Since I somehow made the mistake of starting to read Hugh Hewitt again and commented twice about his nonsense, I might as well continue on with another post. Today, I am mentioned by name:
I am not surprised that the Bush haters like Sullivan and Cole are outraged that General Petraeus would be interviewed by an admirer of the president, or that the anti-war extremists like Greenwald, Yglesias and the others cannot disguise their contempt for the military (though they think their attack on General Petraeus' integrity won't identify them as anti-military.)
I'm not surprised that new media journalists producing interviews of a sort far superior to what MSM serves up in one minute sound bytes excites the anger of folks who prefer their defeatist agendas advanced by a dominant MSM. They don't want the Beltway-Manhattan media elites to lose their monopoly on "important" interviews as that means instead of Democratic journalists like Tim Russert, George Stephanopoulos and Chris Matthews asking defeat-slanted questions, new media outlets will step in and allow serious people to make extended arguments about the stakes in Iraq and the state of the various battles in the broader war on terror.
Dear Hugh- I don't hate Bush. I voted for him twice (votes I now deeply, deeply regret), and I hate what he has done to this country, I hate his incompetence, I hate that he has let propagandists such as yourself take the lead in designing and pushing policy, I hate that he has lost or is losing not one, but two wars, I hate that he has politicized (more accurately, allowed his lackeys to politicize) everything from NASA to the FDA to the Pentagon to a level that would have made Hugh scream out in rage were the President's last name Clinton. I hate all of those things.
But for all that, I still don't hate Bush. I think he is a small, shallow, feeble-minded man, whose "resolve" you cherish is merely the result of a man incapable of thinking on the spot and changing course. While he is ultimately responsible for anything that has been done during his tenure, I am of the opinion that he is little more than a puppet.
So, Hugh, I don't hate him. In fact, I almost feel sorry for him. This will go down as the most incompetent and morally compromised administration in history, and when those history books look back, they will not refer to this sorry period as the "Cole administration," nor will they refer to it as the "Hewitt administration," despite the fact that so very many of your bad ideas have, in fact, been instituted (and usually not because they reflect or represent your 'deep' principles, but because you felt there was some sort of immediate political/electoral gain to be seized). History will dub this sorry era as the Bush Administration.
There was a time, during the last two presidential elections, where I seriously considered the sanity of the people on the Right. I started reading John Cole early last year, and he is one of the few BIG Conservative Bloggers that just makes sense! The guy does not march lockstep with anyone or anything except his own conscience.
This guy used to be one of my heroes, and was in fact one of the first major Conservative Blogs to see the light. It seems, that he has become so dissapointed that he does not even write about politics any, well at least not directly...
I miss the old days when we could have honest, good spirited debates. But it seems more and more common, that even the most die hard supporters of Bush and his policies are either taking a hard look at what they have wrought, and finally speaking out... Or simply choosing to change the subject or pretend that certain things did not, are not or will not.... happen... Or that if they did, are will.... they are not responsible for it. Others will stay with the ship, LONG after it has sunk into history as one of the worst disasters in American History. (Sigh).
My own work life has prevented me from posting much lately or participating in the debate. I have a comeback plan and intend to get back into the blog, but I would rather take the time to do it right, rather than posting simply for posting sake.
By the way, I dont hate Bush either. I'm a...
My Conservative Identity:
You are a Flag-Waving Everyman, also known as a patriot. You believe in freedom, apple pie, rooting for America at all times, and that God gave us a two-day weekend so we could enjoy football and NASCAR.
Heh.... I don't think so. But the test was funny anyway!
The Real Me:
My Liberal Identity:
You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.
TCF has a history with the current junior U.S. Senator/ Dem rock star from the great state of Illinois, Barack Obama. I worked on his successful Senate campaign back in 2004, but he also helped launch this fledgling little blog of mine in return. I had a photo, endorsement and link to his campaign blog site posted in the right column, at the time. And, mere hours after his keynote speech at the '04 Democratic National Convention, this blog was well on its way to clocking in over 5,000 hits in the coming days.
But, let me make my prognostication very clear here - Obama is running for the Vice-Presidential nomination of his party in '08.
And, why not? I'd bet Obama's very wise fellow Senator Dick Durbin has urged him to strike while the irons hot. Suck up the oxygen of American voters craving for responsible, ethical leadership while John McCain sucks up to the Evangelical Right and former donors of George W. Bush. The recent Blue-state wave has now put New Mexico and Colorado in Electoral College play for 2008. Does that thus make a Sam Brownback the heir to Ronald Reagan's legacy for the evangelical Right that has a stranglehold on the Republican Party Presidential Primary process?
The current media obsession with Obama will do nothing but dry up all Democratic funding from also-rans like John Edwards and Tom Vilsack, and never-should've-rans like John Kerry and Evan Bayh. And, a Hillary/Barack ticket will probably solidify by the time (ironically) the process hits Illinois in March 2008.
To get this kind of support from Jesus' General...
It's a terrible shame that In Search of Utopia has passed the "let's bomb Venezuela blogs" in the Weblog Awards voting, but at lease he's still behind the "let's bomb Oaxaca and Cuba blogs." If you haven't voted yet today, please do so now. Update: Come on people. I know there are at least 9000 people reading this right now who haven't voted yet.Just two click is all it takes. Do you want me to drum you out of the Red Guard of the Glorious Conservative Christian Cultural Revolution!)
IS the Award! General, Sir... you Rock!
I am just 86 votes out of second place... A few days ago I would have considered that insurmountable, but with this kind of support, I may make up the 340 to beat Ricky Ricardo's Blog!
Vote today, but more importantly, get out to the virtual precincts and spread the word, get everyone you know to vote.
Ask yourself the question...
Do you want the best Blog in Latin America to be run by someone who thinks THIS is sexy? (I don't think any Cuban would, but then again they are conservatives... ya know what I mean (wink)?
Or do you want to vote for someone who knows what sexy is?
Now please don't allow yourself to be swayed by the fact that 99% of Tia Zelmira models polled, revealed a strong preference for progressive politics and ISOU!
Don't allow your sacred vote to be swayed by that, or the fact that In Search of Utopia is just a much more happenin' place! Nah!
There is SOME truth to the rumor that an In Search of Utopia victory will be the most painful thing to hit the majority of Wizbang Bloggers since... well...
THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS!
But don't let any of those things be the deciding factor.
Vote for ISOU because a vote for ISOU is a vote for CHANGE! A vote to shatter three years of dominance by the Cubans. Because a vote for ISOU will be a vote for FUN! Because a vote for ISOU will rub the noses of both the Conservasphere and some of our more elitist Progressive Brethren! Vote! Pass the word! And focus tomorrow on getting all of our progressive brethren who are in similar situations to victory!
I knew I should have given The Prince that Advance Fee!
Forbes' Fictional 15 is out, calculating the wealth of the wealthiest characters in popular fiction.
My favorite:
Also making his Fictional 15 debut: spam entrepreneur Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria. Abakaliki is notable for being the only fictional character on our list who regularly e-mails real people, usually begging for assistance in recovering large sums of money. We estimate Abakaliki to be worth more than $2.8 billion.
For the rest of the list, go see James' post here.
Now if I had just given the Prince that fee he asked for! LOL!
My Bad! Though I probably did it intentionally just to give Jay an excuse to insult me.
I went through several songs trying to find just the right one to see you off, but they all sounded so damned Gay! LMAO! First Angel, and now you. I don't know what to say Dawg, you were a giant. A voice of sanity. You were, are, and always will be MY FRIEND!
And yeah I know you ain't dead. And as long as your blog children are out there carrying the torch, you never will be. I got a lot of shit to say, but I am going to wait a bit. Maybe one day you will get down here to CR and I can buy you a couple of beers, a fish taco and introduce you to some sweet honeys.
I love you man, and I dont say that lightly. Though we have never met, you have been a brother, and an inspiration.
Word is, that TAS, my favorite Progressive blogger is about to hang it up... Retire, and close his blog. While I understand his decision, I will miss him. And this is one of the reasons why:
And for all the Republicans telling us that we're so out of touch that we have to pander further to their asses, I refuse. I refuse to be apart of your hatefest. I refuse to force my friends into second class citizenship just because you don't like the way they fuck. The way you seek to enforce your beliefs on those who aren't like you is not only disgusting, but it won't stop. I know for a fact that when you come for the gays, I'm next, because you just won't stop until everyone's converted to your liking. And I refuse to do your dirty work all in an effort to fuck myself over for your benefit. I refuse to pander to you motherfuckers just because you tell me to. So consider this a memo from the rest of us: Take your "morals" and shove them up your ass.
We will defeat you. We will not be you.
One thing I always loved and respected about Tas is that he pulled no punches, not matter if it was the Left or Right. He said what he thought. He was right when he wrote that.
Someone, this beautiful and talented.. live in my neighborhood, and I not know about their blog? Well they are on my blogroll now. If you don't speak spanish, use google translate, it's worth the effort!
I didn't even know this was still going on... While Jeff is not someone I consider a friend, he is a member of the blogging fraternity, and does not deserve this...
I don't think I have ever agreed with anything Goldstein has written, but he is a great blogger and a fantastic writer. And what has happened to him sucks, and it can happen to any of us. The Nigerians have tried to shut me down a couple of times. Anyway, my point is, put asside the political bullshit and make a donation to help him. I am sure it will be appreciated. I just did, and I hope we can all come together and help a fellow blogger.
Well, some time in the last week or two, I wrote my 2,000th piece for Wizbang. (There have been a few pieces I've been reluctant to count, and a couple lost to the aether.) I've made some good friends, a few enemies (worthy and un-), and in general had one hell of a time.
While Rusty and I often dissagree, he is a friend who has been very supportive of this blog. And even if he wasn't, this can not be tolerated. Join ISOU in supporting Rusty on this issue.
My website has been banned in India.
India has banned a number of websites by domain, but has only singled out 11 websites by name, including this one. Among American websites, all are connected in some way to The Jawa Report.
Why did India ban this website? And what is the larger meaning of this action? We have a post about it here. Whether you agree with my analysis or not, we, those who have been singled out by the world's largest democracy as targets of censorship, could use the support right now.
