I watched the president give his State of the Union pep rally speech on television a little while ago, but I had to turn it off to go do something important, like open a beer or put a log on the fire (I think it was both) since it’s about -30 degrees F - I can’t find the little degree symbol on the keyboard. I am one of the increduluous other half that can’t believe he got elected. Since the election I’ve been paying more attention to political commentary. But it’s hard to find a source with a point of view that doesn’t seem like another mouthpiece for the administration. The best example of blatant political propaganda comes from the recent scandal in which Armstrong Williams was discovered to have been paid over two hundred thousand dollars to promote the No Child Left Behind Act. It wouldn’t have been news, except that Williams was posing as a journalist. Even though everyone involved is sorry and outraged and behaving properly sobered, I have to wonder how much more of this rot goes on all the time. I also wonder if there may be money out there for me to prostitute myself and sell somebody’s line of crap if I ever find myself high enough up in the food chain that anyone would care what I think.

For those of us who wonder about what the Bush crowd might be up to when nobody is looking, it’s great to find critics of the administration publishing on the web. Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall is a good starting point. Marshall is a professional writer. He writes for The Washington Monthly and a bunch of other political media sources. His blog’s first post is from November 2000, and he has maintained a steady focus on Bush throughout his tenure as president. The blog is totally monotonous, since it’s focus is so narrow. But if you want to know about what’s going on in DC, it’s a good place to look.

I think this blog exemplifies the enormous power of bloggers to subvert big media outlets. There’s something for everyone, and lots to choose from.