The Friday List -- Best State Political Blogs?
With apologies to fellow post.com blogger Liz Kelly and her terrific "Celebritology" blog, we wanted to make this a Friday List rather than a traditional Fix Friday Line -- primarily because The Fix is on vacation and watching college hoops.
Late last year, we asked The Fix community for their take on the best political reporter(s) in each state. We got an overwhelming response that in the end produced a long list of useful links for anyone interested in tracking politics in the 50 states.
But that experiment only scratches the surface when it comes to finding the best political information from the states. So much is information is conveyed via blogs these days -- The Fix, for instance -- that any look at the sources of the best political dope is incomplete without a list of the best state-based political blogs.
The Fix has a few favorites of his own, like Heath Haussamen's New Mexico blog, Burnt Orange Report out of Texas, and the Green Mountain Politics in New Hampshire.
That short list isn't even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to state-based politics blogs. Use the comments section below to offer your favorites. Remember, we want blogs that focus primarily on state, not national, politics. They can be attached to a newspaper or other media outlet, or not. Our goal is to list at least one political blog for each of the 50 states, so make sure your home state is represented!
We'll do our best to compile a full list and add them to a special Fix blog roll directory so you can always access them.
By Chris Cillizza |
March 21, 2008; 6:00 AM ET
| Category:
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Posted by: Mike W | April 25, 2008 12:09 PM
Ou-yo-yu what a nice site!
http://www.fxtradingempire.com/account-forex-managed-trading.html
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Posted by: zpjdkhu gqnotal | April 11, 2008 1:13 AM
For South Dakota, my own political blog/website has consistently been #1 in traffic and rankings for independent bloggers.
http://dakotawarcollege.com - the South Dakota War College.
Posted by: dakotawarcollege | April 1, 2008 12:30 PM
OK, my nomination for Kentucky got deleted, so I'll try again.
The Kentucky Pachyderm
kpac2.blogspot.com
Best and hardest hitting conservative blog in the state. These folks (it's a collaboration) aren't concerned about being politically correct and will report things other bloggers are afraid to touch.
Posted by: hbelkins | March 31, 2008 8:50 PM
Utah
-------
utahamicus.blogspot.com
wasatchwatcher.com
oneutah.org
jmbell.org/blog/
Posted by: marshall | March 30, 2008 11:52 AM
Minnesota has hosted some of the most vigorous and interesting political blogs for the past eight years, on both sides of the partisan partition, as well as over-all coverage.
Best on the left is MNBlue (www.mnblue.com) and MNPublius (www.mnpublius.com)
Best over-all coverage is Politics in Minnesota (www.politicsinminnesota.com)
Posted by: rohnjay | March 29, 2008 12:27 PM
Here in Kansas I read two blogs everyday: http://www.bluetiderising.com (it's a general Kansas specific liberal blog) and http://www.boydabloc.com (that ones is dedicated to the 2nd Congressional district & Congresswoman Nancy Boyda).
Posted by: jason_croucher | March 28, 2008 11:41 AM
i"d like to nominate 2 more indiana blogs
fort wayne news:
http://www.fortwaynenews.com
local news, gop info, misc.
x-wire
http://x-wire.blogspot.com
sex drugs politics tabloid news/humor
Posted by: dcroach | March 27, 2008 2:50 PM
i"d like to nominate 2 more indiana blogs
fort wayne news:
http://www.fortwaynenews.com
local news, gop info, misc.
x-wire
http://x-wire.blogspot.com
sex drugs politics tabloid news/humor
Posted by: dcroach | March 27, 2008 2:32 PM
Yes, it's Vermont that has the Green Mountains. And a couple of good political blogs, too. The top two in my mind are Green Mountain Daily (www.greenmountaindaily.com) and Vermont Daily Briefing (www.vermontdailybriefing.com).
The sap is just starting to rise in the maple trees. Spring is here!
Posted by: hn0ta | March 25, 2008 1:17 PM
In Minnesota, check out MNblue for sound reporting and provocative opinion pieces. Minnesotans are political junkies, and MNblue is never a disappointment. www.MNblue.com
Posted by: ellenboroughf | March 24, 2008 11:43 PM
Yeah, day late and a dollar short, but my favorite blog for New Mexico politics is from old hand Joe Monahan: http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/.
Posted by: jeremy.mallory | March 24, 2008 9:42 PM
Obama's efforts to connect to the Republican Party, specifically Bush, and Dick Chaney, of the Halliburton Company, dates back to the Presidents Grandfather, Prescott Bush, and indeed Chaney was once an executive officer of Halliburton.
The American military pounds Iraq with Artillary, bombs, and the like, destroying large sections of cities, and infra-structures, then Halliburton comes in to rebuild. Halliburton and Halliburton associated companies have raked in ten's of billions.
Obama is just like the BIG HALIBURTAN. Haliburton has contracted to build detention centers in the U.S. similiar to the one in Quantanammo Bay, Cuba. Halliburton does nothing to earn the Two Dollars for each meal an American Serviceman in Iraq eats.
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/
Halliburton was scheduled to take control of the Dubai Ports in The United Arab Emiirate. The deal was canceled when Bush was unable to affect the transfer of the American Ports.
Now we see what some might suspect as similiar financial escapading from the Democrats.
Two years ago, Iraq's Ministry of Electricity gave a $50 million contract to a start-up security company - Companion- owned by now-indicted businessman (TONY REZKO) Tony Rezko and a onetime Chicago cop, Daniel T. Frawley, to train Iraqi power-plant guards in the United States. An Iraqi leadership change left the deal in limbo. Now the company, Companion Security, is working to revive its contract.
Involved along with Antoin "Tony" Rezco, long time friend and neighbor of Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and former cop Daniel T. Frawley, is Aiham Alsammarae. Alsammarae was accused of financial corruption by Iraqi authorities and jailed in Iraq last year before escaping and returning here.
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON --
Recently, Obama's campaign staff have been vetted by the IRS to disclose his connection to the criminal money generating underworld. Besides, his connections to the REZCO MAFIA types, his up-coming tax fraud charges -- Obama needs to disclose why he is a MUSLIM "PATWANG-FWEEE" and disclose Obama's MUSLIM Farrakhan mob connection to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Its minister, and Obama's spiritual adviser, is the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness." That man is Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan and Chicago's Trinity United Church are trumpeting Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama as the second coming of the messiah. Obama should stop suppoting our intervention in IRAQ. It's time to introduce this false, fake Xerox - X box Obama and invite the self-indicting thief plagiarizing pipsqueke "GLORK" Xerox - X box to meet the Buffalo "GAZOWNT-GAZIKKA" Police Department Buffalo Creek. He is MAD!!! --
OBAM YOU'RE NO JFK --
"GLORK" Obama looks like Alfred E. Newman: "Tales Calculated To Drive You." He is a MUSLIM "Glork" He's MAD!!! Alfred E. Neuman is the fictional mascot of Mad. The face had drifted through American pictography for decades before being claimed by Mad editor Harvey Kurtzman after he spotted it on the bulletin board in the office of Ballantine Books editor Bernard Shir-Cliff, later a contributor to various magazines created by Kurtzman.
Obama needs to disclose why he is a MUSLIM "PATWANG-FWEEE" and stop suppoting our intervention in IRAQ. It's time to introduce this false, fake "GLORK" Xerox - X box Obama and invite the self-indicting thief plagiarizing pipsqueke Xerox - X box to meet the Buffalo "GAZOWNT-GAZIKKA" Police Department Buffalo Creek.
Michelle Obama should be ashamed.
"GLORK" Michelle Obama should be ashamed of her separatist-racist connection to Farrakhan and Chicago's Trinity United Church trumpeting Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama as the second coming of the messiah. If Michelle Obama new what her husband -- the Hope-A-Dope, Fonster Monster -- Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama did in Harlem, she would wash her wide-open, Hus-suey loving MUSILM mouth out, with twenty-four (24) mule-team double-cross X-boX-BorraX. He is a MUSLIM "Glork" It's time to introduce this false, fake "GLORK" Xerox - X box Obama and invite the self-indicting thief plagiarizing pipsqueke Xerox - X box to meet the Buffalo "GAZOWNT-GAZIKKA" Police Department Buffalo Creek. He's MAD!!!
