apology is necessary, but one does what one must.

I can’t believe I’m still blogging about this, but…

Update: Donald Douglas of American Power has thrown his  tuppence into the fray over the CPAC two tier blogger hierarchy kerfuffle. Mr. Douglas is another blogger I have a tremendous amount of respect for. Here’s an excerpt of his rant;

There’s still much more at Jerry’s post, but I want to stay with the two-tiered outrage for a minute. I didn’t attend this year, of course, so I don’t even know who decided on credentialing and segregating at the bloggers’ lounge. Obviously there are too many bloggers who’d like access to the lounge, and I’ll admit, it’s a pretty sweet set up. While the WiFi sucks, you’ll enjoy breakfast served and an eagle’s nest access to the main convention hall, and you’ll meet all of your favorite bloggers — and not to mention some of the political rock stars of the convention, who often swing up to the lounge for a meet-and-greet with the selected few bloggers lucky enough to gain entrée. Jeez Donald Rumsfeld, I might have missed you had I not gotten down and groveled like a hungry beggar so as not to miss out on privileged access to the CPAC sky-box of the blogosphere:

Anyways, I think I’ll send readers back over to Robert’s post, which is still longer than this one and that ought to be enough anti-establishment ranting for one day.

CPAC is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any conservative. I doubt I’ll have any less a good time if I’m un-credentialed next time. Indeed, events like this are as fun as you make them, and I’ll be planning my own bashes among like-minded friends for the next go-’round. Jason at The Western Experience did without credentials this year and he reported having a great time — and he suggested we get together to plan for future conferences. So, up-and-coming bloggers take note: The conservative blogosphere is your oyster. Have at it and pursue your happiness, which is your God-given right. Don’t let the false blogging gods of CPAC segregate you out of having a good time. You don’t need them. Write with a passion, get involved and network among those with similar goals, and understand that all of these hierarchies don’t mean a lot in the end — frankly, the Ed Morrisseys of this world are media celebrities more than they are bloggers. Keeping things in perspective will help you avoid burnout and disgust. Just keep pluggin’ and see where things take you. Onwards and upward you blogging proletarians!

Mr. Douglas gives us some good advise…network with like minded people and enjoy yourself. Life is short.