DEAR ZEPHYR TEACHOUT

A reader sent us an e-mail today that I don't know quite how to respond to. It's nice that he/she thinks we're an interesting-enough blog that should get a wider readership, but to be honest, that's not what I started this for. When you consider that I write 90% of the posts on No More Apples, have a demanding executive position with a Fortune 250 company, and cherish a family of five almost-grown children, two infant grandchildren and one long-suffering and extraordinary husband (The Sage), it's amazing that I have been able to keep up this pace for the past year. I don't know how long this can go on.

I started this blog as an alternative to throwing shoes at TV and radio newscast and opinion shows. At first it was a welcome vehicle for expressing myself to my family and friends, since we're so diverse and it takes too much energy to recount the same points over and over again to so many individuals. It gave me a way to reference facts and evidence that I could not possibly keep all at the tip of my tongue.

Early on, the response to the blog gave me hope that in some small way I was contributing to rational discourse on the events of the day and maybe even having some effect on some people, especially during the presidential primaries and the lead-up to the presidential election. After the devastating and unanticipated results (to me) of the election, I was discouraged enough to consider shutting down the blog altogether, but just couldn't quite do it. It had truly become by that point a journal of my own thoughts and opinions, and I've never been very good at keeping them quiet.

The challenge of most political blogs is not to emulate mainstream journalism or original reporting (although there are some that do a creditable job of incorporating that element into their blogs), but to record one's own opinions or interpretation of current events/news while backing up any assertions that contribute to those opinions. That's why links are so important. MSM op-eds can spew whatever thoughts the writer desires without verification or validation of any kind. Blogs are subject to a stricter ethos. If you state something as a fact, you better link to evidentiary support.

So Zephyr, don't concern yourself any further with trying to create a "bloggers code of ethics." We have our own. We're independent. We think for ourselves. We back up what we say. And anyone who doubts that can judge a blog on its merits.

After all, who monitors Fox News, talk radio, InstaPundit, PowerLine, NRO and their ilk? Caveat emptor.