Think Progress

George Will on Bloggers: Busy ‘Writing Their Diaries As Though Everyone Ought to Care’»

Time Magazine named “You” — the consumers of blogs and sites like YouTube and MySpace — as its “Person of the Year.”

Today on ABC’s This Week, conservative columnist George Will mocked Time’s choice and blogging generally. “It’s about narcissism,” Will said. “So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean, it’s extraordinary.”

Watch it:

Screenshot

Will didn’t mention whether he believes writing columns for the Washington Post each week and appearing every Sunday on national television is a sign of “narcissism.”

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Full transcript:

RICHARD STENGEL, TIME MAGAZINE: This is about a change that really has happened this year that I think is truly epical, and this is the fact that, the creation of user-generated content, online, on blogging and every which way is kind of changing the information age. It’s changing the way we get and consume news. It’s changing the way we think about things. In fact, it’s changing everything for people like us who are in traditional media because all of us have changed the way we consume news and it’s about people becoming citizens of this great new global digital democracy.

STEPHANOLOPOUS: But I was reading something just the other day that said still, only, what is it, 13 percent or even fewer of americans even read a blog every day.

STENGEL: It’s not just about blogging, it’s about YouTube, it’s about MySpace. I mean, look at how, you go back to –

WILL: It’s about narcissism, which is why a mirror is absolutely perfect. So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean it’s extraordinary.




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152 Responses to “George Will on Bloggers: Busy ‘Writing Their Diaries As Though Everyone Ought to Care’”


  1. Perry Logan Says:

    Keep in mind, George Will voted twice for The Worst President Everâ„¢.


  2. JerryTheAngel Says:

    Hey George Will and your desire to have your mug in front of the camera every Sunday for years, spewing your Conserative nonsense is not narcissistic? That’s the pot calling the kettle black.


  3. eddienic Says:

    bite me will


  4. cynicalgirl Says:

    Isn’t that why Tom Delay started a blog?


  5. unbelievable Says:

    Well, that didn’t take very long…

    Has it even been an hour since I said that people like George Will would spout like the sore losers that they are?

    Besides, really, how is blogging any different than what he does for a living? If he thought about what he was whining about, he’d realize that he’s bitching about the very thing he himself does. Is he saying we shouldn’t care about what he has to say either?


  6. AshenShard Says:

    It seems conservatives like George Will are crapping themselves over the blogosphere … not only is it a place where progressive minded people can discuss events and share their opinions … its a place where conservative not jobs come out of the woodwork and show the true ugliness of the Republican Party and neoconservatives.


  7. Marie Says:

    Will can’t accept that others have viable opinions other than his own.
    He sneers at bloggers, opposing columnists, and anyone who disagrees with him - even if he himself later changes his own mind. He is the narcissist who feels he is losing some of his influence, therefore is becoming less important.
    He would do better analyzing baseball.


  8. Zooey Says:

    I detect sour grapes, Mr Will.

    Oh…..your mama dresses you funny.


  9. Freedom Hater Says:

    He must not use The Internets Tubes much.


  10. Zooey Says:

    George Will blog in 3…2…1…


  11. unbelievable Says:

    It seems conservatives like George Will are crapping themselves over the blogosphere …
    Comment by AshenShard — December 17, 2006 @ 1:06 pm

    Remember when actors were doing the same about ‘reality tv’? Or now that the Milk Industry is trying to slam soy products such as soy milk?

    Same premise…

    Can’t beat the competition? Make strawmen effigies of them and attack!


  12. pgw Says:

    he sounds like he’s auditioning for the part of ‘p.c.’ played by John Hodgman in those mac commercials


  13. Kevin Good Says:

    It’s not about you it’s about me and my shrinking number of news paper readers’.
    George Will


  14. Shamika Says:

    Caption Contest:

    GREASER.


  15. DrSinker Says:

    It was fun to watch Will just squirming in his seat. He’s clearly perturbed by the extent of attention blogs get.

    Yeah, I think there’s a good chance his paycheck has sufferred of late. Good.


  16. Anon in PA Says:

    George Will is a smarmy, bed-wetting asshole.


  17. Anon in PA Says:

    If he can’t control the flow of information himself, he doesn’t want there to be a flow of information at all.


  18. the fly-man Says:

    Sure it’s narcissistic, but doesn’t George get the free market side of it all. The diaries and opinions are FREE. I think he’s more concerned about job security than poor opinions. Hi five to Payson. Your comment was dead on and all I can say is OUCH!


  19. steve_e Says:

    Will: Bloggers should just shut up and accept my expert sophistry. They have no right to challenge me. *Hurumph*

    Will’s confidence is phony. He’s not in control right now.


  20. Jim Says:

    George Will apparently believes that only those who have an M.A. from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in political science from Princeton University are qualified to share their political opinions publicly. Unfortunately, Will has shown himself uniquely skilled at being wrong on nearly every major political issue.


  21. zmark Says:

    That reminds me I forgot to blog in my diary today.


  22. Republicans Are The Fear And Smear Party Says:

    Yes, George, blogging is “extraordinary”…unlike you.


  23. unbelievable Says:

    Unfortunately, Will has shown himself uniquely skilled at being wrong on nearly every major political issue.
    Comment by Jim — December 17, 2006 @ 1:51 pm

    Exactly why he’s been dumped for the blogosphere…


  24. Sam Thornton Says:

    Nominate George Will for an appearance on the Tucker Hurlsome Show


  25. Keone Michaels Says:

    Mr. Will is the little twerp that never was asked to be a part of the team, but loves to talk about baseball as if it proves he is a “regular guy.”

