Patterico's Pontifications

8/1/2008

In Which I Channel Jeff Goldstein

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:37 pm



I’m quitting blogging. If I can pour my heart and soul into original reporting and get no links and 6 comments, it’s time to hang it up.

I’m kidding. But only sort of.

UPDATE: I found one link I got, from Kevin Roderick. Thanks, Kevin! You saved me from quitting.

52 Responses to “In Which I Channel Jeff Goldstein”

  1. Look, man. It’s friday. You’re a very prominent blogger. I don’t kiss your ass because I don’t think you want that, but yeah, you’re a badass and I love this blog and it will be a seriously bad thing for the world in general if you hang it up.

    The reason Glenn Reynolds (a great blogger) is the king of this game is because he got lucky early. Your chances of that level of notoriety is simply unattainable by talent alone, so don’t compare yourself to others. For every hundred reader you get, how many comments are left? .5? Links? You know by now that part of the reason the LA Times is vapid is because readers are vapid. It’s inherent in the system that a lot of absolutely crucial stories… stories that influential people will read… aren’t going to get the mass attention, links, etc. that a story that featured Paris Hilton or a kidnapped blonde.

    You aren’t going to live forever. You’re doing god’s work by helping keep me informed and keeping the LA Times and others like them afraid of screwing up.

    You have to have thick skin, man. I’m sure it sucks to not get the recognition you deserve (and you deserve a ton, as one of the best bloggers on the internet without any doubt in my mind), but you have to have thick skin, last forever, and pray for the best.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  2. Does your quitting mean you’re going to form that exploratory committee to run for LACo DA?

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  3. Patterico, your blog is the only real political blog that I venture to on a regular basis. I am not counting the “corporate” blogs in that, but even if I did, I’ve got you bookmarked, others not so much. I honestly don’t know what brought me here to begin with, but it was multiple years ago. Perhaps it was something to do with the last election, such as the swift boats or something else with the L.A. Times…. But you, DRJ, WLS and others do an outstanding, if not impressive job on a constant basis. It would be a shame not to have this site around.

    G (c0157b)

  4. Awww, c’mon Patterico, it’s a Friday, everyone is paying attention to the oil drama in Congress, and even the top dogs like you have days where they get nada, you’re just having one of those days. You just got screwed by bad timing. You talking about the Suge Knight/Chuck Phillips post? I read the whole thing, it’s really interesting.

    doubleplusundead (a0c25c)

  5. I’m quitting eating tofu in protest. Even if you renege, I’m still quitting tofu.

    Kevin (834f0d)

  6. Me, too. Even though I’ve never eaten tofu in my life, I’ll give it up forever if you stick around.

    Drumwaster (5ccf59)

  7. I’m actually a newer reader, I’d read here before, but usually when Ace or HA linked, only about two or three months ago I started reading regularly.

    doubleplusundead (a0c25c)

  8. Seriously though, Pat.
    How many of us really care about what happens in the world of rap? This old Big-Band affectionado could not care less. My attitude, and I think that of quite a few others, was that the rap-world was populated by gangsters, and wanna-be’s. Any violence they suffered was mostly self-inflicted.
    Then, there’s your good bud, Chuck!
    He’s gone, and I’m sure he won’t be missed.
    The only thing left is the complete wasteland known as the LAT; but that is nothing new, and a lot of us out here don’t think anything short of BK is going to change it – and maybe not even that.
    Yes, you did good, original work; it’s just not as compelling as watching a bunch of GOP Congresskritters stumbling around in a dark HofR, cursing the black-heart of the Princess from SanFran.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  9. You almost sent me into cardiac arrest!

    Don’t even think of quitting. Please.

    Bradley J Fikes (0ea407)

  10. I noticed this with Perdigao. I think it takes far more time for original reporting, let alone complicated original reporting, to get noticed. It’s also easier to overlook stories like this when only one source is saying it, especially on a Friday. Paradoxically, it’s easier to get attention when several media or blog sources are discussing the same thing.

    It’s tough for professionals to be on the cutting edge of stories and yet here you are, a blogger, and you frequently have original reporting. It’s hard to believe one person could do what you do.

    DRJ (68f27b)

  11. Another problem is that your guest bloggers make it harder for people to find/notice your posts. At a minimum, I think you should move your posts to the top.

    DRJ (68f27b)

  12. What? You’re quitting?! Don’t even think of it.

    You’re a must-read every day, and your commenters are great.

    Patricia (f56a97)

  13. You don’t have an armadillo.

    Loser.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  14. I’ve never posted here before, but I have to tell you, you have an awesome blog! I wish I would have found your site sooner. I stumbled across here when you had the debate with the L.A. Times blogger, about his declining publication, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Keep up the great work!

    Kirk W. (e8a5f6)

  15. You are the victim of timing my friend.

    About the same time a major issue showed up on the web and LGF thinks they have tracked it down to being issues with any sites using sitemeter and the user using IE7.

    That combo was crashing all around the web, so it may be the culprit behind the slow response to your post.

