Spice Boys almost decapitated by the point as it whizzes past

I am not certain there are two reporters, anywhere, who have as much animosity for the subject they are assigned to that Spivak and Bice have for blogging. The description attached to their blog space at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reads, "Journal Sentinel columnists Cary Spivak and Dan Bice trudge through the scores of local political blogs so you don’t have to." Clearly, with the level of contempt they regularly show bloggers, this is not an assignment they relish. "Trudge," indeed.

For example, they seem convinced that every blogger ever has exactly one motivating factor: Selfishness. They're just sure every blogger's greatest desire is to see themselves in print or is otherwise in the blog game for self-aggrandizement. When they do indeed blog about blogs, they just can't help but let their contempt shine through.

Which brings us to their offering for today:

Gas is hovering at around three bucks a gallon, there's still a nasty war in Iraq and state politicos are gearing up for one heckuva fight for control of the governor's mansion.

But if you're a blogger, forget about all that. To the folks in cyberspace, what could possibly be more important than ...

Blogging.

Ann Althouse, a Madison blogger with a national following, is reporting - er, make that blogging - live from a blogging conference at Harvard Law School. You can even get a picture of her typing away at her laptop while at one session.

Now we know. Blogging: It's all about me.

Ann Althouse, whom I just don't care to read but who seems like a nice enough person from the eight seconds I had to talk to her last month at the blog summit (cue the Spice Boys: "It's all about them!"), doesn't write about Wisconsin politics as a rule. Or gas prices. Or much political at all--which is why I don't read her. She's all about "The Sopranos" and other pop culture-y things, with an eye-glazing helping of law besides.

But heaven forbid that she take time out of her busy schedule discussing who may be America's next top model to attend and cover a national conference about blogging!

More than anything else, it shows that Spivak and Bice just don't have much of a feel for what this medium that they are supposed to cover is all about, whose niche is where, and what we think is actually important. You'd think, on a day like today, when the actual Wisconsin political blogs are all over the One-Night Stand of the Frat Brother of the Gynecologist of TABOR's Ex-Girlfriend (full props to Diamond Dave for that one!), the Boys could come up with something more informative and informed than the mean-spirited snipe at Althouse.

As much as I hate to say it, Patrick McIlheran actually does "get" this medium, as evidenced by his writing today of the post los Niños Spice should have written.

Maybe covering the blogs (so you don't have to!) just isn't as much fun as trafficking in political gossip. Maybe they just don't have any respect for people like me (and Althouse) who don't get (or want) a paycheck for writing every day. Either way, their scorn couldn't be more clear. Thanks, Boys, for all your efforts to marginalize us.