As to what sources I read on the right side of things, I regularly consume the feeds of the Cato Institute Blog (as well as their position papers), Lew Rockwell, Andrew Sullivan (granted, he has grown less Republican over time), Instapundit, George Will, Krauthammer, Weekly Standard, National Review (specifically; Goldberg, Kudlow, Derbyshire), Hugh Hewitt, and I subscribe to The Economist. At times, I’ll head over to random right wing blogs like redstate, LGF, Buffalog, Rus Thompson, Ostrowski, or Malkin if there is a hot issue and I want to see what the fringies have to say about it. I’ll pop in on your various blogs from time to time as well and I like to read a lot of conservatives on Twitter.

I read feeds on my phone, when I have spare time after the kids go to bed and during down time in my day. Information is brain fuel, I consume it constantly.

What I find when I try and join the conversation on Twitter or engage people on Republican blogs is that the Republican immediately gets upset that someone is challenging them in public on a statement and they confuse direct discussion with personal attacks. There is nothing written here that could or should be construed as a personal attack. By all accounts, you seem to be a perfectly normal guy and seem reasonable in person. I am making an observation that you seem to be mildly to ill-informed about local politics, how the system works and who the principals are. That’s not really surprising since you haven’t lived here a long time and you have a lot of other things going on.

The political history here is convoluted and there is a lot of unspoken motivations and personal vendettas amongst the politicians for perceived rights and wrongs. For instance, why does Kevin Hardwick strongly dislike Steve Pigeon? Why do Sam Hoyt and Steve Pigeon have a personal vendetta? Joe Golombek and Sam Hoyt? And how do those issues affect public policy? Why do guys like Volker and Stachowski keep going back to Albany even though they have both proven to be terrible legislators over long and undistinguished careers? The list is long and distinguished.

In your original post in this thread, you wondered why there wasn’t an uproar about red light cameras. When I point out that there was an uproar and that you didn’t notice it, you take it as a personal attack. However, you also admit in this thread that you didn’t really notice any coverage of the red light camera issue because you didn’t see it. So, the logical conclusion to be derived is that you don’t regularly consume local media. The assumption then is, if you don’t regularly consume media in this town, why write a blog and comment on it? It’s not a personal attack, it’s an objective question. You have internalized the question and made it personal.

If you want to think I’m an asshole, that’s cool. No skin off my nose. But, social media is a two way street. When you put forth an opinion, you should expect people to challenge it and engage you, that’s the whole point. If you don’t want to do that, you should write in magazines or keep a journal.

Also, it took me three and a half minutes to write that entire response. I think fast and type fast. FYI.

Clearly, if you have time to post multiple lengthy comments here (on a blog your earlier characterizations of me would suggest shouldn’t be worth your time) then you have more free time than I do, especially since you are fixated on veiled personal attacks.

That, and perhaps your public comments here are deliberately exaggerated, which, considering your character that I have been able to observe for a while now, appears to be the case. Because your repeated presence here totally contradicts your bogus assessments of me and this blog. But, no surprise there.

My views and beliefs are constantly challeged by people I am around, and the content I read. You may disagree with my conclusions, but that doesn’t mean you (and those who agree with you) are the only ones who are reading all sides of issues… I think Artvoice has some of the worst political commentary and analyses I have read since I moved to WNY… but that doesn’t mean I don’t read it.

Now, do I have as much time these days to absorb as much as I would like? No. But, that’s life.

I have been blogging long enough to know you need to be aware of all sides and what they are saying. Though, only you seem to want a medal for claiming that you do, while accusing others of not. Interestingly enough, while you specifically cited some liberal sources, you didn’t mention any specific libertarian or republican sources that you claimed to read regularly. Maybe I should jump to the conclusion that you are lying, or at least exaggerating…. Which actually wouldn’t surprise me at all from what I know of you.

Also, if you don’t regularly consume any of those media channels mentioned in my previous comment (which is all of them), then, yes, you live in a bubble.

To fill that out a bit, let me riddle you this:

When was the last time you read a Paul Krugman column? When was the last time you read something on Salon, Slate, Alternet? Because I regularly read libertarian sites, republican sites and liberal sites. I like to read what other people of different persuasion have to say on events and issues. Sometimes, those sites force me to look at things a little differently and sometimes they don’t. In the end, I at least learn why people are opposed to things I believe in.

Based upon what you put forward on your various online outlets, I don’t get the impression that you do anything like that. Of course, the manner in which I asked this question and the forum in which I asked it gives you the ability to answer however you like, regardless as to the truthfulness of your answer. But, I think you should spend as much time reading across the spectrum as you do reading the people and outlets you agree with to avoid the echo chamber/bubble effect.

Where in fact do you get your news if you didn’t catch any of this coverage? I’m starting to think that little local news penetrates your bubble, which begs the question, why do you write a local blog?