Will it "play in Peoria?" For Legal Schnauzer, mainstream sensibilities seem to say the answer is yes

Billy Dennis, "The Peoria Pundit"

Peoria, Illinois might be the most mainstream place in the U.S. Peoria long has been seen as the prototypical American city, with the kind of representative demographics and heartland sensibilities that make it an ideal test market for new products and ideas.

Some reports indicate other American cities have passed Peoria as a test-market site. But the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?" dates to the vaudeville era, and it remains well known today.

With that as a backdrop, we were pleased to learn recently that Legal Schnauzer apparently "plays in Peoria." A blog called The Peoria Pundit calls LS "the best citizen journalism site out there."

"And it’s good," the Pundit says, "even though they’ve done their best to silence him with jail. That’s right. If you blog about the legal system in Alabama, they will lock your ass up."

The Pundit is Billy Dennis, a veteran newspaperman who describes himself as "a liberal with some libertarian tendencies."

Dennis has the kind of feisty temperament that Schnauzer readers should find endearing. "If you don't like that, you can kiss (my) red, white and blue butt," Dennis writes. "This blog is the unedited voice of Billy Dennis and is owned entirely by him. Take it or leave it."

I appreciate The Pundit's kind words, and I like his attitude. I think his blog is one worth following, even if you don't know much about Peoria. Maybe that's because there is a little bit of Peoria in all of us.