"Some people have tried to bring their Web logs into the realm of legitimacy by using them as a forum in which to preach their political views. "I mean, it's easy to sit behind a Web handle and dish it out, but if these people really want to be taken seriously they should stop whining and, say, become columnists."

Thus is the nature of today's old media. We have credibility. Those others just gossip. They whine, very much like how I am whining right now.

Then there are the behind-the-scenes stories that the media can control. You only hear what they want you to hear, and on the campus of the University of Arizona, this is especially easy considering that there is only one major student paper (with the exception of Campus Magazine, which I'll slam some other time).

Suppose that somebody gets blacklisted for making the editor-in-chief mad. He or she is no longer able to express perfectly legitimate views. All power rests in the hands of this editor, and his or her oversight is never told. Either that, or the oversight may actually agree with the editor. All is lost, and the right to free speech is stifled.

Perhaps we could also move into a debate over what constitutes the "realm of legitimacy." Logically, legitimacy can be defined as having a logical argument. Mr. Belshe speaks of the realm of establishment, not of legitimacy.

I don't need the Wildcat in order to continue to write. I only need my mind, and -- at least concluding from my previous experiences -- the Wildcat would only constitute a threat to my mind and my word.