Those wacky last throes continue in Iraq! Someone must have forgot to send the Terrorist the memo from Dick. Someone must have also forgot to tell them that losing their Leader was supposed to be the end of the insurgency.
Looks like even the Republicans are getting tired of rolling over on the constitution.
Despite the fact that I dissagreed with him on just about everything, I am sorry to hear this news. I know Rob has had a bunch of health issues lately, and been in pain. May he rest in piece. We may not have agreed, but he was one of us, and the blogging world will miss him, as I am sure will his family and extended family. To all of them I offer my condolences, sincere condolences.
You know what I'm sick of? Being dismissed as a "Bush hater," or more recently as being part of "the kos hating left." Anyone who uses such rhetoric isn't arguing or even debating an issue, they are simply stating a cop out. They have nothing constructive to bring to the conversation so they claim that the person they oppose is a "hater" and, because of this, the implication is that we're so biased that nothing we say is supposed to be given any credence.
Well you know what assholes? When I "hate" something, I'll tell you.
I have had my share of battles with the Right and the "Popular Left." I have always believed, and I believe Tas shares my belief on this one, that the Progressive Blog movement would be a lot more powerful if the Larger and More Powerful blogs gave more support to unaffiliated smaller blogs. I have seen this work in the Conservasphere, where small, frankly shitty blogs get play from the big boys and eventually grow. I have seen some smaller blogs, a few of them members of the Progressive Blog Alliance, which I co-founded, get patronage from the big boys and go on to establish prominent blogs themselves. Many times, I have noted, they have had to tow the Party line to do so. More power to them.
There was a time when ISOU was a top 50 TTLB Blog. Having my blog go down for two months last year, and then getting so involved in business, that I neglected it, definitely hurt my ratings and pushed ISOU into the 200's in the TTLB. There was a time when that would have bothered me. It doesn't anymore. I am comfortable these days doing what I want with my blog. Sharing music, writing about compelling technology, sharing what is going on in my life, and occasionally dipping my feet into the cesspool of politics.
There was a time when I took pride in being on the front lines of political battles. Today I find pride in helping someone avoid losing their lifesavings to African 419 Scammers! I don't have time to hate anyone, or for that matter envy them. The one blogger I envy is my Bro... Tony Pierce, who if 1/10th of the shit he prints is true, gets more swag, more sex and more FUN out of blogging than anyone I know. And he is just freakin' cool.
There are a lot of bloggers out there I admire, some I Love and quite a few who I would love to spend a weekend chillin' with, but FEW I envy. Hell I am not sure I even envy Tony, but I dig his style. I miss the old days just before the '04 Election, when all of us were just goin' nuts talking about things. There was a sense of community then.
Today, it is all about HATE, and that is too bad. It is also why I don't spend too much time talking politics any more. I have enough negativity in my life. The funny thing is... since I cut back on my political blogging, my business has really taken off.
July 3-10, 2006 issue - Markos Moulitsas Zuniga is sitting on his back porch in Berkeley, Calif., listening to the hummingbirds and explaining his plans to seize control of the Democratic Party. It is one week after YearlyKos, the Las Vegas conference of progressives that Moulitsas sponsored and promoted heavily on his popular liberal blog, DailyKos.com. Every major media outlet in the country had attended the conference, detailing the spectacle of Democratic bigwigs (including the party's Senate minority leader and four of its leading 2008 presidential aspirants) embracing Moulitsas as the guru of an activist movement they were eager to exploit. With the conference, Moulitsas says, his movement had finally proved its relevance to the party. "We're not sitting around waiting for the so-called professionals to give us power in the party," he tells NEWSWEEK. "We're taking it for ourselves."
It seems as though the rock-thrower is growing up. Inside, a handyman is remodeling the Moulitsases' suburban living room, where soon the futon will be replaced by a daybed, and the big, boxy television by a sleek new flat-panel. If YearlyKos—where he was quizzed by the likes of Maureen Dowd and Tim Russert on what the Democrats ought to do to win—proved anything, it was that Moulitsas had forced his way into the upper echelons of party strategists. Moulitsas sees his new status as the start of a natural progression: "We said we wanted to crash the gates. We never said we weren't going to come in."
But a place in the inner sanctum comes with its challenges—and Kos picked a rough time to join. Last week the GOP rallied around Karl Rove's "cut and run" battle cry and went on the offensive against a Democratic Party that was all over the place on the war. Sen. John Kerry was constantly on cable TV, touting an amendment requiring the redeployment of troops out of Iraq by July 2007; most members of his own party voted against it. The party had better discipline on a more gradual pullout measure backed by Sens. Carl Levin and Jack Reed, voting together, coordinating talking points—and still going down to a sound defeat. The GOP was clearly on the rebound. "They're buoyed by Zarqawi's death and other steps in Iraq, but they're also strengthened by the disarray of the Democrats," says one senior Bush aide, who asked not to be identified speaking about political strategy.
Democrats tried to downplay the significance of the GOP's momentum. "What this indicates is the White House is much better at sloganeering than they are at actually governing and conducting this war," former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards told NEWSWEEK.
Still, the Democrats lost the week in the war over the war, and Moulitsas—who chats with Senate leadership aides several times a week and has brainstormed with Democratic operatives about the fall campaign—could no longer just criticize from the outside. Indeed, the Democrats' failed Iraq strategy—stand together, talk tough and make plans to leave—lined up exactly with the prescriptions found on Daily Kos.
Moulitsas is also learning another downside of membership in the elite: the bigger the liberal sniper gets, the more incoming fire he faces. The talk of the blogosphere last week was "Kosola"—allegations that Moulitsas wrote favorably about candidates with whom he or his close friend and coauthor Jerome Armstrong had financial relationships. Moulitsas swore the charges were baseless (Armstrong, too, has denied impropriety), but they clearly got under his skin. When The New Republic's Web site published an e-mail from Moulitsas to a group of friendly activists urging them not to talk about Kosola and thus "starve it of oxygen," Moulitsas went berserk in a blog posting, accusing the venerable liberal journal of treason. By the weekend, Moulitsas's allies were sending each other e-mails infected with the paranoia of revolutionaries who've gained power too fast: How should they deal with traitors? How much openness could they handle? Which fellow travelers could they really trust?
I mean... First of all, these people are just discovering the KOS phenomenon? Markos is a visionary. He "got it," before most of us did. He understood the power of New Media, and of forming alliances and collective action. Bravo for him! But this incredible obsession with Daily KOS and the idea that it controls the Leftsphere is ridiculous. I rarely even read KOS, much less take my marching orders from Marcos. I decided a long time ago that ISOU would be about my voice, my opinion, and that I would not be influenced by being part of a collective. I might make more blogad money and even have more readership, if I towed the party line, but honestly, it's just not worth it to me.
KOS represents a very enthusiastic, but I still believe minority wing, of the party and Progressive Political Thought. Their fund raising and PR capabilities are a powerful influence, but I dont believe KOS represents mainstream Progressive thought any more than Malkin represents Conservative thought. I wish Markos well because I think he has successfully pushed Progressive blogging into the limelight, but if he sent any orders my way, they must not have made it past my spam filters. Hehe...
Mr. Grumpy of the Right, goes on a full tilt tirade today. Most of it is the usual Lefty's blame everything on Bush BS, but this part stuck out:
A skinny, wimp-looking moonbat IS a special forces soldier if he CLAIMS to be one, especially when he doesn't like the military or the war in Iraq. Leftoids LOVED that guy, and they sucked up every word he had to say like warm milk from Mama's tit--- until he was exposed as a total fraud--- but that doesn't mean that he wasn't absolutely correct in everything he said about the military.
Funny, I dont remember reading ANY Lefty Blogs buying into that guy's story. In fact, I was one of the first people to question it, and condemn the bozo. Links please Rob?
Of course, holding Acid man to any standards of truth and fairness, other than his own perception of it.... Well, let's just say that is not exactly reasonable.
I really dont need to say anything more. This post by Dean on recognition in the blogspere mirrors my own feelings in a lot of ways. I used to be much more competitive. Losing my host last year, and over a years worth of post, was a near mortal blow for ISOU. It has taken over a year and we are still not where we were pre-April 2005 in traffic, but we are coming back.
While Dean and I rarely agree, he has been very supportive of me, and I want to take this opportunity to thank him. While politically, we are miles apart, I would like to think we have the same philosophy with our blogs... write about what we like and what we want to say. I admire Dean as a fighter, and as a great blogger and blogfather to many.
So keep doing what you are doing Dean. Some of the blogs I respect the most don't win many awards, but they are great reads, and that is really what its all about.
Regardless of Rove's new legal troubles, from a policy standpoint, I think there is no salvation for this administration. They have no power in Congress as Republicans with a brain are running like hell from them, they have surrendered their moral authority (IMHO) on matters of privacy, individual liberty, and fiscal restraint, as well as on issues regarding torture and the like, and the next two years are simply going to be damage control for the GOP. I fully expect two years of contentious battles over nothing, demonization of everyone who dares disagree with the party line du jour, and then, after the 2008 election no matter what the outcome, a distancing from the previous 8 years.
That makes him so. He is one of my few Right of Center daily reads, and I have not had time to read him much lately. I can see, he remains sane as ever...
Maybe the answer is stop being such a race obsessed asshole. I don't think many of those blogs who delinked you for your "N-Word" obsession last year, came back.
What would I do differently if I had my blog to go back and do over again? Not a whole lot, really. I never would have used the forbidden N-word--- not because I think I did anything terribly wrong by doing that, but because it just wasn't worth the crap that the post generated. Boy, did I ever get a full dose of sanctimony over THAT.
Then there is the fact that you treat "wimmen," like shit on your blog, unless of course they are Costa Rican working girls... So gee Rob, I don't know why your blog is going to hell. Maybe you need to "think on it a spell."
From the NYT: A Guest Blogger, and an Unwritten Law
ONE could almost imagine George Clooney, robed and slippered, taking to the veranda of his Italian lakeside villa and hunkering over a laptop for his maiden voyage into the blogosphere, which appeared in the form of a passionate left-wing call to arms at HuffingtonPost.com last week.
