Basically it comes down to this. My children and friends said I was driving them crazy when I had a running conversation - loudly I might add - with my TV set. I too was dissatisfied when my set did not respond. I knew there was a better way to go about this. This being sharing my thoughts about Chris Matthews, and his panel of experts and their cohorts around the dial.

I guess the final straw was when Chris, whom I like personally, ridiculed the President for bringing up the junta’s crackdown in Burma before the U.N. His panel of experts then went mockingly on its way to make jokes about Burma Shave commercials and basically who cares. The next day the Burmese regime started killing the monks and many others. No apologies yet from MSNBC. I single out Chris, because I like him. He’s smart and does his homework yet is compromised by the dictates of his network and /or most of his peers. Does he really think Larry Craig is more important than what’s happening in Burma? Or that acting as a shill for Valerie Plame’s book is truly worthwhile? Why does he only play Hardball with views he despises and play hearts with those who agree with him? The film V for Vendetta was more sophisticated and thought-provoking than Chris these days.

Lest this be thought of as Hardball Hate Fest. I bring this up because it was the culmination of my impotent rage at what was being foisted on us. I’ve appeared on Hardball many times and been part of their 2004 Election night coverage team. It’s my disappointment that men like Chris are co-opted and debase political discourse, that make my rage runneth over.

The new real democracy is online. Forget the pollsters. Hearing what individuals who do not make a living from pandering to one team or another, who do not need the assurance that their thinking is in accord with their colleagues of whom they’re either afraid of or need reassurance from.

Hence Bloggo ergo sum – first offering.