Politikblogging and “empty protest”, a soliloquy from garrett vreeland:

i’ve been thinking about the concept of kenosis, as interpreted by james hillman. comparing it to political weblogging styles. he concieves there are three political states: passive on the sidelines, toeing the party line … and kenosis, what hillman defines as “empty protest.” having no answers, not knowing the correct course to follow, but knowing there’s something rotten in the state of denmark. politikblogs are as ineffective as hamlet, worrying his desire for public justice like a dog with his favorite toothsome discard. they rage on impotently, endlessly, simply for the sake of releasing emotions. no utopia at the end of the journey; just neverending protests. today, now, this link is the alpha and omega. when the issue drops from the public eye, the politikblog drops it as well. there are no threads to follow, no connection to a past or a future, no resolution, no responsibility. hillman calls empty protest ‘via negativa’, the negative way. i see no politikblogger achieving public justice for any major issue; what i keep coming across is simply a string of petty private revenges. at the present time, politikbloggers devour each other over the actions of politicians who don’t even know they exist, by reinterpreting carefully selected articles and opinion pieces generated by one of a double-handful of monopolistic media machines, as seen through the rose-colored glasses of their particular political caste. truly, “empty protest” … as is this entire paragraph. politipolitikbloggers are not alone; you see, i do hamlet well too. [wink]