So much fuss has been made out of bloggers covering the Democratic convention right alongside the “real journalists,” but what has their presence there yielded? I would have to say very little.

Ever since he arrived in Boston, Josh Marshall’s blogging has gone straight downhill, as has Atrios’ — they are only interesting when they stop covering the convention and get back to what they do best, i.e., punditizing about what’s going on in the media. When they try to be the media it falls flat. Pandagon’s doing a lot better, maybe because they are younger and less jaded and their energy is contagious. But all in all, this experiment tells me that sending bloggers into the front lines is a not-so-inspiring failure. I would much rather read Marshall’s analysis of the speeches and the news about them as opposed to how he’s trying to feel his way around the huge convention hall. I’d rather get their take on events as opposed to who went with them to dinner and what famous reporters they saw on the lunch line.

I found one “convention blog,” however, that stands out for originality and wit. I’m not sure if he’s really at the convention or not, but it doesn’t matter — this is some of the most original and humorous blogging I’ve ever seen. Whatever you do, be sure to check it out. I’ll take this over the monotonous recitations of the other convention bloggers anytime. A most precious sample:

I am touchin Atrios’s laptop right now!

Well here we are at the Democratic National Convention! I woulda blogged about the speeches last night but we had a slight medical mishap as I almost got trampled by Sidney Blumenthal while tryin to touch the hem of Bill Clinton’s garment. I could not help it he is just too beautiful!

Just five minutes ago I got to see THE Newsweek’s Howard Fineman! He is even shorter an pastier an more pathologically blase about the status of American democracy in real life! I tried to engage him in insightful commentary but I was overcome by girlish squealin and mobbed him along with some of the understaff of the New Republic. I came back with two teeth and an eyebrow!

But none a that matters right now cause I AM TYPIN ON ATRIOS’S LAPTOP RIGHT NOW. He musta left it out or somethin cause here I am an he even left his Blogger window open I can totally post to his blog an everythin!

Wooooooo I’m Atrios blah blah blah, phony wars are bad, blah blah blah, the media is corrupt an stupid blah blah blah

aaaaaa here he comes runawayrunaway

It gets even funnier than that.

Update: John Dvorak, the in-house curmudgeon at CBS Marketwatch, has this to say about the convention bloggers:

Many of these posts are vapid observations combined with simple Kerry boosterism or knee-jerk Limbaugh-Republicanist complaints.

Some are simply an undecipherable mess. Hopefully a few professionals will come in and publish some thoughtful pieces before the exercise is over, but this looks laughable thus far.

Heh.