The Spencerian

Barking Up the Right Tree

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I don't do a lot of promoting of other bloggers here.  Maybe I should, but I don't.  

Tonight is an exception.  Stop reading this, and go read the Bark Bark Woof Woof piece on the Newsweek cover, "The First Gay President," about Obama and his remarks on same-sex marriage.

Newsweek is out (no pun intended) with a cover photo and essay by Andrew Sullivan that dubs President Obama as the "first gay president."

Sigh.

Both Newsweek and Mr. Sullivan are shorthanding the president's support of same-sex marriage by labeling him as gay. Except I'm not comfortable with the label -- not that there's anything wrong with it -- and the idea that supporting same-sex marriage and other civil rights for the LGBTQ community makes him gay. If that's the case, my parents and a lot of my family members are gay, too, which would come as both a surprise to them and their respective children and spouses. It would also apply to a number of people I know who are demonstrably straight. It's catchy, it sells magazines, and I'm sure the editors of Newsweek felt they had to come up with something to counter last week's Time magazine cover article on breastfeeding. (Oh, please, don't even go there.)

If there was just one blog in Florida, I'd hope it would be Bark Bark Woof Woof.  If there was just one blogger, I hope it would be Mustang Bobby.  

This post is exactly the kind of media criticism I love to read.  

The president did a good thing, a bold thing, a politically risky thing -- "bumpersticker journalism," as Bobby aptly describes it, doesn't help the issue.  In fact, it sort of dumbs it down.  

I sometimes feel a little out of place on certain issues.  As a straight, white, quasi-agnostic, middle-age guy, I find it difficult to articulate a practical, articulate position in a lot of cases.  President Obama said he supports same-sex marriage.  That's great -- so do I.  I doubt so many people care about what guy like me thinks about it.  Thank god for people like Bobby who have discussed issues around the gay rights movement with a refreshing pragmatism too rarely seen in the blogging world (and he indeed picked the perfect Quote of the Day earlier...).

That is not to say that Bobby is the "gay rights" blogger -- he's certainly not.  He has commented on the Republican race for the presidential nomination, and provided some of the best stuff out there.  He's got a film preview link, a quick post about the resurgence of whooping cough, and a tune from Booker T and the MGs.

And he posts a hell of a lot more frequently than I do, so there's that.  Make him a daily read, if you're not already.

Confessions of a SpongeBob Pajama Keyboard Jockey

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I took note of the response by Peter at SaintPetersblog to remarks made by Tim Nickens in POLITICO.  Nickens is the Editor of Editorials at the Tampa Bay Times, and the POLITICO piece centered on the editorial page's nomination for a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing -- but no award was given.  Look, Peter, of all people, certainly doesn't need me to speak for him or second any of his criticisms.  And I intend to follow the old adage: don't pick a fight with a guy who buys ink by the barrel.

That said, I thought it was interesting that Nickens went straight to bloggers as a kind of scapegoat:

“I actually think that they’re at least as important or relevant as they’ve always been,” Nickens said [of newspaper editorial pages]. “There are so many voices now and it’s so cluttered with blogs and everything that it’s important to have an institutional voice that is respected in the community and is going to be here tomorrow and the next year, and not going to disappear tomorrow. You know who it is. You know what the institution stands for.”

“It’s not some person sitting by themselves in their pajamas in the bedroom,” he added.

Come on, Tim.  Everyone knows about the Friday night Times sleepovers in the editorial conference room that you and Joni and C.T. and Robyn, Jim, Dan and John have.

Your Spiderman Underoos are totally the bestest.  

Right, right... barrel full of ink.

Anyway, as it happens, I am in my SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas most nights I write a blog post.  And you know what?  I don't have a Pulitzer, either.  I guess we have that in common.  

Let me say this in seriousness: I agree with Mr. Nickens that having a news institution of credibility matters.  A trusted, long-serving voice in the community is key.  Having a respected newspaper be an integral part of daily life is incredibly important to a community.  In a lot of ways, it drives our community.  It reflects our community.

But I have interviewed local elected officials in my beloved Gulfport.  Aren't they a part of the community?

I've written about the impact of the state budget locally.  Isn't that a part of the community?

I've blogged about the ongoing drama with the Tampa Bay Rays.  No matter where they end up, aren't they a part of the community? 

Matt Spence, a friend, colleague and father of three has written on this blog about the USF Polytechnic/J.D. Alexander deal, leadership, politics and religion.  Isn't he a part of the community?  

I write about my soon-to-be-born son (any day now!).  I write about my hopes and dreams for my daughter.  Aren't they a part of the community?  