"We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, 'But please don't say bad things about us,' " the Oscar-winning actor wrote, adding his voice to dozens of other luminaries that Arianna Huffington, the columnist, former candidate for governor of California and freelance liberal gadfly, has drawn to her blog fold since starting The Huffington Post nearly a year ago. "You gotta be a grown-up and take your hits," Mr. Clooney concluded. "I am a liberal. Fire away."
But just as the great digital chinwag was taking note of the newcomer ("If Clooney blogs, does that make it sexy?" wondered the wits at Gawker), Mr. Clooney dropped a bomb, asserting that although the sentiments in the post were his, they were cobbled together from past interviews with Larry King of CNN and The Guardian, a British newspaper.
And more important, the blog was not written by him.
So was born Clooneygate, which began the week looking like a minor collision between a celebrity's handlers and a celebrity pundit's ambitions for her Web site, and ended amid knotty questions of journalistic integrity and the nature of blogs.
The basic facts are not in dispute. Ms. Huffington wanted Mr. Clooney — an outspoken critic of the war and American foreign policy — blogging on her site, but the actor, she said, wasn't familiar with the form.
So she culled some published Clooneyisms — essentially answers to questions he'd been asked in previous interviews — fashioned them into an essaylike blog entry, and added a few flourishes of her own, including the punchy "I am a liberal. Fire away" bit.
She then e-mailed it to one of his representatives, Lisa Taback. (The original post has since been removed from HuffingtonPost, but it can still be viewed here: snipurl.com/ClooneyBlog.)
"Lisa, here is a blog put together from different interviews George has given," Ms. Huffington wrote in a Feb. 17 e-mail message, which she shared to help clarify what happened. "Would love to get his approval with any changes he wants and then we'll post it on HuffPost and send to Yahoo."
Ms. Taback responded the same day, saying "I will get it to him and get back to you as soon as I hear anything," and then three days later: "Of course this is fine, Arianna! Thank you."
The scant 360-word blog posting that Ms. Huffington had put together was untouched, and that's how it appeared at The Huffington Post — packaged like every other posting there, topped with a pithy headline ("George Clooney: I Am a Liberal. There, I Said It!"), and accompanied by a picture of the author and a short biography.
The ensuing bluster signified different things for different people.
For Mr. Clooney and his representatives — and for a growing brood of loyal "HuffPo" fans who proved, over the course of the week, to be even more loyal to blog purity — it was a simple matter of honesty. Indeed, as early as Tuesday, Mr. Clooney had issued a statement that cut directly to the heart of the matter.
"These are not my writings — they are answers to questions and there is a huge difference," Mr. Clooney said.
But that difference seemed to be lost, at least at first, on Ms. Huffington, who repeatedly pointed to the clear breakdown in Mr. Clooney's public relations machinery, and then later suggested, in a post on her blog, that in any case, "the medium isn't the message; the message is the message."
And that's where, it seems, Ms. Huffington disconnected from many of her readers, blog purists and media critics — all of whom seemed to know, tacitly or otherwise, that the medium carries a message, too.
But I think it, and Huffinton's eventual response, says something about the Blogsphere.
Many of us have been blogging in relative obscurity for years. My blog has had it's ups and downs, but maintained a certain consistency. Arianna came into the game with a loaded gun, money, celebrity appeal and a strategy to get linked by the big boys coming out of the gate. She did not "earn" blog cred, she bought it. And The HP has done well. But not having toiled as many of us have... not having earned the readership, she may have lacked a certain respect for it, that we have gained through blood sweat and tears.
I am happy to see her "fess up," to her error, but maybe now she can learn another "lesson," being a celebrity does not make one's words any more important, or profound. Maybe it is time to shake up her roster a bit, and give some "Real People," a chance to blog on The HP? Will it happen? I doubt it, but it would shake things up a bit...
Tony has a long post which I am not going to excerpt because I want you go go to his site and read it. He talks about why he has not featured more black women on his site. He also touches on why he has not dated more black women.
I completely understand Tony, and there are probably a few who would accuse me of the same thing, of not being "into black women." Which is not exactly true since I consider Gabrielle Union to be the sexiest woman on the planet, and God knows I would not slam the door in the face of Halle Berry either.
But for a long time I have had a love affair with the Latin Culture and Latin women. The awesome thing about Latin women is they come in all colors and shades. I have dated Mexicans, Salvadorans, Colombians, Nicaraguans and Puerto Ricans, and I have found the common denominator in all of them to be two things, 1. Loyalty to their man 2. Soul and Sensuality. The Latino women I have dated range from the sensuous choclate of my wife, to the smoldering but dark European look of my first latin lover. And I have dated my share of white women as well. Hell I have dates Broadway actresses, Porn Stars, Night Club owners, artist and Bankers. I have even dated a couple of ex hookers. And I never gave any of their race much thought, but the ones who have rocked my world have been Latinas...
I have had to deal with some criticism from my "sisters," over my dating choices, but I never lost my cool, and always tried to understand them. To quote many of them... "There are only so many successful and good black men to go around. Why do they always choose someone other than a sister?" I could take the easy way out and respond by talking about how black women like to compete with black men, and how they like to be the dominant one in the relationship. And yes I have seen that. But I have also dated supportive black women who were strong without being overbearing, and who enhanced my experience as a man, instead of trying to emotionaly castrate me. I could also use the cop out of not coming into contact with many black women at my educational or success level, but that too would be a cop out, because I have met some dynamite and intelligent black sisters.
I am not going to make any excuses. I like Latin women. Hell I love Latin women, and I have been fortunate enough to have some pretty beautiful ones love me too, that some of them happened to be black too was icing on the cake. But to be honest, I have never been one to obsess over my partners color, instead I thought of what we could both bring to the party to make us both happy....
So Tony, don't sweat it, you are who you are... And you like what you like. I have never felt the need to check your credentials as a Brother. Keep doing what you are doing, it obviously works. You are getting laid, and you are getting paid... What more could anyone ask for...
Hell if I was single, I would be lookin you up and running the streets of Los Angeles with you.
And thanks for three years of some of the best blogging out there. You are my hero and a dear friend. I wish you many, many more years of "tellin' it like it TI-is!
The Washington Post online executive editor, Jim Brady, just let me know what's what regarding the comments situation. He says the site wasn't requiring a valid e-mail address from commenters:
because we were working through Movable Type, and we had not synched up our registration system with it. But we are hoping to add comments to articles reasonably soon, and when we do that, we'll have that layer of security. But, after the events of the past week, we now know we need that layer on our MT blogs as well. Lesson learned, I guess. We've had these blogs up for a year, and really had no problems, so this one caught us off-guard and understaffed. But we'll be back on the horse before long; it's obviously the right thing to do.
Like Dan says, its a good thing. I can't wait until they hit a Republican Hot Button issue. Let's see if they delete and shutter then.
Dean makes a compelling argument on why States have the right to make demands on Corporations. Read the whole thing, it's another example of why I read Dean daily, even though we agree on little.
Some bloggers who I generally respect on other issues are angry because the State of Maryland recently enacted legislation requiring large corporations which have more than 10,000 employees--which in Maryland principally means Wal-Mart--to offer certain minimum health insurance benefits to employees. Annoyed bloggers include Acid Man, Bill Quick, and the folks at LFB.
I'm a believer in freedom, including economic freedom. Including the freedom to go poor. I believe in the forces of capitalism, and free trade. Nor do I think anyone has a "right" to pick his neighbor's pocket. But let's get a few things straight: Wal-Mart is not John Galt. It is not a person. It is not a natural free-market phenomenon. And the the Maryland legislature is completely within its rights to require whatever it wants of a corporation. Because Wal-Mart isn't a person, it's a paper beast that can only exist because the state wills it to exist.
The fact is that a publicly-traded Chapter C corporation is not an individual. It is a creation of, a fiction sustained by, the government. Without government, few if any corporations would be able to exist--period. The first true major corporations were chartered specifically by governments (such as the Dutch East Indies), and then later on the government began to declare that individuals could set up their own corporations if they followed certain rules, and that courts must grant these fictional state creations certain rights.
In short, then: without the state, there would be few if any of these beasties.
Furthermore, large corporations like Wal-Mart, due to the artificial advantages that they have over the everyday businessman--you know, an actual PERSON who runs a business, who has a face, who has to answer to people, who has the limitations of a human being--gets squeezed out by these giant collectivist enterprises we call corporations. Which, I remind you again, could not happen if the state had not created the entire phantasmic idea in the first place.
He is totally politically incorrect, doesn't give a rats ass, and most of all Blogs for himself, probably one of the few bloggers I know who does.
THAT....
And the fact that he has the kind of fun I used to have...
And he is one of the people from the Blogsphere that I would love to hang out with for a weekend. But not in L.A. I was raised in L.A. and Tony is undisputed Master of L.A.. No, I would want to get him on my turf. Take him partying in Costa Rica. Hell I could give the man enough material to blog for a year. Not to mention pictures...
Now that tag is a bit disingenuous don't ya think? Looks to me like dude got canned from a plush gig because he wasn't up to it, and then tried to blame British Affirmative Action. Not exactly the same now is it? Hehe...
I think you know my position on Affirmative Action. I am against it in principle, but I am still waiting for something better to be proposed.
I got an email from Phil Van Treuren today about a new blog focussed on the work of U.S. Military personnel working to help in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina.
The blog leans towards the Right, so there is a lot of other stuff that I don't agree with, but these kinds of efforts need to be acknowledged.
I often find jewels when looking through my Blog's referal stats, here is one of them.... Great Blog, go check them out.
Now for the Meme, which I will spare my buddies the tagging, but please trackback if you take it:
Seven things to do before I die:
1. Visit Tahiti. 2. Write and Publish a Book. 3. Write a Movie Script 4. See my kids graduate from college. 5. See my kids get married and have their own kids. 6. Make love on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, as the sun is coming up. 7. Expand my company to all of Central America.
Seven things I cannot do:
1. Keep dealing with bullshit from my wife. 2. Stop Smoking. 3. Give up my addiction to HBO's Saturday night lineup. 4. Loathe (except for Kool Aide Drinking Conservatives who can find no wrong in ANYTHING the Bush Administration Does) 5. Understand how Microsoft Continues to sell crap. 6. Pass for white.(hehe) 7. Give up my absolute LOVE for women.
Seven things that attract me to women:
1. A beautiful smile. 2. Long Hair. 3. Soft Curves 4. A slightly rounded belly. 5. An Easy Laugh. 6. Intelligence and Education 7. Independence...
Seven things I say most often:
1. Pura Vida 2. Wassup! 3. No Apollonia 4. No Romeo (My Dog). 5. I have a headache. 6. Te Quierro/I Love You. 7. Donde? (Where)
Seven books (or series) that I love:
1. Aztec by Garry Jennings? 2. Shogun. 3. The Divinci Code. 4. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. 5. DUNE series by Frank Herbert. 6. The Art of War by Sun Tzu. 7. The Book of Five Rings.
Seven movies I watch over and over again (or would if I had the time): None
Seven People I would LIKE to Tag:
I am not going to Tag anyone this time. Wanna play? Join in and trackback.
This is probably one of the worst posts I have seen on Dean's World, not because I disagree with his entire premise, actually I don't, but more on that later. The problem is the link he used does not go well with the argument he is making. (At least in my opinion). Was Mississippi screwed in the Katrina coverage? Absolutely. Was it a, "black thing," I don't think so. I think it was, "a New Orleans thing." New Orleans is arguably one of the most famous and historical cities in the United States. It is a name recognizable world wide, and it has some colorful imagery, so it was in my eyes the logical choice for the focus of the Media. That does not mean that this is right, it is simply a fact of life. The pretty blonde missing in Aruba (contrasted in the same article Dean links), was such a fetish for the media for the same reasons. So I dont think this was a good article to use as an example of Affirmative Action.
As for Affirmative Action itself, I have always said, it's an imperfect system, and one that I have never been comfortable with. But it is all we have right now, and until the playing field IS leveled, I will continue to support it.
Most of what Don writes here, could equally apply to me... Well except for the drug part. Hardest drug I ever did was a little weed, and the last time I smoked (About 3 years ago when I was seperated from my wife), I got so sick I puked my guts out, and it was a damned shame since I was at a mountain resort with one of the hottest colombian women that ever lived, and her equally hot cousin! (The Naughty Dream of any healthy straight, 42 year old man with the libido of a Ferrari!) Anyway, my little puke session probably cost me the night of my life! You Go Don!
You are my Bro too man, and I love your Blog. I am glad you decided not to hang it up for good! And you owe me (wink), some new guest post. Your first was the BOMB!
Not since the F***K you Awards from Don Fox's classic Blog, have I seen a better year end post than this one from John Cole:
The Airing of Grievances is the traditional time of the year when families gather together and tell one another how they have disappointed them in the past year. Thus begins my disappointments:
1.) The Republican Party- I will never forgive the shameless display during the Schiavo affair, elevating a personal family tragedy into a cruel farce loosely reported to be concern for the "culture of life." Hands down the most disappointing thing that happened this year, and the event that finally made me see the current GOP for what they are- shrill opportunists who think divisiveness, intrusion into personal matters, and cheap demagoguery are core leadership principles. And I don't want to get started on the spending.
2.) The Torture Advocates- For taking every opportunity to paint those opposed to state sanctioned torture as little more than terrorist coddlers or people whose position is not one of principle but one of moral preening. You know who you are. You can go to hell.
3.) The House Republican Leadership- The House GOP started the year in a blatant attempt to loosen ethics standards to save their embattled leader, and ended the year with the reputation of the GOP in tatters, as much of the leadership is embroiled in the Abramoff mess, DeLay is under indictment, and "Duke" Cunningham is a felon. Well done.
4.) The Bush Administration- For failing to articulate any coherent policy, and in the rare cases they do embrace a coherent policy, having it be the wrong one. Add to that the Libby/Rove/Plame mess, and the idea that governance comes on the cheap (just get people fighting enough and no one will know what we are really up to), and you can see why I am disappointed.
5.) The Democrats- A full accounting of the gross incompetence of this party would require more bandwidth than I am willing to purchase, but what can be said about a bunch of partisan nitwits so inept that the GOP self-destructs in front of them, and all they can do is triumph the loony views of Cindy Sheehan and advocate for immediate withdrawal from Iraq?
Read the whole thing, it is a classic, and has inspired my own effort. Read on..
My DISSAPOINTMENTS:
1. The failure of MOST decent conservatives to acknowledge ONE failure of the Bush administration, despite overwhelming evidence that at BEST, this is a defective Presidency, lacking direction, integrity and leadership. (See John's 1-4 items, I am pretty much in agreement with them.
2. The Democratic Party, for failing to provide an alternative vision for America, instead of making it, "All about the other guys."
3. The MSM for being cowards.
4. The Progressive Blogsphere for failing to UNITE in a way that will effectively counter the Rightsphere. Instead of building alliances and supporting each other, progressives continue to play the vanity game, with some blogs rising in popularity, while some great smaller voices go unsupported and unacknowledged.
5. HBO, see John's item number 14, My God I think we were twins separated at birth.
6. The Costa Rican Government which taxes the hell out of the people and provides the worst services of any government I have ever lived under.
7. Costa Ricans for failing to do anything about it. Apparently heading towards electing Oscar Arias for President, when it is apparent that Oscar is a dinosaur.
8. The Oakland Raiders, for continuing to SUCK. Al Davis needs to go.
9. My wife, for abandoning me at Christmas time, to spend time with her mother on our farm, and for putting about as much effort into choosing my Christmas gift, as she does determining how much sugar to put in her coffee.
10. My guest bloggers, who all volunteered to guest blog, and when I needed them the most, went MIA.
"Normally, I have very little respect for David Scott Anderson. However, his harrowing account of growing up black in gang-infested sections of Los Angeles under the watchful eyes of Tookie Williams’s Crips is one of the more poignant pieces I have seen in a while, and well worth a read."
I picked up a lot of links this week from Right Wing blogs on the Tookie Williams piece. I am sure from quite a few who shared the above's "Lack of Respect," for David Scott Anderson. Cool... Thanks for the link and the compliment. Let me share a little story with you.
Twentyseven years ago I was attending the funeral of my father when I noticed a lone White Gentleman sitting in the back of the crowd. He was about the age of my father, and I assumed he was someone who knew my Dad in the days of his youth. After the services I approached him to thank him for coming to the services. I noticed on his finger a Knights of the Ku Klux Klan ring. Being the young, "radical," that I was, I was just about to toss him out, when my mother came up and spoke to him. "Mr. Williams, thank you for coming," she said. He looked at her with tears in his eyes and said. "Ms. Elsie, yo man was one of the best men I have ever known. He was a gentleman and a credit to the Negro race." The, "Negro Race," comment, again rubbed me the wrong way, but my Mama held my arm tightly, letting me know to keep my mouth shut. Later my mother said. "He was Ku Klux David, but he loved your Daddy. He was one of his oldest friends, and despite their differences, they had a RESPECT for each other that you may never understand...
It took me a long time to understand what she meant. But now at 45 years old, I finally do. So take a look at my blogroll, and then at my list of guest bloggers. Many of them are people I dissagree with almost daily. But I respect them all. The only people I dont respect, are those folks so set in their own hatred for oppossing points of view, that they CAN'T respect another point of view. Those are the people I don't respect. Because they forget the very reason this country was founded... So that all could worship and BELIEVE as their hearts guide them to believe. I don't lose much sleep over people who don't respect me because of what I believe, or whom I choose to vote for. History will determine who among us is right and who is wrong. I am content to wait until that history is written. In the interim I will continue to believe as I believe and speak what I believe. After all, isn't that what America is about?
I have been striving for several days to put together a post that encompasses a number of different, seemingly disparate topics into one whole than points to a fundamental principal upon which our Constitution is based.
I have failed.
I have been so busy trying to establish myself in the US again after moving back from France that I have not had the time to compose the words upon a topic that I feel is vitally important.
What kind of nation are we that we feel the need to actually have a debate between our executive and legislative branches upon whether torture should be permitted?
I may one day have to deal with the same issue. It is hard enough dealing with it from here. I am not looking forward to having to consider it on my own soil.
Yesterday James Tobin, who was President Bush's New England campaign chief for a brief time last year, was convicted of jamming Democratic campaign phone lines on Election day, 2002.
I've covered this before, but a quick recap:
In 2002, then-Congressman John H. Sununu (R) was running against Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) for Bob Smith's US Senate seat -- Sununu had beaten Smith in the contested primary. On the day of the election, Tobin got his hands on the numbers for the Democratic phone bank -- set aside for get-out-the-vote work, such as reminding people to work and offering them rides to polling places -- and had a telemarketing firm call those numbers all day, tying up the lines. Sununu ended up winning, 51-45%.
Clever idea -- if you overlook that it's ILLEGAL.
Read the whole thing. At least one person who writes for a Conservative Blog is willing to point out something from the Right when it does not smell right.
yesterday, after the author commented on one of my pieces. The Author is the writer of The Devine Nine, a book I have been planning to read forever... Haven't been able to find it locally or at any of the cities I have travelled to recently, and I have had bad experiences with ordering books over the net and having them shipped here. So I will have to wait until one of my buddies comes down from the states. Anyway, great blog, check it out.
I have always said that it is easier for this administration to justify torture because they never had to endure it, while someone like McCain, who knows what torture is, and from personal experience knows how innefective it can be, is against it... Things that make you go hmmmmm....
I was in Guatemala when Tony Pierce started the Pajama Wars, which has been going full force for about a week now I guess. My take on the situation? I don't really give a rats ass.
That a bunch of Right Wing Blogs like Protein Wisdom, which justified the corruption of the Iraqi press, gets together and makes some money off of what they do daily anyway, neither surprises me, nor particularly upsets me. Nor does Tony taking them on. That is what he does... when not bragging about his sex life, or writing books. More power to him. As to the validity of his claims, that the Pajama crew is part of a Bush conspiracy... I don't think so, just because of some of the people involved. But then again, I don't really care. A lot of the people on the list could spend an hour in an Elevator with Bush farting the whole time, and emerge discussing the wonderful fragrance.
