That brings me to the second reason why beginning to blog is dangerous.
If you’ve got a blog, you’ve got to blog. And anyone who talks a lot will say a lot of dumb stuff.
Very few of us have enough quality content to justify much exposure. That’s why people who have jobs that require them to speak regularly eventually get caught sounding stupid.
Have sympathy for those required babblers on talk radio and cable news. Yes, I know many of them are busy meeting their own performance needs and they’re well paid. But seriously, they’ve really got no chance. Just on the principle of the thing, the 24 hour news cycle breeds nonsense.
Politicians, pundits, sports figures, corporate figureheads, hired talking heads, even the most articulate President is memory, no one escapes. Say enough often enough and listening to you becomes a grim task.
I found this out firsthand 30 years ago, in another lifetime, when I pastored churches for a while. When the finger of God points at you every Sunday and says say a least something worthwhile, few of us are profound for long. That’s why sermonizing has a bad name.
Beyond a few notable exceptions, open your mouth often enough – or hit the Publish It button often enough – and you’ll say a lot of dumb stuff.
So now I’m blogging. Duh.
Totally agree about the 24 hour news cycle, Phil. It breeds a tremendous amount of nonsense and noise masquerading as "news". It's gotten to the point where some media sources can't tell the difference, deciding to cut important stories on world events short in order to switch to coverage of some reality tv star's infidelities. Or maybe they can tell the difference and the switch is just ratings driven.
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