I am a blogger.  I'm not the most important, or the best, or the most influential.  But I am.  Aren't I a part of this community?  

I think I am.  Even in my SpongeBob pajamas.

Walking With a Ghost

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I suppose I should say something about the passing of Dick Clark, who died today at 82, but that's not what is on my mind tonight.  

I started this blog in January of 2005, but I didn't start it because I had all the confidence in the world I could create a great blog overnight.  I started it because I had something to say, and I wanted to give it a try.  I wasn't sure exactly how to say it, but the format has given me a lot of room to practice and grow.

The real trick was never the writing, though -- not what to write or how to write.  I knew that would come and that I'd craft it on my own.  The tricky piece was getting the damn thing started.  And so I turned to blogs like Kevin Murphy's Ghost in the Machine which gave me the courage to give the whole thing a try.

In a lot of ways Ghost in the Machine is what they call the blogfather of the Spencerian.  I'm grateful to Kevin and his more than twelve years of work at GitM.  

Looks like he's taking a break from blogging for a bit of time -- and for all the right reasons.  I understand and totally respect where he's coming from with respect to presidential politics.  I certainly understand where he's coming from on the personal stuff.    

Kevin is peeling away from the computer screen and going out into the real world -- he calls it a walkabout.  Walking about in the real world.  Where life happens.  I'll miss Kevin and GitM while they're out and about.  Still, I have to admit it sounds good to me.  After all, the real world is where we discover the stories we write.

Three Must-Reads for Saturday Night

If you're like me, you're groovin' off the tail-end edge of some questionable Halloween candy and surfing the series of tubes for some high-caliber reading that will alternately inspire you and depress the hell out of you, hopefully not in that order because you want to dovetail the hard-core sugar crash with a euphoric feeling like you can take on the world -- and win. 

Good luck with that.

Anyway, three good must-reads if you're in front of your computer this Saturday night.  They're long, but you absolutely must read them all. 

First, it's Matt Taibbi's depressing account of what they call the rocket docket here in Florida.  It's essentially the express lane to foreclosure, bank fuck-up or no:

The foreclosure lawyers down in Jacksonville had warned me, but I was skeptical. They told me the state of Florida had created a special super-high-speed housing court with a specific mandate to rubber-stamp the legally dicey foreclosures by corporate mortgage pushers like Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase. This "rocket docket," as it is called in town, is presided over by retired judges who seem to have no clue about the insanely complex financial instruments they are ruling on — securitized mortgages and laby­rinthine derivative deals of a type that didn't even exist when most of them were active members of the bench. Their stated mission isn't to decide right and wrong, but to clear cases and blast human beings out of their homes with ultimate velocity. They certainly have no incentive to penetrate the profound criminal mysteries of the great American mortgage bubble of the 2000s, perhaps the most complex Ponzi scheme in human history — an epic mountain range of corporate fraud in which Wall Street megabanks conspired first to collect huge numbers of subprime mortgages, then to unload them on unsuspecting third parties like pensions, trade unions and insurance companies (and, ultimately, you and me, as taxpayers) in the guise of AAA-rated investments. Selling lead as gold, shit as Chanel No. 5, was the essence of the booming international fraud scheme that created most all of these now-failing home mortgages.

Yes, it's incredibly detailed, but it is worth your time.

I think we can safely label Taibbi as the chief chronicler of this disaster, as well as the attempted clean up (or cover up, as the case apparently is).  My only request of Taibbi would be to do some follow-up and see where in the hell the outrage might be (and don't you dare suggest it's the tea bagger party types -- because I don't buy it for a minute).

Moving on.

Joy Reid of the Reid Report has a must-read about every two or three days or so, so just go visit the site every day and you'll be covered.  Her latest is about the impending arrival of Rod Smith to be the head of the Democratic Party here in Florida. 

I know what you're thinking: Thanks a lot, Ben -- I just read that depressing as hell Taibbi stuff, and this is just making it worse.

Sorry.  Try more Halloween candy.

Color me skeptical of Mr. Smith.  I'm sure he's a nice guy, but why are we seriously talking about a dude who has lost two high-profile bids for office to lead the party?  I've seen enough written about the critical importance of the I-4 corridor -- how about we do something to actually recognize it?  Florida Democrats are going to have to get over their (our) good-old-boy fetish and start talking about our real base, which resides on that I-4 corridor, and in Miami. 

Alright, to finish off right, read this post from the fantastically named Nerdy Apple Bottom.  This is from a mom, and her son -- five years old -- wanted to be Daphne from Scooby Doo for Halloween. 