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/
THE SPEECH --
The Apologia has arrived and once again the self-indicting, separatist-racist Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama, promises to heal the wounds of the world. The speech is the rude awakening of mass messianism of his campaign. Apologetically, Obama the MUSLIM double-cross X-boX-BorraX has an astonishingly empty two-prawn echelon explanation of his misjudgment.
In the first prawn: with regard to his connection to separatist-racist Rev. Wright; Obama summons voodoo and juju to express slavery as beginning and ending with the Rev. Wright.
In the second prawn: Obama's speech takes credit for Ashley's dream. A dream of unity Martin Luther King, Jr. borrowed from Ashley for his historic "I Have A Dream" speech. In Obama's speech, the connective bond Ashley, the elderly black man and Obama's grandmother share; represents Obama's self-indicting rise to the Harvard Yard. For Obama, the grand flag of language is the semi-fore of words, bestowed upon our nation by the messiah-alumni from Harvard. Obama's Swoon-Song Apologia to the nation represents a failed hymn -- a hymn that fails to heal the nation, repair the world, or make this time different than all the rest. Obama's speech is a brilliant failure.
Posted by: jreno20 | March 24, 2008 9:14 PM
That should have been http://www.floridapoliticsonline.com
Posted by: HarveyFR | March 24, 2008 5:17 PM
For Florida "blogs" (more like news sites) - I like http://www.sayfiereview.com and http://www.floridapoliticsonline.com.
Posted by: HarveyFR | March 24, 2008 5:16 PM
Minnesota:
www.mnblue.com
Posted by: abbott.erik | March 24, 2008 3:51 PM
for all the best up to date minnesota political campaign news and analysis (including convention live-blogging) i read minnesota campaign report (mncampaignreport.com) by joe bodell.
Posted by: annabrelje | March 24, 2008 2:15 PM
id like to nominate:
http://www.takingdownwords.com - published by jen wagner, of the indiana democratic party.
and heres another gop-adulterer/white collar crime scandal for you all:
http://x-wire.blogspot.com/2008/03/paul-helmke-adulterer-white-collar.html
heres a preview of the white collar crime, and adultery committed by x-mayor paul helmke during his 12 yr term.
he is featured in this video clip.
he is a yale classmate of the clintons, and is documented in local newspapers as smoking marijuana, and committing adulterey, as noted in my above x-wire blog posting.
please comment on my blog, for follow up information.
I have been unable to obtain jsutice in fort wayne. maybe the ghosts of woodward and bernstein can vindicate me, and indict the guilty.
Posted by: david c roach x-wire.blogspot.com | March 24, 2008 01:35 PM
Posted by: dcroach | March 24, 2008 1:39 PM
Here's two, fine political 'blogs in Pennsylvania. Both are from The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.
Capitol Ideas: http://blogs.mcall.com/capitol_ideas
Pennsylvania Avenue:
http://blogs.mcall.com/penn_ave
Full disclosure: I write the former and contribute to the latter. But what's a little self-promotion among friends, eh?
Posted by: jlmicek | March 24, 2008 8:10 AM
Minnesota:
Best political blog: http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/
Conservative: http://www.looktruenorth.com
Liberal: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/
Posted by: cpceep | March 23, 2008 1:04 PM
Any recommendations for Mass. politics, anyone? The one on Chris's list is primarily national.
Posted by: ekgerard | March 23, 2008 12:14 PM
Any recommendations for Mass. politics, anyone? The one on Chris's list is primarily national.
Posted by: ekgerard | March 23, 2008 12:13 PM
In case anyone was wondering why there are so many comments here from Minnesota lefties, well let's just say the George Soros has made a bit of an investment in our local leftist blogging community.
Caveat Emptor folks, caveat emptor.
Posted by: tjswift | March 23, 2008 11:43 AM
My big read/listen currently is The Texas Blue. It's a D-focused blog, but it's been incredibly informative. A friend pointed me to it when I was trying to figure out the whole "Texas two-step" process. I was finally able to understand it, and, for once, the numbers actually made sense. Of course, its biggest asset to me is the podcast--in an office full of silence, I need something to listen to while I'm coding away.
Posted by: kamintra | March 23, 2008 3:45 AM
Posted by: KYJurisDoctor | March 22, 2008 7:23 PM
While I happen to think for MN that truenorth is run by a band of lunatics, they are independent lunatics. The FEC reports sing a different song about MinnesotaDemocratExposed, and I assume there is a reason you wanted blogs, not just straight links to candidate websites.
Posted by: jslaight | March 22, 2008 5:09 PM
NJ: Blue Jersey http://www.bluejersey.com
Posted by: jmelli | March 22, 2008 4:25 PM
Posted by: bschick20 | March 22, 2008 4:09 PM
The Burnt Orange Report is one of my favorite political sites. Thanks for the mention CC.
Posted by: cactusflinthead | March 22, 2008 3:26 PM
We are fortunate to have a great, active blogging community in Minnesota. It gives us a lot of choice.
From the Partisan Dems MNBlue is the best and from the Partisan Republicans the is only one - Minnesota Democrats Exposed!
For "progressive" commentary, MNPulius is best and for "conservative" commentary it's www.looktruenorth.com.
Lastly, for a taste of all Minnesota politics - left, right and center it has to be http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/ Their daily report is must reading in Minnesota!
Sez
Posted by: sezuhoo | March 22, 2008 12:46 PM
Here are the media blogs in Minnesota
Polinaut (via Minnesota Public Radio):
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/?rsssource=1
The Political Animal (via the St. Paul Pioneer Press):
http://blogs.twincities.com/politics/
The Big Question (via the Minneapolis Star Tribune)
http://ww3.startribune.com/bigquestionblog/
Conservative leaning blogs in Minnesota:
www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com
www.looktruenorth.com
Liberal leaning blogs in Minnesota:
www.mnpublius.com
www.mncampaignreport.com
Posted by: tscheck | March 22, 2008 11:59 AM
Mnpublius.com The best Minnesota political blog that I've found.
Posted by: trevorw | March 22, 2008 10:36 AM
What constitutes a good poliical blog? News making, news commenting, news reporting, or parrty talking points shoveling? The Minnesota suggestions contain all of those, and almost all have a particular party slant.
MNPublius is too reliably DFL party chat; MN Blue is deeper, more diverse and progressive; True North recycles posts from the extreme end of the GOP; Minnesota Democrats Exposed is its attack dog; Minnesota Monitor is a general news source with a leftward political slant.
Minnesota Campaign Report, of all the nominees so far, aims to actually report as well as comment on political news, and has its diaries open to all, though the takers are decidedly on the Dem side.
Not yet mentioned is Politics in Minnesota, run by a GOP lobbyist, but worthy for its comprehensive, cross-party coverage. Technically, it's a "public affairs news service," but if you had to pick one online gateway to Minnesota political news, that would be it.
http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/
Posted by: crquimby | March 22, 2008 7:52 AM
This is one more Minnesotan who reads MNpublius and mncampaignreport every day. minnesotademocratsexposed is also every DFLers guilty pleasure.
Posted by: kberg02 | March 22, 2008 12:36 AM
I would recommend the Virginian Federalist,
www.virginianfederalist.com, an issue oriented federalist blog covering issues in Virginia.
Posted by: youngcknn | March 21, 2008 11:35 PM
I read and enjoy mnblue.com several times a week because the commentary is interesting, knowledgeable, and contains several points of view. It is a progressive blog, contains the Norm Coleman Weasel Meter, and therefore wouldn't interest someone with a conservative political point of view. That said, the points of view can be heated and diverse.
ironpoint
Posted by: ironpoint | March 21, 2008 11:04 PM
For Connecticut, it has to be Connecticut Local Politics.net. It's nonpartisan, and covers everything from town races, state legislative races, to state-wide races, and has great maps to boot.
Partisan-wise, My Left Nutmeg is a great Dem. blog (with a great name), and CTBob must also be mentioned, if only for the "Kiss Float" that so haunted Joe Lieberman in his losing primary.
