Finally, the MSM has thought to survey commenters to learn just why they write what they write and, more important, why they write under the cloak of anonymity. From boston.com, the web site of the Boston Globe:

At many of these sites, executives have begun to ask themselves: How did we get into this thicket, and is there a sensible way out? But a more basic question needs to be answered first: Who are these people who spend so much of their days posting anonymous comments, and what is motivating them?

Newspapers find themselves in a strange position. People wanting to have a letter to the editor printed in the paper have long been required to provide their name, address, and a daytime phone number. Yet on the websites owned by these same newspapers, all it usually takes to be handed a perpetual soapbox is an active e-mail address.

True enough. In the old days, a reporter or write would have to wait days (if not forever) for any reader response to his or her work, either in the form of a letter to the editor or to the writer himself. On the web, however, the feedback is instantaneous. (more…)

The blogosphere is abuzz with speculation about the real identity of the strange and wonderfully timely “Ellie Light,” President Obama’s No. 1 fan and apparently the owner of more residences than Donald Trump, John McCain and John Kerry combined.  Not to mention an indefatigable letter writer.

With Obama slumping in the polls, and reduced to more campaign-style appearances in front of friendly audiences in lieu of, you know, actually governing, the ethereal Ms. Light has taken pen in hand on multiple occasions to support her (?) fading Hope:

Courtesy of Patterico, a sample excerpt from her bountiful, revisionist, apologetic pen:

A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again, that health care legislation was proceeding without a bump, that Afghanistan suddenly became a nice place to take your kids, we would’ve known we were being lied to. Back then, we recognized that the problems Obama inherited as president wouldn’t go away overnight.

But today, the president is being attacked as if he were a salesman who promised us that our problems would wash off in the morning. He never made such a promise. It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything.

Why would anyone think Obama had a magic wand?  It’s not as if he’s ever made any extravagant promises: (more…)