I think that's freaking fantastic, and her post describing her ordeal with fellow moms and the kid's teachers is as well written as it is emotionally uplifting.  This is a great mom doing a great thing for her son. 

In a lot of ways, this is what blogging is about.  It's a way to see something, read something, or otherwise experience something, and then kind of put it out there -- publish it.  I doubt that Nerdy Apple Bottom knew what kind of response she'd draw with her post.  Her five year old boy dressed up as a female red-headed cartoon character with a purse and a purple dress.  Frankly, I salute her bravery.

Of course, political blogging is easier in a lot of ways.  I am a moderately liberal guy with strong pragmatic streaks.  My positions on most things are fairly common.  Most of my posts are mainstream, when they're readable. 

And I've even written about my wonderful family and my beautiful daughter.  But I've never done anything quite like Nerdy Apple Bottom did.

Can political blogs be brave?  Do we have fresh ideas and important events that we can chronicle and post? 

I really hope so.  Hey, let's take on the world...

Please Don't Keep Me Wonderin': The Election of Exception?

If I weren't lazy, this would be two separate posts.  But it's Sunday night and I don't particularly feel like taking the time to tease my thoughts apart, so I'll just offer up a kind of a post ratatouille, all mixed up, sauteed, and baked together.  Feel free to enjoy this with a glass of wine, or maybe a couple of fingers of whiskey.

Well, if Joy Reid wrote the must-read post-mortem on the election with respect to Alex Sink and Florida, then my friend Kevin Murphy of Ghost in the Machine has written the perfect -- to the letter -- analysis of the results nation-wide.  As with Joy's post, there's no doing Kevin justice in pulling out chunks of the post.  You just have to go read it.  Read it, think about it -- and then you'll know why I consider Ghost in the Machine the political "blogfather" of the Spencerian.

Once you're done with that and you've gulped down your whiskey, I want you to click over to Nicholas Kristoff at the New York Times: Our Banana Republic.         

In my reporting, I regularly travel to banana republics notorious for their inequality. In some of these plutocracies, the richest 1 percent of the population gobbles up 20 percent of the national pie.

But guess what? You no longer need to travel to distant and dangerous countries to observe such rapacious inequality. We now have it right here at home — and in the aftermath of Tuesday’s election, it may get worse.

The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. As Timothy Noah of Slate noted in an excellent series on inequality, the United States now arguably has a more unequal distribution of wealth than traditional banana republics like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana.

C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001. Perhaps the most astounding statistic is this: From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.

That’s the backdrop for one of the first big postelection fights in Washington — how far to extend the Bush tax cuts to the most affluent 2 percent of Americans. Both parties agree on extending tax cuts on the first $250,000 of incomes, even for billionaires. Republicans would also cut taxes above that.

I am still wondering how no one in the Democratic leadership has figured this out.  More on this in a minute. 

Now that you've just bypassed the whiskey buzz and gone straight to the headache, read Michael Kinsley in Politico.  He's writing about American exceptionalism -- this idea that America is basically perfect and can do no wrong and that the voters have an inherent "wisdom" -- and I am starting to put a picture togethere, here. 

The notion that America and Americans are special, among all the peoples of the earth, is sometimes called “American exceptionalism.” Because of our long history of democracy and freedom, or because we have a special mission to spread these values (or at least to remain a shining example of them), or because of our wealth, or because of our military strength, our nuclear arsenal, our wide-open spaces, our pragmatism, our idealism, or just because, the rules don’t apply to us. There are man-made rules like, “You can’t start a war without the permission of the United Nations Security Council.” We’ve gotten away with quite a bit of bending or breaking of that kind of rule. This may have given us the impression that we could ignore the other kind of rules —the ones that are imposed by reality and therefore are self-enforcing. These are rules such as, “You can’t have good ice cream without fat” or “You can’t borrow increasing amounts of money indefinitely and never pay it back, because people will eventually stop lending it to you.” No country is special enough to escape these rules.

Right. 

Okay, now you've just hit the room-spinning phase, but before you barf your Jack Daniels all over your HP keyboard, read a couple more things for me.  And try some Sprite and maybe a cracker. 

First, go to the Florida Progressive Coalition and see what Kenneth has to say about the movement to fire the head of the Florida Democratic Party Karen Thurman.

I know -- it seems like I told you this backwards, but trust me, it's okay.  Now go to Saint Petersblog and read what Peter says about firing Thurman (or actually, the five reasons the FDP needs a new chair... now).

Peter has set up the Fire Karen Thurman site here, and I will admit to you I signed the petition.  And yet, I agree and understand what Kenneth has said. 

