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September 06, 2007BELTWAY BLOGROLL
Political Bloggers Are Stay-At-Home Ignoramuses
So said Richard Cohen of The Washington Post in a cheapshot, throwaway line in his lame attempt at satire this week. Most political bloggers never leave the country, he said, and they are so stupid that all they read are "Harry Potter" books.
The column has generated a smattering of well-deserved derision and ridicule from the likes of Matthew Yglesias, Blog P.I., Daily Kos and Eschaton. I thought I'd join the party, playing off Kos' post about his travels by taking polls about bloggers' travel and reading habits.
First, here's the scoop on me: As I said in a post last month, I'm not a big fan of books in general and especially not fiction, but I probably read two to three books a year. I also don't travel outside the country much -- though more for budgetary reasons than a lack of desire (overseas trips with a wife and three children are a bit pricey).
My world travels thus far have been limited to Guatemala for three adoptions (1999, 2002 and 2005), to Russia on a religious mission (2004), and if travel to our northern neighbor counts, to Canada for an editorial writers' convention (1998). Where would I go if I could afford it? Australia, China and Japan for starters.
As for "Harry Potter" books, I haven't read any of them, but my mother is a huge fan and I bought her a Russian version of one of the books when I visited there. (No, she doesn't speak Russian, but the book is a conversation piece of sorts because folks want to know why a retired nurse in West Virginia has a "Harry Potter" book in Russian.) And I've seen all of the "Harry Potter" movies, usually on DVD but a couple of them in the theater. I just watched the most recent one while on vacation last week.
Now it's time for a poll of political bloggers and their readers. Go to the extended entry to share details about your travels, your book-reading habits and even your passion for Harry Potter.
Posted by Danny | 09:31 AM
Comments
All I can say to this is, what a stupid characterization. Not only have I traveled abroad extensively (by the end of next week, to five continents), I've lived abroad (as most people know). I have never read Harry Potter and have no interest in it, to boot. And I'm guessing I'm not even close to alone in any of this.
Liz Mair | 09.06.07 05:48 PM
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