Beware: I’m A Denim Clad Parasite

Gene Lyons thinks I’m a leech.

Here’s the key sentence from his latest syndicated column dealing with the decline of newspapers:

“Many bloggers and Internet commentators smugly anticipating the death of newspapers –-there’s definitely generational edge to the rivalry –- are essentially parasites.”

I’m not exactly “smug” about newspapers losing their dominance in the media. I hate seeing so many people being thrown out of work by greedy and incompetent corporations.

But with independent blogging I don’t have to reply on the local paper to approve any comment I want to get out to the public. I don’t have to worry that my letter is the proper length. I don’t have to wait weeks for it to be published, especially when such a delay means my comment loses its topicality.

I’m guessing that Gene is calling some bloggers “parasites” because we use newspaper articles to provide the background info we need for posting. Of course, if a newspaper uses my blog material for its own use, it’s not parasitic.

As for the “generational edge to the rivalry” – hey, I’m no teenager. Bloggers come in a variety of shapes, colors and ages.

Another conservative pissant, George Will, doesn’t want me to wear bluejeans.

In his last column entitled “Demon Denim” (4/16/09) Will describes the “sad tableau” of seeing dad, mom, and their kids wearing jeans. He goes on about some wing-nut writer named Daniel Akst who thinks that the popularity of denim is “symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche.”

George pretentiously observes: “Denim is the clerical vestment for the priesthood of all believers in democracy's catechism of leveling -- thou shalt not dress better than society's most slovenly. To do so would be to commit the sin of lookism -- of believing that appearance matters.”

He advises that “sartorial good taste” means that men should dress like Fred Astaire, women like Grace Kelly. He invokes the names of dimly remembered gods from antiquity. The Old Ones.

I wear jeans because I’m not easy on clothes. I’m not going to spend money on dressy clothes to look good when they don’t hold up as well. I’m usually banging around with my camera, sometimes going low for a shot when my back permits. That means kneeling on a sidewalk or the ground. What looks worse –-jeans a bit dirty and scraped up or dress pants in the same condition?

I dress for myself, not for some self-important conservative priss like George Will.

To Gene and George I have the same comment:

“Take a nap, old man. You’re too grumpy.”