I noticed that I had been pinged – a very rare occurrence for this blog – so I read through this post at Right On Red. Johnny Walker Red makes a good point: few of the bloggers I read, which are mostly lefties, had anything at all to say on the subject of the Beslan massacre. The only time the subject showed up on this blog was when I noted the harsh rhetoric coming out of that country in response. In retrospect, this was an appallingly callow reaction to the event itself, and I regret not having given more thought or attention to this horrific attack.

At the risk of appearing defensive, let me try to sort out a couple of reasons why my own response was so muted, as I’ve been pondering lately my reading and writing habits, and my responsibility to this blog.

First, I don’t consider myself a news source of any kind, so I don’t tend to link to news stories that are widely reported, or for which I don’t have a special feeling or an individual “take.” The massacre in Beslan was a major news story, has been widely reported and written about, and there’s only one possible reaction to it: outrage, mixed with immense sadness and sympathy for the families and friends of the victims.

Secondly, I don’t tend to pay attention to stories of foreign terrorism. I don’t say this as a defense; just the opposite, I think this is a problem. Stories of bombings in other countries have become commonplace enough that on some level I’ve tuned them out. A car bomb in the Middle East or Africa or Australia, or anywhere besides the US and it’s a quick prayer for the victims and I shake my head and wonder how anger can become so entrenched and intractable and I’m on to the next news story. Sometimes I don’t even give it that much time. I think I’ve become so dulled to reports of foreign terrorism that I didn’t pay attention to the incident in Beslan. In my knee-jerk, reptilian-brain first response, I lumped it in with “another international terrorist incident” and glossed over the details. I’m not in any way proud of this.

Thirdly, I think I’ve placed myself in an echo chamber of sorts. I pay far more attention to bloggers whose views I agree with than those I don’t. I pass on… and I’m not even sure why I do this, to be honest… links, quotes, and thoughts that reinforce my point of view rather than really chew on something and consider it. If Beslan wasn’t showing up in Left Blogistan, it wasn’t showing up in this blog. That’s a weakness. That’s a problem.

Look, I don’t know if I’m going to change what I do. I don’t expect to become an Atrios or a Brad DeLong or a Glenn Reynolds. Mostly I’m doing this for myself, not because I expect to become an invaluable font of punditry and outrage. This blog tracks the stuff that passes through my sphere of attention. However, I am part of the blogosphere, and as Johnny Walker Red suggests, perhaps my side of it isn’t always paying attention when it should. I’ve added Right On Red to my RSS reader, and I’ll keep working to expand the scope of what I read.

In the meantime, I urge the three readers who visit this blog regularly to head over to Johnny’s post on this subject so that you can visit the blogs he mentions for details about the Russian School Tragedy. The Russians need our prayers now, and the victims deserve our attention and respect.

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Wednesday, September 8th, 2004 @ 2:54 pm Blogging Matters, Politics Matters
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