A Room Full Of Roses For Aravosis And Spaulding

After journalist Helen Thomas went toe-to-toe with George Bush at a White House press briefing, folks sent thousands of roses to her at her bureau office as a demonstration of support.

Blogging is a little more of a "private" affair. Organizing the same type of show of support for bloggers who make honorable decisions could be dicey, since a good deal of us file our reports from home. Yet, prominent bloggers John Aravosis from AMERICAblog and Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend truly deserve a similar demonstration of appreciation.

They were asked to speak on a panel with Jeff Gannon, who gained prominence last year when reports revealed he was a $200-an-hour male prostitute. That behavior alone doesn't really raise eyebrows — but this particular whore gained unprecedented access to the White House, claims he was privy to sensitive information and, for a time, was George Bush's favorite plant in the White House press corps. Bush, et. al., still haven't answered for that one.

Aravosis and Spaulding were looking forward to the chance to clear up the exact story about how and why Gannon earned his position — that is, his position in the press corps. But the panel's organizers wanted them to dumb-down their appearance and stick to a pre-arranged list of topics. More here and here.

Aravosis and Spaulding declined.

They're my heros for the day. Blogging is not a profession that pays a lot when it does, in fact, pay. Both of them could have softened their principles and taken the money and run. But they didn't. They both demonstrate that ignoring your convictions just for a little money truly is not palatable, necessary or commendable. It's small acts such as theirs that make a huge impact — and (at the risk of being hyperbolic) are the difference between America stagnating in entrenched corruption and hypocrisy (which doesn't add to our moral authority) or progressing to our highest ideals. They deserve a room full of roses, too.

I don't feel comfortable posting anyone's home information (I'm not Michelle Malkin (scroll down to "Worst Person In The World"), afterall) to make such a display happen. But, thanks to Photoshop, I've tried to at least match the spirit of the demonstration. (I have a feeling Aravosis would prefer orchids, anyway.)

Anyone who feels, as I do, that their prinicpled stands deserve a little bit more, please go to their sites (AMERICAblog/Pam's House Blend) and make a donation.