Once again, see-BS and Dan Rather display their utter ignorance of the blogosphere. Ace of Spades caught this exchange between Rather and Ed Bradley:

DAN RATHER: One would expect that the blogging machine which the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign has used for any number of purposes over their four years will start now, if it hasn’t started already, to say, listen, Kerry-Edwards, for the good of the country, need to concede.

ED BRADLEY: I’m sure it’s started already. If we could tune into the Internet [ummm.. can't they? -- Ace] we’d see that people are already saying that now. That’s certainly the drum the White House is beating.

After four months in the blogging game, one thing about the majority of bloggers on the wide-ranging right is clear to me: They (we) are a boisterous, independent-minded, unruly lot who cannot be “used” by anyone.

Ace puts it more colorfully in his Dan the Document Man smackdown:

We’re the ones coordinating with political parties, you [bleep]? I’m sorry, did I rush on a story backed by transparent forgeries delivered to you by a seethingly partisan Texas Democrat?

Now, Dan: When you malign thousands of amateur analysts and writers, each of whom acts independently and without pay, as being in the service of the White House and under its control (“used… for any number of purposes,” you say), and without any evidence whatsoever to prove that:

Would that be fact or opinion, Dan?

I know you want to believe it’s a fact, because we embarassed your tired, senile partisan [bleep] so badly and so thoroughly. But is this “fact” backed up by any, you know, facts?

Or perhaps it’s just something Bill Burkett told you, dear?

Say it about me, personally, Danny, and I’ll slap you with a libel suit.

I’d say mega-dittos, but someone might start shouting about The Blogging Machine again…