Daddy and I have been kind of cocooned away in our little home. He's on leave, pending being away during the week, and only home on the weekend. So we've been soaking up all the 'us' we can.
A friend asked Monday if I had seen the uproar in blogland, and I had not. She directed me to the article in the Daily Beast. It was hopelessly slanted, but you kind of knew it would be. The Daily Beast, while it had a credible start, is after all a reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, it is after all a news and opinion website.
What does that mean? It means it presents credible news items, but it is not subject to the ethics of print journalism. It is an OP-ED news source, which is a source which presents newspaper articles that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board.It is akin to paparazzi journalism... people sneaking around, digging through trash, twisting facts into fantastically contrived pretzel shapes which support their personal opinions.
Today I followed a link or two and see that some blogs have gone private, and I wonder why? Are you ashamed of the life you live? I am not ashamed of the life I live with Ward. It is genuine. It is real. We share a closeness for which the bearers of the opinions expressed in this particular piece have envy. It is simply my personal opinion that hiding, pulling up our shutters is giving this kind of vile black journalism more power than it deserves.
Pulling our shutters tight makes it seem like we have something to hide, like we are ashamed of our lifestyle. I am not ashamed of our lifestyle. I am not ashamed of the fact that I am submissive to my husband. I am not ashamed of the fact that he leads our home honorable and well. I am not ashamed of the fact that I have given him the right of authority over our family, our children and me. I am proud of who we are and what we stand for, traditional marriage, traditional male-led relationships, a strong and centered family.
HIS POV:
It would seem that we are all feeling the impact of the recent "junk journalism" event. I would like to be very clear when I say that I support not only the affected and named parties of this vicious, unfounded, and clearly slanted attack, but I also support the entire blogland network. I understand that there are many ways of looking at this, and perhaps some folks will take exception to what I say or the words I use, but I feel that a clear, honest voice must be used.
Shutting the doors, or taking the ball and going home only lets the attackers win. Yes, I said it, but - and now it's out, but that's how I feel. Standing together in support and going on with our lives in a honest and natural way not only grants each and every couple and person in blogland support, but we send a message... We don't hide, we aren't afraid to be ourselves and we don't bow to cowardice.
To the writers of these and other examples of slanted, garbage-journalism... I hope you understand something beyond the damage that you have caused. Your flagrant disregard for other people's lifestyles tells us everything we need to know about you. Ignorance is a contagious disease that spreads like wildfire. I doubt you are the kind of person that can look past the surface and understand the deeper meaning of what true, unconditional love and true sacrifice mean and harbor. You disgust me for not only your actions, but also your cowardly, limited intellect and your fearful, low, cowardly attacks on good people. That said I forgive you... I want to be the first to tell you that. It may not be what you expect but there it is. I am past it, it's over and done, and perhaps people can grow past this and be something more. I don't expect you to understand or care, but as a Christian man with a backbone, I will be the one person that calls it like it is. You are small, weak, and sickly both in thought and deed and with that I have only one other thing to say to you... Have a nice day.