Blogging Doonesbury

I like “Doonesbury”. Reading it is part of my morning routine: 20 years ago, I read it in the morning paper, today it is a link on my portal page. Garry Trudeau is of our generation, a boomer who grew up during the cold-war ‘50s, college in the ‘60s, the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon. He has parodied and pilloried scores of politicians, hippies, cult figures and entertainment icons. The social critic and commentator, in four boxes every day and eight every Sunday.

I usually agree with his sentiments. But recently, he has begun ridiculing bloggers. He does it with more than just a quiet smile or laugh; the tone is outright sarcastic. Certainly, of the millions of electronic journals being thrown into the ether, many are rife with empty vitriole, rants, and silly tripe. But many people are simply writing as a way to communicate, or to connect with friends and family, or simply because they know they have a small readership. We are not all journalists, and very few are striving to meet such standards.

Let a million flowers bloom; some of it actually might be good writing.