“I For One Welcome Our New Overlords”

by Scott McLemee on February 2, 2007

Doing the usual stroll through Bloglines a little while ago (168 feeds and counting), I read:

The Weblog’s military aggression this week against The Valve and Long Sunday has been a radically unqualified success. Further action against Crooked Timber will be unnecessary at this time because The Valve and Long Sunday have been transformed into beacons of democracy and hope for the entire academic blogosphere.

That sounds less like serious de-escalation than momentary retrenchment before an eventual attempted conquest. If you want to watch one of the more self-aware blogspats in recent memory, check out the comments section for this entry at The Weblog, the field headquarters for this bloodstained militarist operation.

It’s now up to more than 400 comments. One of them indicates that the invasion of CT was originally scheduled for this weekend. The above-quoted statement indicates otherwise, but that may be an effort to throw everyone off guard.

{ 37 comments }

1

Adam Kotsko 02.02.07 at 2:30 pm

We plan to seek peace through diplomatic means as long as possible — but Crooked Timber was where we were first infected by the Troll of Sorrow (then calling himself “troll du jour”), and the proud people of The Weblog have a long memory.

2

John Emerson 02.02.07 at 2:36 pm

Whose side are you on anyway, Scott?

3

marcel 02.02.07 at 2:51 pm

Once there 911 comments (or is that 911 feeds), well then, that will change everything!

4

Scott McLemee 02.02.07 at 2:58 pm

I’m too confused by the nature of this war to do anything more than seek refugee status.

5

Adam Kotsko 02.02.07 at 3:10 pm

In this kind of conflict, confusion is our greatest ally.

6

John Emerson 02.02.07 at 3:48 pm

Confusion, surprise, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.

7

John Emerson 02.02.07 at 3:49 pm

Like the Poles in 1939, the Crooked Timber folk are behaving very aggressively.

8

Russell Arben Fox 02.02.07 at 4:04 pm

I took at look at the Weblog thread. A fascinating bit of inside baseball, I admit. But, depsite the 400+ comments, still not quite the greatest thread ever.

9

Kieran Healy 02.02.07 at 4:34 pm

I am giving the order to nuke Kotsko now.

10

Jacob T. Levy 02.02.07 at 4:42 pm

wow, was my brain not ready for following those links.

11

engels 02.02.07 at 4:54 pm

Can’t you guys just agree to disagree?

12

Russell Arben Fox 02.02.07 at 5:01 pm

Which links were those, Jacob? (And incidentally, did the Volokh Conspiracy ever get this way? Maybe behind the scenes? Or are libertarians just a little less…what’s the word I want here? Contentious? Angst-filled? Anyway, you know what I mean.)

13

Ken Houghton 02.02.07 at 5:05 pm

But disagree to part/After all it’s just a compromise/Of (all together now)…

14

Ken Houghton 02.02.07 at 5:07 pm

Oh, drats, RAF intervened, making my post above even less lucid..

15

John Emerson 02.02.07 at 5:30 pm

When Kotsko talks about “blood running in the gutters”, he’s speaking metaphorically, I think.

16

a very public sociologist 02.02.07 at 5:36 pm

You mean people still bother with blog wars?

17

Adam Kotsko 02.02.07 at 5:44 pm

This was to be the blogwar to end all blogwars.

18

Adam Kotsko 02.02.07 at 5:50 pm

[Insert joke about blogwars at Volokh Conspiracy in light of Volokh’s advocacy of torture.]

19

CR 02.02.07 at 6:37 pm

Serious people do not read The Weblog. It’s a reading experience equivalent to watching the guy next to you on the subway pick his nose, first the left nostril, then the right, then back to the left, and so on.

20

Kieran Healy 02.02.07 at 6:51 pm

When Kotsko talks about “blood running in the gutters”, he’s speaking metaphorically, I think.

Not anymore. The ICBMs have launched. ETA 30 minutes. (Make up your own appropriate expansion of ‘ICBMs.’ Also ‘ETA.’

21

tom s. 02.02.07 at 6:53 pm

I am obviously completely naff. I feel like I’m playing some bizarre game of Mornington Crescent here.

22

Laleh 02.02.07 at 7:22 pm

God, I must have fallen through the looking glass down the rabbit hole into some sort of indecipherable (mock) machismo contest…

23

John Emerson 02.02.07 at 7:45 pm

Laleh is next. He or she will rue the day.

24

Kieran Healy 02.02.07 at 7:56 pm

Actually I have no idea what any of this is about.

25

Adam Kotsko 02.02.07 at 11:34 pm

Serious people sometimes do read The Weblog, but only for a short time.

26

bi 02.02.07 at 11:36 pm

One thing is certain. We need them big tidy WMDs.(*)

Bellum incipit. Sit vis nobiscum.

= = =

(*) Words of Mass Devastation

27

Walt 02.03.07 at 12:25 am

I assumed that RAF’s link went to Apostropher’s thread on how Barack Obama was the antichrist. The fact that it doesn’t proves I have much to learn about the perfidy of my fellow man.

28

CR 02.03.07 at 1:17 am

Serious people sometimes do read The Weblog, but only for a short time.

That’s so cute. No, Adam, the hits that last only, like, 0.1 second are just google indexing your page. No human could actually become disgusted that quickly.

29

John Emerson 02.03.07 at 7:54 am

John Edwards may be the new Antichrist.

30

Jacob Christensen 02.03.07 at 8:28 am

@26: We’re more likely talking about Words of Mass Distraction here.

What have you guys been eating? And: Can I have some of that too?

31

Anthony Paul Smith 02.03.07 at 2:20 pm

Serious people, maybe not. Though often enough interesting people do.

32

John Emerson 02.03.07 at 2:43 pm

Fundamental seriousness is what cause Hitler, you know. Two words: Carl Schmitt.

33

Antti Nannimus 02.03.07 at 4:11 pm

Hi,

“It’s now up to more than 400 comments.”

See, this is why I don’t hang around colleges.

Have a nice day,
Antti

34

Walt 02.03.07 at 7:16 pm

How can we have a nice day with the shells flying overhead? Damn you, the Weblog!

35

bi 02.04.07 at 12:45 pm

We at Neo-TeX hereby issue a public statement of our stance on The Blogwar.

36

Jacob Christensen 02.04.07 at 2:07 pm

I would just like to note that a search on “blogwar” on Wikipedia yielded results like Blogware and – more intriguingly – Autoerotic fatality (huh…?)

The Germans never had a chance. I hope you’ve enjoyed the rugby.

37

Adam Kotsko 02.04.07 at 10:48 pm

I can discern the inner necessity of the “autoerotic fatality” result.

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