Rummaging deeper and deeper brought me to this idiot who is apparently (his site says) "Hailed by the Sunday Herald as 'Scotland's main public intellectual'" Well, I've never heard of him.
I could put myself up as "Hailed by ASH and Don Shenker as evil personified, complete with red eyes, breath that could curdle milk and a little bit of Hellfire between his teeth" and who could call me a liar? ASH have certainly heard of me. Hello, hello out there. Yes, I see you. But back to our esteemed Great Thinker who describes himself thus:
Gerry Hassan is a writer, commentator and thinker about Scotland, the UK, politics and ideas.
So am I. I have a proper job too. And yet, in discussing the top five Scottish blogs, he has only this to say:
The Scottish blogosphere is a small world reflecting the scale of the Scottish political community, shaped by the main political parties and their hangers-on. Iain Dale recently did his top Scottish political blogs (3) and his top five read:
- Tom Harris
- SNP Tactical Voting
- Underdogs Bite Upwards
- Mr. Eugenides
- Two Doctors
Partisan party commentary? Did he read further than Tom Harris's blog? Perhaps he had a quick look in on SNP Tactical Voting but then again, maybe he decided from the title. The Scottish blogosphere contains a lot more than just political blogs, too. I don't think he realises that. That's why he hasn't found any of my other incarnations.
I'm not a member of any party. Never have been. Most likely, never will be. The only party I've come even close to joining is the Libertarian party and I haven't done so. Parties have rules. I'd only end up breaking them and getting thrown out. Besides, I think I can promote libertarian ideas more effectively as an independent with no affiliations and no binding loyalties. I don't say, write or do anything at the behest of any party or group. I say, write and do what I believe in. Oh, and the ASH monitor might like to pass on to the Dreadful Arnott the news that nobody pays me. While you're at it, tell her she's fat and smells like antique Camembert. Trust me, it's an old Etruscan compliment and she'll be delighted.
Most of the rest of the site is well thought out and all of it is well written, without the overplaying of corporate-speak that so many 'intellectuals' indulge in to make themselves seem clever. I don't agree with his politics but he seems to be, on the whole, intelligent.
However, the 'cybernats' of which he speaks don't exist. Any SNP-supporting blog is dubbed 'cybernat' and treated as though they are something Dr. Who needs to deal with. They are just blogs. Read them or don't read them. No blog has 'influence' online, no blog can insinuate itself into your browser and force you to read it. Not until I work out how to put subliminal frames into Yahoo, anyway. That would be pointless too. I'd be better putting those frames into EastEnders.
He has clearly read the first, and maybe skimmed the second of the five blogs he dismisses as 'partisan party politics' because the next three are not.
Partisan party politics. I have never been so insulted since I had five Emails in a day trying to sell me Viagra.
15 comments:
I wonder if "TerryWatch" was still alive then we'd get a mention? That wasn't so much partisan as everybody (including Labour) ganging up on his awfulness ...
There's the reason don't enter Mr Dale's top blog setup. In fact I made an error not withdrawing from the Scotblog thing too.
Lesson learned.
"and none of them are rewarding reading for the vast majority of people"
What an arrogant twat! He's clearly never spent any time here....
It's always amusing to dig through the stats. It's a bit like turning over stones to see what creepy crawlies come blinking into the sunlight.
When reading something in the MSM, I generally start with the assumption that the writer is an ill-informed idiot and read on to see if I am going to be pleasantly proved wrong. In this case, the theory holds up. The man is an idiot.
The guy was on Newsnight Scotland a few weeks ago and was introduced as a journalist and 'top Scottish blogger'.
I'd never heard of him so googled his blog. After 2 minutes I realised why I had never heard of him. He's a boring eejit.
I use Sitemeter to have a look at who peeks in.
A great many visitors to Ranty Barracks are listed as "Unknown".
Is there a sinister reason for this, or is it just people protecting themselves?
I don't know.
FWIW, I have never heard of Scotlands "top" blogger either.
Mind you (he said boastfully), I did come 94th out of a hundred Scottish bloggers.
I am Scotlands bottom blogger!
CR.
I am astonished that he thinks this blog is "partisan party commentary".
He sounds like a typically arrogant Progressive, in fact.
I doubt any comments that dolt made would dent your readership, Leg-Iron.
Your writing is unique and never disappoints. Frequently, it's utterly brilliant - stellar!
So, sod the twat.
I use IceRocket for stats - it's pretty basic, but is sufficient for my purposes.
Gerry who?
Well said, I was a little insulted and had far less reason than you to be so.
Subrosa - ah, but then I'd never find these people. I didn't comment on his site because you have to sign up first and I don't think I want to give him my Email.
Microdave - the vast majority of people aren't reading this or any other blogs. If Labour's education system continues on its current course, the vast majority won't be able to read anything at all.
CR - I get a lot of 'unknown' too. Most likely it either can't backtrack to some places, or someone clicked on a bookmark rather than a link.
Just had a referral from ActionAid, which was funny. I doubt I'm their sort of person.
Well, perhaps take solace in "all publicity is good publicity."
paulo
Paulo - there's a link from CAMRA too. I followed that back to find a case study in pompous arrogance.
There's a smoker on there who approves of the ban because it gets people who smoke 'inferior' tobacco out of his pub. It seems over his head that he's out too.
He's also of the opinion that passive smoking is much worse than actual smoking.
CAMRA absolutely refuse to accept that the smoking ban has had any effect on pubs at all.
I didn't leave a comment. It would be like arguing with Paul Flynn.
We don't like Gerry Hassan ,you're our favourite and always will be.
Mr and Mrs Barker
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