Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Mea Culpa Manifesto

Snow Pond, NH -

I will be the first to admit I have become a hack. Yes, that spineless breed of dime-a-dozen wannabes who call themselves journalists while they wear their fancy suits and spit out the same old bullshit day in and day out. I haven't written anything live in weeks, and have been relying on news analysis to keep the blog afloat. Next time you see me feel free to slap me. This is not what I came to do.

Excuses abound. These past two weeks have brought a change in the blog life, and not just on account of the coming of the red leaves. I have begun working a couple of day jobs to keep the bills in the blue, and as a result both writing and candidate time have been drastically slashed. The buck stops here, though. I was spending like whatever drunken sailors had been at the helm of the McCain campaign last spring while only bringing it in like Chris Dodd. 7,000 miles on the Sentra's odometer and 350 IPAs from Granite State watering holes later and a shakeup was needed. Hell, I even needed to postpone my bar review column until I could afford to better investigate my subjects.

Enter today's confession as I sit here on the ground floor of the barn with the computer on my lap and the last drops of my bottle of Elijah Craig filling a glass next to me. And so I make a renewed commitment to excellence, such a commitment not made since May Day of 2002, when I beat the odds to run my first ever sub-10 minute beer mile in a then-blistering 8:09. By God I will not be a mom's basement blogger. By God I will be on the campaign trail, witnessing the speeches, watching the crowds, working the word processors and seeking truth for all you non-Granite Staters, and even a few of you lucky enough to be here.

Let's do this. Let's Regulate.

Ahoy,
BTB

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the new commitment. Anything with passion is important to pursue! Effort with balance is the key. Most really talented athletes are balance and effort gifted. Balance is the key to both.

BTB said...

Thanks, anon, your support is very well received, and I appreciate your enjoyment of the new commitment. Rave on!

Anonymous said...

A seminar (or blogged analysis) of Shay's Rebellion is needed. Perhaps a debate about the truthiness of Jefferson's reaction to the rebellion:

" little rebellion now and then is a good thing. …God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

Thomas Jefferson = American Che Guevera