    His geekiness, his twerpism, is all a part of his presentation. Nobody really cares what he thinks. He is just another nacissistic media clown with all his weaknessess and prententions on the surface, a part of who he is.


  26. Jason M. Hendler Says:

    Indeed, the narcism of the mainstream media can’t stand the attention taken away, by, of all things, the common man.


  27. GSD Says:

    Maybe Hustler Magazine can name George Will “asshole of the month”.

    -GSD


  28. Grey Eagle Says:

    Fool , he does not get it . Time has passed him by , he’s become irelevent and does not know it . If he had taken his profession more seriously and challenged this administration instead of parroting it , his audience would take him more seriously.


  29. SouthWest Bob Says:

    What is pissing george off is the fact that his crap is being contradicted and marginalized by bloggers faster than he can spew it out. He’s part of the “old” media and he hates that he can no longer toss out his BS and then act like his opinion is the only one that counts. It must be awful to have a democracy where “ordinary” folks can call BS what it really is in real time!


  30. Jim Says:

    #29: If he had taken his profession more seriously and challenged this administration instead of parroting it , his audience would take him more seriously.

    I basically agree, although Will has been better than some conservative pundits. He was critical of the Harriet Miers appointment and the Bush administration’s rosy presentations of the situation in Iraq. Nevertheless, you’re basically right–most of the time he has his head wedged as far up his ass as it will go.


  31. BearCountry Says:

    I read some george will columns years ago. I realized that he was just a narcissistic rightwingnut and stopped reading him. In fact, I could never understand why this sleazy guy (getting Jimmy Carter’s briefing book and using it to prep ronnie raygun, then praising raygun’s “superb performance”) was someone to be respected for his insights. From all that I have heard, he is always wrong.

    I wonder if the “irreverent outsider,” david broder, is going to make a comment or if he feels that he has completely stopped the bloggers with his incisive points.


  32. Vinilo Suave Says:

    Anon in PA (#17): You seem to have restrained yourself. Try letting go just this once, for I do think you have the right attitude.


  33. alp3 Says:

    One has to wonder, how many times some busboy has
    taken a leak in George’s soup.


  34. Hardy Haberman Says:

    This coming from a narcissistic political hack like Will. George, you do the same thing as bloggers, except that you do it on network TV. Wake the f**k up!


  35. Hector Garcia Says:

    The blogosphere challenges the political influence of columnists and/or pseudoexperts like George Will, and they don`t feel confortable with that.

    They still want to treat voters and citizens like a pastor sermoning anyone every sunday.But that is no longer possible since bloggers are not a passive force in the blogosphere, but an active force.


  36. John the Elder Says:

    With the likes of Newt…”curtail free speech” and Will the narcissist extrordinare who needs enemies? These two clods should be banned from the planet. They are resident Talibans. I never read Will he has nothing to say but blah, blah, blah.


  37. Nova16 Says:

    The internet and blogging have become a useful tool for the citizens of the country to express views and opinions on a wide range of issues impacting their lives. This elitist, biased right wing hack is now harping because he now realizes that the American people have a voice and an instrument and can be just as influential in matters that were once a prerogative of the media. Instead of just reading his biased writing and throwing the paper into the trash, we can now have an instant method for quick rebuke of his reactionary babblings and writing.


  38. unbelievable Says:

    Indeed, the narcism of the mainstream media can’t stand the attention taken away, by, of all things, the common man.
    Comment by Jason M. Hendler — December 17, 2006 @ 1:59 pm

    So what’s the deal Jaosn? You can’t beat us, so now you’ll suck up and pretend to have joined us? Come on, we’re smarter than that…


  39. jaywillie Says:

    Ha…ha…ha…George Will his so funny.

    It’s called sharing the human experience, George.

    What’s really funny is that George Will thinks anyone gives a shit what his opinion is.


  40. Wayne Turner Says:

    Although anybody can recognize Will for what he is, his attack nonetheless seems linked to McCain’s proposed restrictions on blogs. Maybe the right is gearing up for a full-scale assault on Internet speech before the 2008 elections. If they can ram through media consolidation and get a few convenient laws passed that can be exploited to suppress progressive dissent, they have a much better chance in ‘08


  41. richb Says:

    It’s too important for all citizens to finally have a voice for expression, the likes of Will can’t reign in.

    we are all better served if diverse opinions are out there and I don’t think the genie will go back into the bottle the way Will and others want it too, so only ‘their informed’ opinions matter….the citizen journalist is a movement who’s time has come and I welcome it.


  42. unbelievable Says:

    Basically the Oligarchy is just pissed off that they are the ones who now must eat cake…

    Power to the People!


  43. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    will will will, you haven’t been remotely relevant for thirty years, you little bow-tied bastard…


  44. GSD Says:

    Oh yeah, I also nominate George Will for Douchebag of the Day.

    -GSD


  45. Mechanism Alley » Blog Archive » Dinosaurs with Bow Ties Says:

    […] Says George Will: So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean it’s extraordinary. […]


  46. Vance Says:

    Me thinks that the generation that spawned the likes of lil will are now realizing that we dont have much use for them or thier outdated ways. Boo Hoo mr.will, you and your ilk are now the Model T’s of America.


