In case you’re wondering; NOT I.
While I may be a bleeding heart, dyed in the wool “Liberal”, I’m proud of the fact I am INDEPENDENTLY SO. Just tacking a “D” behind your name isn’t going to earn my endorsement. While I’m both grateful and proud of the traffic and readership stats we receive here at The GTL™, there’s no doubt in my mind at all if I were to tack that “D” behind our moniker, and completely surrender any form of independent (small “I” on purpose) thought, that daily readership would swell tenfold, and quickly. But that isn’t going to be happening here; you’ve got to EARN my vote, folks. And here’s the uncomfortable part: you must CONTINUE to earn it, day by day, week by week, month by month, and year to year.
But — there are a bunch of folks out there in the so-called “liberal” blogosphere who think they represent the average liberal American’s point of view. These people are hell-bent on infesting the Party of President John F. Kennedy with anything but “liberal values”, and they’re having quite the “get together” with each other in Chicago as the Democratic front-runners promise to meet them there in order to pander to them — DESPITE the fact these people are so out of step with Middle America and traditional Democratic values (all of them); they really should just refrain from attempting to run our country altogether…
From The Washington Post:
‘Net Roots’ Event Becomes Democrats’ Other National Convention
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Last month, in a straw poll on the popular liberal blog Daily Kos, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the front-runner for her party’s presidential nomination, won only 9 percent of the vote, lagging far behind former senator John Edwards (N.C.) with 36 percent and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) with 27 percent. She couldn’t make it past 4 percent for most of the year.
But as the who’s who of the progressive blogosphere — the “Net roots” — gather in Chicago for the YearlyKos convention, which started yesterday, Clinton will be there. Her attendance underscores two seemingly contradictory realities: blogs’ growing influence as powerful backroom players in Democratic circles and the fact that they don’t reflect the views of most Democrats, much less the general public.
“The fact is, the Net roots cannot win elections by ourselves,” Markos “Kos” Moulitsas Zúniga, founder of Daily Kos and the namesake of the event, said this week. “But we can be a key component to a winning Democratic strategy.” …
(Snip!)
“… “Look, the fact all the major presidential candidates are attending means that the Net roots, in a very short time, has earned its seat on the big table,” said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the New Democrat Network, which serves as a bridge between centrist Democrats and progressive bloggers. …”
These people “serve as a bridge”? While the word “bridge” just MIGHT not be the best choice of words at this time, I’ve yet to hear anybody from the New Democrat Network knocking at MY door to help “bridge” that “gap” between folks like myself and folks like the fifteen-hundred (?) or so FAR-LEFT wackos planning to attend “The Yearly Kos”.
Do I sound torqued off? Well, heck YES, I am torqued off. These people don’t represent my values at all. Look to folks like Senator James Webb (D-VA), or Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) to find yourself a POPULIST, “old school” Democrat who puts their MORAL values and INDEPENDENT THOUGHT above party rhetoric. “Pistol packing”, “liberty first”, “country first”, “party last”, Americans who are willing to muster the courage to stand against the traditional “Net Roots” values of the lefty blogosphere. We need to pack Madison Square Garden with folks of this calibre if we wish to deliver this country back into the laps of the hard working, middle class of America.
Have fun in Chicago, “Kos kids”; I’ll be staying right here in the heart of Dixie in hopes of persuading my fellow Americans to embrace policies which improve the lives of ORDINARY Americans, while cringing from the far-left blogger policy of pandering to tiny focus groups while screwing the vast majority of their fellow Americans in the process. Some call them “nanny staters”, and rightfully so. Come to think of it, they’re slipping into an abyss similar to that of your average, Neoconservative Republican…
And, just look where this “plan of attack” has gotten THEM thus far.
***
Thanks again to our friends at Real Clear Politics for featuring this post in the REAL CLEAR BLOGS FRIDAY – Morning Edition Debates & Discussions roundup
Thanks also to my personal “Righty” bloggerette friend from my hometown of Mobile, Alabama — met her, love her, had a cup of “joe” with her — of the VERY dedicated Republican blog (note I didn’t say “conservative”? She’s a REPUBLICAN, THROUGH AND THROUGH, God Bless her), MyVastRightWingConspiracy — for for linking in (huge adult language content warning — it’s “lovable” adult language though!)
Thanks as well to our friend Libby Spencer of one of the most underrated blogs in the blogosphere, The Newshoggers, for linking in
Other blogger coverage on the convention – H/T in part to MemeOrandum: My good friend Joe Gandelman of The Moderate Voice weighs in with a very thoughtful post entitled “YearlyKos Convention Underscores Blogging’s Tricky Political Role“; Also, surprisingly fair coverage from the right-leaning Pajamas Media’s Rick Moran can be found HERE
Thanks to The Hankster for adding us to her sidebar and quoting this article
Thanks to my fellow USAF Veteran Rico J. Halo of That Political Blog for saying such nice words about our blog and our commenters
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7:36 am on August 3rd, 2007 1
[...] The trick for candidates: use blogs as a useful component but don’t forget that elections can’t be won unless centrist and independent voters are wooed and convinced. And right now polls show those voters heavily flowing to the Democrats. UPDATE: – A conservative blogger attending the convention for Pajamas Media comes away with a different view then he might have had than if he unquestioningly believed Bill O’Reilly. –Thoughts on the convention from the always independent The Gun Toting Liberal. [...]
8:16 am on August 3rd, 2007 2
You aren’t going to DailyKos because you support traditional Dems like Jim Webb? Webb got massive support from DailyKos. You guys need to read more than David Broder.
9:34 am on August 3rd, 2007 3
Its nice to see that there is no Kool Aid drinking going on here GTL. Good post! Eventually people, and the candidates, will realize that the center, in spite of being much less vocal, is where the real power is located.
9:44 am on August 3rd, 2007 4
It seems as though the Powers That Be (or perhaps Fox News and CNN) have determined that the Democratic Candidate will be Obama or Clinton. It bothers me the amount of press time these two get, even over inane crap. It would be nice to have an election cycle where we weren’t told who we should choose between, rather given equal opportunity to choose among all the candidates. Perhaps, then, a candidate like Richardson might have a shot.
1:54 pm on August 3rd, 2007 5
I’m with you. Reconstitution does NOT specifically embrace or endorse the Democratic Party, although we DO praise the dems when they deserve it. We also praised Chuck Hagel, a few times.
I am a Richardson fan, but that is independent of his political affiliation. If Hagel (or even Bloomberg) decide to strike out as independents, I’ll certainly listen to what they have to say as well.
1:56 pm on August 3rd, 2007 6
GTL
Despite what you may think, I’m an old fashioned Democrat. Like I said before, I’d vote for Richardson before I’d vote for Guliani or McClain.
In fact here’s how much an “Old Fashioned” Democrat I am….
http://www.myfoxwghp.com/myfox/pages…Y&pageId=5.7.1
This is what the “Right Wing Deathsquad Softball League” does when we’re not playing softball or violating “civil rights”.
2:09 pm on August 3rd, 2007 7
Chuck, nothing comes up but “page not found” with that link…
2:15 pm on August 3rd, 2007 8
GTL
Hmmm…maybe you’re Chicom server is rejecting this all american link.
Let’s try this…y’all will have to scroll down for the link that still works
http://www.carolinacowboys.us/vb/showthread.php?t=3087
2:17 pm on August 3rd, 2007 9
Postscript
Nice legal cigars for correctly guessing the chairman of the “Right-Wing Deathsquad Softball League”.
2:25 pm on August 3rd, 2007 10
Heh, Chuck, I loved it, bro… you look good on TV, man. Y’all are pretty dangerous foke’, yannow it?
2:28 pm on August 3rd, 2007 11
GTL
It’s the clothes man….the little brownie is my wife (PC disclaimer: her term not mine). I have a J&R down the road… wanna go for the cigars?
8:15 pm on August 3rd, 2007 12
Thanks for your independent viewpoint. Please check out The Hankster…
Nancy
11:04 pm on August 3rd, 2007 13
[...] I think I’m entitled to say so.) Not all liberals, just the really fucking stupid leftwats. GTL wouldn’t have pulled that bullshit in a million years, because he may be a liberal, but he’s not a leftard fucking asshole. Only [...]
11:11 pm on August 3rd, 2007 14
Pardon my American in the pingback, GTL – feel free to edit as needed!
11:11 pm on August 3rd, 2007 15
And…yer gonna LOVE the story. Not!
1:28 am on August 4th, 2007 16
Don’t have to to respond to all, but Chuck, ya married up — WAY up, bro… heh. Oh, and I’ll take an illegal Cuban cigar, btw, since the embargo on Cuba is WAY overdue to be tossed to the wayside
Beth — YOUR profanity, dear, is ALWAYS welcomed here. There’s a difference between “street” profanity and a Southern lady cussin’ a bit
Welcome and thanks, Nancy, and thanks to all others who’ve commented and linked in
6:30 pm on August 4th, 2007 17
[...] The trick for candidates: use blogs as a useful component but don’t forget that elections can’t be won unless centrist and independent voters are wooed and convinced. And right now polls show those voters heavily flowing to the Democrats. UPDATE: – A conservative blogger attending the convention for Pajamas Media comes away with a different view then he might have had than if he unquestioningly believed Bill O’Reilly. –Thoughts on the convention from the always independent The Gun Toting Liberal. [...]
8:08 pm on August 5th, 2007 18
“While I may be a bleeding heart, dyed in the wool “Liberal”, I’m proud of the fact I am INDEPENDENTLY SO. Just tacking a “D” behind your name isn’t going to earn my endorsement.”
Well, having a “D” tacked on the back of my name doesn’t ensure I’ll endorse or otherwise help some “D,” but it sure means I’ll be a part of the selection process of “Ds” so I think I’ve got a jump on you. I don’t always get my way, but DPO knows I’m there and what I think and sometimes that has an effect. Resolution 08-2005 for an example.
12:04 pm on August 21st, 2007 19
[...] The trick for candidates: use blogs as a useful component but don’t forget that elections can’t be won unless centrist and independent voters are wooed and convinced. And right now polls show those voters heavily flowing to the Democrats. UPDATE: – A conservative blogger attending the convention for Pajamas Media comes away with a different view then he might have had than if he unquestioningly believed Bill O’Reilly. –Thoughts on the convention from the always independent The Gun Toting Liberal. [...]