WHAT IS A WARBLOG, THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF IT? Dave Winer sends this email:

Since we talked, I’ve been reading your weblog every time it updates, and finding you have a clear voice, you’re a peacemaker, not a warblogger. Where did that term come from. What does it mean. It could be easily misunderstood.

I responded that I don’t know where it comes from (it wasn’t Bill Quick this time, was it?). The term just sort of appeared. But I don’t think that “warbloggers” are necessarily in favor of war as a principle (see Steven Chapman’s discussion of why being in favor of this war doesn’t necessarily require you to be pro-war in general). I’m anti-war, in the sense that I think that war is a bad thing. That’s not the same as saying that it’s always wrong. Rather, like most things, it varies depending on the circumstances. If the Ladenites merely wanted to sneer at us like the French, I’d be happy just to sneer back. Since it’s their professed goal to kill as many of us as they can, well, I want to see them stopped, which basically means war. If I could wave a magic wand, and make them happy members of a rising bourgeoisie, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Sadly, I lack such powers.

UPDATE: Howard Owens has similar views.

And the consensus (including an email from The Man Himself) is that Matt Welch invented the term. Okay.