Truth is that we on the left don't spend enough time thinking about how we can build alliances and make money. That is one of the reasons I have toned down my own blogging. We start alliances like the PBA and BBA and instead of working to build them into Media powerhouses, we just create blogrolls... Tony is a respected member of the Left Sphere. He HAS made some money off of blogging and has some connections. My advice, use 'em. Start a Left Wing counter to Pajamas Media. I will be waiting for my invitation, and my check.
The Rogue Angel has always been one of my favorite blogs, and not just because Angel is one of my best friends. Her mix of politics, religious philosophy, personal anecdotes and just cool shit, keeps me coming back day after day.
You want a snapshot of how the world views America? Then Watching America is a must read! They just completed a remodeling job, and it is well worth the visit!
Man, it isn't like I did not see it coming, but Shabooty's blog has become nothing but porn...
Too bad too, because lil' brother had some interesting, youth oriented views on politics and such that I found interesting. I can't even open his site anymore without being assualted by stuff I don't even want my kids seeing.
It's not a contest Chris, to have a contest you have to have two opposites on the same basic level. Goldstein may have traffic and TLB Rank, but he is not even close to being on my level
David, I take shits that could bury you in a debate.
You are a moron. I know people have probably been telling you your whole life how special and smart you are, but they were being kind.
Trust me.
And look at yourself, man. You all but begged me to link you. You dared me. But until you started making shit up about me deleting your trackback I had no intention of linking here -- not because I'm afraid of your middling intellect (and I'm rounding up), but because you haven't made an argument.
I mean, look at the comments of your supporters. They barely rise to level of coherent English. This site was once fairly popular because it supposedly contained the sensible viewpoints of a "moderate" lefty. But you let the mask slip, Dave, and now its clear to just about anyone who can read that you are nothing but a whiny, embittered, self-righteous handwringer -- a tiresome scold who is so convinced of his own superiority that he can't even fathom what a joke he's becomes.
I responded to Joe's post. I linked it. I discussed specific passages. I made an argument revolving around a central thesis. You are free to disagree with said argument -- Mighty Middle did, and I was happy to reply and continue the debate -- but what you bring to table is just your seething hatred of me. Which I can understand, as I come over here from time to time and club you like a hefty baby seal.
You want to argue, fine. But "Jeff is a dick head and he argued with Joe Gandelman because he thinks he's so smart" is not an argument. It's a pathetic taunt from an intellectually challenged hack.
Jeff Goldstein
Found that love letter in comments tonight from Jeff G. I deleted the comment, but out of fairness I am placing it here. Despite the anger, he makes some comments that need addressing.
I don't hate anyone, not even Jeff, or the people who come from his blog and make racial slurs about my children, hurl insults, etc. I have let some of those comments stand, because they make my point better than I can. Even partisan anger can be expressed without getting personal or bringing a person's family into it.
It is true that I have stopped being the diplomat I once aspired to be. My ideas have not changed, but frankly I grew tired of reaching out and having people spit in my hand. I am not Ghandi. I did something few on the Right or Left have done, and that was to open guest blogging to my blog to people from the opposite side. I made no demands of them, did not censor their material, or even criticize it on the blog. This offer stands to this day. I have never seen a Right Winger invite someone with STRONG opposing point of view to guest blog. Jeff is probably right, there are probably Right Wingers who have stopped reading ISOU because they have seen a shift in my temperament. For this I am truly sorry, because for a while there I really thought we had an opportunity to bridge some of the gaps. But I am angry, and it does come across that way on my Blog. I am angry about the lack of compromise. I am angry about the lack of moral honesty on the part of some people.
It is now a FACT that the Administration has failed us in many ways. It is a reasonable assumption that they have been dishonest at times. It is also a fact that they have put political expediency above morality at times, in pushing their agenda. My anger, if anything, has come from an inability on the part of some on the Right to see and acknowledge that.
The debate has become poisoned, and I admit I have contributed to that with my own heated rhetoric. This is not something I am proud of. I have often considered taking a break from blogging. But honestly it is something I enjoy, so I doubt I will. But I do believe I will lay off the linking to other blogs for a while. The negativity is just not worth it.
I have never claimed to be the greatest writer in the blogsphere. Occasionally I get something right, or write a piece that moves a reader, it is for those moments that I blog. I have been in too many pissing contest lately, and today made me ask myself, WHY? I am not changing any minds, and they certainly are not changing mine. I have real work to do. I have to focus on putting food on my families table, and advancing my business. Getting distracted, angry and defensive is not the way to do either.
So I will leave it at that. I will delete any hateful and personally insulting comments guys. It's my right, I pay the rent. You don't like it, Blog about it, that is your right. But don't expect me to react. I have two weeks to go before I head to Guatemala to work a major project for my company, and spending a whole day troll stomping is not the way for me to best use my time. I have not been a very good citizen of the Blogspere lately, not because I happen to have a different point of view, but because I used super heated rhetoric to express those views, losing myself and my message in my own anger. As a human being, I can not promise I will not allow myself to get angry again, but I will work harder on how I express it.
The days of the Moderate David are gone. I just don't feel very moderate any more. I still offer my blog as a place where anyone can express their viewpoint, regardless of whether it agrees with mine, but some would rather practice the art of insult, rather than debate, and I realize, belatedly, that I was becoming what I detest. Despite my failings, I am better than that...
One who leans to the right, drinks Roveco Kool Aide, and believes that the Federal Response to Katrina was Great at best, and the jury is still out at worst. At least that is what Jeff, "Damn I am so smart," Goldstein believes. But, "It's because of the Hypocrisy," you see!
Joe Gandelman writes a reasoned analysis of the Katrina aftermath, sharing the differing points of view. Jeff as he is often want to do, decides that he, "knows where Joe's heart is," and proceeds to blast him for no apparent reason other than he doesn't excuse the Bush Administration completely of blame. Something Jeff did weeks ago, despite claiming to want to "wait until all the facts are in."
Of course the Jeff G fanclub weighs in with their typical inflammatory nonsense, including calling Joe Gay... Which I fail to see what Joe's sexuality has to do with the subject, but then again, most of the trolls I get from Jeff's site seem to be obsessed with my weight. So in a pinch I guess any insult or perceived insult will suffice.
When Mike Reynolds of The Mighty Middle, weighs in on the cheap shot, Jeff Responds.... With an ego like his, would you expect less? Of course Jeff does not own up to the errors and mal attributions in his post! Say it after me kiddies, "It's the Hypocrisy!" Instead he goes into a righteous defense of his attack.
Let me point out a couple of things before Jeff's minions arrive to defend his lordship. Joe Gandelman is one of the most fair minded people in the Blogsphere. If anything, I find myself in disagreement with Joe as much as agreement.
Jeff delights in making fun of my "Conservatives as Hypocrites" meme. At the same time his attack of Joe for balance, while he has been anything but, is the hight of hypocrisy. This guy is supposed to be one of the humorist of the Right. The only thing I find funny about him is that others find him funny.
That headline heralds the latest bit of drivel to spill from the keyboard of Rob, "Say Anything," Port, (I think he takes his name way too literally.)
The post goes on to excerpt a bunch of polls that:
a.) Document the obvious... (I don't think anyone on the Left believes leaving Iraq will end Terrorism. HELLO, 9/11 happened BEFORE Iraq, and had NOTHING to do with Iraq.)
b.) That only about 39% of Americans believe we should immediately pull out of Iraq. (Ahem... Americans are inherently decent people, we FUBARED Iraq, we can't leave it FUBARED.)
c.) That 3% more Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Cindy Sheehan, than have a favorable one. (Is Cindy running for office and someone forgot to tell me?)
Now, I have read the post about six times now, and other than a LAME attempt to convince the already convinced (Wizbang Readers), that Americans somehow support the war and hate Cindy Sheehan, I frankly don't get it...
I have been told by many people that I am their Blog Daddy. Hehe. Half the time I don't even know about my Children until they let me know. Dayum I have no morals at all! Hehe... Anyway, I am proud to announce that Rogue and I are expecting parents of a Brand New Blog. Sometimes next week, CA+ Blog Edition, will be released. It is the blog of the Editor of La Republica, the second largest newspaper in Costa Rica, and the best business publication in the region. CA+ will feature news and information on Politics and Business in Central America, and some of the best analysis to come out of the Region.
We were contracted to develop the Blog after the owner of La Republica saw the power of ISOU as an information source. The Blog will have English and Spanish versions. If you are at all interested in the region, add them to your blogroll and keep up with what's happening in the region!
American Center for Voting Rights... The Ultimate Oxymoron
First my apologies for breaking Blog etiquette and posting this post from Crooks and liars in it's entirety, but it is too hard to choose what to excerpt:
Brad Blog reports on this: "We'd expect it from the wingnut blogs out there like "Captain's Quarters", "Pardon my English", "Betsy Newmark", "WizBang", "The Anchoress" and "Mr. Remainder"
(all of whom couldn't wait to re-type the nonsense without taking even
thirty seconds to do a Google seach on the ACVR democracy-hating scam
artists). But several in the "news" media faired as poorly as the
Rightwing bloggers....read on"
The Moderate Voice is up in arms over this whole mess: WE WERE WRONG on that "The
fact that a controversy has raged for months on the group being loaded
with people alleged to be GOP activists means the report's allegations
don't have the credibility it would have had if it was truly a
bipartisan group with no controversy going back months....read on"
John Cole busted them this morning: "Sorry
folks. I am calling bullshit on this group and on this report. The
group was newly formed this year, it appears to be made up of nothing
but Republicans, and for what it is worth, non-partisan groups
concerned with voting rights don’t issue reports that amount to little
more than “Democrats are worse. Neener Neener Neener!”
I have said it repeatedly, but it is worth repeating, John Cole is one of the few Conservative Bloggers I TRULLY respect. Please add me to the "Lefty Bloggers having a field day!"
The typical Conservative approach to the ACVR report is par for the course, echo chamber STUPIDITY and Hypocrisy. It is why I have stopped reading and linking to their silly rewarmed GOP Talking Points.