So why did I sign?  Because yes, Karen Thurman has done a great job at a number of things.  But this last election was an egregious loss, and someone must be held accountable.  I got mad at Peter the other day for calling out campaign operatives, consultants, and staffers here locally, and I stand by my post.  But I do believe in accountability, and accountability starts at the top. 

It may not have been Ms. Thurman's decision to make the campaign mistakes Alex Sink made that Joy points out so well, but Alex Sink was held accountable by the voters.  As was just about every other Democrat in the state. 

And as Susan points out in the comments on Kenneth's post, the real top to hold accountable, here, is President Obama.  I want to disagree with her, but it's hard to find fault with the direction she's going -- which supports, almost entirely, what Kevin said in his post. 

Fire Karen Thurman?  Not fire her?  I leave the choice up to you (if there is, in fact, much of a choice, as Kenneth points out with respect to the process).  I don't think she'll get fired, and I don't think my name on a petition will get her fired, but maybe it will demonstrate to someone paying attention that I'm disappointed. 

And what, by the way, does all of this have to do with American exceptionalism?

In 2008, I interpreted Obama's message as this: I will employ a governing strategy that tells the American people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.  Not to anger Susan to no end, but I feel fairly comfortable that we got that government. 

"American exceptionalism" sounds a little fancy for my blood -- I've always said we're a lottery society (and if I had to hear Marco Rubio abuse this concept one more time, I was going to lose my stuff).  Everyone knows they're not rich, but everyone thinks they can be.  It was no small feat for Obama to co-opt the word "Hope," because it was really the language of the right, deployed upon the masses. 

Hey, don't let those liberals raise taxes.

But Democrats only want to raise taxes for the wealthiest Americans -- those who make over $250,000 a year.

Just like a liberal -- tell you you'll never make that much money.

Of course, the people pitching this stuff are rich as hell.  Doesn't matter.  The base loves it -- and loves them for it.  Remember what I said yesterday about the cult of personality with the GOP.

I don't play the lottery, but even I believe enough that I may be rich some day.  Sure, why not?  My novel will get published, optioned into a movie, I'll be a literary superstar.  I'll start a communications business that takes off.  I'll open a successful chain of French restaurants that specialize in vegetable-based sides and expensive whiskies. 

At the end of the day, American exceptionalism is silly, but the American imagination is quite a thing to behold.  Republicans -- and now tea bagger party creeps -- have figured out how to capture it... and manipulate it. 

The picture we're painting for ourselves post-election is a bleak one -- more bleak than I imagined it might be.  But now that we've gotten it all out of our system at the polls, I don't wonder if we're not on the brink of some real change.  If it's a war of imagination between a liberal ideology and a conservative one, then I'm still betting on the guy at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  He just needs to start the narrative.  What will it be?

Please, don't keep us wonderin', Mr. President.

GOTV: Please Vote

My friends at Progress Florida are doing everything they can to get out the vote.  Get out the vote efforts -- called GOTV in the campaign world parlance -- is a critical piece of the election season, and it is even more so for Democrats.  When Democrats are energized, when we show up at the polls, we win.  There's a reason Obama and a herd of influential Democrats are criss-crossing the country trying to fire up Democrats (it's the same reason the GOP likes to depress turnout wherever they can). 

It's not a complex equation.  Just look at Florida.  We have more registered Democrats here than Republicans.  Soooo, what happens when Democrats vote?  Like I said, Democrats win. 

So go vote.  And if you need a little inspiration, well, the good team at Progress Florida has a little inspiration:

And if you need a little help on your ballot, they have you covered there, too. 

There's a reason Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo won the 2010 Florida Netroots Award and was the 2010 Netroots Activist of the Year, and he and Ray Seaman were inducted into the Florida Progressive Hall of Fame.

Nice work, gang.   

Go vote, Florida.

On to Victory

This weekend, Florida Democrats gathered together for the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Hollywood, Florida.  I would have enjoyed it, I think.  Instead, I got to spend the weekend with my wife and my beautiful daughter.  Tough for all those Democrats to understand, I'm sure, but believe me when I say I got the far better deal. 

And while Democrats gathered -- and no doubt plotted some electoral strategy, and maybe threw back a cocktail or two -- on one side of the state, my blogging friends and colleagues represented the west coast very, very well in the 2010 Netroots Awards.  (You'll be able to find a full list of the winners here soon enough, I'm sure.)  I've noted many of them in my blogroll to the left.

I won't got through them all -- they are all great, all deserving, as were the nominees.  But I do want to point out that St. Petersburg's own Peter Schorsch of SaintPetersblog 2.0 dominated this year.  I don't think Peter would disagree with me were I to categorize him as something of a divisive character (I believe he recently referred to himself as "terrible" and "annoying").  That may well be true.  But what I also know to be true is that he's a hard working sonofabitch, and his many awards are ample proof of that.  Congratulations, Peter. 

