I have a problem. Well, not really a problem so much as a dilemma. Politics is important to me, but it’s such a broad category and encompasses so much, and there are a lot of important issues. I go through my Reader and see that I’ve noted several different posts that I think I may like to blog about in the future. I feel spread a little thin. So many topics, so little time! I feel like I need to pick just one or 2 and focus on those. But for a political blog, specificity can often be a death-knell. I don’t have time to put the hip-waders on for each subject. How can I pick just a couple? What’s my passion? It depends on the day, I suppose. It can be anything from education, AGW, immigration, taxes, 2nd Amendment, 1st Amendment, abortion, liberalism, racial issues, elections, Islam, conservatism, and on and on.
Perhaps if I lumped all my favorite posts together onto a single page of links? I’m thinking out loud here. I’m not shooting to be the big centralized location for political bloggers, I just want to share my thoughts on different topics. Sometimes I haven’t formed a solid opinion on something and am trying to sort it out. To be sure, political opinion is something that is always in flux and evolving. I know my core beliefs, but there are issues on which I go back and forth – like capital punishment.
Whatever the case, information is key. What I’ve learned – especially over the last year – is that bloggers too often get dismissed for being “nothing more than bloggers.” Journalists boil down to being nothing more than bloggers with a better paycheck, often-times, and citizen journalists don’t get the credit they deserve. I’ve seen bloggers dig up more information than “journalists” did, particularly in the case of Obama. So, “journalist” doesn’t impress me.
Scarborough questions journalistic integrity over Obama
Meteorologist Anthony Watts has far more credibility spread over his blog than a lot of “journalists” do who spread the “green gospel” far and wide with no scientific basis whatsoever. He’s got a lot more credibility than James Hansen at GISS, who has been known to skew data just to advance his personal agenda.
Political stuff often depresses me. I live in IL. ‘Nuff said. 
I’m not sure what I’ll do about my indecision, but I did want to get it off my chest. Maybe it’s just a matter of putting my own thoughts down, instead of being goaded by the blogs I read. The big topic today is Blagojevich, but at the moment, I don’t really care about that. He’s been the governor here for 6 years, and frankly, I’m more than a little sick of him. The scandal now is, to me, par for the course and something I saw coming 6 years ago. Meh. As far as I’m concerned, “journalists” are way behind the curve on this one. Where were they in 2002 when this guy was running for office, campaigning on “hope” and “change”? Why, I guess they were at the same place they were at in 2008, when Obama was doing the same exact thing.
I’ll get my thoughts sorted out, one way or another. Having a blog helps in that regard. Thanks for joining me on the journey. 
