Filed under: Community, Elections, Iraq, Mississippi, Politics, Progressive | Tags: Alabama
I have further thoughts on getting it done at Left in Alabama.
And Mooncat has awesome McCaniac video.
Fun Bush and Hitler quotes from Julie at Left in Alabama.
Nice juxtaposition!
On the Iraq front, Phoenix Woman has links to stories on the showdown between Maliki and al Sadr.
I’ll have a post at Left in Alabama this evening.
Why your vote for preznit matters, by Scarecrow at FDL.
And a great Iraq post by Jonwil at Left in Alabama.
What’s on your mind today?
Filed under: Civil Liberties, Iraq, Mississippi, Politics, war | Tags: activism
My letter to the editor about the arrest of William McLean, a war protester arrested in my town, was in the newspaper yesterday. I’ll be talking on the comments thread for as long as anyone wants to talk.
Here’s the thread that I used to collaborate with Webhead and Proboy5, two Alert Readers of the paper’s forum, on the wording of letter.
Grasshopper will be checking in here this week and commenting during the day. It’ll mostly be quick hits but there’s plenty to discuss downpage. I’ll also comment and post at Left in Alabama as time permits and doing some things to attract local visitors.
Filed under: Community, Mississippi, Politics, Progressive, Strategy | Tags: activism, Alabama, New Media
Thanks to everyone who’s read what I’ve been saying here and at Left in Alabama over the past week.
You Left in Alabama folks ought to read the comments here if you want a little encouragement. We got a reader who makes phone calls!
I don’t think we have the support we need to go forward with the plan I had in mind in my last post. But, I’ll be sharing more with those of you who agreed to support it, and making a detailed plan for it. Once we have to people we need to do it, we’ll go forward. So be patient and keep the conversation going. I have to slow my pace a bit and start encouraging the relationships to form that we need to go forward. I’m proposing that everyone who’s in favor of forming a close relationship between Left in Alabama, Cotton Mouth, WriteChic Press, and Pine Belt Progressive to be sure and visit these sites and link to one another as often as you can. As we do this, we also need to bring other Mississippi and Alabama blogs into our coalition.
I also propose that everyone from these four blogs support three blogs which are not part of our community. I’m choosing these blogs for specific reasons. They do good work, and they don’t get massive comments. So if they pick up even four or five regular commenters who are coming from our community, they will notice. So comment there when you have time. Give them feedback on their work, and link to them when you can. If you don’t have time to support all three, become a regular commenter at the one you like best. It’s important to add value to their blogs and give them feedback. Once they get to know us and we get to know them, perhaps they’ll have things to share with us that might help us encourage the growth of our community. Here’s a list:
I’m also proposing that we do simple things to help one another out. Here’s a very simple thing: If you see a post with no comments on any of our four sites, leave one. It doesn’t have to be long. Posting a question is a good way to encourage a discussion to develop. Remember, it’s easier to join a discussion than to start one, and we want causal readers to get engaged. Use this thread to continue the discussion we’re having.
Update – See my diary on this at Left in Alabama, and my comment extending the invitation to the bloggers and readers of Cotton Mouth.
I’ll be around to catch up on comments on Sunday afternoon.
Filed under: Blogs, Civil Liberties, Community, Economy, Elections, Environment, Human Rights, Iran, Katrina, Media, Mississippi, Politics, Pro-Choice, Progressive, Strategy, war | Tags: activism, Alabama, New Media
If you want to be the New Media voice of the New Southern Left in Mississippi and Alabama you can be.
If you want a revolution in media affairs, right here where we live, you can have one.
Are you ready to show the nationwide progressive movement that we are just as committed to taking our country back as people in Philly and New York and L.A.?
I’ve got you’re compelling new media narrative, neatly framed and ready to roll. I’ve got your target audience. I know where to bring the traffic. I cannot release the story until I’m sure a few people are willing to trust me enough to say what I ask them to say and say it to the people I ask them to say it to. If enough people are willing to help, it shouldn’t cost anyone much of time or energy.
This moment is ours. If you want to join with me and seize it, leave a me a comment here and let me know you’re in. If you’re a registered Left in Alabama member, read this proposal, take the poll, and leave a comment.
I’m giving until it hurts here. I’m begging for support.
Left in Alabama? Cotton Mouth? WriteChic Press?
Alert Readers click links. They also leave comments and thank outstanding bloggers like MEC when they spotlight the issues we care about.
Filed under: Civil Liberties, Community, Mississippi, Politics, Progressive, Strategy, Surveillance State | Tags: Alabama
(there’s a nice song there)
Happy Friday!
Filed under: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Politics | Tags: Alabama, Justice, Rove Prosecutions
Don Siegleman released on bond pending appeal, and a statement from the 11the Circuit that I am viewing with cautious optimism. I think the timing is interesting, what with the Congressional hearing coming up and all. Siegleman is innocent, you know. Please lavish Conyers and the Judiciary Cmte. with unconditional positive regard. 24/ 7 Congressional Switchboard:
800-828-0498
800-459-1887
800-614-2803
(h/t Left in Alabama)
Filed under: Blogs, Civil Liberties, Community, Human Rights, Mississippi, Politics, Progressive, Strategy | Tags: activism, Alabama
Welcome, Left in Alabama readers and other progressives! By now you’ve probably read what I have to say about getting organized to fight tooth and nail against movement conservatism in the south. I want you to think about this: Every dollar the GOP spends in Mississippi or Alabama is a dollar they can’t use in Florida or Ohio. So If we make them spend one more dollar in our states than they would if we weren’t here, we’re making a positive contribution.