I'd also like to point out that the Pinellas Democrats won for best party website.  That's the way to bring it home!

PolitiFact Florida -- based in the St. Petersburg Times -- won for best media blog.  I have my issues with PolitiFact, but I generally think they are on to something.  Sincerest congratulations to the PolitiFact team.

Mark Ferrulo and the Progress Florida team won big as well.  They're doing great things state-wide, but Mark is a St. Petersburg native, and Progress Florida is right up the road on Central, if I'm not mistaken.  Good work, Mark, and thanks to you and Ray for all you do. 

Importantly, I think we all ought to take a moment to thank Kenneth Quinnell -- who's usually up around Tallahassee -- for once again putting all of this together.  And this year it was, I suspect, particularly tough for him, since he's working hard on the Kendrick Meek campaign.  It's guys like Ken who make the sometimes rusty gears of local politics grind, and he ought to be recognized more than he probably is.

I've been watching and voting in these great awards for a few years, now, and I'm always impressed with not just the winners, but the nominees.  We had a great bunch of winners -- all of them, from all around -- and we had a great bunch of nominees.  One of my favorite things about the Florida Netroots Awards is that it gets you looking at other blogs and other writers.

What I hope we can do now is utilize our knowledge of these great state-wide resources for what really needs to be done: promote progressive causes and ideas, push forward progressive and (most often) Democratic ideals, and mostly help Democrats and progressives win in November. 

For the winners, for the nominees -- for all of us -- I hope the awards are a rallying point.  They did the awards at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, so it seems appropriate to leave you with a quote from President Jefferson himself, on the occasion of his first inauguration:

A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye -- when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world.

May we all find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal.

Via the Florida Progressive Coalition: Netroots Awards Nominations Now Open

I'm always a big fan of the Florida Netroots Awards (see my post on the winners from last year here).  It's an opportunity to learn about other great blogs and bloggers around Florida.

Nominations for the Fourth Annual Awards are open now through June 25.  Send in your nominations now.  I already have.

Be sure to check out the rules -- and don't worry, I'll let you know when the voting opens up.

And thanks once again to Kenneth Quinnell, especially this year.  He's working on the Kendrick Meek campaign, and you know that's got to take all of his time.  How he finds time to do this, too, is anyone's guess. 

Thanks, Kenneth.  Keep up the good work. 

Goodnight to the Snark King

When you start this whole blogging thing, what you usually do is find four or five or a half-dozen other blogs like yours and you model what you want to do after the ones you like.  Then those go in to your blogroll, and then you see who they have in their blogroll, and it all grows and develops and connections are made, and everything is great.

One of the Florida blogs I found and liked fairly early in this whole blogging process was Sinfonian's Blast Off!  The guy had figured out the perfect marriage between snark and politics and he used it effectively.  It was a daily stop for me.  

Well, it turns out that Sinfonian has put Blast Off! to bed, and I have to tell you, I'm sorry to see it go.  Now, Sinfonian has taken a hiatus or two in the past, but I get the sense he's serious this time.  Besides, the site is actually down.

Progressive bloggers paid a visit to Tampa a couple of years ago for kind of a meet-and-greet and strategy session that went really well.  I happened to sit next to Sinfonian, and he was smart, funny, and struck me as a really decent guy.  I wish the very best for him, and hope that maybe one day he returns to the blog world.  

I'll keep my eyes open, just in case, but in the meantime, I wish you Godspeed, Sinfonian.  

Notes on a Rift

Anybody who reads this blog knows that I think a lot of myself.  Still, I try and temper my ego with two things: an approach to others that is both respectful and humble, and the idea that politics is a very practical business. 

This idea that politics is practical is the thing about it which turns most people off.  If I believe in the Concept of A, and my neighbor believes in the Concept of C, we must somehow learn to live with the Concept of B, somewhere in the middle.  In this era of perpetual media and information flow, it's easy to mix up politics and partisanship.  I fear they have become synonymous.  If it is true, it is more than just a terrible shame -- it would not be an understatement to suggest it could be the downfall of our nation.  

On a little bit less alarming and certainly more local scale than national governmental and political failure, you have maybe noticed something of a rift that has taken place between a blog I infrequently (shame on me) contribute to, the Florida Progressive Coalition and the Mark Weaver Show.  Read Dave Harper's post on Mark's status with the FPC here, and Mark's statement here.  You can also read Kenneth Quinnell's reaction here.

