Eason and the growing power of the blogosphere

I just got caught up on the whole Jordan Eason affair (I've been swamped with school and other business). Wow! If you don't know about this guy and how the blogosphere took him down singlehandedly, read this summary from about half-way through the whole debacle, then read up through the archives of TKS. Here is some great post-Easongate analysis by Decision08, via TKS:

The idea that blogs can force a new level of accountability on those previously considered 'untouchable' is not new; many have commented eloquently and at length. I find Easongate unique in one revolutionary respect: this time, the MSM never even got off the sidelines.

When Dan Rather's document hoax broke, as in the Trent Lott remarks, the event did stay in the blogosphere for a time, but it was only when the public and media at large grew aware that action was taken. With Easongate, only the faintest of ripples had hit the mainstream; a handful of stories, yes, but certainly no national awareness to speak of outside of the blogging and media communities. CNN still doesn't have the story on their front page as I write this, nor does MSNBC. The New York Times does, in a sidebar; but what did you hear from the Times prior to today?

No, this one is different. This time it was the bloggers, and the bloggers alone, that pushed this man out.
...
Eason Jordan says he is quitting to avoid being 'unfairly tarnished' by the controversy, but it was precisely because he himself unfairly tarnished our fighting men and women, in a very public setting, that he no longer counts himself among the employed.

Amen to that!