Jan 292007
 

The Bannerman scans a few blog sites……very few, reader……by RSS reader. One of those few being Clubtroppo. Both in this incarnation and in a previous one, the troppodillian attraction for the B-man has been a tad stronger than some other Aussie blogs.

Whether this was because of finding Chris Sheil through Troppo Armadillo, or because of a fascination with the acerbic style of the site owner & creator in his self-promotion and stand as a self-declared political ‘centrist’, remains a mystery.

The denizens of Clubtroppo in its current incarnation deserve some recognition for the raising of the standards of what had the potential in Bannerman’s own former incarnation, of being somewhat of a force for blogging in this country. Potential can be many things to many people, however it’s pleasing to note that not only has the authorship of the troppo collective expanded in number, it has also expanded in quality, which is very attractive to a long time blog watcher.

One minor complaint though and this goes to Mr Parish. Bannerman notes, Mr Parish, that you’ve linked to his poor efforts at blogging, categorising those efforts as “Centrist”. Now, Bannerman understands your efforts in wishing to recruit for the cause, however you should note that Bannerman prefers to align himself with the ‘Center-Left’ political ideal. Now, this is not a claim to elitism, any more than claiming to be pure centrist is, but seriously, Mr Parish, even your own meme score of Political – 13.5%; Economic – 37.8%; Social – 41.4% and Traditional – -50.7% clearly indicate a leaning, and somewhat more than moderately, to the ‘right’ side of the ledger than the ‘left’. Bannerman’s own scores are all clearly in the negative, which has none of the associated connotations by the way, but according to Brian Palmer’s own ethos, Bannerman is clearly ‘leftish’ and Mr Parish is clearly ‘rightish’.

Bannerman wishes to draw Mr Parish’s attention to this matter purely from the perspective of presentation. He notes that Clubtroppo, in it’s blogroll of ‘left’, ‘right’, ‘hi-diddle-diddle’ bloggers, Bannerman ranks with the ‘Centrists’! He is amused, in more ways than the usual, but wishes to point out that the term ‘Centrist’ indicates “of the centre” or “middle-of-the-road”. Neither Bannerman nor Mr Parish can logically claim that position. Each blog noted in that listing, some of which Bannerman actually reads (hello Flute!), are clearly anything but ‘centrist’ in their political views.

Which brings Bannerman to the crux of this issue, being the absolute and utter nonsense portrayed within the ‘sphere of this ‘left’ –v– ‘right’ battle which, to some proponents, is an ongoing war of right against wrong. If the reader can advise which is which, B-man would be most appreciative, but he suspects – nay, KNOWS, than no such definition will ever be forthcoming with any smattering of validity. All of this fondling of the tender parts of our political genitalia seems to be unique to blogging. We pretend to be one or the other to varying degrees without any real acknowledgement of what we really are. Much like having a premature ejaculation problem or impotence, we claim much, but perform little. Bannerman would much prefer to be known for what he has always declared himself to be. Socialist. In fact, a Social Democrat. The greatest good for the greatest number, and all that stuff.

So, Mr Parish, have a care with how you label bloggers. You’re offending more than you may suspect you’re praising.

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