Rah, Rah, Rah...Go Team!

A fanatic, by definition, is a person who has extreme and uncritical zeal in support of someone or something.

A zealot.

Fanatic is where we get the word "fan".

And as you'll find in sport, politics, and religion you can't win for losing as a journalist.

It's incredibly evident with college sports.

Criticize my alma mater's football or basketball team...and I'll be angry.

"How could you?" I'll say.  "You're biased.  You have an agenda."

I'll say the same thing if you write or say anything positive about my team's rivals.

Pick a political candidate.  Any candidate.  The rules are the same.

When I write something positive about Barack Obama...I get glowing letters of endorsement from his supporters.  I could hire them as my agents. 

I also get lengthy, passionate arguments from those who don't like him.

When I write about Ron Paul, I get amazing feedback from his supporters.  If I exclude him from the discussion, I hear about it.

Look at the comments from Tuesday's post about Obama's speech.

Read the comments after what I wrote about Paul when he scaled back his campaign.

What I find happens most often, is that the fans (of Obama, Clinton, McCain, Paul, Huckabee...) read about 75% of what I've written.  Sometimes less.  And then they jump on a nugget and fire away.

I'll usually write back, reiterating my thoughts as they were written, and the fan acknowledges his or her haste.

Other times, I read the criticism and agree with it. 

I understand. Politics is sport.  Passions run deep.  In fact, in politics, the enthusiasm is even greater.  Sports is entertainment pure and simple.  Politics is entertainment that affects our lives.  It impacts our families, our wallets, our way of life.

I don't come at this with any agenda.  I know I am "MSM" (main stream media), and that comes with its pluses and many minuses for the masses who read political commentary and reporting on the Internet.

And I'd rather get the barbs than nothing at all (the laurels are fine too!).  It means you are reading.  It means what I write strikes a nerve.  It furthers the debate.

And while I don't overestimate the impact of this blog...it's good to know people are taking time to read it...in between filling out their brackets for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Thanks for reading.  TA

Comments

[Liberty Gal]

Thanks, Tom....your insight does make a difference. As a Ron Paul supporter of liberty and freedom, I appreciate the air time (or ink time) you give to Dr. Paul and his message. It's more than he gets from others!

Peace, Prosperity and Paul in 2008!

[Marilyn Townsend]

The caucuses in Missouri were miraculous for Ron Paul this week, as in Kentucky, picking up lots of delegates. So we march on, all the way to the Republican Convention. Go Ron Paul!