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The Original Blogfather
R. Alex Whitlock
Never let it be said that Lex is a
butt-kisser:
As I've mentioned before, I don't link to Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds. As I might or might not have mentioned before, one of the many reasons I don't link to him is that I think he's dumber than a box of rocks.
I used to really like Instapundit. He's still a very valuable source of a wide variety of links, but I tend to bypass his commentary. There's only so many ways one can say the same thing over and over and over again, but Reynolds does so tirelessly. I'm not knocking him personally, heaven knows if I blogged as much as he did I would run out of fresh opinions after a year or two. In fact, one of the reasons I don't blog as much on political matters these days is that I said most of what I have to say my first eight months or so and if I continued I'd be reduced to saying "Hey! Look how I can repeat the same opinion 100,000 different ways!" or "Lookit whatta
fickle independent thinker I am by holding all these ecclectic opinions!"
It makes me wonder how long I'm actually going to be doing this. I've used up most of my political fodder, I haven't much relationship fodder left to use, am increasingly wary of biographical posts, and am aware that few of my readers give even a rat's patoot about Conference USA. Of course, I never let having nothing to say stop me from talking, so who knows? Hopefully I'll find some sort of balance. I find that the longer I'm reading blogs, the one I appreciate the most talk about a wide variety of things.
Observations
Goodness knows, I think Reynolds is wrong on a lot of things, and I think he brings to bear a narrow, legal-positivist view on most matters (as opposed to a broader political-philosophical perspective based upon an understanding of natural right and a non-lawyer's view of the American Founding -- gee, I wonder where my own biases are?). But dumber than a box of rocks?
Come on, now.
This is a guy who's a law professor at a major university (not an easy gig to get), who's been a successful lawyer, who publishes a LOT of academic work, who blogs like a fiend, and who finds time to pursue "hobbies" like Scuba and music recording/engineering (not uncomplicated hobbies). This is not a dumb guy. Most of us should be so dumb!
Now, I don't like his pith on a lot of matters, I don't like his perspective on a lot of matters, and I don't link him on PubliusTX or Reductio because I prefer more depth of commentary and a different perspective (Brothers Judd to me is the best political/cultural blog going). But dumb? Glenn Reynolds is not dumb.
I'm enormously impressed by Reynolds sheer energy, whether it's his academic work, blogging, or the various other hobbies. He reminds me of a superhero from comic books who can fight crime, hold a 9-5 job, and have a love life all at once. When do they sleep?
I think it's the lack of depth that makes Reynolds often come across as incindiary, radical, and contradictory. The more he talks, the more reasonable he sounds and the more he makes sense (even if you don't agree). Since he keeps his blog posts short, I mostly just cruise around there for the links.
Indeed. Largely why I'm enjoying yours, in fact.
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