The vital role bloggers play in ‘reporting’ the news: none

At this year's convention of the American Society of News Editors, Arianna Huffington did what she does best and most frequently — huffed, puffed, pontificated and told us poor wretches who actually practice journalism how inadequate we are.

Better journalists would have figured out Saddam Hussien really did not have weapons of mass destruction. Better journalists would have predicted the financial crisis. Better journalists would have clamored for safer mines and prevented the recent explosion in West Virginia.

Like most liberals her answer to everything is more regulators. They seem to have religious faith in the power of Washington to fix all things and deliver manna from heaven. Never mind that Washington is usually the cause. It was Washington that demanded more and more people be given housing loans they could not afford and then bought the toxic assets from willing sellers. It was Washington that increased the fines for mine safety violations making it more practical to fight than fix.

But my favorite moment came when an editor from West Virginia rose and asked Huffington how many reporters she has on the ground at the mine site.

After a long and rambling explanation of all the vital things her unpaid bloggers do for posterity, the answer was: none.