Beautiful.
Instapundit Glenn Reynolds has a fantastic column up at The New York Post today.
https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/354216626511548418
https://twitter.com/TN_Loadmaster/status/354169188312563712
Heh. As Twitchy reported, Sen. Dick Durbin recently told bloggers they need not apply for the same protections as journalists. He repeated that jackassery last week in the Chicago Sun-Times. “Just bloggers” aren’t “real journalists,” you see. He blathered on with such astute insight as a “real journalist” would get a paycheck from a media organization.
The Constitution is selective, apparently. Sen. Durbin believes that he gets to decide who is worthy enough for constitutional protection. Frightening.
https://twitter.com/hale_razor/status/354239159386378240
Glenn Reynolds gave him the business gloriously. Here is just a taste from his excellent column:
The ability to publish inexpensively, and to reach potentially millions of people in seconds, has made it possible for people who’d never be able to — or even want to — be hired by the institutional press to nonetheless publish and influence the world, much like 18th century pamphleteers.
…
Durbin’s pontifications about who’s entitled to press freedom were uttered in the course of promoting a federal “shield law” that would allow those “real” journalists to conceal their sources. I oppose such laws in general, but to the extent that they exist, they should protect everyone who’s doing journalism, regardless of where their paycheck comes from.
I wouldn’t trust Durbin (or most of his Senate colleagues) to baby-sit my kid. I certainly don’t trust them to decide who counts as a “real” journalist — and, more importantly, who doesn’t.
Bam. Reynolds offered up recent examples of huge scoops that did not come from what Sen. Durbin would call “real journalists.” Bingo! Twitchy has said this before and we’ll say it again:
It is often “just bloggers” who do the jobs that many in the media refuse to do. But, they can’t be bought off by glazed donuts, lame photo montage jokes or a “charm offensive,” can they?
Reynolds also called out Durbin for being a constitutional ignoramus. Of course, Durbin has spent far too much time in the Better Than You beltway bubble.
Twitter users rightly heaped on the praise:
https://twitter.com/LarryAkey/status/354256102159941632
https://twitter.com/jamesmceldowney/status/354228018434146304
https://twitter.com/julnilsmith/status/354216998005252097
https://twitter.com/NancyDockins/status/354250481968754688
https://twitter.com/AmberBarno/status/354231207476736000
https://twitter.com/Rach_IC/status/354265202058997760
https://twitter.com/bonzaiblog/status/354219644657213440
https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/354217667583938562
Brilliant indeed. Read the whole thing.
If anyone is in dire need of an Insta-schooling, it is Sen. Durbin.
Related:
Sen. Dick Durbin pulls the ‘real journalist’ card: Protection? ‘Just bloggers’ need not apply
Twittersphere helps restore @Instapundit to Instapundit Glenn Reynolds, but all followers lost
#RespondTwitter hashtag aims to restore @Instapundit name to Glenn Reynolds; Update: Restored!