Posted by: ctyankeeboy1638 | March 21, 2008 10:43 PM
In Texas, Capitol Annex (CapitolAnnex.com) is my favorite Texas politics blog. It is strictly state politics for Texas. This blog has the single-best coverage of the Texas Legislature of any other blog.
Posted by: michaelannewhite | March 21, 2008 9:40 PM
I work on Dump Bachmann and Lloydletta's Nooz - both cover the local scene. In the case of Dump Bachmann - Bachmann and the 6th District race. Lloydletta's Nooz - a mixture of state and city politics.
http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com
I'd second the mention of Minneapolis Mirror - there is excellent reporting there.
Posted by: lloydletta | March 21, 2008 9:23 PM
In Minnesota, http://mnpublius.com/ provides fantastic commentary on the local political scene. With the initial posts on the site the work of 3 local bloggers, 2 law students and one former chair of the state young DFL (that's democratic-farmer-labor, Minnesota being the only Democratic party using the name) party, the blog really has provided wonderful coverage of the local caucuses.
Posted by: marclaurent | March 21, 2008 9:08 PM
I've written Taking Down Words (www.takingdownwords.com) for almost three years. It's one of the most popular left-leaning blogs in Indiana. For whatever that's worth.
(Sorry to actually post on topic and not get sidetracked by the presidential chatter.)
Posted by: jeawagne | March 21, 2008 8:53 PM
In Minnesota, MNpublius is the best.
Posted by: kendalkillian | March 21, 2008 8:16 PM
In Minnesota, mnpublius.com is a daily-check for many DFLers. (For those not from God's Country, in this state there is a Republican Party and a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.)
Posted by: gilb24 | March 21, 2008 8:07 PM
MN Blue is a great blog if you are a 9/11 truther, conspiracy theorist, a communist or just have suffered some sort of traumatic brain damage. If you are a normal person, it's complete crap.
Posted by: cneu2 | March 21, 2008 8:01 PM
I like to read electioninspection.wordpress.com for all the obvious reasons.
Posted by: skywrnchsr509 | March 21, 2008 7:57 PM
Washington state: I nominate HorsesAss.org (http://www.horsesass.org/).
While they do write about national issues (hard not to), their primary focus is on local politics and it may be one of the best traffic'd local blogs in the nation.
It is the blog everyone reads, politicos, people in the media, righties and lefties.
Posted by: DanKirkd | March 21, 2008 7:46 PM
Any blog that has a guy named Two Putt Tommy is alright with me!
Posted by: hal_kimball | March 21, 2008 7:30 PM
Gives a whole new meaning to Holy Thursday.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 6:43 PM
From the "If one is good, two is better" file:
Woman Goes for Leg Operation, Gets New Anus Instead
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A German retiree is taking a hospital to court after she went in for a leg operation and got a new anus instead, the Daily Telegraph is reporting.
The woman woke up to find she had been mixed up with another patient suffering from incontinence who was to have surgery on her sphincter.
Now the woman is planning to sue the hospital. She still needs the leg operation and is searching for another hospital to do it.
Insert joke here:_____________________
:)
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 6:33 PM
'TTFN folks. this blog is so much better when drindl and her jackels take the day off. did anyone else notice the refreshing banter?
aah, still thinking about me even when I'm gone... how sweet.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 6:12 PM
This is too much like out of control email, but I'll put our plug in for http://www.mnblue.com, run by the Big E - Eric Pusey, and plugged into Minnesota's political machinery from several angles. Tune in and turn on (who said that? Leary?) to MNBlue's diverse views and insider news on our state's political scene.
Then again, anyone who'd have me as a blogger on his site must be suspect.
Posted by: andydriscoll | March 21, 2008 6:03 PM
Indeed, the MnBlue Norm Coleman "Weasel Meter" is top notch, as is their coverage of the 3rd CD.
Posted by: hal_kimball | March 21, 2008 6:02 PM
mark, I respectfully disagree with Fred. :)
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 5:48 PM
i don't defend Wright's irrational statements/charges. As a former Jesuit, however, I have an appreciation for the extremes of preaching, esp in black congregations. As I've written before, I still have problems with Barack's relationship with that church. I myself have had to wrestle with the Catholic church and its teachings and my own conscience and beliefs. If I were running for office, another level of competing interests would arise. I continue to listen.
My concern is quite practical: how does any of this impact Barack as President. I'd be much more comfortable with an independent thinker who belongs to a rather extreme prophetic church than someone like Bush who actually believes that "God" speaks through him.
I have yet to see any evidence to suggest that Barack is in any way influenced by his former pastor. From my own experience, I can say that there are millions of Catholics who are not influenced by their pastors....which is not to say there are not those who are.
A non-issue for me at the moment. Admittedly a very important issue for others. But so it goes.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 5:47 PM
Texas won. UConn is in trouble. Drake lost. Duke nearly killed all brackets.
Thanx for all the blog links. I am going to save this page.
Posted by: mark_in_austin | March 21, 2008 5:37 PM
In Colorado, the most interesting and consistently-rated as influential blog is the one that focuses on the U.S. Senate race from a center-right perspective:
http://schaffervudall.blogspot.com
Yes, I am one of the contributors. But I'm proud of the record & work we've built up there in the past 9 or 10 months.
If you're keeping track of the DNC from a local perspective, check out:
http://slapstickpolitics.blogspot.com
This isn't by me, but one of the more respected bloggers I know. He also focuses on other Colorado issues. I could keep going, but I'll stop.
Posted by: bendegrow | March 21, 2008 5:31 PM
I am now off for Good Friday, I guess. "servicing constituents" is the line of the day. Thank you KOZ.
I am an American like Dave, Wpost. I know the black people who live in my neighborhood and the black people in my office complex and the black guy who is in my Friday morning breakfast group [whom I have known since 1970] and my black clients.
I am sure gang kids would scare me.
My breakfast group talked about Wright this morning. In fact it was Fred who was most critical of him. He said he was old enough [67] to remember having lived through the injustice Wright cited to stoke the anger, but old enough to remember that his kids all had pretty much the same opportunities
white kids had [they are all college grads from predominantly white schools] because he and his wife worked their a$$es off and
because people of all colors changed how Texas operated, in time for his kids.
proud, it was Fred who pointed out the obvious: BHO used that church for his Chicago political base. To Fred that was a big "so what? What else is new?" Fred is an elder in his church. But he would also shoot a burglar of any skin color.
Posted by: mark_in_austin | March 21, 2008 5:25 PM
wpost4112 - "Documentation of this type of minority exclusion is typically done by superimposing racial and ethnic composition data onto geo-coded public records pertaining to zoning, water and sewer services, infrastructure, and land-use development plans."
It would be interesting, to me at least, to see what it would look like if they superimposed class, wealth, gender, age, height, weight, hair color, political makeup or education composition data instead of racial and ethnic data. Just think what nefarious conclusions we could draw from that. Regardless, it seems to me a stretch to go from superimposed composites to apartheid.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 5:23 PM
TTFN folks. this blog is so much better when drindl and her jackels take the day off. did anyone else notice the refreshing banter?
I hope the Easter bunny treats you well.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 5:17 PM
Apology accepted. And could you please stop disparaging the Christian faith by mispelling my blog name. thanks. Happy Easter.
---------------
Why do you assume it's the Christian God?
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 5:17 PM
racial residential segregation and involves the intentional manipulation of zoning and land-use regulations -- most often by local White elites.
you leap from claiming this is happening to the motivations of the perpetrators. this violates any meaningful conclusion and puts you in the junk science category.
I have little doubt that this is happening but suspect that the motivation is more along the lines of taking advantage of poor people or politically weak people or the worst neighborhoods for tax collection or the dirtiest.
Who happen to be black. to attribute it to racism has no support from the data. there may be a correlation but this does not confirm the "white elites" racism, as you would have it.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 5:12 PM
"And proudtobeGOD was right about the "walk out" being done in good humor. Tip of the hat to her as well"
I suppose this your apology for your previous erroneous attack, then? Don't attempt to patronize me, you brain-dead liberal. Make that typical brain-dead liberal.
Apology accepted. And could you please stop disparaging the Christian faith by mispelling my blog name. thanks. Happy Easter.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 5:06 PM
How can you NOT enjoy the Norm Coleman Weasel-Meter contained in www.mnblue.com?
Posted by: sueleskiw | March 21, 2008 5:05 PM
If you want diversity in thought, independent thinking, and excellent reporting, head to MnBlue out here in Minnesota.
Bluestem Prairie does a wonderful job covering the Fighting First and Tim Walz in Minnesota!
An "up and comer" in the Minnesota political blogosphere is Liberal in the Land of Conservative!
As many have said before, Minnesota has a plethora of great political blogs.
Posted by: hal_kimball | March 21, 2008 5:04 PM
"I seriously find it fascinating. BSimon, have you been calling all your friends?!?"
I think someone must have posted a link to Chris's piece on one of those blogs. I don't frequent them, as I try to limit myself to sites hosted by news providers.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 5:03 PM
Not sure why the link didn't work. Here's the address for Defenestrator: http://rakemag.com/blogs/defenestrator
Posted by: jeniferc17 | March 21, 2008 5:02 PM
Minnesota has some really great political blogs that have already been mentioned, but there is a new one in town that's been overlooked: The Defenestrator. Sarcastic, funny and intelligent, Rich Goldsmith delivers MN and national politics with wit and charm.
Posted by: jeniferc17 | March 21, 2008 4:56 PM
For Maryland, my college streiff (and partners) has put up a happenin' blog called Red Maryland: http://redmaryland.blogspot.com/
For Pennsylvania, Alex Charyna has PA Water Cooler (I blog there sometimes):
http://pawatercooler.com/
Posted by: Three5012 | March 21, 2008 4:55 PM
Getting back (sort of) to the topic of this post, is there anyone else that has the feeling that Minnesota leads the country in bloggers and blogs. There seems to be a disproportionate amount of both on this blog (not that there is anything wrong with that). I seriously find it fascinating. BSimon, have you been calling all your friends?!?
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 4:53 PM
If you live in a small all white town, what basis would you have to fear blacks, if you never, ever saw one.
-----------------
...We have begun to document several pernicious forms of contemporary racial discrimination which are sapping the lifeblood from African American and other minority communities in towns across the United States. Documentation of this type of minority exclusion is typically done by superimposing racial and ethnic composition data onto geo-coded public records pertaining to zoning, water and sewer services, infrastructure, and land-use development plans.
This technique shows a contemporary pattern of discrimination which builds upon a common historical pattern of racial residential segregation and involves the intentional manipulation of zoning and land-use regulations -- most often by local White elites. Resembling the apartheid-like conditions that have contributed to the growth of an underclass in U.S. cities, African Americans and other minorities in these towns are denied political involvement in economic development decision-making and access to critical infrastructure resources like sewer services, while their neighborhoods typically are targeted simultaneously for locally unwanted land-uses such as highways and sewage treatment facilities. These discriminatory actions expose African Americans to major public health risks, heighten the incidence of poverty in their neighborhoods, and are a heretofore-unrecognized contributor to Black land loss.
http://www.prrac.org/full_text.php?text_id=1028&item_id=9432&newsletter_id=80&header=Health
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 4:42 PM
Here in Minneapolis, Mn I follow Minnesota Monitor, Minneapolis Mirror, and especially MNBlue - that's where I plant most of my own commentary.
Posted by: fmarkus | March 21, 2008 4:40 PM
bsimon - "I don't recall where you live, but up here in MN, the stereotype is pretty valid, as far as stereotypes go."
I live in Northern Virginia (which probably comes closer to wposts typical America) and have travelled all over the country, including MN and KS, as well as the world. What I would say is that one needs to be carefull of believing it is purely because someone is black that these events occur. In NoVa as I would imagine in a lot of places, there are various gangs. If I am walking down a street and avoid someone who looks like a gang member, and they happen to be black (but more probably hispanic in my area), that does not count. People tend to be apprehensive of differences and I am not naive enough to think that color does not sometimes play a part in it. That said, in my experience, the apprehension is based on things other than race more often than not.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 4:36 PM
"Just because we have not quite reached... utopia... does not mean we have not come far and we are not leading the world."
Now you're starting to sound like Obama. Good man.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 4:33 PM
It's my blog, so I'll plug Minnesota Democrats Exposed.
Posted by: michaelbrodkorb | March 21, 2008 4:33 PM
"Once a visitor from Iceland came with me to TGI Fridays."
You took a visitor to TGI Fridays? Must not have been on an expense account that day.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 4:30 PM
Pitiful, that in this age, Libs still need to race-bait to get elected.
Stereotypes are used by humans because over time they are more correct than not. If you live in a small all white town, what basis would you have to fear blacks, if you never, ever saw one.
this liberal proclivity to "know" everyone's evil minds across the nation is disturbing. I would not assume the worst of our citizens, because in all measures, they are the most non-racist, giving, caring and generous nation on earth.
Just because we have not quite reached liberal utopia through government intervention, does not mean we have not come far and we are not leading the world.
does being a liberal require pessimism and cynicism as a pre-requisite?
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 4:25 PM
I live in a majority black city
-----------
That is not "typical" America.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 4:16 PM
For all things Michele Bachmann in Minnesota, www.dumpbachmann.com.
Posted by: saintcroix | March 21, 2008 4:15 PM
Sorry, Dave, reality is simply otherwise. Every American knows it.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 03:59 PM
If you need that to get elected too bad. I don't know it and reject it out of hand. My kids don't even know what skin color is, it is the same as hair color or shirt color to them. I live in a majority black city. After a while, you just stop noticing.
Once a visitor from Iceland came with me to TGI Fridays. now, mind you, there are zero blacks in Iceland. She remarked something about how many blacks there were in the restaurant. I looked up and for the first time, noticed she was right. It simply never occured to me.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 4:11 PM
wpost4112 - "Every American knows it."
Good lord, I have lost my citizenship.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 4:10 PM
"The hotel tryst was apparently listed as "constituent services." "
That's really taking a personal interest in servicing constituents.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 4:07 PM
dave writes
"What is silly is pretending to carry sterotypes from what MIGHT have had some truth to it 40 years ago and applying them to today."
I don't recall where you live, but up here in MN, the stereotype is pretty valid, as far as stereotypes go. I don't know where Obama's grandmother lives, but my guess is that its an equally valid stereotype of white folks - particularly the elderly - in small town Kansas. I'd love to be wrong, but based on my experience in other small midwestern towns, I'm not. Of course that, itself, is a stereotype.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 4:04 PM
Liberal government services:
Gov. Paterson admitted Wednesday he may have improperly billed his campaign for at least one hotel tryst with a girlfriend.
The hotel tryst was apparently listed as "constituent services."
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 4:01 PM
bsimon - "My apologies for being unaware of the new source of unrest."
Not a problem, I should have sourced. And perhaps added that it was Obama's attempt to explain the "grandmother" remarks he was getting flack over from the big speech.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 4:01 PM
Hillary's experience:
Her schedule records that she and Cherie Blair, the then Prime Minister's wife, were to "proceed to the children's play area, where children are creating playground models". They were then to "proceed down the path where they are joined by 25 children with balloons" and go "to the top of the hill and release the balloons".
Liberal translation : she brought peace to Ireland
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/19/wclinton119.xml
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 4:00 PM
Sorry, Dave, reality is simply otherwise. Every American knows it.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 3:59 PM
Tiller Admits Aborting Babies A Day Before Due Date Notorious partial-birth abortion specialist Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, KS, was caught on hidden video admitting to aborting babies a day before the mother's due date.
Lib Morals
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 3:58 PM
You can catch the Faux news on it here:
I have to give a tip of the hat to Kilmeade and Wallace for correctly interpreting Barack's remarks....the two blondes unfortunately prove the many cliches about dumb blondes.
