February 27, 2007

Blogger Spotlight: Not Very Bright

The Blogometer would like to thank everyone who has participated and will participate in blogger spotlights, but today we give special thanks to anonymous blogger Not Very Bright for his/her earnest effort in answering our standard slate of questions. We hope to see more of you around.

What is your full name?

I've chosen to blog anonymously to this point, having told no one in the real world of my blog, and (with one exception) no one in the blog world of my identity. It's not that I'm some famous guy, or that my identity even matters. It's just that anonymity has allowed me a bit more freedom to write .

How old are you?

Under 45.

What’s your hometown?

Columbia, SC

Where do you live now?

Columbia, SC

What is your educational background?

One post-graduate degree.

What is your occupation?

Not telling. It's not politics or journalism.

When did you first get involved in politics and why?

It depends on what you mean by "involved in politics." I've never worked for a campaign, and if I am remembering correctly, I have had one political bumper sticker on my vehicle in my life. So I am probably not the typical blogger who enjoys the game of politics and has worked for various campaigns and/or elected officials.

Having said that, I'm fascinated by certain angles of politics. The confluence of religion and politics, for example. And I'm always interested in what is actually motivating us in the political choices we make. It's often not what it appears, even to the voter himself or herself.

With limited exceptions, the local media seems more concerned with fitting in to the community than with providing a check on government action. The State Newspaper and WIS-TV, for example, are more about being our neighbors than asking any really hard questions. This is one (although only one) of the reasons we end up with political leaders who don't serve us very well.

In the State House, they're too busy debating banning sex toys, or getting the Ten Commandments posted in schools, to choose two examples, to focus on the real issues facing this state. Blogs, it seemed to me, could help correct this.

But I'm not naive about the ultimate influence of blogs, which is, of course, only slight.

When did you start blogging and why?

I began blogging January 9, 2006. The first location of the blog was http://not-very-bright.blogspot.com. I moved to the Wordpress domain in March. The explanation for my starting the blog can be found in my first entry: http://not-very-bright.blogspot.com/2006/01/beginnings.html.

There's a statistic somewhere that says 94% of all new blogs are abandoned within three months. Not really. I made that up. To make a point.

And that point is that people who write blogs make things up. No, wait. That wasn't the point. The point was that there really is not a good reason for me to be doing this. I mean, I'm a busy guy. Or girl. And take a look at the other South Carolina blogs. I don't mean the ones that talk about her latest knitting pattern or tell that fascinating story about how the setting on the toaster somehow was too dark and so the toast was a little crispier than he liked it. Not those.

I mean the ones that talk about political issues in this state. Let's see how to say this nicely. It's a small club. It's like junior high, when there was an in-crowd. Only these people weren't it. You follow me? I know, I don't really follow myself sometimes.

But here's the thing: I want to believe. I want to think that somehow expressing opinions about the issues of the day matters. And I think those other bloggers do too. That's why I like them. I mean, I wouldn't want to have them over for dinner or anything, but I like the fact that they care.

Some of those other blogs write about legislators the way my sister used to write about Donny Osmond thirty-five years ago. That's not me. I'm not going to be able to express an opinion about who the best-looking legislators are because, well, heck, I can't even identify the ugly ones.

But I'm fed up in a Howard Beale sorta way. And I'm tired of explaining to my friends in other places that yes, we (choose one) 1. Have a Confederate flag flying in front of the statehouse; 2. Had a government official convicted of some scheme relating to (gulp) cock-fighting; 3. Continue to elect - damn, there's no thesaurus in blogger to plug the word "clown" into - OK, never mind, I will come back to this one.

I dunno. I figure there are enough readers to go around. Some of those entries have not two but three - count 'em - comments. There's clearly an audience for this stuff.

Anyway, you get the idea. One stop shopping. Or reading. Or something. Come here and have your worst fears confirmed AND have a good laugh.

How are blogs changing politics in your state?

My guess is they aren't. I do not overestimate the impact of bloggers on a day to day basis. The general electorate doesn't even know what a blog is, much less read one. But there's always hope.

Posted by Conn Carroll at February 27, 2007 12:44 PM