Political Discussions

Political Discussions » General Discussion

Blogging Politics

Posted by clioandme • 7/19/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogging, politics

One irony I noticed long ago at BlogCatalog is that we sometimes produce more content for it than for our own blogs. Happens to me too. Sometimes, though, maybe we should be blogging and visiting other blogs.

How's about doing something that has been done on the main boards. Share your political post here. If you could avoid being nasty to people who share their political links, that'd be nice too.

Trying to start things off, I find myself in the embarrassing position of having made only very short comments on my blog. Seems I have produced more text here. Still, let's get shameless:

"Obama's War" markstoneman.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/obamas-war/

"USDA Organic" is not Organic markstoneman.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/usda-organic-is-not-organic/

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" markstoneman.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/usda-organic-is-not-organic/

And of more concern to me recently, a the park across the street turning into a construction project, but unless you live here, I haven't written for a general audience, breaking one of the rules of good writing. (Note to self: must start taking this blogging stuff more seriously again.)

I managed to get through two thirds of July without adding quotes to Commonplacing, which is shameful considering the amount of reading I am doing for my courses. Still, I include the link here, because the Tumblr format might interest some: commonplacing.tumblr.com/. I only do quotes, but you can use images, videos, regular text, etc. For comments, however, you need a third-party solution. I don't bother.

User Comments

7/19/09

clioandme

Okay, I'll go again:

Ruinious Right has been wondering about Republican attitudes towards their own party. www.gallup.com/poll/120815/Republicans-Down-Own-Party.aspx This was in June. He's coming at it from the point of view of someone who has respect for Republican traditions, but scorn for the current GOP loudmouths.

CSI hasn't blogged about politics or anything since before the election.

Sati has denied us his cartoons, which is too bad, though he has used his sharp wit and tongue to lambast the GOP in other ways, lastly by just letting Sarah Palin speak for herself in "The Accidental Poet" drudgeretort.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/sarah-palin-the-accidental-poet/

anticsrocks is convinced that this kind of attention to Palin (and I've given her some too) is a reflection of "fear" from "the far left", and he warns us that such attitudes will be the cause of Ms. Palin's rise. presentdiscontent.today.com/2009/07/16/fear-and-the-far-left/ Some of you might want to see this blogger's focus on fear in light of his fearful posts on these boards (fear of democracy ending, fear of health care rationing, and so on), but others will say right on, anticsrocks.

Agit8r does on his blogs what he does here. His interest is in what kind of government we have, and he uses the words of our founding fathers to take such measure. (Sometimes I wish he would collect all the quotes he offers us here in one place, instead of letting them get scattered across these threads.) His last blogs were in June. Maybe a reflection of our rather stale discourse of late? I haven't felt the muse much either.

My suggestion: let's blog some more.

But first, I'll be hypocritical and try and earn a living. Mountains of work for the next four weeks.

[reply]
7/19/09

anticsrocks

mark, it looks like you put the wrong link to your Don't Ask piece.

[reply]
1. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  Oops: markstoneman.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/dont-ask-dont-tell/
2. 7/19/09
  
  anticsrocks
  
  ty
7/19/09

anticsrocks

Well, I welcome ALL comments to my blog.

presentdiscontent.wordpress.com/

[reply]
7/19/09

Agit8r

If utilized well, blogging and social networking could revolutionize democracy... so to speak

[reply]
1. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  I found it helped me to connect with other citizens on specific issues during the presidential campaign. It was quite interesting how people who really cared about the same things I did weighed in and passed on my links. Since it's a personal blog, I haven't seen them since, as many of us have also had to return to our normal lives, but it is quite good like that.
  
  I've also annoyed some people, right and left, because while I have comments turned on and encourage discourse, I don't let it get way off topic or allow blog posts to become hijacked for other purposes or include insults. I also have a thing about too much rude language. This is especially important on a blog I use with my own name, but it's also about doing something I enjoy. I don't let anyone that feels like it behave however he or she wants in my house either. Course some will think that my own private blog is a domain for "free speech", but let them have their "freedom" on their own platform.
  
  All that said, what does "utilized well" mean in your book? In some ways, the niche phenomenon I mention on the other thread (www.blogcatalog.com/politics/discuss/entry/shifting-media-landscape-and-ext...) obtains here. Does that promote democracy or undermine it? Seems like citizen involvement is a good thing, and it seems like having a place for one's own take is good, but I worry when people trust that more than news sources that believe in checking their facts and that have the means to pay people to put the different facts and stories in a broader context. Course, those are only two of a myriad of other possibilities for this evolving landscape.
7/19/09

andyroo312

Well, I would of course be supremely honored to have you all visit my blog...
polibeast.blogspot.com/

I try to bring forth as nonpartisan, thoughtful commentary as possible, but I suppose it's no surprise that I've nevertheless been branded as both a leftist and a right-winger on a number of occasions. Anyway, I write a column 5 days a week, and post 2-3 polls as well. I welcome your own comments, and am typically quick to post responses.