And proudtobeGOD was right about the "walk out" being done in good humor. Tip of the hat to her as well. The liberal misreporting on that is as annoying as the 2 dumb Faux blondes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/mayhem-at-fox-news-ancho_n_92743.html
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 3:56 PM
wpost4112 - "There are exceptions, but it is generally true. It's silly to pretend otherwise."
I don't think of myself as exceptional. I do think that, based on my experiences of the places I have lived and visited and the people I have known, that your generalization is full of crap. What is silly is pretending to carry sterotypes from what MIGHT have had some truth to it 40 years ago and applying them to today. I'm not saying that it never happens today, I am saying that it is not the norm for the majority of white people, at least those I have known in my life.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 3:56 PM
"USC_Mike
Do you realize how hateful, pity, and jealous you come off as? You should attack Obama on issue such as his ideas are not affordable without raising our taxes. When you attack his personality you only make yourself seem like a real a-hole."
HA HA HA
This is hilarious.
United States Senator Barrack Obama trashes White America
And I'm a hateful a-hole?
"Reverend" J Wright damns America, mocks 3,000 dead.
And I'm a hateful a-hole?
You Obama people really are delusional.
Posted by: USMC_Mike | March 21, 2008 3:56 PM
Hillary for President
Obama for shrink
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 3:54 PM
I see now that the phrase came not from the speech, but from other remarks elsewhere. My apologies for being unaware of the new source of unrest.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 3:49 PM
LOL. Somehow that doesn't surprise me.
It doesn't make Barack's statement any less true. Not a very "PC" thing to say, and not something that furthers the conversation particularly, but true nonetheless. Just part of being honest with ourselves about the state of things in our land. Has nothing to do with government involvement, just our national self-awareness.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 3:45 PM
dave, interesting. The transcript I checked has the phrase
"I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."
No 'typical' in there. What's your source?
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 3:45 PM
zouk, you're cracking me up. stop, stop! I can't breath!!
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 3:45 PM
I also react negatively when I see bikers, sailors, anyone with tatoos, long hairs, torn jeans, fereners, tarzan bikinis on men, fat chicks, bald chicks, pocket protectors, mohawks, goth, underarm hair, rowdy teens, unwashed kids, beatniks, metalheads, hippies, tie-dye, red shoes, white after labor day, unfitted suits, skinny ties, leather undies, sandels with socks, dirty fingernails, mini-skirts, halter tops, belly rings, ponytails, pigtails, crooked teeth, British teeth, camo, cowboy hats and many more.
The government ought to do something.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 3:41 PM
There are exceptions, but it is generally true. It's silly to pretend otherwise.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 3:38 PM
I read MN Publius and MN Campaign Report every day. Also, Blue Stem Prairie does a great job covering southern MN. MinnesotaBrown covers northern MN politics and cross-posts occasionally at my blog, mnblue. We've got a plethora of good blogs in MN.
Posted by: e_pusey | March 21, 2008 3:38 PM
wpost4112 - "Why deny it? We all know its true."
Speak for yourself. It is not true with me.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 3:36 PM
2008 Presidential Election Weekly Poll
http://www.votenic.com
Latest Results Just Posted!
Vote Weekly!
Posted by: votenic | March 21, 2008 3:34 PM
And he was /is right. White people do typically react negatively when they see a black man on their streets. Why deny it? We all know its true.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 3:32 PM
bsimon - "Obama didn't say anything about 'typical white people'. "
It sounds like it to me...
"... The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. We have to break through it..." - Senator Barack Obama
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 3:28 PM
never ever let the facts get in the way.
she don't need no stinkin' facts. cold is hot. rich is poor. success is failure. surrender is winning.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 3:26 PM
I'll admit to both being a fan of MN Campaign Report and being biased when it comes to Minnesota blogs...
Posted by: mncampaignreport | March 21, 2008 3:24 PM
drindl - "will you condemn this from john mccain's spiratual advisor, gop? or is this okay because Rev. parsley is white?"
First off, the term was "spiritual guide" and the full blurb from the Columbus Dispatch is: "McCain called Parsley a "spiritual guide," while Parsley later labeled McCain a "strong, true, consistent conservative."
Notice it did not say that Parsley was HIS (McCain's) spiritual advisor (or guide), nor did it imply a 20 year relationship between the two nor did it say that it was McCain's church. But then, when you are busy casting racial aspersions towards large groups of people (of which I am one), you should be sure to never ever let the facts get in the way.
Posted by: dave | March 21, 2008 3:15 PM
USC_Mike
Do you realize how hateful, pity, and jealous you come off as? You should attack Obama on issue such as his ideas are not affordable without raising our taxes. When you attack his personality you only make yourself seem like a real a-hole.
Posted by: txazga | March 21, 2008 3:13 PM
"That must make me a TYPICAL WHITE PERSON."
It would be funny, if it weren't so sad.
You might want to have your gullibility checked, Obama didn't say anything about 'typical white people'.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 3:08 PM
In Minnesota, True North has the best state coverage:
http://www.looktruenorth.com
Otherwise, check out the Kool Aid Report for good local coverage as well:
http://koolaidreport.blogspot.com/
Posted by: plorch | March 21, 2008 3:08 PM
The 2 funniest political blogs in MN:
nihlist.blogspot.com
koolaidreport.blogspot.com
MN Publius is nothing more than an arm of the Democratic Party.
Posted by: cneu2 | March 21, 2008 3:06 PM
Jeremiah Wright was Barack Obama's pastor and spiritual leader. He is a friend and confidant.
He also has some extreme beliefs. Many of which are disagreeable, or even detestable.
Ask yourself, do you have any close friends or family who have beliefs you consider disagreeable, or even detestable? Have you shunned them or disavowed them in any way? And if you have, what does that say about your character, that you shun those who you do not share all values with?
It would be politically convenient for Obama to disavow Pastor Wright, wouldn't it? But he won't. He actually values his friends, even the ones with these beliefs, which he does not in any way share.
My brother is a raging homophobe. I mean, he hates homosexuality and homosexuals deeply. I'm now supposed to distance myself from him because I have aspirations to run for office?
I won't do it, and neither should Barack Obama. Shame on you who throw stones in your glass houses.
Posted by: cam8 | March 21, 2008 3:04 PM
That must make me a TYPICAL WHITE PERSON.
-------------------
LOL. Pretty much.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 3:00 PM
For VA, I second Raising Kaine. They were a strong factor in the election of Gov. Kaine, and the recruitment, nomination, and election of Sen. Webb. A great place for Virginia's spread-out liberal population to gather
Posted by: riff_raff17 | March 21, 2008 2:56 PM
White guilt. Obama's purpose in the speech was to put Wright's outrages in context. By context, Obama means history. And by history, he means the history of white racism. Obama says, "We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country," and then proceeds to do precisely that. And what lies at the end of his recital of the long train of white racial assaults from slavery to employment discrimination? Jeremiah Wright, of course.
This contextual analysis of Wright's venom, this extenuation of black hate speech as a product of white racism, is not new. It's the Jesse Jackson politics of racial grievance, expressed in Ivy League diction and Harvard Law nuance. That's why the speech made so many liberal commentators swoon: It bathed them in racial guilt, while flattering their intellectual pretensions. An unbeatable combination.
But Obama was supposed to be new. He flatters himself as a man of the future transcending the anger of the past as represented by his beloved pastor. Obama then waxes rhapsodic about the hope brought by the new consciousness of the young people in his campaign.
Then answer this, senator: If Wright is a man of the past, why would you expose your children to his vitriolic divisiveness? This is a man who curses America and who proclaimed moral satisfaction in the deaths of 3,000 innocents at a time when their bodies were still being sought at Ground Zero. It is not just the older congregants who stand and cheer and roar in wild approval of Wright's rants, but young people as well. Why did you give $22,500 just two years ago to a church run by a man of the past who infects the younger generation with precisely the racial attitudes and animus you say you have come unto us to transcend?
Posted by: USMC_Mike | March 21, 2008 2:55 PM
In Minnesota MNPublius is a great blog. Centrisity.com is also very good.
Posted by: paul.wochnick | March 21, 2008 2:40 PM
I know this isn't part of the theme today, but with Richardson's endorsement of Obama today, doesn't he have to be on Obama's short list for VP? He's got the national security credentials, swing state appeal, Hispanic appeal... the only argument against him is that Obama might choose a white man if he thinks having a black man and a Hispanic is "too much change" for one election. And considering that this comes at the low point this year for Obama's campaign, I think that has to buy Richardson some extra kudos in Obama's eyes.
Posted by: qkanga | March 21, 2008 2:38 PM
I thought Obama was running a different kind of campaign?
His campaign is now circulating a photo of [that guy] shaking hands with President Bill Clinton at the White House in 1998.
Looks like he's just a typical politician after all.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 2:34 PM
Moral equivalence. Sure, says Obama, there's Wright, but at the other "end of the spectrum" there's Geraldine Ferraro, opponents of affirmative action and his own white grandmother, "who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe." But did she shout them in a crowded theater to incite, enrage and poison others?
"I can no more disown (Wright) than I can my white grandmother." What exactly was grandma's offense? Jesse Jackson himself once admitted to the fear he feels from the footsteps of black men on the street. And Harry Truman was known to use epithets for blacks and Jews in private, yet is revered for desegregating the armed forces and recognizing the first Jewish state since Jesus' time. He never spread racial hatred. Nor did grandma.
Yet Obama compares her to Wright. Does he not see the moral difference between the occasional private expression of the prejudices of one's time and the use of a public stage to spread racial lies and race hatred?
Posted by: USMC_Mike | March 21, 2008 2:34 PM
NO WONDER THE OBAMA CAMP IS TRYING TO GET 'PASSPORT-GATE' ON THE FRONT PAGE.
ANYTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
Posted by: USMC_Mike | March 21, 2008 02:16 PM
Can we please get back to talking about nothing? the seinfeld candidate is fading fast.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 2:33 PM
Obama wants to talk about RACE - well the "RULES" - that you all seem to so proudly hang your self-righteousness on - are in fact AFFIRMATIVE ACTION RULES DESIGNED TO PLACE THE BLACK VOTE IN SOUTH CAROLINA AHEAD OF THE WHITE VOTE IN FLORIDA.
All the Obama supporters do not want to talk about this.
THE DNC HAS GONE COMPLETELY MAD AT THIS POINT - THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT THE BLACKS IN SOUTH CAROLINA HAVE TO BE MAGNIFIED - THE CAUCUS STATE DELEGATES HAVE TO BE MAGNIFIED - AND WHEN ALL THAT WORKS LET'S THROW OUT THE VOTES OF MILLIONS OF WHITES IN FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN - THAT WILL FINALLY GIVE OUR CANDIDATE A MAJORITY.
Who is kidding who?
Seriously. HILLARY DESERVES +70 DELEGATES OUT OF MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA, OBAMA'S TOTALS NEED TO BE ADJUSTED TO DE-MAGNIFY THE CAUCUS STATES WHICH HAVE GIVEN HIM +70 OUT OF THOSE STATES - BY ALL RIGHTS THIS RACE IS 140 DELEGATES CLOSER THAN YOU SEE IN THE MEDIA DELEGATE COUNTS. FROM THAT POINT, LET THEM VOTE.
Posted by: Miata7 | March 21, 2008 2:32 PM
loony liberals really creep me out. get a life.
Of course your idea of a life is blogging all day, posting stale cut and pastes from hate sites and blaming the world's ills on Bush. not much of a life. pitiful really. but then since no will will pay you to write this trash, what else do you have?
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 2:30 PM
Definitely www.mnblue.com is the place to go for the good political news/updates in MN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: dianamckeown | March 21, 2008 2:24 PM
"when you envision McC debating either D, do you see more potential for enlightenment coming from the debate with one or the other?"
I'd rather watch two adults.
That must make me a TYPICAL WHITE PERSON.
Posted by: USMC_Mike | March 21, 2008 2:22 PM
South Carolina - I follow www.fitsnews.com, FITSNews by Will Folks is a hilarious political blog, and also breaks important stories.
Posted by: nancy | March 21, 2008 2:17 PM
"when you envision McC debating either D, do you see more potential for enlightenment coming from the debate with one or the other?"
Considering Hillary is much more up on facts and able to discuss many issues in-depth, (e.g. Obama's deferment to her in answering the "jump-ball" question concernig Russia's new President) then, imo debates between her and McCain would be more substantive and interesting.
Obama's propensity to go into lecture-mode really leaves me cold. Without the teleprompter, his stilted speech is difficult to listen to. She's a better debater; she wins against Obama on substance.
As a forum on how they would govern, I'm looking for substance and action on tough issues in a president, not universal enlightenment or warm fuzzy hopefulness. But, that's just me.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 2:16 PM
WOW.
"TYPICAL WHITE PERSON" ???
NO WONDER THE OBAMA CAMP IS TRYING TO GET 'PASSPORT-GATE' ON THE FRONT PAGE.
ANYTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
Posted by: USMC_Mike | March 21, 2008 2:16 PM
"Does Hagel's current reluctance/refusal to endorse McC suggest he will endorse the D? Does it mean anything?"
I don't think it suggests he'll endorse a Dem. But it is meaningful in being a very public snub of his party's nominee. Most politicians would say something like "I will support my party's nominee" rather than make an on-the-record criticism of the candidate's core issue.
"Does BR's endorsement in Portland signal anything to HRC? Does it have much effect?"
Probably not a huge effect, but potentially helps in NM specifically, possibly with Latinos generally, should Obama win the nomination. Its more interesting as an ex-Clinton cabinet member who chooses Obama over Clinton(2). Adding more still is that Richardson is a Gov in a Red state that has potential to go blue.
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 2:08 PM
In Minnesota I like www.mnblue.com because it's a good mix of interviews, reports, gossip, and useful things, such as Grace Kelly's list of progressive resolutions.
Posted by: obrie136 | March 21, 2008 2:03 PM
"stalkers really creep me out."
some stalkers get off on knowing they're creeping you out
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 2:01 PM
stalkers really creep me out. get a life.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 1:54 PM
'Anyone - Does Hagel's current reluctance/refusal to endorse McC suggest he will endorse the D? Does it mean anything?'
I don't know that, but since he's retiring it's possible. What I do note is that I respect his opinion on foreign policy. He IS a conservative, the old-fashioned kind.
As far as BR, I think it's a snub to Hillary, since she was clearly expecting his endorsement.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 1:52 PM
For Virginia, if you're a lefty progressive like me, you can't do better than Raising Kaine http://www.raisingkaine.com/.
If you're on the other side of the aisle, or a curious lefty wondering what the other side thinks, Bacon's Rebellion (http://baconsrebellion.blogspot.com/) is good.
Posted by: erikpdumont | March 21, 2008 1:50 PM
You forgot SackofZouk.com -- for the latest far right ramblings, ravings and howling at the moon.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 11:48 AM
spend the rest of the day obsessing about me, SackofZouk. how does it feel to not have a life? how does it feel to constantly, every minute, think about someone you will never meet? it's truly pathetic, lonely little man.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 01:44 PM
I guess you could answer that better than me.
Are you still of the notion that fire can't melt steel? that cold indicates warming? that surender is winning? that down in the polls is good? that taxes lead to incentive? that hate speech is splendid? ah... the perils of idiocy and the feeble rantings of the drindl creature.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 1:49 PM
will you condemn this from john mccain's spiratual advisor, gop? or is this okay because Rev. parsley is white?
"This past week, Sen. Barack Obama's pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, has taken an exceptional amount of heat in part for comments that suggested the U.S. government had introduced AIDS into black communities.
But it turns out he's not the only religious confidant to a presidential candidate who thinks the state has targeted black populations with death and disease.
Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio -- whom Sen. John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser -- has suggested on several occasions that the U.S. government was complicit in facilitating black genocide.
In speeches that have gone largely unnoticed, Parsley (who is white) compares Planned Parenthood, the reproductive care and family planning group, to the Klu Klux Klan and Nazis, and describes the American government as enablers of murder for supporting the organization.
"If I were call for the sterilization or the elimination of an entire segment of society, I'd be labeled a racists or a murderer, or at very best a Nazi," says Parsley. "That every single year, millions of our tax dollars are funding a national organization built upon that very goal -- their target: African Americans. That's right, the death toll: nearly fifteen hundred African Americans a day. The shocking truth of black genocide."
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 1:49 PM
My lunch is about over - so:
Adrick, why would there be something remarkable about Cheney visiting Abdullah?
proud, when you envision McC debating either D, do you see more potential for enlightenment coming from the debate with one or the other?
Anyone - Does Hagel's current reluctance/refusal to endorse McC suggest he will endorse the D? Does it mean anything?
Anyone - Does BR's endorsement in Portland signal anything to HRC? Does it have much effect?
Posted by: mark_in_austin | March 21, 2008 1:49 PM
Three Minnesota sites have been mentioned. Spot thinks MNblue is the best community blog, partly because his peace-nik friend Charley Underwood, posts there.
Posted by: blogspotdog | March 21, 2008 1:48 PM
mark, I'm not the only one who is talking about it. Just because the WaPo and the rest of the lib media want to downplay it asap, doesn't mean it's not an issue.
And I wasn't 'harping'. I was in agreement with Krauthammer's analysis of Senator Obama's major speech given this week, and wanted to share what I thought was a well written piece.
This is a timely issue because Obama didn't nip it in the bud long ago, as he was advised to do. It goes to character, judgement, and honesty. We have little else on which to judge the freshman Senator.
But, your point is well taken.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 1:46 PM
i can see you're going to spend the rest of the day obsessing about me, SackofZouk. how does it feel to not have a life? how does it feel to constantly, every minute, think about someone you will never meet? it's truly pathetic, lonely little man.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 1:44 PM
We can cut drindl some slack, now that we are enlightened. She is just a "typical" moonbat lefty feminist. they are all like that, you know.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 1:40 PM
got those two separate incidents conflated
drindl is getting her conspiracies mixed up. with so many to keep track of, it is no wonder. drindl - do you think dick cheney will provide nice weather this Sunday?
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 1:38 PM
proud, you miss the point because you are so taken up with Wright - I have never read you to harp on any subject like this.
BHO's political base in Chicago was in that church. That's all. He does not want to say that because it sounds like politics as usual. Well, it is politics as usual.
The opponents of BHO will repeat every point in your posts from now to whenever. You could let it go now, or maybe just remind everyone about Wright and how BHO took his kids to church there once in a while.
There is a lot of other stuff going on.
Really.
Posted by: mark_in_austin | March 21, 2008 1:38 PM
drindls_jackels.com - all the hate that's unfit to print. brought to you by the moonbat coalition.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 1:35 PM
Must be the VRWC.'
close -- this administration is totally politicized. you have to be gop to be a janitor, so my guess --republican contractor.
also, i'd like to know, when were hillary and mccain's files breached? was it while Mittens was still in the race?
I'd say the possibility is strong enough that holmes would at least entertain it, don't you, mark?
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 1:34 PM
WASHINGTON - The passport files of the three presidential candidates -- Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain -- have been breached, the State Department said Friday.
another drindl conspiracy proved false. drindl, did it ever occur to you that there are just a few stupid people in the world that need no direction to be so. doubt me - just look in the mirror.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 1:34 PM
There are so many good ones to choose from here in Virginia but I would highlight http://www.virginianfederalist.com
Posted by: publius | March 21, 2008 1:33 PM
...on VP Dick Cheney meeting with King Abdullah in Saudia Arabia.
Thoughts anyone?
Posted by: AdrickHenry | March 21, 2008 1:32 PM
McCain Now Leads By Double Digits The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows John McCain's lead growing against both potential Democratic opponents
Fading fast Libs. Landslide pending.
Posted by: kingofzouk | March 21, 2008 1:31 PM
Nigerian bank scammers at State? As I said, no speculation in advance of the facts is good policy.
Posted by: mark_in_austin | March 21, 2008 1:30 PM
All three major presidential candidates have had their passport files breached, the State Department confirmed Friday.
Must be the VRWC.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 1:26 PM
In Minnesota, mnblue is a group blog representing local and state politics, as well as different interest groups like peace activists. Mnblue not only reports news, it also publishes articles on how to effectively participate in politics. It had the highest rated precinct caucus guide on google. Mnblue is also organizing and tracking the performance of Minnesota US Senator Norm Coleman over time. While local papers, have barely mention the US Senate race, mnblue and lefty blogs have filled in. The Minnesota lefty blogs in general are the best news sources. The lefty blogs have been covering the DFL party conventions, reporting and tracking results.
Posted by: thegracekelly | March 21, 2008 1:24 PM
check out: www.mnblue.com
covers everything in Minnesota politics, edgy bloggers and good information.
Posted by: nikkicarlson | March 21, 2008 1:23 PM
For Michigan politics, the Lansing State Journal blog is a great source.
Posted by: gwhose | March 21, 2008 1:17 PM
leichtman, I saw your post last night and do not agree with you that the congressional races in TX are static.
My snake of a district, stretching from Lago Vista in Travis County to the northwest Houston sprawl was gerrymandered by DeLay to give it a rural flavor for 145 mi. in between Harris and Travis Counties. But the growth is at the dumbell's ends, not in the middle. So McCaul, a weak and silly R, only got 54% last time against an unknown first time D Ankrum who spent only $65k.
The Ds put up two actual candidates - one from Austin [Grant], whom I supported, and one from Houston [Doherty], who won the Primary, who will be well financed. The actual candidate is someone I am sure you know - tv judge and plaintiff's attorney Larry Joe Doherty, whom I will now support. I probably would not support him against a more moderate and more effective R, but against McCaul, he is a no-brainer.
Grant, who worked in the Foreign Service, was for graduated pullback, no hard timeline, with large residual forces in Kuwait and the Kurdish north, while pushing regional diplomacy a la Baker-Hamilton and Biden-Gelb, using the residual forces as tactical support for the diplomacy. Doherty toes the antiwar line, which is to draw down as fast as logistically possible.
That policy, popular on the left, makes no sense to me. It is why Richardson, whom I have always admired, first fell out of favor with me in this race.
But McCaul offers no strategy either and just wants to stay. On most [all?] issues, McCaul offers no sense of independence. Doherty reminds me of Charlie Wilson in some ways, and at least he would be for strengthening the military and veterans benefits, and be against torture as public policy.
Who helps Doherty? I continue to think BHO, but I am not about to be in crystal ball land on this. We wait and learn.
---------------------------
About breaches at State: I will not speculate in advance of the facts as to motivation. Sherlock Holmes would disapprove if I did.
Posted by: mark_in_austin | March 21, 2008 1:15 PM
'later Chris Wallace came on to chastise his fellow Faux news employees for their 2-hour Obama bashing.'
oh, you're right wpost. got those two separate incidents conflated. sort of like john mccain and sunnis and shia.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 1:13 PM
wpost, your'e the confused one, bub.
---------------
Coming from you, that's a compliment. And one I'll gladly take.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 1:12 PM
wpost, your'e the confused one, bub.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 1:08 PM
"never seen anythihng like it."
drindl, First of all that is Brian Kilmeade, not Chris Wallace. Brian's a long time co-anchor of the morning show, and they often joke around like that...it was supposed to be funny. He's pretending to get all riled up after Doocy says 'if it were a baseball manager comment would you be offended?'
It's a joke. See, these people have a sense of humor. Maybe you just have a hard time recognizing it.
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 1:06 PM
Richardson just gave an amazing and moving endorsement for Barack at a rally in Oregon. Too late by my reckoning, but better than never.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 1:05 PM
What a useful Poll! Here in Minnesota, there is on blog that shines above all others and the is MNblue. The analysis is terrific. All of the contributors have their own speciality, and if you want to know what is going on in Mn politics, you can get is all on Mnblue.
Posted by: carlapar | March 21, 2008 1:01 PM
this is very bizarre -- chris wallace gets so angry at the way fellow FOX!! co-anchors are spinning the obama/grandma story he storms off the stage...
never seen anythihng like it.
.......................
Actually, it was Faux & Friends cohost Brian Kilmeade who walked off stage because of the distortion against the Obama comment...later Chris Wallace came on to chastise his fellow Faux news employees for their 2-hour Obama bashing.
proudtobeGOD must be confused as to which Faux news pundit to parrot!
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 12:59 PM
From one of my favorite blogs at http://www.nationalreview.com/,
Justifying a Scandalous Dereliction
By Charles Krauthammer
The beauty of a speech is that you don't just give the answers, you provide your own questions.
"Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes." So said Barack Obama, in his Philadelphia speech about his pastor, friend, mentor, and spiritual adviser of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright.
An interesting, if belated, admission. But the more important question is: which "controversial" remarks?
Wright's assertion from the pulpit that the U.S. government invented the HIV virus "as a means of genocide against people of color"? Wright's claim that America was morally responsible for 9/11 -- "chickens coming home to roost" -- because of, among other crimes, Hiroshima and Nagasaki? (Obama says he missed church that day. Had he never heard about it?)
What about the charge that the U.S. government (of Franklin Roosevelt, mind you) knew about Pearl Harbor, but lied about it?
Or that the government gives drugs to black people, presumably to enslave and imprison them?
Obama condemns such statements as wrong and divisive, then frames the next question: "There will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church?"
But that is not the question. The question is why didn't he leave that church?
Why didn't he leave -- why doesn't he leave even today --
-a pastor who thundered not once but three times from the pulpit (on a DVD the church proudly sells) "God damn America"? Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over as a great meditation on race, is little more than an elegantly crafted, brilliantly sophistic justification of that scandalous dereliction.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDAxYTk0OTIyZWQzMzEyMmVhZjM2ZWUwODU2ODgxM2I=
Posted by: proudtobeGOP | March 21, 2008 12:56 PM
Minnesota:
I would echo the praise for MNBlue, especially for the in-depth coverage (interviews with candidates in particular) and the voices from greater Minnesota (outside of the metro).
Posted by: bleeper2 | March 21, 2008 12:54 PM
Can I add one more Minnesota political blog? I'm also a big fan of Joe Bodell's MN Campaign Report, whose slogan is "political analysis and a healthy dose of snarky wonkishness"
Posted by: Lynnell | March 21, 2008 12:52 PM
bondjedi asks
"Can someone tell me if this is more of Penn's pathetic spin, or if he is genuinely out of the loop?"
You phrase the question as though those conditions are mutually exclusive. Are you sure that's true?
Posted by: bsimon | March 21, 2008 12:46 PM
I really like MNBlue---http://www.mnblue.com/
Minnesota Monitor also runs the work of or lists some great MN bloggers: http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/magFront.do.
I also like MNpublius at http://mnpublius.com/
Posted by: Lynnell | March 21, 2008 12:46 PM
Politicker operates state political sites that host blogs for political reporters and state politicians in 10 states.
New Jersey has Politicker NJ: http://politickernj.com/
Among the blogs hosted are those of former Governor Christie Whitman, former Senator Bob Torricelli, and other current and former state politicians. The site also has reporters that maintain blogs on local issues.
Posted by: GawkSquawk | March 21, 2008 12:43 PM
'The record of longtime Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan -- worshipped by business leaders and dubbed "Maestro" in a 2000 biography by The Post's Bob Woodward -- is getting a critical look as his successor Ben S. Bernanke wrestles with problems that began on the Maestro's watch.
Many economists blame Greenspan for lax bank supervision and for keeping interest rates too low, too long from mid-2003 to mid-2004. That, the theory goes, fueled the housing bubble and spawned subprime and adjustable-rate mortgages for low-income people, vast numbers of whom can't make their payments now. Banks bought those mortgages in bundles that are worth far less than they originally were. That has led to big write-offs, shaking the entire financial system.'
When asked how he'd fix the current economic mess, McCain says he has Greenspan's book.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 12:39 PM
Ohio produces more than 100 political blogs. But if you want just one, I would pass up mine (writeslikeshetalks.com) in favor of Ohio Daily Blog (ohiodailyblog.com) by Jeff Coryell - hands down the best at coverage, primary source reporting, analysis and opinion.
Posted by: jillzimon | March 21, 2008 12:33 PM
this is very bizarre -- chris wallace gets so angry at the way fellow FOX!! co-anchors are spinning the obama/grandma story he storms off the stage...
never seen anythihng like it.
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=19ba5a61-9510-4da5-abeb-e9a546cdc33a
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 12:30 PM
I like mnblue.com because host Eric Pusey not only covers important races and issues, but because he welcomes a spectrum of MN dems to post on his blog.
A nice balance of city/burb/rural, peaceniks and DFL party faithful, local/state/national.
mnblue.com
- minneapolis
Posted by: tiselfar | March 21, 2008 12:28 PM
Since Utah is noticeably absent from the list, here is a decent one.
Posted by: quegg | March 21, 2008 12:23 PM
www.FiredUpMissouri.com is Missouri's best political blog.
Posted by: linkloaf | March 21, 2008 12:17 PM
"www.rumromanismrebellion.net in Arizona is a fantastic blog."
Word to that. How about tippecanoeandtylertoo.org, and fifty-fourfortyorfight!.net?
Posted by: bondjedi | March 21, 2008 12:10 PM
www.rumromanismrebellion.net in Arizona is a fantastic blog.
Posted by: pembrokesca | March 21, 2008 12:06 PM
www.BadgerBlogAlliance.blogspot.com. You've got some of the best bloggers in Wisconsin sharing space there.
Posted by: lanceburri | March 21, 2008 12:05 PM
Someone here is geographically challenged. The Green Mountains are in Vermont. The White Mountains are in New Hampshire.
Posted by: Spectator2 | March 21, 2008 12:01 PM
In Tennessee, the best political blog was definitely Volunteer Voters, run off of the Nashville ABC affiliate's website. Unfortunately, WKRN has seen fit to cut it loose, and VV stopped running four days ago.
It featured a roundup of the interesting stories posted by the other political bloggers in the state, as well as insightful and balanced original material. It will be dearly missed.
Posted by: cmdrutledge | March 21, 2008 11:56 AM
A great Idaho blog: http://spokesmanreview.com/blogs/boise/
and a great north Carolina blog:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/dome
Posted by: dklinejones | March 21, 2008 11:56 AM
A great Idaho blog: http://spokesmanreview.com/blogs/boise/
and a great north Carolina blog:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/dome
Posted by: dklinejones | March 21, 2008 11:56 AM
Good news for a good Friday:
http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/64390/what-are-you-looking-at
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 11:55 AM
In Minnesota I have to go with MNpublius.com
Posted by: nodoubt315 | March 21, 2008 11:49 AM
From this paper's Anne Kornblut - "'You know, look, I think everyone has their endorsers,' said chief strategist Mark Penn. Given that (half of) New Mexico had already voted for Clinton in its primary, 'perhaps the time when he could have been most effective has long since passed,' Penn said. 'I don't think it's a significant endorsement.'"
Uh oh, apparently someone wasn't told that the Clinton camp was falling all over itself and promising the kitchen sink (there it is again) to get Richardson's endorsement. Can someone tell me if this is more of Penn's pathetic spin, or if he is genuinely out of the loop?
Posted by: bondjedi | March 21, 2008 11:48 AM
You forgot SackofZouk.com -- for the latest far right ramblings, ravings and howling at the moon.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 11:48 AM
'The Republican position on any issue is shared by a shrinking minority of Americans. Better stick to terror politics since it's served your party so well.
Twothirds of Americans say Iraq was not worth it. Bush's approval rating at 24%. 80% think the country is moving in the wrong direction.
Posted by: drindl | March 21, 2008 11:45 AM
LOL.
Thanks for the laughs, bondjedi!
Brightens up my Good Friday.
Posted by: wpost4112 | March 21, 2008 11:44 AM
I recommend a liberal-progressive blog from Minnesota that's great on firsthand reporting, diverse voices--including writers from outside the metro--and perspectives, MnBlue.
This community blog is truly independent and by far the most interesting of the statewide Minnesota blogs<
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