Thursday, August 11, 2005
'Reach Out' To BlogPAC
Atrios of Eschaton, who serves on the advisory board of a political action committee called BlogPAC, thinks that "the best way for candidates to reach out to the netroots now is to begin by reaching out to local bloggers."
He links to an article written by Markos of Daily Kos, the treasurer of BlogPAC, which advises campaigns that "[i]f you need help finding your local bloggers, use the BlogPAC's directory."
Atrios (aka Duncan Black) adds:
"The buzz about campaigns, and the "infiltrating" into the netroots, is for the most part going to come from the ground up now. Reach out to local bloggers."
What the fuck does "reach out" mean?
A promise: if any campaign operative ever reaches out to this liberally biased but not propagandistically partisan blogger - as much as I could use the cashflow that the A-list bloggers generate from traffic, ads, and perhaps by being "reached" - I'll tell you to go fuck yourself and blog about how you tried to buy my influence.
More about the shadowy activities of BlogPAC bloggers can be learned at Watching the Watchers and at BlogACTIVE.
Why do I continue to rail against these elitist, circle jerk, irresponsibly partisan (not to mention: misogynistic and racist when it suits them) bloggers?
Because I've spent the last six months tracking the same kind of - if not illicit, definitely improper - relationships between right wing Websites such as GOPUSA.com and the Republican Party.
(Sidenote: Check out the latest article by ePluribus Media written by Philip Curtis which details the strange relationship between Assistant Secretary of Commerce Israel Hernandez and George W. Bush. It's cross-posted at Daily Kos and the wonderful Booman Tribune, but you can also find it at the brand spanking new - though still in the preview stage - ePluribus Media Scoop Website: "Balancing Truth and Loyalty: Portrait of a Grand Jury Witness." Disclosure: I'm listed as a contributor in researching the article but I really didn't do that much work on it, though I'm honored to be credited.)
I don't trust the FEC to do a good job of reining in the kind of shenanigans that went on with the Thune bloggers in South Dakota last year, but I think idiots that run blogs that reach hundreds of thousands of people that advocate campaigns to "reach out" to bloggers prove that self-regulation is not going to work. And it's a fucking shame that other blogs that don't consult or work for political parties may be adversely affected.
I'm a liberally biased blogger, although I try to give the other side (or sides) their due. I've endorsed a couple of Democrats since I started up almost two years ago (but it wasn't until January that I became a daily blogger), but I would never, never, never cross the line that these guys have pretty much erased.
I do my best to maintain my objectivity, because unlike most of the A-list activist bloggers, I consider myself more of a journalist and I accept the responsibilities that come with it (and...no...I don't bother writing these assholes ahead of time before I publish because they don't respond to e-mails and they simply don't give a shit).
Last month, I worked on an article for Raw Story that hit pretty hard at the Clinton Administration for bombing the hell out of Iraq.
That's probably not something that my Democrat handlers - if I had any - would approve of.
My number one question:
What fucking Democrat handlers reach out to the BlogPAC advisory board and urge them not to blog about election reform?
Wake up, blogosphere, the new bosses are the same as the old bosses.
Update
Chris Bowers of BlogPAC, Advertising Liberally, and A-list blog MyDD left a comment at Watching the Watchers (on the post linked to above) filled with lies and threats.
(NOTE: Aug. 11th. I may be completely unfair to Chris Bowers in the following paragraph even though I use the word "presumably." I'm not changing the wording...yet...but if I find I'm wrong I'll add a correction and apology)
Chris Bowers, a candidate for Committeeperson, Ward 27, Division 23 in Philadelphia, who presumably stands to garner an awful lot of money for his Democrat campaign - with the aid of his buddy bloggers aligned with BlogPAC - ends his comment with this perhaps, brief preview of his political nature, if elected:
"It's sad that on a site where you aim to dismantle Republican propaganda, you are giving them fuel for more propaganda. It is sad that when so many of us are working for free to help build a better progressive blogopshere, you seem more interested in tearing it down. Its sad taht this will permanently damage your place within that blogopshere. I had a lot fo hope for this site, and I tried to support it. No more."
Go to Watching the Watchers to read my not-so-nice response and an impartial response from a reader (Disclosure #2: ~A! is a good friend of mine and we've discussed the way these fucks operate on many an occasion) which takes both of them to task, but only one for lying and threatening.
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