In the newest issue of Vanity Fair, the most awesome magazine in the world, we find this, in Michael Wolff's article about Politico.

Likewise, there is Ben Smith. Smith is 32, lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children (with a third about to be born), and is, too, a total dweeb. His blog, which he started at The New York Observer, then moved to the Daily News, and then to Politico, is another new journalism model. It has a sense of extreme autodidacticism, a kind of focus and relentlessness and unavoidability that, through sheer immediacy and constancy, forces everybody to acknowledge it—and to deal with and talk to Smith. Smith ends up being the only one as interested in what his sources are doing as they themselves are. He’s made himself his subjects’ soulmate. During the campaign, there was hardly anyone in a senior position with any of the candidates who wasn’t one of Smith’s I.M. buddies.

So let me break a lance for my friend Ben. I haven't seen him since I ran into him at City Hall for the big Joe Mesi press conference last year, when he walked up and gave me a hug. That's the secret to Ben's success, other than the fact that he has the best sources in blogdom and a gift for hitting his points exactly; the guy's genuinely nice.

In semi-related news, do you know who reads Vanity Fair these days, religiously? New York Progressive bloggers, that's who; unbearably sophisticated bunch that we are.

Surprised no one else has written about this one. Awhile back I wrote about a case where the NYPD arbitrarily denied three bloggers press credentials. Those three bloggers were Rafael Martínez Alequin, a long-time critic of Tsar Bloomberg's, who publishes the New York City Free Press, Ralph E. Smith, who publishes The Guardian Chronicle, and David Wallis is founder and CEO of Featurewell.com. Gary Tilzer also had an excellent analysis of this situation.

Norman Siegel, the attorney representing the three bloggers, has won their case and they have been issued press credentials. From Your Free Press:  read more »

A reader emails what is likely to be a packed event.

I noticed a sign in the window at the local Barnes & Noble on Court Street this morning. Markos of Daily Kos is going to be there on Thursday, Sept 4, at 7:00 pm. I thought you might want to check it out. Let me know if you plan to go because I'm definitely going.

Markos, obviously, is the founder of Daily Kos, the world's biggest blogging site, currently on tour to promote his newest book, Taking On The System - Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Age.

The book is getting rave reviews, and there are few places more demanding of systemic change than our very own cherished home state, so consider marking your calendar.

Yesterday I had a bit of fun at the expense of the Republican noise machines and their efforts to paint themselves already as a loud and marginalized minority in Capitol Hill. I was so caught up on the moment that I didn't blog about it until this morning but Kenneth Quinnell described it as a "Twitter Bomb" and has happy to spread the word :

Twitter Bomb

This wasn't my idea (although I came up with the cool name), I think Liza Sabater was the one who started it, but it's too brilliant to pass up.

Those of you who are on Twitter, send as many tweets as you can over the next few days with #dontgo in them. The conservatives are using this hash mark (like a tag) to spread misinformation about offshore drilling and their latest publicity stunt. What Liza and a few others started doing was to flood that hash with counter-commentary or irrelevant posts. Sort of like a google bomb, this can either disrupt what they're doing or, at the very least, annoy the crap out of them. We can all do this.

Whatever you're posting on twitter, try to fit #dontgo into it. And make sure you include the # sign, which is key.

If you aren't on Twitter, this might be the type of thing to get you into it.

And before I even start to explain, let me break down the lingo for you.  read more »

Sometimes inspiration comes suddenly. Awhile back Bouldin wrote a diary on the Tormented Egos of Blogdom. Soon after, Rock Hackshaw, perhaps tortured by Bouldin's tortured ego diary, wrote his reply. The basic question behind these Guantanamo of the blogsphere diaries is "why do we blog?"

Today a friend sent me a cartoon that sums up a large part of my inspiration for blogging: