William K. Wolfrum's picture

    Blogroll Amnesty Day is Un-American

    Each year around this time, I'm contacted by a small cadre of political bloggers looking to push something they call "Blogroll Amnesty Day." The idea behind this day is for big, important, A-List, nationally recognized bloggers like myself to give out links to small, unimportant, D-List, not-recognized-in-ther-own-home bloggers. Beginning this year, B.A.D. (as the cool kids call it) is dedicated to the memory of B.A.D. Co-founder Al Weisel, a gifted writer and satirist who blogged under the name of Jon Swift.

    Now, in theory, B.A.D. is a nice little socialist plan dedicated to encourage everyone to read Marx and wear drab clothing. Essentially, I am supposed to mention such bloggers as the angrily communistic Litbrit, or the anarchistic Fabulously Jinxed, or the angrier communisticier anarchisticier The Hunting of the Snark.

    I have twice taken part in B.A.D., mostly out of pity for co-creator skippy the bush kangaroo, who has long suffered from the nightmare of ShiftandCapsLockaphobia. This year, however, I have decided I will not be involved. You see, B.A.D. is un-American. And I will not be a part of it.

    My friends, since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the ownership in the U.S. media has dwindled to the point that a mere handful of major corporations now own roughly everything media related.

    This, my friends, is the New American Way. Limited media ownership is what America is about. Freedom of Speech still reigns, but in a corporate-owned nation, that speech has now been bought and paid for by the select few. Independent small blogs and bloggers - such as Odd time Signatures, Freak Out Nation and Gay Persons of Color  - are acting in a purely anti-American way when they try to add their voices to the limited media narrative.

    Many Americans have a somewhat utopian view of the United States as a land of freedom, liberty, heroism, hot dogs, Black Eyed Peas, etc. But I live in the reality-based world. And in that reality, political opinion is the sole responsibility of the select few. It is not for blogs like Liberal Values, LT Saloon or Ramona's Voices to thrust themselves into the political conversation. In a capitalistic society, money talks, and poor bloggers like David Seaton, Doctor Cleveland and Random Babble who don't have two pennies to rub together have no business giving their two cents.

    So no, I will not be partcipating in Blogroll Amnesty Day and help give smaller bloggers like Ezkool, Lance Mannion and The LeftNeck Chick a voice. That would just be Un-American.

    --WKW

     

     

    Comments

    you are with the forces that has Joplin selling Mercedes Bemz during Super Bowl

    In other words...Bobby McGee would think you a bastard.


    Agreed, Wolfrum. These little guys are getting too uppity.

    I say we crush them. We can call it Kicking-Your-Puny-Ass-364-Fricking-Days-Of-The-Year. 

    Yeah, baby.


    Wolfy, angryblackladychronicles is groovy!  Be there or be square.. er or something like that.


    kewl! me likes!


    A plug for my go to blogger, Eric B......


    Yay, Eric!  Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to add it to my blogroll.  I just did.


    Hey, Wolfie, not sure I like being a know-nothing serial thruster, but if I can get a mention on a well-read, highly regarded bloggity-blog, what the heck.  It ain't chopped liver.

    I never heard of B.A.D before, but now that you've introduced me, all I can say is--nice timing, Wolfie.  You post about a two-day event on the eve of the last day while the Super Bowl is going strong so that anyone who is just discovering it can't get involved and try and steal your thunder. But maybe next year, if I grow out of my little people outfit and get to wear the really cool duds, I'll go find me some little people of my own to tout. Or not.

    But seriously, B.A.D is Bad. (Does that still mean Good?)

     


    You know, every year since we founded dagblog in 2008, I've planned to take advantage of B.A.D. to get bigger blogs to blogroll us. And every year, I have forgotten all about it and discovered in mid-Feb that I've missed B.A.D. yet again.

    So when you posted this, Wolfie, I thought, hey, maybe I can actually take advantage of it this year.

    As it turns out, I can't. Not because of the timing but because dagblog is no longer a little blog. In fact, we now get more traffic than the organizers of B.A.D.

    So having missed the B.A.D. boat every year until we no longer fit on the boat, let me extend the courtesy to bloggers who are more on top of things. We'll link to you if you link to us--and if you're not a porn site, racism forum, or other bad, bad, bad blog.

    And following Wolfrum's lead, I'd like to call out a few current members of the blogroll, Once Upon a Paradigm, TPMAHOLICS, Geoffrey Zheng, Quinn the Eskimo, Kaveh Adel, and The Zaftig Redhead.


    Um, Genghis. Quinn the Eskimo IS a porn site.

    I'd recommend a bit less frankness and a bit more Canadian timidity from you pal, unless you want to star in my next BIG-BEAR-ASSED CANADIAN OF THE WEEK special.

    Admittedly, being panoramic shots, I had to pay more - but I DO have the pics. 


    And the Zaftig Redhead, oddly, is not.


    I am so completely outraged that you would include me in something so un-American as this! Now more people will be reading my words freely! The horrors!

    :)


    My son, Al, would be so proud of you. You did what he loved to do. When I started to read your blog I thought, "How dare he besmirch the memory of my son and intimate he might have been unAmerican." I quickly "got it" and I thank you for your satire. It's good to know that there are others who dare to write like he did.


    Mrs. Weisel,

    I can't tell you how touched I am from your words and honored that you say Al would approve. I shared e-mails with Al a few times over the years and he was laways supportive and helpful to me as a writer. With the style of my writing, I think of him often and still go and read some of his posts over again to be inspired by his work.

    Than you again, so much :)

     

    Bill


    WOW! I've always appreciate when you include me in your blogs, and this time is no different. Thanks agian William. I enjoy your work!


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