Look, I don't really like the idea of running a whole commentary on a back-and-forth between a couple of bloggers in Florida.  Read what each of them has to say and decide for yourself who may be right and who may be wrong.  

Some specific thoughts are: I don't like name calling.  I find it offensive that anyone -- left, right, Republican, Democrat -- would call someone as hard-working and successful as Steve Schale "amoral" and "unpricipled."  Schale, who oversaw the Obama efforts in Florida last year, and delivered the win for Obama in this state, doesn't deserve that.  Mark owes Steve an apology.

I don't think the Netroots Awards are a sham, as Mark apparently does.  Are they tough?  Yes.  Are there some good ideas out there to improve them?  Sure.  And guess what -- I have every confidence those ideas will be considered and probably even implemented.  Mark's insinuation that Representative Meek "swept" the awards because of his connection with Kenneth (who is working on his campaign), seems at best over the top.

Look, I want to do good things for Democrats and progressive candidates (the two are not necessarily one and the same -- as Mark Weaver has been very good at pointing out).  I want to keep up with this blog because it helps me be a better writer.  And it helps keep me plugged in to the political scene. 

So, apparently it is in vogue now to criticize former President Clinton for all the crap you hated about him, and write off any of the good he did as dumb luck or just the way of the universe (or something).  They built a freaking statue of the guy in Kosovo because his military actions brought peace there, and it was barely a blip on the radar screen in this country.  Why?  The conflict in Bosnia was never popular with the military establishment -- nor was Clinton himself.  The reasons are long and kind of stupid, but basically it amounted to bitterness over a fairly successful military operation without having to engage the whole of the military industrial complex.  

Don't let me digress.

The economy is another one.  The guy ended up with a surplus, which would have saved Social Security.  Remember that?  I do.  

Sure enough, I had a friend suggest to me that this was all just dumb luck -- it was none of Clinton's doing, that he was manipulating the system soley to appease the bond traders, and was thusly rewarded (I guess).  I don't buy that for a minute.  

My point is this: are there certain things we wish Clinton hadn't done (policy-wise)?  Yes.  Welfare reform springs to mind.  It was cruel and mean-spirited and had everything to do with having to deal with the Republican Congress on other issues.  

Politics is about getting stuff done.  

Good politics is about getting stuff done together.  

The Spencerian: We're Not Giving the Microphone to Kanye

A couple of months ago I mentioned that nominations had opened for the 2009 Netroots Awards.  Well, now they're closed -- and it's time to vote!

First off, someone needs to thank Kenneth Quinnell, who always honchos this stuff, and does a great job of it.  So thanks once again for taking the lead on this deal, Kenneth.  Know that your colleagues in the blogosphere appreciate it.  

Second, some good and decent soul was kind enough to nominate me and the Spencerian in a couple of categories, and as it was the last two times, it is a genuine privilege and honor to be nominated.

The regular feature we have here, "Political Newsclippings," was nominated for Best Ongoing Series.  Competition is tight.  We're up against the South Florida Daily Blog's "Daily Sift."  We are also up against some of the best -- maybe the best -- coverage of the St. Petersburg Mayoral election from Peter Schorsch's St. Petersblog 2.0.  The Tampa Bay area is well represented in this category, because also nominated is Susan S of the Florida Progressive Coalition (and many, many other awesome things).  But as usual, I have saved the best -- and most humbling -- for last: Mustang Bobby's "Question of the Day" at Bark Bark Woof Woof.  To be in the same category as a blogger I deeply respect and a blog I treasure is really a sort of victory in and of itself.  So thank you, whoever you were, for the nomination.  Please be assured that any of these would be worthy of your vote.  Check them out and vote today!

To have "Political Newsclippings" be nominated for something is awesome enough -- to have it win this award would be remarkably humbling.  But my other nomination for a Netroots Award is  exciting almost beyond words: Best Writer.

I should start by saying that Kenneth Quinnell won in this category last year.

The competition for this category will be fierce, I'm sure.  Every one of these folks is a remarkable contributor to the online conversation, and it's a privilege to be considered with them.

Once again, Peter Schorsch at St. Petersblog 2.0 is nominated.  Also nominated is another big winner -- Best National Blog last year -- Ranger Against War.  Another personal favorite of mine is nominated as well: Sinfonian.  The Bilerico Project is the largest LGBTQ group blog on the web, and their Waymon Hudson is nominated.  One of the nice things about blogging is when you discover a blog you should have been reading and only just found.  Truman's Conscience is relatively new to me -- and if you haven't checked it out, read TrumanDem and this good blog and make it new to you, too.  I met Rick Spisak a couple of years ago when the FPC folks got together in Tampa and have been following his Avery Voice ever since.  He's nominated as well.  I owe Ray Seaman, another nominee, an apology -- he made me a front-page poster at Progress Florida (which should be a daily stop for you if it's not already), and I've totally let him down.  I need to post there more.  Vicki Impoco at Florida Today's "Opinion Matters" is new to me, too -- and you bet I'll have her on my blog roll soon enough.

There are two more nominees in this category, and though I want to take nothing away from these other fine nominees -- any of whom would be worthy of your vote -- I do want to single these two out because being nominated with them means a great deal to me. 

Not to overstate it, but being nominated with Senator Dan Gelber is a transcendant honor.  This guy is going to be our next Attorney General.  And who knows after that.  I have admired Senator Gelber from even before he started blogging.  But his forthrightness, honesty, and accessibility has made his blog a joy to read.  It may be that Senator Gelber was born to lead, and he'll have my vote.  But he was also born to blog, and I hope he doesn't stop.  

Finally, let me say this: I have been writing for quite awhile.  It is the one thing in my life I have done consistently for the longest period of time.  From the time I scribbled notes to myself in the early '90s in little notebooks, to the three (or so) notebooks I keep up with now, to the two novels that never seem to get finished, to the non-fiction that never seems to get started, to the writing I do for my job, to the epic emails with which I burden friends and family, to this blog, I write. 

But I dare not call myself a writer.  I never have.  It is simply a step I seem apparently unable to take.  I get more comfortable with that reality after each passing year. 
 
Folks, Deborah Newell Tornello -- aka litbrit -- is a writer.  Her blog is a must-read for me.  And I go there for the quality of her writing.  

So thank you again, anonymous nominator.  It is just a real thrill for me to be in the same category as these folks.  I hope you will check them all out and find some new blogs and bloggers to follow. 

By the way, one last pitch.  If you're going to vote -- and you should!  Vote before September 29 when polls close! -- I do want to ask for your support in one area: Best Candidate Website.  Consider voting for Keith Fitzgerald's Go Fitz Go site, as well as his We Deserve Honesty site.  Go Fitz Go is Keith's regular campaign site, and the We Deserve Honesty site was born out of the vicious personal attacks against him in the last campaign.  I really do like all the other nominees -- but there is no question that Keith's site(s) are the best.  Give a vote and a visit.  And if you can make a donation and support Keith's re-election, that would be great, too.

Thanks again for reading, everyone.  We sure do appreciate it.     

The Political Whore Departs

Man, this is a real bummer: Wayne Garcia, the Political Whore, whom I visit many times daily for updates, is leaving to go teach.

I have accepted a yearlong appointment as the Freedom Forum Visiting Professional at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, where I am teaching four sections of investigative journalism and editing this fall.

Wayne Garcia has been a political force in this area -- and this state -- for a long time. I expect he'll continue to be.

Good for you, Wayne.  And best of luck. 

Brothers and Guns

Hey, look, everybody!  My brother (he's the handsome one on the left) is back in the blogging world.

And, via the comments from my last Political Newsclippings, he's calling me out on the gun issue.

Here is a comment or two on guns...

Oh, man.  (And I can't wait to see what he's going to say about Michael Vick later on...)

O’ my dear, dear, brother. I am going to quote you here:

“By But my stance is that if we are to toe the line on following the Constitution and the interpretations of the Supreme Court with respect to things like abortion and the upholding of Roe v. Wade, then we must remain consistent, and I think any sensible reading of the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to posses firearms”

O.k. let’s start with the second part first. A “sensible” reading of the [S]econd Amendment is that it is about militia and that can not be brushed under the rug. The historical context is too important. They (the founders) we[re] committing high treason, they were in the mist of revolution, yet they offer up the Amendment not as individuals owning guns for the sake of gun ownership, but for the expressed [sic] reason of forming militias. In other words, the goal was to make sure individuals were armed so that they could form militias and do battle against the Empire. This is an important idea and one the NRA would like for us to ignore. In fact, our first governing document the Articles of Confederation did not have anything about individual gun ownership. Also we again must remember our history, and realize the mistrust individuals had of standing armies 200 plus years ago. Now our National Guards serve the role of militias and are our citizen army.

Well, I actually put in a bit of a caveat about the militia:

(There's the usual back and forth on the militia piece, but let's not get into it now).

But if you want to call me out on militias, fine.  I agree that the question of individual gun ownership versus use and formation of well regulated militias is at the heart this debate.  I actually believe that the answer to this question, which has plagued society for generations now, is: yes to both. 