  47. croc Says:

    whatever your opinion of g. will is, you must admit he has a point.

    “everybody” is not a good selection for ‘person of the year’.

    it’s downright gay. come on, time editors. nut up and pick an individual.

    ps - he’s also right about the narcissism of blogging and myspace. “look at friends! i have so many! look at my favorite music! i love art!” really, nobody cares at all.


  48. Zooey Says:

    Oh yeah, I also nominate George Will for Douchebag of the Day.
    -GSD

    Now he can feel special.


  49. norbizness Says:

    bowtiesareawesome.blogspot.com … still available!


  50. loretta Says:

    what a moron. I don’t know about all of you other folks who post and share opinions, but it is just nice to see that the country, as of November 7th, is headed OUT OF CRAZYVILLE. Still can’t watch most “news” programs, as the “journalists” are so busy spinning for GW I feel like I’m at a textile convention.
    Maybe he just feels threatened by the public reading real news and recognizing that when he speaks (or writes) we are recognizing his ass.


  51. WWB Says:

    “Will didn’t mention whether he believes writing columns for the Washington Post each week and appearing every Sunday on national television is a sign of “narcissism.””

    Uh… it’s his job. Why is that narcissism?


  52. ItsJustKarma Says:

    That’s the problem right there. It is always the abuser who complains and gets really angry if you don’t allow him to abuse you.
    It’s the narcistic ones who complain about others not sharing their mentally deluded point of view.
    I’s once again the incapability of the American people not to be able to siphon the trash out those miserable excuses for humans come up with. It’s all crap whether it is spilled out here by ‘trolls’ or on Focks TV or on radio. It’s the same sick
    mainstream mindset that got us into this war in the first place.


  53. Nano Says:

    “It’s about narcissism,” Will said. “And I know more about narcissism than anyone.”


  54. Derffie Says:

    not to pile on.. but he REALLY has been wrong on every issue he ever commented on… you’d think he would develop that sense of responsibility he’s always preaching to everyone else and just shut up and go away… since he won’t… then he’ll just be ignored into oblivion.. and of course that just terrifies him… consider.. everyone else in the world is Times person if the year.. about as clear a repudiation of his significance as there ever could be =)


  55. Jaded Prole Says:

    George Will knows narcissism!


  56. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    you know had this bow-tied assclown did not cut his teeth defending nixon during the impeachment on abc, he would be selling shoes at a mall in connecticut… it simply astounds me how ungrateful a truly untalented, aged, always wrong talking-head can be towards those with more talent and more insight than he has ever had.

    he is merely yesterday’s nancy grace, ann coulter, and greta van sustren who having been on television 30 hours a day during oj, found themselves with network jobs, even though none of them deserve it.


  57. GSD Says:

    Oh yeah, late breaking news. George Will has been nominated “Pudwipe of the Hour” in my own little narcissitic world.

    -GSD


  58. Jim Says:

    #50: In some way I think you’re responding to my post, since you mention me by name, but I can’t make any sense at all of yours. Maybe I’m just being narcissistic.


  59. GSD Says:

    Breaking News: George Will and George W. Bush are both vying for the top spot on the “Dickcheese of the New Millenium” award.

    Vote now.

    -GSD



  60. nelson muntz Says:

    shorter george will:

    “i’m on teevee, and you’re not! so neener neener! pffllssspp!”


  61. WWB Says:

    Thanks for the link, Joe… I think. The better link is to my full post today, showing the two side by side.

    And for the record, there’s nothing ideological about Time’s pick. Predictable, yes. Left-wing, no. I’m not a big fan of Google News’ source selection myself (I think this is what you’re referring to) but why Time would care to legitimize it, and why YouTube would need Time to legitimize it… I don’t follow you there.


  62. veritas Says:

    This guy’s a fake - always has been/always will be. He’s the personification of the overblown and “fake” MSM - he’s a sycophantic media whore of the first magnitude.


  63. veritas Says:

    Get this nerd off the television! Yuck!


  64. HeartlandLiberal Says:

    Meanwhile, Bloggers on George Will: Busy ‘Writing his Columns As Though Everyone Ought to Care’ pretty much sums it up as far as I am concerned.

    This man is a pathetic little pr*&^ of a psuedo intellectual right wing fruitcake. He has consistently been wrong on every major issue and crisis of the past decade. Why should ANYONE give on single red hot damn what he thinks or says?


  65. Jeffrey Stewart Says:

    That is exactly how this style-challenged nerdlinger has made a living all of these years: Right wingnuts caring about his inner termoils.

    Second, he argues against a straw man since that isn’t what blogs are about.

    Third, Tucker Carlson and Sam Seder came to their senses and abandoned the bow tie. It is time for Mr. Will to do the same.


  66. Jason Baddo Says:

    Will is a has- been elitist. This jerk always gave the impression he was -smarter than the rest of us then along came the internet….Maybe he will be out of job soon!!


  67. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    this is off-topic, but, i think this idiot has been given enough of our collective braincells…

    so, i will ask this: is it wrong for me to not give two shiites about these mountain climbers that got lost? i mean, did i ask them to do it? who pays for all the rescue? what if someone dies trying to rescue them? this is the same sort of nonsense that that virgin airlines owner does when he tries to fly his balloon across the face of the earth and then fails… they chose to go, they knew the risks…

    signed,

    don’t risk your life unless you are willing to pay the price in the midwest


  68. jillian Says:

    What a marooon. They’re shaking in their boots that the hoi polloi are tired of the lying stench they’ve been feeding us on the TV for years.

