The Year Of Blogging Dangerously

One major source of pain for the Left has been the rise of countering viewpoints to their former monopoly on propaganda. From Matt Drudge's revelation that the media was covering up Bill Clinton's reckless behavior (which they still do - see: Marc Rich pardons) to the blogosphere's role in revealing the Feckless Crapweasel behind the curtain in this year's Election, they've been forced to start a money pit of a Potemkin radio network to spew unvarnished lies to their herd and generally been unpleasant to be around, but what's new?

Ed Driscoll has posted The Year Of Blogging Dangerously at Tech Central Station (hat tip: The Corner) listing the Top Ten moments in blogging for 2004.

For those of us Webloggers who track the media the way that sports fans follow the NFL, 2004 will be remembered as the year the mask not only slipped, it completely came off the mainstream media. Newspapers and television networks were happy -- almost gleeful -- to toss their previously vaunted claims of objectivity into the dumpster, to help defeat a president that, almost to a man, they despised.

Fortunately, the Blogosphere was there fight to back. Coming of age on and immediately after 9/11, there were numerous bloggers who watched with a combination of horror and glee at what we saw happening to the media in 2004.

It was horrific because most bloggers actually want to see a well-functioning press: one that reports the news fairly, and offers a wide range of opinions. And ideally, doesn't mix reporting and editorializing in the same story.

On the other hand, we were gleeful, at having so many stories to debunk and so much context to fill-in.

Read it all, but for the click-challenged, here's the rundown:

10. The Passion Versus Fahrenheit 9/11
9. Winter Soldier
8. Iraq Then And Now
7. Den Beste's Fall Preview
6. The Exit Polls
5. Political Conventions
4. Campaign Violence
3. The New York Times Announces It's Liberal
2. Christmas in Cambodia
1. RatherGate