The Blessing of the Blogmother

Last week, I spent a week banging my head against the proverbial blogosphere wall at the behavior of Idaho liberals in the blogosphere. I was surprised this weekend to find a comment left over at Bill Sali’s new blog by Julie Fanselow, Idaho’s first blogger. While I’ve had a number of fights with Julie over the years (particularly during the Grant-Sali race of ’06), I’ve always respected her role as a founding blogger here in Idaho, and I think I’ve commented on her blog more than any other leftist blog in Idaho.

Anyway, she wrote:

Dear Mr. Sali,

I am an Idaho Democrat and the founder of Red State Rebels, one of the state’s oldest political blogs. I also worked on Larry Grant’s campaign in 2006.

While I disagree with you on just about every policy matter, I do want to be among the first to congratulate you on starting your blog. There are politicians who still don’t understand why the Internet is an important way of communicating with the public, and why that communication needs to be two-way. It’s good to know that you do.

Short, sweet, and gracious. And an example to us all.

What did it hurt for her to show some common courtesy, politeness, and class?

She’s certainly not going to agree with the blog or its contents, nor is she going to vote for Bill Sali. She didn’t compromise any principles.

Unlike some people, she seems to understand.

The blogosphere is big enough for everyone.