    Hey, Georgie…your 15 minutes are up. Get over it.


  69. veritas Says:

    Nice tie, Georgie-Poo. Did you mommy buy it for you thirty years ago?


  70. veritas Says:

    I believe everyone is witnessing the total eclipse of what we’ve come to know as corporate mainstream media right now. George Will is whining because he’s realizing his own degree of irrelevancy. There will be more - more sycophants coming out of the woodwork to lash out at the blogs and the internet which provides timely news in an unvarnished version. The media whores had their chance to provide this service to the american people. They, instead, chose the route of power - and intentional manipulation of the masses via mixing fiction with truth or only providing half of the truth to intentionally mislead. Their continued prostitution of themselves for the almighty dollar has lead to their self-destruction.

    Everyone I know NEVER wastes a moment of precious time watching news on television or buying newspapers any longer. Anything you want or need can be found online…..as it breaks….and they’re upset because the Internet is providing the contrast to “what is” and what they’ve chosen to intentionally ’spin’. It’s become quite a joke actually. It’s all fake news!

    People are waking up and realizing that the media’s heyday is over and the facts (truth) will prevail whether the neoconartists in washington like it or not.

    It’s crying time for the administration and the “bully pulpits” (aka mainstream media whores) who provided them. HAHAHAHA!


  71. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    just for the sake of someone possibly reading it, i invite my comrades to take two minutes and send ms pelosi a note on the war, impeachment, or invetigations of the bush administration for war crimes, and of halliburton for treason and war-profiteering. just pick one or all!

    http://democraticleader.house.gov/contact.cfm

    peace.


  72. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    i was just reading through the impeach bush coalition site and they have a sample letter to send to her and they talk about an upcoming article in harpers regarding the importance of impeachment…


  73. O Time thy pyramids Says:

    Why is the myspace and youtube thing so meaningful? They’re convenient but not revolutionary. This is just power changing from News Corp. to Yahoo! Corp. The biggest change here is that the advertisers are going to have a goldmine of information on us instead of hunting for us in the dark. The internet is wonderful, but I’m starting to question whether any revolution took place. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss, with more cameras. If there is any information these newly empowered companies REALLY don’t want us to see, they can censor us immediately. If Google doesn’t like some new video floating around, it can close down youtube for an hour and make it disappear. The copyright lawyers can request something be gone and presto, gone! This has happened, so the shadow of DRM hangs high above us all!


  74. Raven Says:

    …C’mon and let yourself go George, whip off that bow-tie and feel the love……………..


  75. Considered Opiner Says:

    Will:

    “It’s about narcissism,” Will said. “So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean, it’s extraordinary.”

    Hmmm, he must read teacherken at dailykos. Talk about the narcissism and the airing of inner turmoil . . . .


  76. tarazan Says:

    George Will and people in his class thinks that their words are the untimate reflection of what is really on the ground in the society…I think they are the furthest from truth. I trust bloggers…not because I agree or disagree with what they write ,but it is because I feel the pulse of their words in the society I live in more than when I read what G. Will wrote. That is because G. Will opinions does not reflect the man on the street…secondly bloggers don’t make money that these elite journalist like George Will make…bloggers don’t have to tailor their opinions and stories to suit their corporate bosses like George Will does.


  77. Zooey Says:

    Third, Tucker Carlson and Sam Seder came to their senses and abandoned the bow tie. It is time for Mr. Will to do the same.
    Comment by Jeffrey Stewart

    I don’t know about Seder, but I think Tucker’s neck just got too fat….


  78. Zooey Says:

    rousettus madagascariensis,

    Cool. I love bats.

    j, it’s kind of heartless not to give a shit about the guys on Mt Hood, but I was wondering why it was the only thing on CNN this afternoon. News can’t be that slow these days. You know me, I’m all heart. :)

    Mt Hood has to get her prerequisite number of hikers and climbers each year — especially those climbing this time of year.
    *eyes rolling*


  79. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    lets think about this though… if there are people who want to go and try and save them, great! but, if people die or get harmed trying to save people that purposely put themselves in danger, then i have no compassion for them. that is not to say that if someone, because of a psycho-social-problem, wander off and get stranded, i would feel the same way. these hikers came to the danger, they weren’t drawn to it…

    what do you think of the virgin airlines guy that at least once a year trys to balloon across the world and invariably bites it somewhere and the coast guard has to drag his billionaireass out? that infuriates me…

    oh well…


  80. Zep Tepi Says:

    george will, who the hell ought care what george thinks?


  81. JustJohn Says:

    So information found and followed a path to least resistance, I mean, TRUE information found and followed a path to least resistance.

    As this grows the only purpose main stream media will have is to demonstrate the disparity between real news and corporate/government controlled news.


  82. ForTruth Says:

    Mr. Will, the USA is all about narcissism. Perhaps blogs cramp your style?


  83. Bowdler Says:

    I skipped all the other comments so I don’t know if anybody else pointed this out.: Will looks , when he talks, like he has really bad hemohoid issues. I am amazed Tucks hasn’t hired him as a celebrity spokesmen. In my opinion Will is a complete (puckered) a$$hole.


