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(CBS)  It's Judy's Turn To Cry

While there have been many people fired from their jobs for blogging, few claim as vocally as former New York Times reporter Judith Miller has that blogs themselves did her in.

Slate previews an upcoming Vanity Fair article in which Miller credits the role of blogs with her downfall. Lest you've forgotten, Miller reiterates she became a "major target in the intense public anger directed at Bush's war, owing to her reports that Saddam Hussein was producing weapons of mass destruction." Miller credits these (unnamed) bloggers with destroying her relationship both with the Times management and with her colleagues. According to Slate, Miller tells Vanity Fair:

"The bloggers were without editing, without a way for people to understand what was good, what was well reported—to distinguish between the straight and the slanderous. Things would get instantly picked up, magnified, and volumized."

Most bloggers aren't buying it.

Soulfull of Thoughts sums up many bloggers' sentiment, writing, "All I have to say is: Come on Judith, GET REAL!"

Liberal bloggers continue to tie Miller to the Bush administration. Steve Soto at The Left Coaster is suspicious of why Miller hasn’t cited specific blogs. "But does Miller name names of bloggers who did her in, or did she make this claim previously when she wrote her explanations to the NYT readership for her inaccurate crap and willingness to be a tool of the Bush White House? No."

And Freedom Deathwatch posts, "The Mistress of Propaganda blames blogs for her downfall. The real reason is, of course, is she was the prime conduit for Dubya's propaganda blitz leading up to the war. She lead the charge to war at the NY Times, who, feeling duped by her, gave her the heave-ho. Good riddance, Mistress of Propaganda."

Even Arianna Huffington, who made her own news in the blogosphere this week, weighed in. "It's laughably biased," Huffington blogs. "(The author) Brenner is a close friend of Miller -- she co-hosted a dinner for her on July 4th before Miller headed to jail, visited her at the Alexandria Detention Center, partied with her after her release, and is longtime friends with Miller's husband, who used to be Brenner's editor. The article is nothing more than a massive attempt to rehab the disgraced reporter."

Robert Farley boasts, "Who knew bloggers had such power?"


Conservatives More Productive?

New American Foundation fellow Phillip Longman's op-ed last week made lots of conservative bloggers jump for joy, and put some liberals on edge.

Longman uses population trends to conclude that progressives are less likely to have children than conservatives. He finds, for example, that among states that voted for President Bush in 2004, the average fertility rate is more than 11 percent higher than the rate of states for Sen. John Kerry. It's a pattern replicated globally as well. "An increasing share of all children born into the world are descended from a share of the population whose conservative values have led them to raise large families," Longman writes.

Some conservatives say the study reflects problems already facing the left. As Daisy Cutter writes, "This is one of a number of structural problems facing today's post-modern Left. Yes, it's true that conservatives have our own challenges. Yet, our challenges are met by remaining true to our convictions. By contrast, the Left's self-destructive narcissism requires it to abandon its philosophy to survive."

Paul Mirengoff at Powerline.org agrees. "In general, it seems that the further left one looks on the political spectrum, the more self-centered and morose people one finds. Hence, perhaps, the lower birthrates. As always, the future belongs to those who believe in it, and to their descendants."

And John Hawkins offers some tongue-in-cheek advice for those on the left. "Does that mean the left is doomed demographically? No, not necessarily," Hawkins writes on Right Wing News. "They might be able to make up for it in other ways. For example, giving Amnesty to illegals could help bring millions of new voters into the fold. They could also -- don't laugh -- freshen up their philosophy and ideas and gain a much higher percentage of new converts."

But liberal bloggers are fighting back. Ron Chusid on The Unofficial John Kerry Blog puts his hope in his daughter. "While I may have only raised one daughter, my bet is that she, and others like her, will have far more impact on the world than children spoon fed conservative dogma," he writes.

Shakespeare's Sister also sees hope in progressive children, like herself. "While many of us would probably identify ourselves as progressive products of conservative homes, we often likely reached such an alternative via the influences of books or films which opened doors to new ideas, science classes, travel, and/or progressive people who touched our lives in one way or another."