In other words, I think the Founders worded the Second Amendment as such in order to ensure a well regulated militia as well as to ensure the right of the individual to own a gun.  (I know this is an old NRA tactic, but just because we don't like the people who do it, doesn't make it wrong):

Part One:
A well regulated militia,  

Okay, I think we're in agreement on this.  The right of the people to a well regulated militia shall not be infringed.  Good.

Part Two:
being necessary to the security of a free State,

Lot of discussion around the definition of the word "State" here, but let's agree that the Founders were referring to the larger "State," being America.  So what we have so far is verbiage indicating that a well regulated militia is necessary to State security, and it is a right of the people.

Part Three:
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,

See, that's just in a real interesting place -- and it is worded in such as way as to make you think that they were almost trying to highlight it.  Too bad they didn't have highlighters back then.  The Founders reference "the people," too, even though they've just referenced the State a mere three words prior.  Don't you find that curious?  There is an understanding among the Framers of what is required for a free State and what is the right of the people who populate that free State. 

Part Four:
shall not be infringed.

This right shall not be infringed, indeed.  Speaks for itself, I think. 

Anyway, don't you suppose the Framers -- who had a way with words, I think we can agree -- could have worded this a bit differently, if they so chose?  Why include words invoking the people if it was only about the right to have a militia?  If it was only about state security, why write the words "the right of the people..."?

There are many folks who have done a better job parsing the Second Amendment, to be sure.  But that's my take. 

And if we're going to go toe-to-toe on Supreme Court opinions, I humbly refer you to the 2008 opinion District of Columbia v. Heller.  

In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

Tough one vote, evocative of other emotion split-court decisions, but there you have it.

I'll concede to you that the argument around a militia is worth focusing on.  But my point in the original post had as much (or more) to do with gun responsibility as anything:

Where I depart from the GOP and their political arm, the NRA, is that with gun rights comes responsibility.  I own a car and am licensed in the State of Florida to drive it.  This right means I have to have a current plate on my car, and three pieces of documentation: a valid license, a certificate of registration, and proof of insurance.  I have all of these things.  In order to obtain them, I had to pass a series of tests, which are administered quasi-regularly.

We are always so ready to interpret the Constitution -- and, to be sure, that is worth doing.  But as we have this important conversation about our rights inherent in the Constitution, let's remember to carry with it the conversation about responsibility.

You're smarter than me -- and you're a better historian by about a factor of 10.  We can go back and forth and cite Supreme Court rulings and the Consitution and the Articles of Confederation all day.  But I bet you'll agree that having the conversation about personal responsibility is the much, much more difficult conversation to unwrap.

My guess is we'll start this one with the actions of Michael Vick, the shameless Philadelphia Eagles, and the NFL crime syndicate.  

Also, I've updated your blog, Adam, off to the left under "Friends of the Spencerian."  Welcome back to the blogging world!  And give my niece a hug.

God Speed, Blast Off!

One of my daily must-reads is Sinfonian's Blast Off!  If you're looking for the perfect mix of quality commentary and snark -- with an extra heap of snark thrown in for good measure -- you go to Blast Off!

You may remember Sinfonian from a few weeks ago.  He was the guy who actually punk'd the teabaggers up in Pensacola.  Made it on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Such is the work of big-time Florida bloggers. 

God speed to you, Sinfonian.  Good luck on the Bar.  We look forward to having you back.  

Pre-Road Trip Almost Friday in the Blog Neighborhood

Conan and I will be in the car tomorrow, headed to Tallahassee tomorrow afternoon to see Duncan.  Blogging might be light through the weekend, but we'll get back on track. 

1. I met St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Scott Wagman tonight.  He seemed sharp, bright, on-message, well-versed, comfortable -- all things you like to see in a candidate for such a serious office.  There was a lot of anger in the room -- lots of discussion around policing and enforcement -- and he handled it well.

As a resident of Gulfport, I won't be able to vote for Scott, but he can at least count on my support on this blog.  We need candidates like Scott -- candidates who don't always approach problems like a politician would.  Keep it up, Scott.

2.  Litbrit has the trailer for the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie.  Totally awesome.

3.  I had not gotten my fill of local blog roundup news until I'd made a stop at Polk County's own Interstate4Jamming2.  The online day wasn't complete until that black background filled your screen.

Sad to say, Robert (the I4J2 himself) will no longer be posting.  There is some hope: he'll be at Metro I-4 News.  I look forward to following his stuff there.

4.  I know, I  know -- I'm an idiot.  But... whaaaat?

5.  I can do this.  (...and by "this," I mean interview a basketball player and watch in awe as he makes a kick-ass shot...)

Happy Friday, gang.