Think of Left in Alabama as a progressive village struggling to survive in the heart of Red Nation. We want it to grow into a thriving town as quickly as possible. Think of Pine Belt Progressive as a tiny base camp from which to survey the landscape just beyond the horizon of the LiA village and choose the site for our next one. Right now they are connected by a tiny path. We need to widen that path into a road. Here is something easy we can do to widen the path, and what we all get out of it.
Lots of people are uncomfortable setting up accounts at internet sites, for a lot of reasons. I think Left in Alabama may have some readers who would comment if they could use a pseudonym in an open forum. Pine Belt Progressive can be a place for these readers to go and communicate with the writers in the LiA community.
Comments give a blog legitimacy. Blogs with empty comments threads look vacant, no matter how useful or well-designed they are. Casual readers are much more likely to comment on a post if they see a conversation already under way. They are much more likely to come back a second time if they get the idea that someone lives here and people are paying attention to what this blog says.
So, if you’ll come and comment on my work here to help me bring more Mississippians into the conversation, I will make a habit of featuring your best diary entries and discussions here in posts that also link to other blogs. That will get them out on the massive WordPress category indexes, and will allow people to find them with trackbacks. I will also use my diary from time to time to call LiA’s attention to useful conversations from the PBP discussion threads.
This is the first step toward developing a network of Alert Readers all across these two states who will help us find-tune our messaging and make the most of opportunities to take concrete, local action for positive change.
So here is my proposal: Drop a comment on this thread. Say nice things about Left in Alabama readers. Welcome Mississippians our larger community. Talk about how utterly cool Monkeyfister is. Or how insane John McCain is. Ask a question. Or say whatever clever thing is on your mind. Everyone has something to contribute. Your first comment will be moderated. After you have one comment approved, you’ll be free to post at will. I have to work this afternoon, so your initial comments won’t appear until this evening. Please drop a comment, and then check back tonight or tomorrow to see what sort of discussion might develop.
I cannot express how happy it would make me if one of you enterprising Left in Alabama bloggers published a response to me in your diary discussing the ideas I’m offering. It’s a good idea to train ourselves to have those sorts of exchanges. The more we write about this, the more likely people are to join the conversation.
Small steps, folks. It’s all about small steps. If we want the Constitution and the Republic to survive, we have to try and take a baby step every day.
____________________________________________________________
Suggested reading: Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is classic which speaks directly to the issues we’re struggling with today. It will teach you how to argue against conservative talking points more effectively and show you some things that will help you be more wise to the sorcery of the mainstream media. Forget what you learned about him in high school and read this essay in light of the conversation we’re having. If you’re familiar with it already, I suggest reading it again. If you’ve never heard of it, I suggest reading it, thinking about it for a few days, and reading it again. It has immediate practical application. It’s good fuel for comments. If you enjoy literature a much as you enjoy politics, you might even find a good topic for a blog post.
Filed under: Blogs, Community, Elections, Mississippi, Politics, Progressive, Strategy
Remember Monkeyfister? The blogger who put together the blogswarm to help people when all those tornados plowed through the Mid-South back in February?
The primary battle is driving poor Monkeyfister to distraction.
Monkeyfister has one of the awesomest mission statements in all the blogosphere.
Close ranks. Control Damage. Attack McCain. Build Communities.
___________________________________________________________
Filed under: Civil Liberties, Community, Economy, Elections, Environment, Human Rights, Iraq, Katrina, Media, Mississippi, Politics, Pro-Choice, Progressive, Religion, Surveillance State, war
Filed under: Human Rights, Iraq, Militarism, Politics, war | Tags: Bush/McCain War
I was overly optimistic last night about the length of time Al Sadr would be willing or able to restrain his forces. Looks like the cease-fire will end sooner rather than later (via Atrios).
Dday had an excellent post about this yesterday, but I didn’t see it until this morning, and Juan Cole has one today.
Daniel Davies, who is not boasting when he notes that he’s been correct an awful lot about this war, sees full-scale massacres or the collapse of the Maliki government in the offing.
If you don’t have time to read all this stuff, here are few key facts as I understand them:
It’s conceivable that either side could win in Basra, but the Sadrists hold the largest single bloc of seats in the parliament and are powerful on the streets of Baghdad. It has been mentioned that they might form a nationalist alliance with Sunni groups against the Badr Brigades who support the government. Al-Sadr himself has raised the possibility of a no-confidence vote. He is also threatening to call for a general strike and a campaign of civil disobedience. If he does, I have to think it will disrupt the tiny bit of normal activity exists in the country and will probably turn violent rather quickly. So maybe we’ll see the Sunni and Sadrists massacred wholesale in Basra, yet bringing down Maliki’s government at the same time.
I think it only gets worse from here, regardless of the outcome in Basra. There are other groups no one is reporting on who could play into this, especially if the situation reaches the point where control of Baghdad and the “national government” are up for grabs. Looks like all sides are losers to me.
It’s going to be a very long spring for our troops and for the Iraqi people. The summer will be even worse, no doubt. So I guess we can officially ask people what planet they’re from when they say the surge was a sound and successful policy.
If you haven’t already done so, this would be a good time to endorse the Responsible Plan.