[reply]
1. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  It's clear you put a lot of thought into your posts, and I think others here could find something of interest. (That includes you, conservatives, as andyroo312 certainly has a strong conservative streak to him). One suggestion I would make is that you build a few links into your posts, so that interested readers can pursue stories further if they want. This would be especially useful if you're thinking about something that is not on the front pages everywhere. Also, you're transparent about where you got your polling data, but a link would help, because often the pollsters offer some analysis too.
2. 7/19/09
  
  andyroo312
  
  Thanks for the input, Mark.
7/19/09

Anok

I haven't just not felt the muse, but am somewhat burned out on all things politics (even if I do pop in here once in a while). I have also been very busy and stressed out lately, and I find I have little time to be online save for a few times a week now, which I save for frivolous exchanges

Meh.

[reply]
1. 7/19/09
  
  anticsrocks
  
  Tell the TRUTH!! You have been out shopping for a new ninja mask!!!
  
  Maybe we need a Congressional Investigation on this. A "ninja mask" truth commission.
2. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  Your last post still needs mentioning, Anok. From May, and still very relevant: the credit card legislation. identitycheck-anok.blogspot.com/2009/05/credit-clarity-newest-misunderstood...
3. 7/19/09
  
  Anok
  
  Thanks, Mark.
  
  And you HUSH ANtics! There will be no ninja mask investigating - I'm starting a world for the freedom from oppressive ninja mask legislation group WoooOoooOoo
4. 7/19/09
  
  Agit8r
  
  "...if a company cannot make a profit legitimately, they have no business being a company. If they cannot survive without using predatory tactics, they are not a successful business. They are hack-jobs. They are failures."
  
  At least someone still understands how markets are supposed to work
5. 7/19/09
  
  Anok
  
  Seriously! WHy is it that the Anarchist has to say this stuff?
6. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
7. 7/19/09
  
  anticsrocks
  
  I'll go you one better -
  
  "...if a company cannot make a profit legitimately, they have no business being a company. If they cannot survive without using predatory tactics, they are not a successful business. They are hack-jobs. They are..." the government!
8. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  How boorish.
9. 7/19/09
  
  anticsrocks
  
  There you go again mark being all condescending again. When a lib makes a joke, it is okay by you. Let a conservative make a joke and you get all pissy. Shame, really.
10. 7/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  I was referring to your treatment of Anok's words, not your ideology. But if that's the effect my words had on you, so be it. I'll have to live with it.
11. 7/19/09
  
  anticsrocks
  
  So you weren't referring to what I said, it was just what I said that bothered you? lol
  
  mark, do you ever like, just relax?
12. 7/20/09
  
  Agit8r
  
  @antics
  
  I've said all along that corporations were intrusive governmental bodies. The only difference between Burke's day and now is that rather than the monotheism of the East India Company, we now have many gods of mammon
7/19/09

anticsrocks

By the way, I found a bunch of ninja masks on eBay....

[reply]
7/20/09

iratedog

I firmly believe that places like this, a literal catalogue of bloggers and a social network connecting them will spell the end of the traditional mainstream media - especially in terms of news. As for me, I do blogs more on opinion ABOUT the news rather than the news itself.

So, if anyone here is interested, I've a new post on last week's Prime Minister's Questions with Gordon Brown vs. David Cameron. (I'm a UK blogger by the way).

See it here: theiratedog.blogspot.com/2009/07/brown-vs-cameron-helicopters-in.html

and please, ALL comments are welcome - but try keeping them nice and clean yeah?

[reply]
7/20/09

Agit8r

Thanks for the kik in the rear Mark. it inspired me to kick out a post that has been festering in my drafts for a while

rightsofman1789.blogspot.com/2009/06/common-sense-and-common-law.html

[reply]
8/19/09

FaithfulinPrayer

I write at www.FaithfulinPrayer.wordpress.com. I mostly write educational type pieces informing people what these bills in Congress actually say. Since early July, I've been detailing the healthcare bill (h.r.3200). I'm glad I'm doing it, but it sure can get boring at times especially now in the Medicare part of the bill. Some people want me to do the Energy bill next. It is 1400+ pages. Lord help me!

[reply]
1. 8/19/09
  
  clioandme
  
  Aren't there various Hill sources that could help you separate the wheat from the chaff? I'm thinking in particular about Politico and The HIll, but for the real nitty gritty there's the Congressional Quarterly, though I don't know what their stuff costs, if you don't have access to it through a library.
8/19/09

caspergirl35

I love all comments to my blog. In fact many times I have had things pointed out to me that I did not know and changed my opinion on some things. Of course I love positive comments too..but even the ones I don't personally agree with I post.
itsjustmyownopinion.blogspot.com

[reply]