  84. Zooey Says:

    what do you think of the virgin airlines guy that at least once a year trys to balloon across the world and invariably bites it somewhere and the coast guard has to drag his billionaireass out? that infuriates me…
    oh well…
    Comment by rousettus madagascariensis

    Well the rescuers know what they’re getting into, too. Believe me, if this storm had gone on much longer, those guys would have been left there. I haven’t heard if they found them, but they’re probably popsicles.


  85. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    all i know this has been on fox for hours and hours… one found dead. the other two went for a walk from the snow cave…


  86. unbelievable Says:

    Mr. Will, the USA is all about narcissism. Perhaps blogs cramp your style?
    Comment by ForTruth — December 17, 2006 @ 8:36 pm

    Have you read “The Culture of Narcissism” by Christopher Lasch?

    I haven’t gotten to it yet, but it pretty much says on the back cover that same general thought as you posted - that it is what’s happened to American culture. There’s a chapter title “Ironic Detachment as an Escape From Routine”… pretty much sounds like George Will’s commentary above.


  87. ForTruth Says:

    Comment by unbelievable

    No I haven’t read that book. However I would like it since it agrees with me.


  88. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    this is a standard right-wing misuse of language. it is even on the nation magazine’s cover this week. 9.11 and those who doubt it are characterized as ‘paranoid‘ therefore nothing they say has any value because they are ’sick’. now, people who use blogs, or myspace, or youtube are characterized as ‘narcissistic‘ therefore nothing they say has any value.

    first, the people who use blogs, myspace and youtube are doing something quite healthy for people of a certain age: it is called ’self-expression’ it is called ‘communication’!

    second, i am sick and tired of these pathetic old white men using psychological terms as a weapon to discount what they see as dissent. will is a coward, a liar, and hasn’t been right about anything for thirty years!


  89. mr JJ Says:

    He probably came across this person’s diary purusing the blogosphere

    Impresive work!

    Intelligence Fraud
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/12/15550/888

    Domestic Espionage
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/15/3359/6458

    Torture
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/17/121614/94


  90. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    and, if you want to see ‘ironic detachment’ you can just watch a charlie chaplin movie…

    i just love the way people throw around terms as if new when in fact they have been around for about 150 years!

    oh well…everything old is new again, or something like that.


  91. joeslogic Says:

    http://blogpi.net/
    re: And for the record, there’s nothing ideological about Time’s pick. Predictable, yes. Left-wing, no. I’m not a big fan of Google News’ source selection myself (I think this is what you’re referring to) but why Time would care to legitimize it, and why YouTube would need Time to legitimize it… I don’t follow you there.

    Fair enough… in my perspective Time mag legitimizing YouTube with their article brought loads of people into the new web video arena that never had before. Some will stay on as spectators. Some as participants. Some will never return, but there is a definite impact. Is YouTude a real player in impacting public images and persona? Sure absolutely it is I mean Gore was actively involved with trying to harness forums like this as a social tool for a while now so you should ask your self why that is and what his personal motives are.

    I’m all for freedom of speech via YouTube however with Google taking over is it to be fairly moderated without left leaning bias? I doubt it. There is already evidence to the contrary.

    Google cannot be trusted I actually have Google News as my internet explorer home page; my preferred news source however is Matt Drudge. It’s the wisdom of Sun Tzu that compels me to keep a close eye on Google. It is something that is hard to prove and I already know the arguments to the contrary. But I have been using search engines for quite some time. Google is arguably the best. But is I believe also manipulated by Google itself. Just to come up with one example simply consider prominent scientist who have recently lectured against global warming alarmism. Now search Google and go ahead and use the news, web, image search what have you and see what pitiful results you might find. That is just one of several examples a more obvious example would be to search “born looser” but I think you get the point.


  92. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    joes,

    for what its worth, one of the radical extremists on delay’s new site suggested that tom stop using youtube because this nut was saying that youtube has a LIBERAL bias and, i think it said, ‘holds up or deletes conservative posts’…

    i don’t know… i use google news, but, i also use about 80 other news-sites; but, google news isn’t that bad.


  93. tablogloid Says:

    And your silly little bow tie, Will, does it not reek of narcissism?


  94. keepinon Says:

    I believe what he is doing is called projection by the Psyc. majors. What is amazing to me is that I believe he actually thinks folks other than the kool-aid drinkers hang on his weekly offerings.


  95. PoliticalCritic Says:

    These elitist journalists think they’re the only ones who have the right to have an opinion. They despise bloggers because we threaten their cushy life and challenge their assertions.


  96. Fools on the Hill Says:

    I can’t recall the last time George Will said anything interesting. Feeling are mutual George and the difference is you get paid to be a corporate shill.


  97. Washington Post Columnist and TV Pundit Dismisses Bloggers as Narcissists | Andy Wibbels Says:

    […] Washington Post Columnist and TV Pundit Dismisses Bloggers as Narcissists Bow-tie dinosaur George Will on bloggers: Today on ABC’s This Week, conservative columnist George Will mocked Time’s choice and blogging generally. “It’s about narcissism,” Will said. “So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean, it’s extraordinary.” […]


  98. RUCerious Says:

    This is hilarious! Poor Georgie Will is jealous!
    Most of the posters on this site have more on the ball than you Georgie. Take a pill. For that matter, take like seventy.


