Uncritical Linking

Many bloggers link to other points of view, even outrageous ones, without taking a stand on them one way or another. My personal fav, Insty, does this all the time. Jonah Goldberg recently defended this practice, under attack by readers as cowardly.

I often link to other people without taking a stand one way or another (example). It can be a bit sniveling to toss a grenade and then go walking a way whistling, but I make uncritical links usually because I have either not formulated an opinion on the subject or don't have time to express a complete stance and justification thereof. And sometimes I do grenade-tossing just to see that vein on Jay Voorhees' forehead pop out.

Glenn Reynolds writes:

I link stuff because I think it's linkworthy, not necessarily because I agree with it. And, for that matter, plenty of people send me stuff that I agree with that I don't ever link, because it doesn't fit for whatever reason. It's like DJ-ing -- you put in what feels like it goes next in the mix.