Matt Margolis

Quite an interesting piece by Antonia Zerbisias in the Toronto Star…

The right-wing bloggers proudly dubbed themselves [pajamahadeen], — a play on muhajadeen, as in Muslim guerrilla fighters — when former CBS exec Jonathan Klein, in the wake of the scandal, complained to Fox News that “bloggers have no checks and balances.

“You couldn’t have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances (on network news) and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing.”

By checks and balances, Klein meant the rigours of professional journalism — and not the opinionating of the blogosphere.

Ironically, bloggers mostly feed off the work of professional journalists who do the legwork. But, like parasites too stupid to realize they are killing off their hosts, the pajamahadeen don’t get it every time they dig more dirt for our mass grave.

Hindrocket at Powerline noted how the author of the aforementioned column, which blasts right-wing bloggers, had only two weeks prior praised “left-wing internet rumor-mongers for trying to get to the bottom of how the Republicans stole the 2004 election.”

Hindrocket notes,

So “journalism is dead,” and only the bloggers are digging for the real story. Except when “solid, stolid” mainstream journalists are busy forging documents; then, bloggers who expose the fraud are “stupid” “parasites” who engage in “opinionating.” That’s not a word, by the way.

I assume Zerbisias gets away with this kind of thing because no one reads her column.