  99. ardee Says:

    dick…


  100. rousettus madagascariensis Says:

    george will lives in a world he believes is as the world existed in 1955… you know the type: boys should be outside playing baseball and building tree-houses and girls should be inside learning to cook and protecting their hymens from breaking. dads smoke pipes, get on top once a month, drink at the country club, cheat on their wives with the blonde at work…

    george is demented. the internets SCARES our george. it shocks his phoney new england sensibilities!!! why, girls on the internet!!! who will cook for the boys!!! and, all this talking and communicating!!! our children may learn to not kill each other…and THEN where will we be!!!

    george is a sick twisted little man, who today realized that HE was the only person in the universe NOT chosen as the person of the year and it crushed his little bow-tied universe…

    a sad pathetic little toad of a man…


  101. GSD Says:

    I also nominate George Will for “Asshat of the Moment” too.

    -GSD


  102. AustinSF Says:

    Isn’t true (correct me here) that is becoming a known fact that the stolen Jimmy Carter debate plan was delivered to George Will who helped coach Ronald Regan to a debate win?


  103. Jay Randal Says:

    First Sen. John McCain said he hates bloggers, then George Will does the same? GOPers are throwback cave dwellers, so the Internet scares them to death, especially since bloggers know they are both corrupt bastards!


  104. Will is right. Says:

    I don’t usually agree with George Will, and he is picking on bloggers. But in essentials regarding TIME’s stupid choice, he is absolutely correct that it is about narcissm. I am sick of advertisers catering to ‘YOU’ in every piece of junk mail I get.

    TIME is a closet right wing publication. Why can’t they have the nerve to select the person who, IMO, is the perfect choice, ie. Nancy Pelosi. She is a great role model. She symbolizes democratic landslide (even a month before election, who would have thought congress will change hands?). She is a terrefic leader, back to the days of Iraq war resolution, and she is the first women speaker of the house, a powerful position in itself, and third in line to presidency.

    To add insult to injury, most of the news article about POTY don’t even mention her as a finalist. Male chauvinism yet again.


  105. ItsJustKarma Says:

    No the government OUGHT to look into the blogosphere to see
    what bothers its citizens. Unfortunately though, this ‘government’ does not care about its own people. They are just not an issue. Filling their pockets is. As long as they can crawl on all four limbs they will cheat on, abuse and exploit what honest people have generated in a rat race without health insurance and no more hopes of retirement. Karma is a mysterious principle. Most of the time it works ‘under cover’,
    until the time is ripe for the pendulum to swing back. And at this time there is no doubt in my eyes, that we are looking at some major ‘…comes around.’.
    People like that guy will here are water carriers for the oppressors, out of a lack of brains and spine incapable to speak out against the crimes of their government.
    What about a ‘New Workers Party’ like somebody mentioned on a different site. We need to break up the two-party delusion and come up with something more fruitful. I just read that Harry Reid would be okay with ‘more troops for some temporary time’. Is that what the people wanted on November 7th?
    My grandpa always told me: “The trough is always the same,
    only the pigs change.”


  106. Intelligent Discontent » Blog Archive » You’re So Vain: I Bet You Think This Blog is About You Says:

    […] George Will thinks bloggers are all narcissists. I wish George Will would just write about baseball. […]


  107. sharon Says:

    Professor Juan Cole wants help. Please read.
    http://www.juancole.com/


  108. Jeff Says:

    Sounds like Will read some unsavory things about himself on the internets…


  109. Jeff Says:

    The George Will I know is accurately described in Franken’s Lying Liars.


  110. David Says:

    A little touchy, aren’t we?

    Are most bloggers really saying anything of importance? Not that I think Mr. Will generally writes or says anything that interests me.


  111. Mental Rose Says:

    Well, sure a lot of blogging is people writing their diaries online. But what makes it more than simply narcissistic is the way it allows people to connect with others of similar interest or experience. Mr. Will is either not aware of this, or has closed his mind to the benefits of it.


  112. ProudPrimate Says:

    They (He and Gingrich and all the oppressor/suppressors) are scared out of their wits. And they should be. A refreshingly appropriate response on their part, for a change.


  113. Mr. Todd Says:

    george will needs a bowtie intervention


  114. Smithers MINNEAPOLIS » 5 Things Says:

    […] I don’t need to tag George Will for 5 things because his narcissistic diary of inner turmoils are on display each week in The Washington Post and TeeVee. […]


  115. The Smirking Cynic 2.0 » Blog Archive » Time’s Person of the Year Says:

    […] I’m still trying to decide if this is a giant kiss-ass move by Time. This award apparently was directed as all of those who partake in the internet in one way or another, so places like YouTube and Blogger are the engines of some great new society that print media has apparently just discovered. This must have been a hard thing to put to print as it’s fairly well known by bloggers that old school journalists have little respect for anyone who dares write an opinion without a journalism degree. George Will proved this hubris to a national audience again on Sunday. WILL: It’s about narcissism, which is why a mirror is absolutely perfect. So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean it’s extraordinary. […]


  116. curt Says:

    Who is George Will? Never heard of him.


  117. Denna Says:

    Well…I read this on the internet. I don’t have a TV (find it too irratiating) and don’t read the misinformation newspapers. The Idaho Observer is the only paper that I have found worth reading. If anyone can recommend other truthful papers, I would like to hear of them.


  118. Bruce Hayden Says:

    comment #4 says it all!! Bite me too Will!!!


