A Rat By Choice

I have accepted that I will, in all likelihood, never enjoy the fame nor fortune of a Hewitt, a Limbaugh, or a Malkin. Part of this is due to the fact – seldom acknowledged – that for all their gushing about the New Media, these all established their names and lucrative ventures in the Old Media. Nothing at all wrong with making money and getting famous through newspapers or radio or television, but let’s be honest about it – the Blogosphere is not a center of High Finance or Mercantile industry, nor could it thrive if it became so. The Blogs exist for a variety of motives, but every successful blog comes into being because its author(s) sense a need to fill a void, correct a lie, or right a wrong, and so are unique and generally sacrifice size for agility. Some blogs will make money, and some will become widely popular, but many others must serve a different purpose.

In my case, I find that I am not very good at all as a glad-handing showman or salesman. That’s not to say I have not enjoyed success; sometime today my site is going to log visit number one hundred thousand, but I am reminded that there are many blogs which do as well in a week as I have in three years. Ah well, keeps me humble it does.

Not silent, though. I have long understood that I am a peculiar sort. A Republican who sees a place and a need for Democrats in American politics, a Fundamentalist Christian who nonetheless accepts that God has love and hope for every person, even if I do not understand the plan. An American who sees our place as one of duty as much as power, and our authority on loan from the Lord. So it is that I accept very little at face value, and pursue truth and the higher purpose wherever I can see it. It is also true, that as I am both Scots-Irish and a Texan, that I sometimes speak my mind in warm vernacular, though I try hard to avoid personal insults. I certainly receive such perjoratives in comments and my mail, which always tells me when I have hit a nerve.

Now about that title. In the Chinese Zodiac, people are categorized more by year than by month, and while I am not all that keen on Astrology, I am impressed with how many people I know who fit their Chinese “animal”. As for me, I was born in the “Year of the Rat”. Intelligent and talky, a big ego and fiercely loyal to family and friends. Yeah, that sounds about right. But you know what? That would pretty much be my choice, anyway. And like rats everywhere there are always more of us than you think, and we never really go away. OK sure, I do like to keep clean and neat, and I hire exterminators, I don’t hide from them, but the analogy works on the rhetorical level; I am one of those guys who doesn’t mind tweaking anyone who needs it, and even my own party could use a reminder from time to time that we have to measure up to the promise, not turn into just another flavor of the arrogant politicos we saw from Donkeytown for all those years. Sometimes that means reminding Malkin that she owes the President, and not vice versa. Sometimes that means pointing out the errors in even El Rushbo’s bluster when it happens – an acolyte or well-paid disciple cannot do that, but we rats will chew on whatever seems tasty. And since they are so crummy in their standards and behavior, count on the Left getting more than a munch from my teeth. I may never be a household name, but me and mine are never quite forgotten. Nor should we be.