When A Talker Writes

Those of us who have written columns know it when we see it: a columnist tossing out some disconnected items because, let's face, there are days you just can't write Great Commentary.

And columnists are rarely edited, so what you see is what you get.

Mark Belling's January 2, 2008 Freeman column is quite the example:

Here's a piece of it, with the whole deal here:

"Terrorists, specifically Islamist extremists, need a base of power. Al-Qaida, in particular, needs a country. That’s why it tried to move into Iraq after being run out of Afghanistan. Iraq is especially important to al-Qaida because the greatest threat to terrorism is democracy. Terrorists need a scapegoat; a bogeyman. The jihad movement made Israel the Fake Oppressor and has since moved on to make the United States The Great Satan. But when a country democratically chooses its own leaders, how do terrorists rail against that? It’s hard to build a popular movement by killing popularly elected leaders.

"Al-Qaida is moving on. Having lost Iraq, it is now trying to claim Pakistan. The murder of Benazir Bhutto, with the likely acquiescence of the ruling Pakistani government, may lead to the civil war the terrorists need to grab power. This threat is scarier than Iraq because Pakistan is armed with nuclear weapons. The bottom line for the United States is that Pakistan is the latest place we will have to confront terror.

"Naive liberals don’t understand this. Fake conservatives - the disgusting Ron Paul and his ilk - don’t get it either. The terrible reality is that there is a strong jihad movement that wants to slaughter infidels by the billions and it will have to be confronted everywhere it rears its head. The alternative is the end of civilization. The good news is that the battle is winnable. It must, however, be fought. The fight will not end in our lifetime.

* * *

"Disruptive technologies are the ones that change the world and destroy industries while creating new ones. The automobile was one of them, TV was another and the Internet may be the most profound. The transition can be painful.

"The industry I work in, radio, is the site right now of mass carnage. People are being fired all over the place, including at my own employer. The Internet, the iPod and other technologies are creating competition that is forcing radio executives to slash costs and people are the only real cost they have. I predict by the end of the year, there won’t be more than three music radio stations in Milwaukee with live announcers outside of morning drive. They’ll still need hosts like me on talk stations, but computers will be playing the music and canned inserts will read the call letters. Many believe this is a disastrous mistake by radio executives who are cheapening their product by totally dehumanizing it.

"In the meantime, local photography studios are shutting down all over the place. Digital technology allows amateurs to take hundreds of images at virtually no cost. With all those chances to get it right themselves, many see no need for a pro.

"There are zillions of other examples. The new technologies are creating new industries and new opportunities even as they crush existing businesses and their workers. That doesn’t mean it isn’t hard to watch."