Don't write what you don't know

In the internet age, it's going to be increasingly harder to write off the cuff about something you aren't familiar enough with to write intelligently about. The Dead Tree media, like the Washington Post, still finds the time to include articles and editorials by people who only have a marginal or superficial understanding of the subjects they write about, thereby mis-educating the readers of said paper.
But in the age of blogs and Google, there's no excuse for not being able to find the information you need and get a peer review by people who know what they are talking about, or are closer to the subject.
Take this article about democracy in Lebanon, and the subsequent taking apart of that article by a blogger in Lebanon. Great post for those who want to know a great deal more about the history of the political process in Lebanon.