Courtroom murmers, "Jesus, what BALLS!"

Jonah Goldberg at the NRO on Anonymous Blogging and the defense of Ed Whelan:

A (anonyblogging) reader writes, in part:

Jonah-

If it's cowardly to blog anonymously, were Madison, Hamilton, and Jay cowards for publishing the Federalist Papers under the pseudonym "Publius"?

Answer: No. Madison, Hamilton, and Jay weren't amateur pundits. Seems like a pretty big category error.

Update: Several readers take offense to my use of the word "amateur." For instance:

Hang on a second.

Pundits are divided into "amateur" and, I would suppose, "professional" catagories?

Isn't one of the joys of the internet the ease with which previously unknown wise voices can be heard?

Both complaints miss the point. First, yes there are professional and amateur pundits. Who disputes this? Are the professionals always better than the amateurs? Of course not. But some people do work as pundits for a living, some do it as a hobby.

Meanwhile, follow this link for the current header on the NRO website (06/08/09).



Jonah Goldberg, Professional Blogger.