JEFF GOLDSTEIN has a rare serious post on where South Park Republicans really stand. Not being one of those myself, I can’t say, but he seems to hit the right note — though the first commenter expresses disappointment at a lack of “dick jokes.”

UPDATE: Related thoughts here, with a thought on how the blogosphere needs to develop:

However, while the pure number of bloggers might actually rival the number of individuals making up the MSM, their disadvantage has more to do with organization and resources than pure number.

Fox News has not realized its significant growth because it riffs on CNN and ABC fodder everyday. It has developed into a MSM organization with its own view and brand while market dynamics have revealed a vast audience for its content. I suspect the same would or will be true when blogs finally get around to generating original news content, as opposed to a rehash of the day’s MSM offerings.

I’m not faulting Goldstein or Cole, there’s more right than wrong in both their essays. But until blogs develop into a form capable of genuinely reporting news, as well as standing for and not just against something, they’re destined to occupy a compartmentalized fringe on both sides of the political equation.

There’s a lot of truth to that, which is why I’ve been boosting the idea of original blog-reporting. Call it news without newspapers.

UPDATE: Bill Quick discovers that in-progress crime reporting is harder than he thought. Don’t feel bad, Bill — even Big Media folks have problems with this. But never be shy about shoving a camera in people’s faces.

ANOTHER UPDATE: BlackFive joins the conversation.