  119. Kmareka.com » Spinning a Worldwide Web of Grassroots Democracy Says:

    […] George Will’s dismissal of the blogosphere aside, it seems that there is little doubt that blogs have—collectively and individually—gained considerable prominence and influence and have likely done more to promote democracy than any of this nation’s recent foreign endeavors. Blogs offer the potential to give a voice to those who might otherwise not be heard. And, when the voices become a chorus, change is eminently possible. Consider the stunning results of the 2006 elections. Consider what is emerging in Iran, as reported here by the Boston Globe: Iran bloggers test regime’s tolerance […]


  120. tom baker Says:

    bowties = narcissism, just ask tucker carlson


  121. NCBlueneck Says:

    Poor George. So pompous. So arrogant. So narcissistic!


  122. madmac Says:

    There’s a ‘hater in the House


  123. IndyMan Says:

    Narcissistic neocons like Will and the other phony republicans/democrats in Washington are incapable of empathy. But we all know they will be judged accordingly and will be forced to feel the pain they have created and perpetuated over the years. Like Will’s beloved game of baseball, I wish I’m given a front row seat chowing down on popcorn and hot dogs while witnessing their judgement.


  124. nineteen84 Says:

    I think George’s bowtie may be a bit too tight …


  125. saskboy Says:

    This story is so much like Larry King never before “doing a search on the Internet”.


  126. Julie Says:

    This guy is just insecure. Bloggers can do his job for free. Bloggers can get their words read without bowing down to the corperate media.

    Bloggers can write whatever they please and they don’t have to be a stuffed suit like him to do it. Real people blog, conservative mouthpieces go on TV and whine about it.

    Why do they whine about it? It threatens their position, whatever it may be. Never before did they realize how much opposition and competition they actually had. I guess they just didn’t realize how appalled the average human being was by them, and they didn’t realize how insane their followers sounded in comparison.

    Free speech scares them because it exposes them and it opposes them.

    TIME was right in it’s decision, and it was sure as hell a better decision than naming the President of Iran, whom they were considering.

    Blogs really are shaping and molding political opinions and helping to expose corruption and puppetry. I guess some people don’t like that…

    George Bush… Fox “News”… Newt Gingrich, this guy here, I guess the oppose the blogs because the blogs oppose them.


  127. Heyman Nationwide Says:

    George Will is living in his own horrible nutso world. Face it, George…Bush blew up the towers!


  128. propagandery Says:

    regardless of his political beliefs that I don’t share, I gotta admit I agree with him that most blogs are really just navel-gazing online journals best left in a locked Hello Kitty diary. still, he obviously doesn’t get that Time is speaking to the larger culture of consumer generated media, not just blogs. the public has never had such a huge outlet for their voice, and the powers that be are feeling very awkward about it.


  129. big papa Says:

    George Will is…

    …George W. Bush’s all-time, champeen entry into the 4-h mushroom growin’ competition…

    …now THAT’S what I call…

    …relevance…


  130. Fred Says:

    Does anyone care about George Will and the Corporate Media? They’re all about narcissm, as if any of us should care what they think. They only say what they’re told to anyway.

    http://video.google.com/ videoplay?docid=-2053392084842955597


  131. jeff Says:

    Yeah, what they said, + the president had it coming from Webb. Anybody
    who uses presidential authortiy to belittle people, then expects them to pay respect “the office of president”, doesn’t deserve such protections, you dick.


  132. jeff Says:

    Yeah, what they said, + the president had it coming from Webb. Anybody
    who uses presidential authority to belittle people, then expects them to pay respect to “the office of president”, doesn’t deserve such protections, you dick.


  133. ash Says:

    George Will is an aristocrat. By definition, it’s all about him and his ilk.


  134. AngryG Says:

    GEORGE WILL IS VENTRILOQUIST DUMMY
    Washington- Most of us on the left suspected something. He never seemed quite human. The way he sits so erect. That wooden movement and complexion. That voice that never seems to inflect too high or low but maintains a level that is almost contrary to human emotion. And yes, there is a hand up his ass controlling his mouth.

    But this barely begins to tell the tale of Washington spokes puppets. Ventriloquism was widely used in the 50’s and 60’s but in the late 70’s, Robots began to replace the spokes puppets.

    Ted Koppel was the first. You knew it already but finally confirmation. His voice could only come from an electronic synthesizer. And yes that is a toupee but it doesn’t cover a baldhead, it covers a circuit board. known to only a few as The “Teddy Bore” or the “Conservatron 1980”.
    But Ted was just the beginning of the spokes puppet line of robots that eventually gave way to superior technology with the strength of a thousand men.

    The Attorney General Reno was one of the first of these and has been seen rearranging parked cars at the justice department by hand. The Reno had been slated as a line of Lesbian Robots that were to seize control of Florida and was programmed slightly more to the left to work with and enjoy giving and getting special massages from Hillary Clinton. The Reno was partly responsible for the Waco disaster, because a chip planted in her mercy board had been accidentally installed from the mean spirited Republitrons, a conservatron line of propagandist robots that include the Coulter and the Gingrich.

    Many in Washington always wondered why George Will never touched his meal at political luncheons but often saw a hand coming up from under the table. That was George Stephanopoulos who originally came to Washington as a street mime and puppeteer before being drafted into a top-secret program to create inhuman spokes people who would play both sides of the fence distracting millions of Americans. Meanwhile behind the scenes, America was being dismantled piece by piece.

