Catching up

I haven't been blogging much lately so today is a good day to catch up on a couple of crumbs I wanted to humbly throw to the blogoshpere.

First, tooting the horn of professional blogs, and then my own, below.
The importance of professional blogs like TPM and like Pierre's, can't be overstated. The traditional media are starting, finally, to pay attention, as a result of the way Josh Marshall blew the attorney firing story wide open. It was mostly Josh's reporting that helped turn this into a story, and finally pushing it into the mainstream press. It isn't the first time TPM has helped move the debate: the Social Security debate was another case in point. Some of the best reporting on the Scooter Libby trial came from FireDogLake. In Pierre's case, his skills as a professional editorialist make him more informed and authoritative than the average blogger. In all of these cases, there is a level of analysis and information that helps make the blogosphere a serious alternative to traditional media.

Is it about time to award a Pulitzer for on-line journalism?

Unrelated matter: The following from the guv's State of the State Address made me seem prophetic in my posts from last week on vouchers:

So as we ask for sacrifice, we must demonstrate responsibility. Wastefulness and giveaways can no longer be tolerated.

That’s why my budget eliminates the Ed Choice voucher program.

And it reminded me of one more obvious reason to be opposed to vouchers: we need the money to fund our public schools. Let's not allow the Right to frame this as "sending the kids back to failing schools" crap that they've already started to spew. This is about investing in high performing schools for ALL students.