BLOGS AND MEDIA: Elizabeth Spiers has some thoughts inspired by the Popular Mechanics conspiracy-debunking effort.

UPDATE: Related thoughts from Hugh Hewitt — who seems determined to instruct the Wall Street Journal folks in the error of their ways — and from Peggy Noonan (no party-line approach at the WSJ!) as well:

“Salivating morons.” “Scalp hunters.” “Moon howlers.” “Trophy hunters.” “Sons of Sen. McCarthy.” “Rabid.” “Blogswarm.” “These pseudo-journalist lynch mob people.”

This is excellent invective. It must come from bloggers. But wait, it was the mainstream media and their maidservants in the elite journalism reviews, and they were talking about bloggers!

Those MSMers have gone wild, I tell you! The tendentious language, the low insults. It’s the Wild Wild West out there. We may have to consider legislation.

When you hear name-calling like what we’ve been hearing from the elite media this week, you know someone must be doing something right. The hysterical edge makes you wonder if writers for newspapers and magazines and professors in J-schools don’t have a serious case of freedom envy.

Heh. Read the whole thing.