"Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice."
Barry Goldwater, Nomination Acceptance Speech, 1964 Republican Convention.
She came, she spat, she bailed. Disappeared quicker than a manic-depressive Vice-Presidential nominee after revealing a history of electro-shock therapy to a braying herd of newspapermen.
But dawm.
Tiny Perfect Blog (TPB) has been sucked into the annals of history – but not before receiving a few very well-placed kicks to the rear on the way out, by the flatulent sounds of the old guard free press, as well as the whiz-kid-aw-shucks-post-partisan-drivel of the social media revolution.
TPB made Tories scowl, Liberals cringe, and Greens go back to witchcraft. It often made Dippers titter nervously, like one is wont to do back home after the family wake when creepy Uncle Dennis has one of the nieces on his lap. But most of all, it got people talking – and perhaps even thinking. It broke stories, slung rumour and innuendo, and made these Alberta Report writers… jealous. Very jealous.
Sure, the random potshots at the building trades unions and AUPE were out of line and uncalled for. Sure, TPB may have even gone overboard in its characterization of Alberta Liberals as the stunned-into-submission-passers-by-on-a-gruesome-highway-63-accident-scene.
But hot damn. People read that tripe.
Those of us at the Alberta Report are betting on heavy personal gain from that, and hoping for a complete and utter electro-political coup, by re-launching this scrapheap of satire and dragging her off to the political races. We're making it harder, leaner, and meaner - as a tribute of sorts to the anonymous ink-stained wretch who, for a few short months, made the
Call it the Tiny Perfect Echo. The vengeful second sons and daughters of the nuclear family are back to spread the good word from here to High Level, and we’re not happy with the allotted 2.5 children of the
We’ll be doing it editorial board style, a la A Real Newspaper. Our names and profiles are real (bios coming soon), and we are always available for comment, of the poignant and hilarious kind. Posts will not be signed individually, but will usually be agreed upon by our collective heads.
Thanks for the memories TPB. We’ll do our best to grab that faltering torch. Goldwater was right, though he had the politics and medium mixed up. Amend that to “extremism in the defense of
RIP, Tiny Perfect Blog. You went gently into that good night, but your cyber-death will be avenged.
- Alberta Report Editorial Collective
comments
5 Responses to "Tiny Perfect Echo"Sniff,
I feel like a proud mother watching her child graduate.
Except you were actually here first, so that doesn't really work.
Shit - I'm supposed to be in hiding, gotta go! Good luck my children!
Aww, TPB, thanks. You young doe, you...
Just remember this little nugget of wisdom from former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Reginald Maudling:
There comes a time in every (wo)man's life when he must make way for an older man (and woman).
Of course, he also said this:
"For God's sake bring me a large Scotch. What a bloody awful country."
Which is a wise choice in nearly all circumstances.
Thanks for dropping by!
Barry Goldwater would not seem to be a likely poster child for a left-wing blog. But maybe sharing a commitment to ideology is enough to mave him a fellow traveller. Both neoconservatives and socialists have a strong stense of how they want the world to be, and extremism are tools in their arsenals.
I want what's good within the NDP to flourish: compassion for people in need, respect for minority populations and a sense that the wealth of the province should used for the benefit of all Albertans. These things are admirable and make sense. I think there are many smart young bloggers and social media types who would like to work with the NDP to achieve them.
However, they are interested in issues: repealing Bill 44, improving access to information, taking positive action to reduce dependancy on automobiles. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think their motivation is partisanship. Their goal is to make the world a better place, not to fight with the Grits over who gets to form the Official Opposition.
Currently we have a political system based on partisanship. The alternative is to move toward consensus. We take actions to do the right thing, not the expedient thing, not the ideological thing. To do that, the extremism of Barry Goldwater and TPB need to be left behind.
Change will be hard for many NDPers. In 1993, the party stood alone in opposing the slashing and burning proposed by Ralph Klein and Lawrence Decore. The elections results were horrible. For the next several years, Dippers watched while powerful people treated vulnerable groups in ways that went beyond disrespectful.
There remains a lot of bitterness and radicalism. It will be hard to let it go, to work cooperatively to build a better province instead of blasting away at anyone who does not conform to rigid ideological purity. But that's so much healthier and wiser -- not to mention more useful -- than Barrywater extremism.
I hope your blog will be bigger than Tiny and strive for good, not Perfection.
Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out,
Welcome back,
To the same old place that you laughed about.
Well the names have all changed since you hung around,
But those dreams have remained and they're turned around.
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)
Here where we need ya (Here where we need ya)
Yea, we tease you a lot cause we got you on the spot, welcome back.
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.
Love the Welcome Back Kotter allusion. Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!
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