The Moralist, the Moralizing, and the Moral of the Story

There is no moral to the story; it is convenient word play in an age of professional moralists and societal resentment toward morals of stories.

A personal moment: Something strange occurred by which a blog accustomed to calling thirty hits an outstanding day pulled about sixty for two in a row. The phenomenon on this occasion is one of a scant few posts written directly about the infamous former FOX News personality Bill O’Reilly, on an occasion he appeared to throw his own mother under the bus.

One of those weird curses of privilege: Since people are reading it, do I deliberately write a follow-up? Great, who wants to read that much of me crowing about the demise of Bill O’Reilly’s tenure at FOX News? And can I really muster the will to wallow in such sordid tales when it means putting Bill O’Reilly’s face on a protracted discussion of sexual harassment and belligerence? And how much should I really complain about the world when this is the question I’m nibbling through lunch time?

Maybe it’s these conundra, even more than the low ethics, that we come to disdain about conservatives. I can still remember a Doonesbury episode from the Time of the Blue Dress, and the idea that Mike was relieved that his twelve year-old daughter already understood enough about fellatio that he need not explain that aspect of the headlines. The idea of putting Bill O’Reilly‘s face on any discussion of sexual harassment almost feels like harassing belligerence of its own.

To the other, it is not so much a question of passing on opportunity; rather, well, damn it, the smartest thing to do would be to stop now.

A Self-Gratifying Note About Nothing of Any Importance

It is true that these are fantastic statistics for This Is; after all, we’re a free blog with volunteer staff who get around to posting something when we have time. Or are irritated, frustrated, outraged, awestruck, or otherwise emotionally moved, such as when the struggle is to stop laughing long enough to properly address a keyboard.

The caveat, of course, is that statistics are only worth what they actually tell us:

If you tag your posts effectively, this panel will show you which topics get the most traffic. Snapshot generated from your top posts over the past week.

Nothing wrong with that. Then again, if we pause to consider the actual content posting on This Is, the uselessness of this statistic outside existing for our own information is exposed. That is to say, these are the tags that have overwhelmingly dominated the last week’s worth of content.

Capsule analysis:

• More people read when we post more frequently. (File under, “Duh”.)

• Politics is a popular general subject. (File under, “You don’t say?”)

The bottom line: Sure, we’re happy. But that means nothing to anyone else.

Or, more simply put: Move along. Nothing to see here.

Still, though, thanks for stopping by. It is our honor, privilege, and pleasure.