You want to talk about treason... Treason is serving the crap up on a daily basis that these people serve up. It is one thing for the Government to deceive the people, it has happened in Republican and Democratic administrations alike, but the GOP Bloggers as I like to call them, have taken this to a whole new level. They lie and they know they lie. They promote an agenda that is unAmerican, and they subvert the constitution in the process by supporting a radical agenda that has no respect for TRUTH!
I am not giving them a free pass by saying they were "deceived." Deceived means they did not know that this was a partisan group, and I am sure that the majority of them did. Wizbang prides itself in being a blog of Google Masters. I have not doubt that the Holy Trinity of Conservative Blogging "googled," this group the minute they read the report. What they then did was selective publish to make a point. So like John Cole, I am going to CALL BULLSHIT ON THIS ONE!
I found these two quotes, while browsing a blog I discoverd through my stat counter tonight. It never fails to amaze me the cool assed people that read my blog. This is a very cool blog and just got added to my Blogroll.
The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state controlled police and the military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy... If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government - and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.
--- Edward Abbey
. . . History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected peoples to carry arms have prepared their own fall.
--- Adolf Hitler, Edict of 18 March 1939
And the Name, Palm Trees in the Ghetto, that rocks. Give Mystic Negro, a look, the damned blog is off the hook! (For you Republican types that might not be up on the lattest slang... Off the Hook means it is cool.)Hehe....
Back in the days when I was building ISOU... I used to care about the number of hits I got a day. I used to care about my TLB ranking, I used to care who linked to me...
I also used to care about trying to maintain some sense of decency in debate on Political Issues. That was before I discovered what a disgusting place the Blogsphere can be. I was visiting Tony Pierce today, and saw an interesting link. It appears that another blogger recently launched a preemptive strike against Tony and a couple of other, "Prime Time Bloggers," There is an apology and an explanation here. It makes an interesting read.
When I started blogging, I really enjoyed the sense of community and the idea of reaching out and mind melding with people all over the world. I enjoyed debating people on the Right, and sparring over last years Presidential election.
I helped to found the Progressive Blog Alliance, as an attempt to bring Progressives together, only to have that effort deteriorate into a sad pissing contest over Leadership and direction.
Just recently I posted a response to what I saw as a racist post on a Right Wing Blog, only to have sleaze show up on my blog and call me a Nigger and suggest my children pick cotton. Then there are the so called Right Wing Intellectuals like Jeff Goldstein and his minions who's idea of a counterpoint is to call me Fat! What the fuck ever!
I have decided in the last couple of days to focus on my business, and to ensure that Grupo Utopia is positioned to maintain it's leadership in the Technical Sector here in Costa Rica.
We all have enough negativity in our lives, to not invite it upon ourselves. I don't aspire to be a mega blogger. I have fell into a niche that I am comfortable with. ISOU has been recognized by some people I respect very much as being worth linking to and reading, that is enough. I have been to the mountaintop, received the recognition of my peers, and am generally well thought of by all but the most hard core political hacks.
The time has come to get back to basics, and to blog about the things I feel passionate about. If this passion is shared by others, all the better, but I am not getting into anymore pissing contest. When people stoop to using terms like Nigger and insulting my children, the debate is no longer debate, it is demagoguery and hate speech. I think the thing that disappointed me the most, was that even decent people, whom I respect, were all to comfortable with giving Paul at Wizbang a pass on his so-called Satire, as they were on ignoring the racist and hateful comments posted to my blog. As is often the case, they missed the whole point of my post, which was that by invoking the "cotton picker theme," Paul showed his true colors. I was also disappointed that people like Marty, and Baldilocks, chose to, or appeared to chose to, put their Conservative beliefs, before their self respect as Black People who despite their issues with Ebonics, which I happen to agree with... Should have called Paul out on his inflammatory tactics. I asked a simple question, which typically, was ignored. "If you are basing your lack of outrage on the idea that Paul was legitimately concerned about Black Youth, rather than using racist comments to make a cheap political point, point me to ONE, just ONE post on Wizbang where Paul has expressed concern for the welfare of Blacks.
This is where Blogging has come. We have now reached a point where superheated rhetoric is all that matters anymore. And personal insults take the place of logic and debate. Well guess what? READ THE HEADLINE.... Yeah I am a fat guy. Been one all my life. My Daddy was fat guy, and my Mama was a fat woman. By the grace of God, I eat well. I live well. I have been blessed with opportunity, success and love. I am also BLACK, not a Nigger, Black, Afro American if you so chose. I am proud of my heritage not the least of which because I know that my people have had to put up with ignorant people like the ones who commented on that post, for years. I am also proud of my Children, and thank God they will never need to pick anyone's cotton. They also speak two languages fluently and have the finest educations I could pay for.
There is one thing I agree with in the sentiments of this gentleman's original post. Some Bloggers are full of themselves. They see their success in the blogging world as some sort of validation of self importance. I believe I fell into that trap at one time. But I also know that I have always used my blogging as a tool to try and help others, including other bloggers to gain readership. This is the thing I am most proud of as a Blogger. I have written numerous times about the elitist bloggers and their unwillingness to reach back and help others find their voice. This is something I will never be accused of.
Blogging CAN sometimes be about ego. I know I have gotten wrapped up in mine a few times. But in reality, this thing... which I love, does not put beans, rice and carne on the table.
As he usually is. And somehow I feel a bit dirty for even getting this started. I should have just ignored it.
My dearest friend in the Blogsphere, and a lady a lot smarter than I, is always getting on my case for letting certain people bait me. I am sure she is just shaking her head right now in disgust. Anyway, I am done. There are some places I do not need to go, for the sake of my own blood pressure, and like Jack, I just need to stop reading Wizbang, as so many others have.
So thanks Jack, for being a friend, for being rational, and for reminding me of the futility of some debate. Hatred can not be debated. It can not be reasoned with, and it can rarely be changed. God Bless...
I ask ALL decent members of the blogsphere to condemn this hate speech by Paul of Wizbang, disguised as some sort of sick satire. I especially beseech those decent conservatives I know to provide feedback on this post, and to demonstrate once and for all, that this type of speech is unwelcome as part of our political discourse!
Dear Paul:
I have always known that you were a stupid, insensitive racist clod, but today you have outdone yourself. You have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, what an ignorant ASS you are. Hiding behind the idea of SATIRE, does not help the situation or justify your hateful racist screed. Amos and Andy and Minstrel shoes were satire too Paul, and I find what you wrote to be the MOST DISGUSTING thing I have ever read on Wizbang, and with your record at Wizbang there is MUCH competition.
I hope that EVERY blogger of conscience condemns your actions today as the disgusting dribbling of a racist idiot, as they are.
I can not believe someone like Kevin even allowed you to post something so vile and hateful.
You are a disgusting coward who would not dare utter those words, satire or no, in the presence of black people, or for that matter, decent people of any race or creed.
So picking your cotton is out of the question, but god help you if you ever make the mistake of spouting your childish and racist ideology in public.
The Reid Report has a much more logical response to Paul, than I ever could write. Fact of the matter is, I can barely contain my anger.
Update: Forrest Gump has responded. Earth to Paul. I disagree with Ebonics as much as you do. But I am not using stereotypes like cotton picking am I? Your conclusions about Ebonics are correct, your way of getting there is hateful, insensitive and racist. If you think using racial stereotypes like cotton picking is OKAY, you are more stupid that I already assumed you were.
And let me add Yellow Elephant to this post, because my ignorant friend, you would be shitting your pants if you walked into a black area of any major city, and were pointed out as a person who wrote something like this. But that is the benefit to blogging anonymously on someone else's dime isn't it. You can say the most ignorant shit, and know that you wont be held accountable for it outside the echo chamber of your own little racist world.
Update II: Who let the Dogs out?
So I wake up this morning to various attacks from the right wing, including this brilliant ode to irrationality:
This person, whoever he is, is an idiot. Rather than reflect on the similarities of the argument for the incomprehensible illiteracy called "ebonics" and the arguments of decades past about the futility of trying to educate blacks, he attacks the man who dared to introduce such a "hateful" subject. But perhaps he's a racist himself. Being black, he'd be one of the "victimist" sort, but really, one collectivist perversion is quite as good as another.
First off, I have to admit, that I don't even know why I am justifying this post. As I said above. I agree that Ebonics is a STUPID idea. BUT, and this is a big but, Paul has absolutely NO Cred whatsoever with being concerned about the welfare of inner city of black youth. I challenge anyone to show me ONE piece that Paul has penned, that demonstrates such concern. Even this one is simply another attempt by him to attack Liberal ideas.
I found his post odious for a variety of reasons. As others have stated, he could have simply stated the facts in the case and made the point that this is a stupid idea. It was not necessary to resort to stereotypes and inflammatory comments like the "pick my cotton," line.
I am not surprised at all, by the vicious response by conservatives to my post. Nor am I surprised by Marty's apologist stance for Paul's post. The fact is that the post was in very poor taste. For all the rabid dogs who posted insulting comments, they are like water off a ducks back. You have only exposed your own ignorance and racism.
I deleted a couple of comments, including one that suggested that my children would be perfect for picking cotton. Of course these comments came from cowards who would never use a real email address.
Thanks people for showing your true colors, and making my argument much better than I could...
Paul is a racist, he has demonstrated it in previous post on Wizbang, that were... Shall we say, not so blatant. But more significantly, he is a political hack who has ZERO concern for anything other than making a partisan point.
And to Marty, who just posted another comment on the subject. I am on the same Page too Marty, when it comes to Ebonics. I just don't think it is necessary or productive to use hateful satire to make the point.
What I find most interesting is that I have been called Nigger once in comments this morning, and had it suggested that my children be sent to the cotton fields. You as a fellow black man have found no offense in that. I guess to some conservatives, being conservative is much more important than being an American, or being sensitive to the racism of fellow conservatives.
Baldilocks has an incredibly well written essay on terrorism on her blog today. She compares the motives and methods of our home grown terrorist like the Ku Klux Klan, with the Islamic Terrorist threatening the country now. It is a compelling read, check it out.
I had never heard of these people before today. It just surprise me that after Waco, Jim Jones, etc., there are still people weak enough to join organizations like the one Chris describes.
