Editor
HARLINGEN, Texas - In the low-rent movie version of this border cantina brawl, Jerry McHale is the third tourist from the left - a known rabble-rouser arriving in town to do his dastardlty deed. Yep, that Blogging prankster from down the road in Brownsville, where he is known to lash hometown characters mercilessly, with seeming impunity, where his reputation comes with the understanding that half of the joke is on his Blog, El Rocinante.com. How else to look at it? One would think that enough naked women have been paraded on that Blog to fill the town's largest public venue twice-over with dangling breasts and sexy, leggy sweethearts. Indeed, if sheer numbers alone are any indication, well, the vagina has been chewed beyond recognition on El Rocinante.com.
And so, it brings us to this: Should Harlingen get bent out of shape when El Rocinante attacks, as it did all day today? The Blog spared no pejorative, no bad adjective in assailing Harlingen as a racist town inhabited by ignorant goobers. Should Harlingen have made it a Big Deal, as it did on several of its Blogs?
There is no Big Deal. El Rocinante's assault is just another example of the notorious Blogosphere doing what it does best, namely availing the venue for such cross-county whippings. We then ask a bigger question: Can readers depend on Bloggers for objective, truth-based news? Or is what we have here in this tirade against Harlingen just another wanton shotgunning whose sole motivation is to titillate with loaded language, to dress others in the threads profanity and ridicule.
Well, Bloggers are definitely not "journalists;" they are, however, reporters - individuals "reporting" what they've heard or seen or imagined, often the latter. Opinion is a huge part of Blogging. Often, these opinions are extremely critical, disconnected with fact, or even ill-intentioned on purpose. So you ask yourself, "Is the Blog I follow dependable?" The answer is this: You decide. Just as you decided to plunk those two quarters into the news box to get the daily newspaper. A Blog may not be objective. Most are not. Most need that free shot at the community they serve to survive, either as a cartoonish version of the local newspaper or as an outright sledgehammer, no apologies offered.
The latest offerings coming from ElRocinante (note: the Blog does afford visitors the opportunity to opt out on its explicit material) pertaining to the city of Harlingen can be categorized as nothing more than free shots, writing steeped in semblances and rumor of history. That Bloggers in Harlingen quickly slammed El Rocinante in return is no surprise. They openly wondered about that Blog's motives, some noting that El Rocinante has enough material to fill a 12-part volume of God-awful tales to do with its own town. Yet, therein lies the beauty of Blogging: One can Blog about anywhere from anywhere. That's the Computer Age coming at you, baby.
We have done it. We have Blogged from airports, from Dallas, from New York and elsewhere on several occasions, all for material we used on The Tribune here in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. It's not right and it's not wrong - it's the Electronic Age we live in. So, should Harlingen residents have been bent out of shape at reading today's skull-whacking posts on El Rocinante.com? Of course not.
Why? Well, for one you can again thank the Computer Age. The Internet is the hungriest of beasts and Bloggers know that readers demand fresh material every day. El Rocinante will trot onward blithely, quickly forgetting Harlingen like it forgets the people it whips in Brownsville, like it even forgets itself from time to time...
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10 comments:
Can't wait to see what Mchale's response to this will be. And it will not happen tomorrow. It will come almost as if out of the blue. But you can bet it WILL be good/laughable.
anonny
ANON:...We can handle it. In fact, we're pretty good at defending ourselves. Jerry won't respond. He's in it only for the laughs, isn't he?.. - Editor
Jerry, don;t do it. It's a trap being set by DPM. he doesn't give a damn about brownsville. he has nothing to lose. you do.
ren
I think the city of Harlingen has put themselves in the position to be satired about. This crazy town takes pride being the way it is. I had a friend who rescently attended a re-union and he stated that the anglos behaved as if they were better than the rest of the classmates.
Other blogs have wrote about the issue, it isn't only the Rocinante, in fact, there is rumor going that 10 people own Harlingen.
Not to mention an individual who sold real estate and marketed the city as having less hispanics than Bro. and McAllen.
If things are going to change that it should be the responsibility of the hispanic community to make changes, and if the local papers hide their had in the sand. Then let the blogs air out the issues.
(isn't he?.. - Editor)
That he is, my man.
Ren.
Rosario:..I agree on your point about the failure of the newspapers and the responsibility of the area Blogs. MyLeaderNews does its job with respect, MyHarlingenNews is what it is - a Blog that sees what it sees, and who can argue with being forceful in the face of inaction. But El Rocinante does little to help its community beyond shaming some of its ledaers, the "some" being the important word in that sentence. Being selective is not good. Either hammer everybody fairly or hammer no one. We're not saying shut it down; we're saying it could be so much more...- Editor
Well El Roci, is just that el roci, they did call every commissioner a name. Now I don't agree with all the women they parade on their blog or calling Melissa Zamora names. I will concede that point Mr. Editor, but Harlingen is racist town, what it is, is what it is.
And Jerry Deal was called out by a writer who calls himself el Rey, about name calling. Mr. Deal does that to.
I am not defending El Rocinante, personally its hard porno, what I am defending is the right to exposed a bigoted city by a local blog.
Rosario:...We also defend Free Speech, absolutely. But the ledge on the miles-high cliff that Harlingen sits on is the very same one Brownsville knows well. I have a certain fondness for Brownsville, however - because of one person who for some strange reason lives there. If you see her, tell her I still care, perhaps too much, or enough anyway...to move the moon... - Editor
harlingen has its faults but who is at fault. the citizens and their apathy. why doesn't someone mention that instead of calling a racist city and trying to put more fuel into the fire. Leftwich is not necessarily for the community or his district. He is just following the orders of two or three individuals who he thinks put him in office. No credit to the regular citizens who voted for him for the water billing exposure.
Harlingen Stinks Like rotten and Sauwerkraft and spoiled german sausage... is Taht because they don't like tacos ?
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