    Koppel’s hair alone cost 6 billion dollars since it was designed to reprocess martinis into water proof and bullet proof hair guard…An acrylic like substance that helps to keep the circuit board dry.

    In recent years the wooden George Will has been converted to alloy and revamped to free up George Stephanopoulos’s arm. The “Will” who can now walk on its own and is programmed to attack any sign of emotion from the people around him still has many bugs. Stephanopoulos had to be trained at MIT to change George’s circuit board every 3 days and had to start lifting weights to be able to remove the 300-pound bulletproof hair guard. They plan to phase George Will out around the year 2060 but until then, they are confident that his hair will protect the circuit board for another 50 years.

    By then The Republitron Cyborgs, which are designed to eat liberals and create petroleum by product that is 10 times more toxic then oil, will be firmly in place. The Slick Willie Charmatron 1992 is of course Bill Clinton who is the only one of it’s kind. Designed to charm the world. However, the system had a few bugs. They had hoped to create a robot that could have sex unlike the Bob Dole conservatrons of old but something went wrong.
    The “Willie”, they hoped would be able to charm anyone, anybody and anything into the sack where his recorder would relay all pillow talk to the CIA. However, the learning chip, which is designed to make a robot or computer get smarter with each experience, got stuck in the hump mode. The Willie has reportedly bedded down everyone from Ann Coulter to Mikhail Gorbachev.

    Coulter who was designed to hold a grudge felt spurned when The Willie wouldn’t leave the Hillary. Hillary is not a robot by the way and is believed to be a genetic experiment that combined the DNA of the modern woman with a rooster.


  135. Politblog.net » "Wir" sind die Person des Jahres 2006 der Times - wie reagieren die Massenmedien? Says:

    […] Zufälligerweise bin ich gleich nach diesem Transkript von Wills Aussage über einen Artikel von Eric Alterman in The Nation gestoßen. Dieser beschreibt schön, dass auch die Massenmedien die von Bloggern geforderten “journalistischen Standards” nicht immer einhalten: “Früher musste ein Journalist (…), der ein Zitat mit einem Individuum oder einer Organisation in Verbindung bringen will, irgendeine Form von Beweis dafür finden, dass die zitierte Person überhaupt existiert. Heute nicht mehr. Dank der Verbreitung von E-Mails, Instant Messages und Internetforen zitieren die wachsamsten unserer journalistischen Institutionen jetzt schon Leutem die vielleicht gar nicht existieren. Schlimmer noch, es sind Leute, die für schändliche persönliche oder politische Zwecke einen falschen Namen annehmen.” […]


  136. DaRockwilda Says:

    Hey it’s your second link from Germany :-)

    Keep up the good work!


  137. Nitwit Says:

    George Will is just Rush Limbaugh for people who can read.


  138. Pat Mularkey Says:

    Chicago Columnist Mike Royko long ago described George Will as a “…self-appointed boob.” Royko knows best.


  139. Alan Says:

    This is the same guy, years ago, who stated in one of his columns that depleted uranium wasn’t dangerous because it was “depleted”.


  140. AngryG Says:

    George Will what?


  141. Rick Says:

    One could say wearing a hairpiece is narcissistic, and it might as well be me, “George, wearing a hairpiece is narcissistic.”


  142. On The Turning Away » Old Media Pot Calling Blog Kettle Black Says:

    […] In one fine stroke, George Will rocked the new media boat on Sunday with the sneering comment on blogging, “It’s about narcissism, which is why a mirror is absolutely perfect. So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean it’s extraordinary.” […]


  143. House of Eratosthenes Says:

    […] Now, this George F. Will character — you’ve heard of him, right? — he’s a strange duck. On ABC’s This Week, Will commented that blogging is “about narcissism”: So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean, it’s extraordinary. […]


  144. b.rox » Blog Archive » Disconnected, Part III: Attack of the Spambots Says:

    […] In all, b.rox was offline for about four days. During that time I realized how important writing here has become to me. I’m quite attached to this blog. It was a lifeline to the rest of my world during Katrina. It’s helped me through some difficult times. Several people contacted me to ask what was wrong when they couldn’t access it, which means that people actually do read this and care about it, even if the number is small. That makes me happy, no matter what George Will thinks. […]


  145. Of This and That » Blog Archive » George Will’s ‘blogging is just narcissism’ jab puts Time in brighter limelight Says:

    […] Time’s biggest benefactor in pumping up the jam was conservative Columnists Geroge Wills who took Time to task on a TV news program and in his Washington Post column for its person of the year decision. […]


  146. David Niedenthal Says:

    The difference between a personal blog and a column of Will’s is that he provides commentary on important matters. Few blogs achieve any real purpose, most just focus attention of trifling personal matters.


  147. Kate Barnes Says:

    Thank God we have someone like George Will out there! What ever happened to conservative broadcasting! I miss shows like Firing Line, The Capital Gang and Crossfire; on all I have is Fox News and they are lightweights compared to greats, such as, William Buckley, Pat Buchanan and Robert Novak. Now I have to settle with Bill O’Reilly and he is hardly a real conservative!


  148. NZ07Hh7bWx Says:

    Hi! Very nice site! Thanks you very much! FNk4aVHbOz


  149. Yellowbird Says:

    Who is George Will?




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