Turning the other cheek and/or face
: On the third of three “hits” — as they say in TVland — on MSNBC yesterday, I joined Kathy Shaidle of Relapsed Catholic (my suggestion) and Mark Shea of Catholic and Enjoying It, who were both very good on the tube.
I gave my what’s-the-blogosphere-saying-on-this-Jeff spiel, starting with German reaction (Heiko Hebig says now the Germans will win the World Cub and “Wir sind wieder wer,” which I hope I translated correctly as, we’re somebody again). Next, I went to positive reaction like Kathy’s, who had said she was glad this “will annoy all the right people.” I quoted Curt Jester: “Of course besides having this wonderful man as Pope we get the added bonus of him really annoying the dissidents.” And I quoted from Ratzinger Fan Club, which was hammered by traffic and down just then. I said they were triumphal.
But this was also a controversial election and to illustrate that I could find no better illustration than Andrew Sullivan, who said: “This was not an act of continuity. There is simply no other figure more extreme than the new Pope on the issues that divide the Church. No one…. And I expect the Church’s immersion in the culture wars in the West – on every imaginable issue. For American Catholics, I foresee an accelerating exodus…. This was a statement as much as a selection. And the statement is that the church is circling the wagons.”
Shea was then introduced and asked what he was seeing on the blogosphere and he said he was seeing what I saw. He then gave a very good interview and Kathy did likewise.
See the segment, thanks to Ian, here.
Then, this morning, I read Shea’s blog. I see a very different picture there, about “a guy named Jeff Jarvis:”
After that, Jeff Jarvis came on to give the Polarization Report from the Blogosphere. It turns out that those who are happy about Ratzinger’s election are “triumphalists” while those who are wetting themselves and losing control of basic bodily functions due to panic are freedom-loving custodians of the flickering flame of all that is good and decent in this world. In particular, Jarvis quoted Andrew Sullivan’s magnificent shriek of hysteria with its absurd claim that this is some sort of radical discontinuity from the legacy of John Paul and the Council….
Kathy Shaidle, as possessor of the pair of XX chromosomes in the group, was anointed to speak on behalf of all Womankind, but failed her entire sex by not much caring whether women are ordained or not.
Gee, he seemed to be enjoying himself at the time; I heard no dissent or complaints.
There are many viewpoints on this story. Blogs reflect that. I selected blogs that, in turn show that. Was I supposed to quote only the fawning posts? Oh, and yes, I would call the tone of many triumphal. And I don’t think that’s a bad word, being accused of blog triumphalism all the time. So what’s wrong with a little Catholic triumphalism, eh?
