Polemic Punditry has a Price

In the already-crowded blogosphere, we know that subtlety and nuance aren't going to win you an audience. With so many blowhards regularly engaging in an everlasting game of brinkmanship to see who generates the most controversy, it's hard to stand out.

But somehow Michelle Malkin, in less than three years, has become arguably the most influential female conservative blogger on the Web, averaging over four million page views a month as of July 2006.

She is perhaps the most influential female political author since Ann Coulter. Whether that's a good thing is a matter of taste.

Part of Malkin's allure is her background. She is a second generation Filipino immigrant who is so conservative she often criticizes President Bush for being too leftist, especially on issues like immigration reform. She is so persuasive she turned her future husband from a Dukakis supporter into a hardline conservative who opposes affirmative action.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with espousing conservative views - the problem lies in Malkin's methods: hyperbole, misperception and occasionally outright lies.

Her detractors include fellow conservatives, like blogger Andrew Sullivan, who gives out periodic "Malkin Awards" for irrational, overbearing attacks.

Malkin's masterpiece of incredulity is probably her book "In Defense of Internment," in which she defends the U.S. World War II policy that unlawfully imprisoned over one-hundred thousand Japanese Americans. That period is largely seen as one of the most disgraceful in our history, by conservatives and liberals alike.

Malkin's tactics have gotten some of her content banned form YouTube, forced the cancellation of a book signing due to the taunts of 200 protesters, and forced her family to flee their home after her detractors posted her home address online along with photos of the house.

Wonkette.com posted a doctored photo of a bikini-clad woman with Malkin's head superimposed upon it, after Malkin derided the "Girls Gone Wild" video franchise as a "liberal assault on decency." This was in response to a political broadside Malkin published against the left titled "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild."

My question is this - when your published works bring such vitriol from all sides of the political spectrum, are you really instilling positive change or awareness?

With these methods, you really end up becoming nothing more than a carnival act - only gaining attention for your antics, not your content.

Do people cringe when they hear the name Walter Cronkite? Or Tom Brokaw? No. Did you ever see them having to flee their homes because of what they report? No - because they reported fairly and with balance.

Those men are seen as dignified and refined newsmen who illuminated their respective generations during times of war.

And that is because they conducted themselves as such. I think it is high time that today's disgraceful generation of pundits take a page from the old school, and gain themselves a touch of class.