    I have been fighting the issue all afternoon and early evening today.

    daytrader (ea6549)

  16. IE7 breaks for me here right now but both FireFox and Opera work ok.

    I have places I frequent that only people with browsers other than IE7 can access if sitemeter is present.

    daytrader (ea6549)

  17. Friends don’t let Friends use Internet Explorer.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  18. Thanks, daytrader. I wondered.

    Keep your pecker up, Patterico.

    nk (e8a4f1)

  19. The sad part is that you get several times more comments for threatening to quit blogging than for the original reporting. Not sure I get the Goldstein reference, though. ‘Splain?

    Xrlq (62cad4)

  20. Xrlq,

    It’s a joke I think – I just can’t see Patterico as a backstabbing drama queen. I know he has more class than to pitch any of the fellows who have been helping out under the bus.

    Rick Ballard (0a8990)

  21. Sorry, I had surgery today. Does that help?

    I also have trouble getting to the end of any Chuck Philips related post as I become blinded with fury (not related to the surgery).

    JP (f6ffef)

  22. People, get off IE and onto Firefox!

    Patricia (f56a97)

  23. I think the Jeff Goldstein reference is to this post.

    DRJ (68f27b)

  24. #23, Patricia! I just this minute did that! Internet Explorer would not open Patterico, Althouse, etc, tonight. I ran through a bazillion attempted fixes and nothing worked. Downloaded Firefox and voila!

    Dana (1cc5ab)

  25. Read you every day in Dayton, Ohio. Hang in there…through the election at least.

    Phil Dayton (eb906a)

  26. It’s a problem with blogs that run sitemeter that’s screwing up IE6.0 and 7.0. Read about it over at gateway pundit.

    Patterico, he tells you how to disable sitemeter. Hotair, Ace, Protein Wisdom and a lot of others are still down for that browser.

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  27. I hope you are kidding. I’ve never left a comment before but you are one of the blogs I check several times a day. Hugh Hewitt turned me on to the site. Your insights on Los Angeles and the LA Times are must reads. I loved the comments about the real estate ads the Times has been running. As a fellow Southern Californian (you want real frustration with a left leaning city, try living in Santa Monica) I really appreciate all the local coverage.

    Caroline S. (4e3063)

  28. Patterico, your numbers are wrong, and your math is all mixed up.

    Look at comment #26 – I’d be willing to bet that you have hundreds more readers in Phil’s community than the LA Times does, and think of how much cash they’re dumping into their publication.

    You win, man.
    Remember, quitters never prosper.

    Although it could probably be said that prosperous quitters could have a pretty good time.

    Apogee (366e8b)

  29. Pat

    You may want to disable you counter.js file until the fix at sitemeter gets done.

    daytrader (ea6549)

  30. Rick Ballard, XRLQ,

    Jeff Goldstein blogs at Protein Wisdom, an awesome blog for those who are willing to deal with a lot of long running and obscure jokes.

    A rabidly democrat professor, Deb Frisch, threatened to do some very nasty stuff to Jeff’s daughter, so he famously quit blogging for a while as the restraining order and other behind the scenes details were handled. I imagine Jeff got exhausted blogging for little money and having to guard his children. Blogging is really tough work, practically like an additional job, and the scrutiny can be painful because you aren’t being scrutinized fairly. Blogging is a very personal business, both for the blogger and for the loons (on both sides of the aisle, of course), who are just begging for a molehill to storm.

    I’m sure for Patterico, it’s no fun having a long day at work and knowing he had better come up with a few good posts when he’d rather just eat a burrito and watch TV. And remember that a certain overzealous and unscrupulous attorney recently hassled Patterico for private id information about a commenter here. That kind of thing gets tiresome.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  31. Most of the hyperlinks on my sidebar (Blogger) don’t work with Firefox which why I avoid using it. Does anybody else have that problem? Does Firefox need an extra piece of html code in the Blogger template?

    Patterico’s links here work fine but he’s using WordPress.

    nk (e8a4f1)

  32. I’ve linked you, Patterico. My eight readers will enjoy it.

    nk (e8a4f1)

  33. It’s been pretty amazing to watch over time how Goldstein has become such a public enemy among the loony left. I think it’s because he so regularly eats their lunch when they dare to visit his blog. When I first read it, progtards like Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher made regular appearances to defend themselves. After getting serially pantsed, you never see them any more. They send brain dead drones instead. SEK was in fact recently severely embarrassed there, although he will not admit it.

    Goldtein oftentimes writes very effectively to expose the hypocrisy and vacuity of the left and it earns him their constant enmity. The left resorts to pretending not to understanding his pieces as a defense and calling him a failed academic. When they actually dare to debate, which is very rare, they have a very strong tendency to lose, reinforcing that enmity.

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  34. I am avidly following the Phillips/Wallace story and its many offshoots. Don’t stop, please!

    brobin (c07c20)

  35. People, get off IE and onto Firefox!

    People, get off of Windows and onto Puppy Linux!

    Bradley J Fikes (0ea407)

  36. Hang in there, Patrick. I have a feeling you’ve got a deep file on the Chuck Philips/Suge Knight/David Mack connection and I want to see how it plays out.

