Left Turn @ Americablog?

FROTH ON THE RIGHT BLOGOSPHERE today when AmericaBlog's "John in DC" woke up to discover that somebody had paid attention to him. The somebody's in this case were the folks at Pajamas Media who thought, for a regrettable instant, that "John in DC" had something worthwhile to say about privacy in America. [ Pajamas Posting Here which only quotes the lead of AmericaBlog Posting Here

Proving that no good dead goes unpunished, "John in DC," oblivious to the Doctrine of Fair Use, evidently decided that he "is the Decider who gets to decide" what is quoted where and when on the Blogosphere. His "argument," if one can catagorize it as such goes like this:

Seriously, I never gave anyone permission to post as me on any other site. That's clearly the impression they're giving by the way they've set up their blog posts - it's intended to look like John Aravosis is a blogger at Pajamas Media. (And I understand that they've done this to at least two other liberal bloggers.) This is incredibly sleazy, and illegal. And it had better stop immediately.

This is so drenched in bluster, error, and misplaced self-regard it is difficult to know where to begin. First of all, nobody needs permission to quote another site within the rather large limits established by the Doctrine of Fair Use. Second, the bloggers who are part of the Pajamas network are clearly listed and clearly visible on the left side of all pages in the Pajamas Network. Thirdly, nobody with a mind higher on the evolutionary scale that raw brain stem would ever suspect that Americablog could be a Pajamas affiliate since the quality of even the rants does not rise to the level of acceptibility. Fourth, only a ninny could construe a link and a quote on Pajamas to mean the person linked and quoted was part of the network. Directly below the Pajamas item, I find that Americablog has linked to, and quoted extensively from, USA Today. Does this mean I think that "John in DC" is part of USA Today? Nope. I'm not that dense. Density of this kind, for today at least, seems reserved for the frothying "John in DC" at Americablog.

To us, his response to a common link and a common quote seems to be an awful lot like the last thought that goes through the mind of a bug just before the windshield.

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Posted by Vanderleun at May 12, 2006 02:51 PM | TrackBack