The Democrat Voice is now under new Management. Goose5 from, Comments from Left Field, is now administering the Blog. I will be helping him as one of the regular bloggers there. I am looking forward to it.
This is a great post by Angel on her position on the war in Iraq, and her philosophy as a Christian. It is well worth reading the whole thing.
I am not for war. You can call me a peacenik. You can call me a
traitor. You can call me un-American. I call myself a follower of
Christ. As a follower of Christ I must do as Christ teaches us to do.
Whether or not I want to or not. Regardless what my human nature calls
me to do.
As I said today over at MediaSoul,
"If being a Christian makes me un-American, then so be it. Christ is
bigger than America." And, I mean that. It is like loving the sinner
and hating the sin. I love my country and at times hate what it does. I
don't cheer it on when it is doing wrong. Christ is who I follow. Not
man.
And, it doesn't matter what man says. It doesn't matter what a preacher says at a pulpit. It doesn't matter what the 700 Club says. It doesn't even matter what Billy Graham
says, as much as I love and respect him. If what any man says is in
direct opposition to what Christ says, Christ is the one I listen to.
Christ comes first. No one else comes first. Not my Daddy, not my
children, not my husband, not my grandmother. Not my president. Not my
political party. Not a political idealogy. Not my country. Not my
mayor. Not my theology professor.
Christ is the answer. No man knows better than Christ. That is what
I am learning on My Walk. And, where Christ goes I will follow. He is
the love of my life. He is the food I eat and the water I drink. I may
trip and I may stumble, but Jesus will never let me fall. Jesus loves
me and it is He who promises eternal life. No one else.
I am a Christian, perhaps my faith is demonstrated differently from others, even Angel at times, but I believe in what she has stated above.
I am often shocked by the hatred that comes from some quarters in the name of Christ, and often ponder how these people will be judged. I likewise wonder how I will be judged, realizing only too painfully my own flaws and weaknesses.
Time will be the judge of who among us is right. One of the reasons many of us on the Left continue to be outraged about Rove's comments, is that some on the Right judge principle for weakness.
I notice that Jay Tea still hasnt responded to my answering his post. Not that I expected him to. It is far too easy to spout rhetoric than to answer questions about your own apparent hypocrisy.
Looks like Rove got something going here... A little mini trend amongst the faithful. Now every person who is a liberal is held responsible for every act committed by anyone who considers themselves a liberal... Gotta love that kind of logic....
Just for the record... This Liberal does not want Cheney to die, just retire...
In October 2002, as the U.S. drive for war in Iraq was building, Sojourners organized a joint statement by church leaders from the U.S. and the U.K. In it, we noted that "To initiate a major war in an area of the world already in great turmoil could destabilize governments and increase political extremism.... It would add fuel to the fires of violence that are already consuming the region. It would exacerbate anti-American hatred and produce new recruits for terror attacks against the United States...."
Yesterday, two and a half years later, The New York Times reported on a new assessment by the CIA that "...Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in al Qaeda's early days, because it is serving as a real-world laboratory for urban combat." The report went on to note that since the American invasion, Iraq has become "a magnet and a proving ground for Islamic extremists" and is "helping combatants learn how to carry out assassinations, kidnappings, car bombings, and other kinds of attacks...." Our words have rarely seemed more prophetic.
I just checked in at In the Bullpen, to see what my buddy Chad has been up to. ITBP has a new look, and it is very nice. Congrats to Chad for the new digs.
Oliver wrote a passionate piece today on what I will call the War for America. In part he said:
The Republican party stands for nothing if they aren't demonizing the Democratic party as anti-American. They did it when Bill Clinton was President, and they've done it since the moment George Bush obtained the White House. That is what they're doing now. They've got nothing more than passing legislation that does nothing to actually help America, preferring instead to gin up the slack jawed folks who are their most ardent supporters with a neverending river of bigotry, hate, and bile. To date the left has become their enablers, preferring to play to some form of mythical "moderation" while these idiots defecate on our national foundations. Many Democrats (including myself in the past) have preferred the path of least resistance, trying to appeal to the mythical center while at the same time ignoring our core values.
We have to stop this now. In order to preserve this nation, we must stop giving in to the Republicans and their hatred of America's diversity of race, thought, ideology, and values. In the early part of the 20th century, those who championed racist hatred were in the majority. For many, the "right" thing politically would have been to walk in lockstep with the klan and their ilk. But they were wrong, and the people who supported them were wrong. We have to stand up for the right things, even if you're in the minority, even if you're not doing the politically expedient thing, because standing up for what's right is the moral thing to do.
And there are many things in his post I agree with. One of them is that we do need to fight. We need to refute the obscenity of statements like the one Rove made about Liberals. We need to STAY Focused on the DSM and its implications not only for the War in Iraq but for our international reputation as a company that believes in the rule of law. We need to speak loudly and in a unified voice against the abuses and arrogance of this administration. We need to present a vision for America that relies not on demagoguery but on a vision for all Americans, including those who we may disagree with on a variety of issues. We will NOT win this war by repackaging Republican Rhetoric with a Blue Spin. Our Approach needs to be more Obama and less Dean.
I have in the past and will continue to speak out against
"Whale," Lefty Blogs who are more concerned with their TLB Rank and advertising revenue than with supporting a unified message. Despite the fact that big lefty blogs have more traffic than Right Wing ones, it is the Right Wing Whales like "Instapundit" and "Captains Quarters," who facilitate rapid dissemination of message by creating effective Swarms.
Even though ISOU took a hit as a result of losing my archives and being offline for a month, As a top Liberal Blog I made an effort to promote smaller blogs and still do through guest blogging and Liberal Linking, (No pun intended).
Oliver is right, we do need to fight back, but we need to first unify and learn to work together, despite any differences we may have on individual issues. The fact that most of the BIG Lefty Blogs are missing from the BBA is a testament to my statement about egos in the Lefty Blogsphere. Yes I know many of them are covering the DSM, but not choosing to participate as part of a team, instead taking a KOBE (See LA Lakers) mentality. We can not fight a war when the so called ELITE of our troops choose not to join the campaign, or to fight apart from the main force.
Lastly I must add:
"Many Democrats (including myself in the past) have preferred the path of least resistance, trying to appeal to the mythical center while at the same time ignoring our core values."
Bill Clinton won two elections appealing to the "mythical center." And I don't believe the answer lies in us emulating Rabbid Dog tactics. I believe that Rhetoric is counterproductive. Instead we need to get focused on WHY our solution is better.
Update: I found this trackback from Pennywit to O's post. I find myself very much in agreement with it, especially this part:
But a couple notes of caution.
1. Willis calls the center "mythical," but it's really not as mythical as he thinks. While the political cognoscenti are certainly drifting toward the margins, Willis might find that when the political non-cognoscenti wake up for a quadrennial vote, they might not be so happy about parties that have drifted toward the margins, and they might make their displeasure known. The center isn't "mythical." It's just not discernible in non-election season, when the only audible voices emanate from paid political pros and those who are pathologically obsessed with politics.
2. If Democrats age going to be tough, that's fine, but Democrats (and I'm talking about Dean in particular) need to remember the line between "tough" and "psychotic," just like the line between "passionate" and "scare the women and horses." If Democrats cross that line often, they will go from "wimp party" to "crazy-guy-down-the-street-with-a-hundreds-of-guns-and-fifty-cats party." It's about threading the needle.
Tas has open blogging going on at Loaded Mouth. Just for shits and grins, go over sign up for an account and post a long love letter to George W. Bush! LMAO!
There is a conspiracy afoot to get me back to Los Angeles. But what I really want is a Johnny's Pastrami Sandwich.
Of course since Bush does not care about opinion in the the Homeland, we know he doesn't give a shit about THIS.
Did ANY OF YOU REALLY expect these folks to think Rove was wrong. I mean they own the flag, patriotism, apple pie and all that shit right? No Democrats died on 9/11. No Democrats signed up to fight in Afghanistan? No Democrats stood arm and arm with the Republicans after 9/11. You know what? These people have a major freakin' problem.
One of my Blog buddies has a message for those of you who subscribe to this theory and who's major battles have been fought from behind a keyboard. See that logo at the top of this post??? Think about it long and hard, then go fuck yourself with your chickenhawk fantasies. Cause you just insulted every Democrat... and there were, and are many... who are putting their lives on the line while you sit back and use them for political gain. My blogging buddy... A Pilot, just finished his second tour in Iraq, and he votes Blue. Oh, and the Moderate Voice just weighed in on the issue as well.
This is a well written post on the recent conviction of Edgar Ray Killen, the Klansman found guilty of the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.
Ex-Klansman, Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty in the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. Talking with a few friends who where around back then they all agreed this is one step closer in sealing up the wounds we still carry.
In my belief there are those who will play the race card and care nothing about making things right as long as they get what they believe they deserve and there are those who really search for hope. Despite the fact ole' man Edgar will probably pass away soon the trial stands for so much more.
As someone who grew up during that time, and whose own parents participated in the struggle, this decision was an important one.
UPDATE: The Judge in the case was awesome. Killen got 60 Years!
"why am i up so early? because i have a job interview today. i have a freakishly high interview to offer ratio. it might be 100%, and ive held quite a few jobs. isou remarked how he was envious that i truly don't give a fuck about what people think about me, but he should be warned that theres one type of person who that really irks: bosses. and i have not been blessed with a high percentage of bosses who feel comfortable with such confidence. so beware."
Truth is, I should qualify that statement. Tony and I have a lot in common. More than he knows, I am sure. Fact is, I don't much care what people think about me either, at least not anymore. And I have lost my share of jobs because bosses could not handle my outspokenness. What I do care about is defending my point of view. And that has gotten me into some protracted debates that are pretty much pointless. Tony on the other hand would probably just say, "Fuck it, and Fuck them..."
Billmon was one of the first A-List Bloggers to link to ISOU. He went away for a while, even announced retirement in the Los Angles Times of all places, but he came back. And it is this kind of insight that makes him a treasure.
"Why in the world would CIA Director Porter Goss say that he's pretty sure he knows where bin Laden is but can't go get him because we have to respect the sovereignty of other countries?