    Les Jones (92ceb3)

  37. Please don’t stop blogbing Patterico. If you hang up your keyboard, I’d have neither an archnemesis nor a political reason’d’etre.

    Psyberian (9f6817)

  38. Get off the PC clone and into Macintosh! (For a real change try Unix. 🙂 )

    Oh, and folks, when Pat starts talking about seeing a 600 foot tall Glenn Reynolds and talking with him, and asking for 6 million dollars for a WordPress server farm or Hugh Hewitt will take him away, don’t fall for it. It’s just a 12 foot tall Mythusmage, and Pat only needs 5 bucks to help pay his phone bill.

    Alan Kellogg (9969ce)

  39. Patterico,

    I would hypothesize that original reporting will draw fewer comments than well-known subjects upon which opinion already abounds. This is particularly true when your audience is in general agreement with you overall. There is a sense, imho, of “he’s said it all.”

    But allow me to congratulate you for your original reporting, both on the Suge Knight story and the Kozinski story recently. Most politically-oriented blogging is increasingly oriented to chasing the hour’s top story, rather than contributing something new. I would like to think that wider recognition of such would eventually follow, as it did on the Left with TPM and HuffPo’s Off The Bus project.

    Karl (8ea957)

  40. Good points, Karl, and that’s the case with me. I read Patterico’s posts on Chuck Phillips but I don’t have anything to add because he makes his case.

    DRJ (9d1be2)

  41. By definition, something a blogger is willing to invest lots of time and personal resources investigating is of keen interest to him. And some of those subjects are going to be of equal interest to his readers, which presumably translates into comments, links, and traffic (in some mysterious non-linear relationship).

    But not all subjects are of broad general interest, and not all your readers will share all of your specific ones.

    My advice: Judge your own investigative efforts by your own lights, and continue them if you get a sufficient combination of self-satisfaction and appreciation from others. The only fault I have to find is that I think you may not have given your own sense of achievement enough weight in that calculus on the particular post you’re talking about (which I’m guessing is this one, right?).

    Beldar (a149e5)

  42. Never confuse the number of comments with the number of readers or interested individuals. I for one almost never comment or link to a post unless I have something to say. My not having anything to say is not evidence that anything was wrong with the story.

    Xrlq (62cad4)

  43. As a newbie, I am carving out a niche for obnoxious punnery, questions about arcana, egging on others to fight, and occasional smackdowns of seminar hit-and-run commenters.

    Your post was outstanding, one of the most interesting articles I’ve read on any blog, but it didn’t play to my strengths. IOW, it’s not you, it’s me.

    fat tony (b36a8f)

  44. After reading all the pleas for Patrick Frey to keep blogging despite the lack of linkage I have just this to say; Pat, let the door hit you on the ass you leave. The resulting yelp should be entertaining.

    People don’t link to you, poor baby. Maybe if you wrote something worth linking to people would put forth the effort. I mean, the LA Dog Trainer we all know about, it’s gotten old. Give us a reason to care about the idiocy of a dottering old biddy with the insight of an Amway Rep.

    I’m not asking for fresh topics. Fresh insights on old topics would suit me fine. Maybe some solutions or proposals leading to same. Ideas for stomping down on bad lawyers would be nice. Or ways to effectively represent your case in a court of law.

    Actually being funny would be a big help.

    But can we expect any better from a man who has bought his own propaganda, and seeks to become an exaggeration of himself? I mean, who died and made you Glenn Greenwald? Besides, I bought the franchise last week and I’ve got the receipt to prove it.

    Start producing content of substance and make it interesting, instead of living off your inflated reputation. And one more thing, you troll like a girly man.

    Alan Kellogg (db7b61)

  45. Alan – That’s not a pathetic plea for traffic along with your dig at Patrick, is it?

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  46. Never confuse the number of comments with the number of readers or interested individuals.
    Comment by Xrlq — 8/2/2008 @ 2:08 pm

    Ditto this remark. Page views/sitemeter info seems to be a better gauge, no? Lotsa people read stuff but don’t comment, I think.

    no one you know (1ebbb1)

  47. “But can we expect any better from a man who has bought his own propaganda, and seeks to become an exaggeration of himself? I mean, who died and made you Glenn Greenwald?”

    Greenwald is SO yesterday. Better to ask who died and made him Senator Obama.

    (I have no idea if Alan Kellogg is joking. To be clear, I am. Patterico is no Barack Obama.)

    fat tony (b36a8f)

  48. I sure hope Alan was trying to be funny … because it mostly is hilarious.

    If he was trying to be serious … not so much.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  49. daleyrocks, #46

    Actually it’s pathetic dig at Patrick along with a plea for traffic.

    Alan Kellogg (65f52c)

  50. Are you and William Patry channeling each other?
    http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2008/08/end-of-blog.html

    Ira (28a423)

  51. Are you and William Patry channeling each other?
    http://williampatry.blogspot.com/2008/08/end-of-blog.html

    Ira (28a423)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0836 secs.