Sarah Palin: Why they love to hate her…

From around the web.

Why Sarah Palin Drives Them Wild
Jedediah Bila, Human Events
…to those who feel the need to tear you down in order to lift themselves up, Palin is an absolute nightmare. Because she’s “not going to sit down…not going to shut up.” Because in the face of vicious attacks and death threats, she continues to prove that she’s bigger and better than those who play dirty.

Palinoia, the Destroyer: What’s behind the left’s deranged hatred.
James Taranto, The Wall Street Journal
Professional jealousy and intellectual snobbery, however, only scratch the surface of the left’s bizarre attitude toward Palin.

The War Against Palin Goes On and On and…
Victor David Hansen, Pajamas Media
Is the problem with Palin that she uses inflammatory language far too loosely given her position of responsibility? Of course, evocation of “enemies, punishing, kicking ass, relegation to backseat, knives, guns, getting angry, getting in their face, hostage takers, trigger fingers, and tearing up” does not suit a national public figure and former vice presidential candidate. Oops, those allusions were Barack Obama’s, not Sarah Palin’s.

Mud Libel
Ann Coulter
The same people who had blamed Sarah Palin for the massacre at the Tucson Safeway and then taunted her for her “silence” were enraged when she responded.

Why not all blogging advice is good for you.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I’d signed up for the The Daily Post, a WordPress challenge to post every day.  I think I’ve managed to do that every day but this past Sunday, but I’ve given up on their daily post prompts.  They just don’t fit.
They’ve also offered some helpful advice and encouragement from time to time.  I don’t think today is one of those times. 

Today they offered: Having trouble finding time to blog?

My answer, was no, I blog when I need or want to.  I plan my day and schedule that way. I make notes and record links throughout the day and at night or the next morning, I either post about them, discard them or file them for future reference.

Today The Daily Post linked to a PhD candidate/blogger named Sally who wrote :How to find time to blog

First, I’d have to ask why a PhD candidate is blogging, but that’s her story, not mine.  But I read the following excerpts from her post and immediately began to disagree.   
This is what The Daily Post thought important to quote:

Be realistic. Set yourself a target you think you can keep to, say a post a week – but then don’t feel guilty if you miss a week or two. A blog is supposed to be fun and useful, not a chore or something to beat yourself up over.

Don’t feel you have to write everything. Your readers are just as busy as you and they don’t want to read screeds of text – so keep it short and sweet and save the agonising for work that does require you to be comprehensive.

Don’t get distracted or procrastinate…ignore emails, Twitter, Facebook messages and everything else until you’ve finished.

When I read that, I thought “that’s horrible advice.”  Now, in her defense, her entire post reads better and she’s talking directly to PhD candidates.  But it doesn’t apply to me, or to most bloggers I know.

First, miss a week or two?  Then why bother?  If I’m not feeding posts to Twitter and Facebook I’ll lose the handful of readers I do have.  And while I agree that blogging  can be fun and useful, I don’t blog for fun.  I blog to advance a cause, or to build a readership for future projects or any number of reasons. 

I do agree with her advice to keep it short and sweet.  I edit a magazine and am constantly telling our writers that less is more.  Make your point.  Then shut up and sit down…or step away from the keyboard.

And finally, ignore emails, Twitter and Facebook?  Hardly, they’re my sources and inspiration.  Of course, I don’t play Farmville.