Thursday, May 13, 2010

Here's Five Years I'll Never Get Back

Today marks the fifth anniversary of this blog. Normally, I don't go in for this sort of crap, but I figured five years is a milestone (or is that millstone?), what the hey?
Back when I started blogging, Fox News actually claimed to be fair and balanced. Most Americans still trusted the president and supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This blog was started in opposition to the many wars the Bush administration had begun, and to the ones that loomed in the distance. The first post pondered the lies that administration might possibly use to get the American people to back another unilateral war of conquest, this time in Iran. Although we may have switched presidential administrations, lies are still being used to brainwash the people into supporting another war it cannot afford. And, of course, the compliant corporate media is investigating none of these claims, just like they never followed through too much on Plamegate, or the Downing Street Memos, two hard pieces of evidence of a conspiracy within the Bush administration to break the law in order to start an illegal invasion of a country, like Iran, that is not a national security threat.
Back then, there was a sense of camaraderie and community; we were all traitors together. Trolls would stop by more frequently and accuse us of being terrorist sympathizers, make vague threats against us, and vainly try to defend the actions of their revered president. Most of them such as Lily, my blog partner at Lose the Noose (though we do still keep in touch), my partner at American Insurgency Ron Nasty, who may or may not be lost in the woods, or having another extended stay in rehab, Neil Shakespeare, one of the best, along with Rex Kramer at Spurious George and Peacechick Mary at Knock Knock have moved on. Others too, have neglected their blogs, or simply gone away as well, just like the Bush administration.
Back when I started, protest rallies were roundly ignored by the news media, and war protesters were relegated to free speech zones. Now, even smaller gatherings of Tea Party protesters capture the media's attention, and in some cases are even stage managed by news producers. Bush derangement syndrome has been replaced by Birthers, Condi Rice has been replaced by Hillary Clinton and Afghanistan is being replaced by Pakistan Through it all, I have had three system crashes and replaced one mother board. And while I may not get around as much as I used to, as it takes a while to recover all the links I previously have had bookmarked, I do occasionally make it around, to those of you who still are out there. And I'll still be here, sporadically as usual, always surfing the 'Net for something to piss me off enough to write a rant, and actually finish it.

6 comments:

Tom Harper said...

Happy Anniversary.

Nice trip down memory lane. I started blogging in October '04, just in time to do a few posts begging and pleading for Americans to vote out that incompetent dysfunctional excuse for a president.

Five years later, even the trolls take on a nostalgic glow. I don't know if you remember Republican Vet; I had my comments section turned off for about 4 months because I was tired of him spamming my site. One morning I checked my blog and he'd left the same obscene comment (complete with a gay porn picture) 40 times. That was the last straw. I disabled the comments until I learned about comment moderation 4 months later.

It's sort of funny in retrospect, but I sure wasn't laughing then.

Lew Scannon said...

Tom,
Yeah, I think I know that guy, or someone like him.
It took me a while to learn things as well. Until I "discovered" copy and paste, I would write links down in a notebook, and then type them into my post.

mandt said...

Congrats!!!!

Old Lily!!! said...

Wow. Five years?

Yes, people have moved on and shifted energy... others I guess just got tired of writing about things, I don't know. There is still a war going on, the deficit is still mounting- but it seems like people have gotten quiet on all fronts mostly.

Hey, I guess we go back now, huh?

Lew Scannon said...

mandt,
thank you very much
"Old" Lily,
For me, trying to maintain a constant sense of outrage can becoming fatiguing, as it really hasn't accomplished much. And yes, the people who made the most noise about the deficits and war are now silent on these issues now that their man is in the WH.
Yes, we do go back, and if you dare to venture back to H&S, it's there, preserved for posterity.

libhom said...

Wow, you started right after I did. Congrats on your persistence.

Tom: I am so curious about the gay porn picture, lol.