Silently Forward

I hope most of us on the left are  pleased to see what appears to be an awakening of Montanan right-wing blogging.  I found it strange how the left seemed to dominate the conversation over the tubes, but these last couple of months seem to have told a different tale.  I hope many of us are cheering on this development.  For my part, I find that the discussion around here has gotten much more invigorating.  The great echo-chamber that was the Montana blogosphere was beginning to take its toll on me. 

But now, I’m confused.   First was the Indy’s piece on Matt and Forward Montana, which painted a pretty picture.  This served as the impetus for a bit of a tizzy on the right side of the blogosphere… which is escalating into a full-blown frenzy.  The writing has been good, the emotions hot, and though the overstatements seem to run rampant, it’s hard not to come out of reading all of their posts without a nasty feeling at the pit of your stomach.

First, there was this.  Then this.  Now this and this.  On the left?…

*crickets*

Why?  I’m certainly not saying that silence indicates guilt of any wrongdoing.  Of course, my tendency is to side with Matt.  But, having no knowledge of the specifics of Forward Montana, it’s nigh impossible for me to defend him.  So why won’t he defend himself? 

My first thought was that it must be a David Sirota-esque “your puny blogs are nothing when compared with my might and popularity!!”  But having read Matt’s stuff for a while now, I’ve never gotten that feel from him.  I stopped reading Sirota immediately after seeing how he deals with detractors.  Matt is rarely condescending, and he has responded to critics in the past with thoughtfullness. 

So what can the silence mean?  My bet is that it’s more along the lines of  a “responding to your critics gives their criticisms that much more credence” mentality.  Basically, the idea here is that these criticisms have so little ground in reality and are so emotion-based that it’s worth little to respond to them.  If this is the case, it makes a little bit more sense.

Then again, maybe Matt just hasn’t had any time to respond to them.  If that is the case, I hope something’s coming.

My advice?  The silence can appear damning to your detractors, and can confuse the hell out of your supporters.  Tell these guys how it really is, Matt!  Their posts are making the rounds, and everyone is reading them.  You can’t ignore it forever.