I'm not suggesting that we run roughshod over the sovereignty of other nations and I suspect that capturing bin Laden might not be a viable task for a covert special ops group. But I would think that this might be a viable topic for diplomatic discussions."
I have been kinda sorta following the story of the kid sent to the "reeducation camp," for being Gay. Cul has a great piece on it.
Rox points out a great example of why the fascist term gets bandied about so often these days. What happened to our rights to free speech in this country?
And for all you Conservatives who pooh pooh the Downing Street Memo(s), and make like everything is hunky dory... Well, maybe you will be concerned about this? Hat tip Jack.
Just out of curiosity, Tas will probably be able to lexus nexus it or something... How long has the Iraqi insurgency been in its last throes?
I admit I have not been all that impressed with Obama's first eight months in office. Perhaps my expectations were too high. But the man can still deliver a speech that moves...
I gotta go with Digger on his choice for Greatest American.
What happened to the America that would have been appalled by shit like this?
Tony Pierce has an interesting response to a flamer on his Blog. This quote stood out for me. I wont go into why, anyone who knows me, knows why...
someone asked the panel if we were blacks first, bloggers first or if we tried to distance ourselves from race since here in the blogosphere that was an option.
clearly i spoke into the mic:
i am a black man who blogs.
It is important for me to be honest about who I am. When I talk about OJ I'm talking about it from a black man's perspective. If I'm going to enter into the discussion on my blog, it is important to be transparent. This is a black man talking about this. A kid who grew up with OJ as a hero. Interestingly though, most people who see me don?t' see a black man and read me don't think that. So it is important to remind them. - 3/14/05
i didnt give the popular pc line that i was a blogger who just happened to be black because the klan didnt just happen to string up our ancestors who just happened to be slightly darker of complexion. which back in the day i would have been just as strung up or just as enslaved or just as unable to learn to read or write or travel around america as any other black man.
I happen to dig Tony's blog. For a variety of reasons. I also happen to be jealous of the guy... in a good way... He lives in Los Angeles. He hangs out with some cool people, and he has readers who buy him shit... Nuff said! I don't pretend to always understand him, or what he writes. A lot of it appears to be an inside joke, but I think that is what makes his blog so appealing to his "faithful."
One thing I definitely like is that he does not give a shit what other people think about him, something I wish I could do more of. Until the idiots at Sonnex lost my blog, ISOU was on the way to gaining the kind of readership Tony has. There have been times when I just wanted to say screw it, its hard building something back up after losing over a year of work. But people like Tony motivate me to keep going.
Pray for Angel and her relationship.
I have known Angel for a long time. She will always be someone special to me, despite the fact that we have had our share of battles over the years. Becuase she is one of the most special, loving and unselfish people I have ever know.
Anyone who reads her Blog knows the troubles she has had over the last year... She does not deserve it. She is a smart, dedicated, strong willed woman with so much to offer this world. I know, there was a time when we walked together, and I loved her. I still love her, although that love has evolved into a special friendship that I hope will endure everything else.
I dont know what else to say, other than to ask my readers, especially those who have also read her Blog to go over and give her a virtual hug, and then say a silent prayer that she finds the happiness that she much deserves...
La Shawn responds to her Critics over Koran Piece...
Every now and then I have to deal with a barrage of criticism over something I've written. During these times, my Ecosystem ranking increases, and traffic spikes. I find it slightly irritating yet fascinatingly fun that I can generate such blogospheric heat with a few strokes of the keyboard. Check Technorati and you'll find new blog posts complaining about the same old stuff. It comes in waves.
I'm presently in the middle of wave brought on by the Koran post. Once people understand that no matter what they say or write, I'll continue blogging the way I want and won't tone down the message, they usually go away in a few days.
Sometimes a high-profile liberal blogger will link to a post, castigating me personally, and on occasion, the actual arguments in the post, and their minions scurry out of the woodwork to tug on my cape. Consequently, I have to deal with trolls and various bloggers and their trite ad hominem. It's boring and predictable.
You know, I am happy for La Shawn. She does an exceptional job of making lemonade from lemons. You were wrong on that post La Shawn, but I am not going to argue the point. One day we are all going to be judged by a higher power. One of us will be right...
It's interesting to watch the right side of the blogosphere implode over the Newsweek story of the Koran being desecrated. With no tangible evidence - the warbloggers proceeded to go after Newsweek with mousepads blazing. Turns out that the Koran wasn't flushed down a toilet. A military investigation did find 15 instances that the Koran was abused. Now warbloggers such as Ed Morrisey are on the defensive.
And I happen to agree with Ron who said on the news of Michael's return to the blogsphere:
"I love Michael because he's no groupthinker and he's not afraid to stand alone once in a while. And - like me and not too many others, sadly - if he screws up (once in a rare, rare, rare while) Michael immediately posts a correction.
Welcome back, buddy."
2005-05-24 Hello, people. I know I haven't updated. I have come down with what is known as Ted Barlow disease. I have become burned-out on blogging. I have been doing this since 2001, back when I was writing about my life and a homeless blogger was unheard of. These days - most of the people that read this site merely know me as a political blogger. Which is fine by me. I didn't want to be known as an internet freakshow novelty.
The truth is that I just haven't felt like updating and it turns out that I didn't miss blogging one bit. I didn't plan retirement or to make some big announcement about how I didn't want to blog, anymore. I always felt that people that did that were full of themselves. The truth is the lack of updates just sort of happened without any planning.
Strangely, this all came about after I had successful runs guestblogging for Roxanne Cooper and David Scott Anderson. So the whole blogging thing was actually going well and I was gaining new readers.
The truth is I have tuned out the news and I have no idea what's going on right now. Which makes me like most Americans that are oblivious to the world around them. And I found out I like it. It's more addictive than nicotine.
Wow, the deficit really doesn't exist if I don't think about it. Cool!
I'd like to say I don't get it. Or Mike, say it aint so! Or some shit like that, but I do get it. After these assholes lost my blog, and I saw two years of my work go down the drain, I considered hanging it up.
I get frustrated when I see our President time and time again manage to escape responsibility and accountability... And I seriously wonder if it is worth it to put so much of myself into this blog. I used to enjoy it... Now it sometimes just seems a chore. So Yeah Michael I hear you Brother.
But I hope you change your mind, cause there are a lot of us out here who love you, and who love your work....
The Huffington Post, Wizbang has a pretty good review here. So far I like it. The blog format could use some work, especially things like adding comments to that portion, but overall it is a nice mix, and shows some real potential.
Lauren is one of my favorite bloggers. She is by far one of the most intelligent and thought provoking people out there, so I always want to know more about her. If you do too, now is your chance. She has a great interview on her blog today:
I signed up for another five question interview, but probably shouldn't have. This one took me over two weeks to answer. Terrance asks some tough questions.
1. What, or who, inspired your feminism? Lots of influences inspired my feminism. My older sister was a big one, talking about marriage and the politics of changing one's name upon marriage. She also told me I should play a sport instead of being a spectator, pointing out the fetishization of cheerleaders. Those were my first exposures to feminist thought. My other older sister gave me a copy of Susan Faludi's Backlash long before I was old enough to understand it, and though I don't know whether she would call herself a feminist, she certainly qualifies in many ways. Playing sports, softball specifically, was another factor, especially as a young teen noticing that my male peers had a far better field than we did. Ours doubled as a soccer field and had divots in it the size of dinner plates - not conducive to softball playing. My mom
and dad raised us girls to be independent thinkers, sometimes by
example and sometimes by negative example. I often think that I turn out to be their worst nightmare: a liberal hippie (in Dad's words) more concerned with art and social systems than commerce. Then again, they inspired me to love the arts like I do. Dad, in particular, reads upwards of five books a week and is highly politicized. I certainly take after him. Furthermore, education was of the utmost priority in our house. As we know, in certain areas of the world demanding quality education for your daughters is a feminist act. My young pregnancy was the final factor. Staying in Michigan with my sister for almost a month near the end of the pregnancy, I perused the bookstore and found a copy of a Germaine Greer book that literally changed my life. Like I said in the feminist influences post, "Giving birth as a teenager will do two things to a girl: send her into a neverending spiral of destruction or turn her into a politicized machine." I took the latter path.
And based on his comments, I don't see him changing a lot of minds. But I admire his persistence and patience in dealing with a very emotional issue from some people. The series is an interesting one. Be sure to read all of it.
TCF must effusively apologies, to all those who've visited this blog of late only to find a dearth of snarky, unkind content and expected respite from news of the 'deer-in-the-headlights bride of Decatur', or the updated remake of The Manchurian Candidate (the Sinatra version) starring Cpl. Lynndie England. You see, your previously lounging and prolific blogger here, done gone and joined the working stiffs again, but wanted to be sure his newfound employment would last until at least the health benefits kicked in before issuing any press release.
Your veteran salesman turned blossoming blogger has now secured full-time employment selling sponsorship opportunities to corporations and local businesses, in support of the seventh staging of the Gay Games to be held in Chicago, Summer 2006. TCF has his good friend Bunny to thank for hooking him up, respect and faith in the board of directors for recognizing I have more to bring to the table than just my professional work experience.
The Huffington Post has launched, and it's part-Drudge (though from a different perspective), part blog of blogs. It's obviously version 1.0, which means you should give it time to settle down.
Over a week ago, the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy sabotaged David's web site host and reformatted all of their hard drives, and they apparently didn't use tape backups. Tom Delay says that the host just didn't pay their bills, but The New York Times put Jason Blair back on the payroll and on the hunt for evidence, which clearly shows that Jack Abramoff had a hand in the dastardly deed.
David has finally evaded their nefarious efforts to silence him, and ISOU is back online. With a vengeance.
I know all you Amanda fans have been looking for your fix of Amanda Jilesse.
Well all is not Lost, and the Davester delivers! Here she is, one of the sexiest women I know. Amanda, returning to ISOU for her 2005, Version 2.0 tour.
Now, just in case you are not completely convinced.... Turn the page...
And I did not even have to mention Lindsay, Lohan, GQ or covers! (Wink)
Now please don't allow yourself to be swayed by the fact that 99% of 
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