The end of an era
Bookworm on Aug 19 2008 at 4:30 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
Done With Mirrors was one of the first blogs I started reading when I figured out the whole concept of a political blogosphere. I enjoyed how erudite, thoughtful and amusing Callimachus’s posts were, as well as his fairly uncommon objectivity. I’ve also enjoyed sharing space on the Watcher’s Council with him for the past year or so. I’m therefore very sorry to have to tell you that he is shutting down his blog, and for a very sad reason too: job fear. As he writes:
In the current workplace climate and the likely evolution of the political scene both inside and outside the newsroom, it would be extremely unwise for me to continue blogging, even anonymously.
Farewell, Callimachus, and thank you for all the good posts these many years.
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4 Responses to “The end of an era”
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Well, it is of course his choice to do this. However, I would like to hear more about his fears. They seem overblown to me.
But there must have been commentary or gossip circulating in his newsroom that indicated that someone was about to assume control that was harshly punitive against those with differing political beliefs… ?
If so, that is an outrage and I’d love to hear more about it! I guess if I found out who that was, and which newsroom we’re talking about, that would put Callimachus at risk of exposure. Sigh.
Callimachus did follow up on his site in the comments section for that post. It is a sad and worrisome situation.
Thanks for the kind words! They do mean. I think I am within the vague wording of the company policy on this. But it’s not going to be up to me to interpret those words or even make a case when the whip comes down. And it’s coming. This newsroom, like most, is in a lifeboat ethics mode. They’re looking for reasons to thin the herd. Finally, I remember the last time my online writing drew unwanted attention from my bosses, and a direct promise to terminate me if it continued, was in the run up to the last presidential election, when what I was writing was not the sort of things they liked to see written.
I will have to close off comments here at some point. I figure I’ll leave them open a little longer to give the haters time to notice and register their contempt.
I will get laid off, by the way. Sooner or later. This just might shift it into “later.”
This reminds me of all the bad laws that are out there that remain unenforced because they’re simply bad. Then every so often one of them is used to specifically target someone for punishment for an offense against some status quo. It usually involves one person, or one group, that is seeking to harass someone, and they use one of the usually-unenforced laws to make an example of the person. That is what Callimachus is fearing and it appears he is right.
Hmmm….
Seems like an opportunity for someone. I’d be willing – as a nobody – to receive emails and post them on a blog under an assumed name. I don’t think they’d be traceable back to anyone except as emails, but those could be sent from a private computer to my private computer. Of course, I don’t know a thing about blogging, but it really does bother me when freedom of speech gets shut down.
Done with mirrors is not a blog I’m aware of or have ever read, but that’s not the point. The point is that no one should fear for his/her job because of disagreement on political issues as long as they’re effectively performing the work they’re paid to do.
As you can see Book, the Left will ultimately conduct purge tactics once they have strategic control of a group or organization.
Caution and insurgency are the only wise course of action when the status quo so overpowers you. You have no duty or obligation to play by their rules or to announce yourself. This might convince the base or rather the millions of Democrats that don’t have a clue, but they are not the ones in control, now are they.