BC Politics rocks! And that's the truth... sort of.
There were times, many years ago in a galaxy far away, when I was a BC Assistant Politics Editor, that I despaired at the vitriol spilling from the comments on the politics site, infecting the rest of our esteemed BC and threatening its integrity, honor, and decency.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - zingzing
jet--you're a misogynist!!
you've just been "mooooooned!"
mooooo! moooooo!
nu-duh!
27 - Mark Schannon
Ah, Suss, that's where we disagree. I submit there is no difference between the article & the comments. Both are on a par with the detritus, ashes, spilled Jameson, fingernail clippings, cat hairs, and creepy crawlies that inhabit the world 'neath my keyboard.
But the same can be said about life. We make of it what we can. The best play the cards they're dealt without complaint. We find peace, fulfillment, enjoyment in small things that bring a smile to our faces, knowing that, at the end, if we're lucky, we'll be fertilizing some future farmers' fields.
On the other hand, I do agree with you about spell check.
Curmudgeon-At-Large
In Jameson Veritas
28 - Lisa Solod Warren
Oh, Cindy, dear That may the onliest thing you and I will ever disagree on.
29 - Heloise
It's about time. You've written what I've long been thinking.
A) why I ranted about articles sitting for hours--making news-not-so newsy!
B) The blogs/news sites that are BIG also have BIG people behind it i.e., Adrianna Huffington.
C) We have some of the best editors here...true dat.
D) We have good opinion articles but the exposure will come, somebody here just has to get famous!
E) The pundits TV folks are reading our shit...make NO mistake about it.
F) We ain't getting NO fuckin' blogging cred for it...too true!
G) I would love to do more news stuff if I know it's not going to freakin sit.
H) This site is NOT set up like say Huffpo which has blinking/chaning headlines
I) Should be first maybe--THE politics here is overlorded by a right wing conservative. This is good news and bad news. The right reads us, but not really the left. I wanted us to get more political and lefty but I was outnumbered or out voted or the interest was not there. Not sure.
What can we do? Find some famous folks to patronize us? Blog Talk Radio will help too.
Thanks Mark...come back!!
Heloise
30 - Jordan Richardson
I submit there is no difference between the article & the comments.
Then I submit you need to work harder on the articles. There ought to be a HUGE difference between an article here and a bunch of chicken scratch that any hick with a local library can punch up.
Plus, you're nobody until G-Unit fans hate you.
31 - Cindy D
Lisa,
Perhaps, but I do disagree, and I disagree in the extreme.
I will write a treatise on it tomorrow. Moon was a very important person to me. I understand how she wasn't to many people.
But, although my double quote was fixed, my question remains unanswered.
Why is moon gone?
32 - zingzing
i wanna see the latest moon-go-away thread. where is it? i've been looking.
33 - Jordan Richardson
Heloise, I just have a few quibbles with your comment.
This isn't the site for news. This is Blogcritics. The idea is to be critical, to share opinions. This site is, to the best of my understanding, not designed for "breaking news" or other things of that ilk. Rather, this site is designed to be a hub of intelligent, shrewd individuals to offer commentary, opinion, "spin," and discussion about the issues that already have broken. We are not CNN.
This site should be nothing like HuffPo or any similar website. It should be what it is, only it should continue to strive to offer better content. And it does.
(Not sure what this little BC Rocks my Socks post has to do with "Politics," but hey...cool!)
34 - Cindy D
make that "double post"
35 - Heloise
You miss my point...I said what you said. We are NOT like Huffpo and hence why I think we are not the go-to blog news site. And we are not newsy but opiniony and erudity :)
I know what we are--been writing here for over two years...Duh? Are you saying that's cause I'm black?
And where the confusion comes in: maybe if we were more like their setup we might get more popular...just thinking out loud.
Heloise
36 - Jordan Richardson
I think we're plenty popular.
Your A and G confused me. You complain about articles sitting for hours (making news not so newsy, I think you said) and you say you would do more "news stuff" if you knew it wasn't going to "sit." You can understand how I might have reached my conclusion, yes? Or are you just purposely missing my point because I'm a white Canadian?
37 - Clavos
LOL, Jordan!
38 - zingzing
"Are you saying that's cause I'm black?"
POLLS CLOSE TOMORROW!
it will be ok.
39 - Cindy D
You are probably plenty popular. If you decide to prohibit opinions that are not mainstream left or right you can likely become more popular.
You can eventually become like any other site that bathes in the wealth of its popularity--of no consequence to anyone with a brain.
moon said something to this effect:
prohibido prohibir
It is prohibited to prohibit. I may have quoted it wrong. I only speak enough Spanish to get by in a Mexican marketplace (in other words if I am accommodated by very generous people in my experience).
I chose this particular site over left-wing sites. I thought it was unusual and attractive because so many different kinds of posters could express themselves.
I hope I am worthy of an answer. Why is moon gone?
40 - Heloise
zing, it better be. Because that so and so Arch just attacked Heloise. I've been blogging damn near ten years and no fucking blogger has ever been that vicious. I really fear for black people WHEN Obama wins because of shit like that from his ilk.
[personal attack deleted]
Heloise
41 - Jet
Okay zing, now I'll have to figure out what I did with that damned dictionary.
42 - Jet
Dear God, I hope Archness isn't Moonie in drag?!?
43 - Jordan Richardson
I think I'd like to take this time to remind some people around here that there are other sections on Blogcritics. There is a music section, a film/TV section, a sports section, a culture section, and even a section where you can learn about what the latest chocolate tastes like.
Yes, I maintain that we are plenty popular. And it has nothing to do with what wing someone's on. It has to do with the fact that we have good quality shit to read.
I'd also like to take this time to remind some people around here that there is a whole world out there. I suggest that after your joke of an election is over that many of you take a long walk, get some air, and maybe even spend some time with family or friends. Have a glass of wine, smoke a joint, do something else.
For the sake of humanity, do something else...
44 - Dave Nalle
D) We have good opinion articles but the exposure will come, somebody here just has to get famous!
Let's draw straws to see who takes a high-powered rifle and gets up on the nearest clocktower.
G) I would love to do more news stuff if I know it's not going to freakin sit.
If it's a time-sensitive news article we'll generally get it out pretty damned fast.
H) This site is NOT set up like say Huffpo which has blinking/chaning headlines
Sometimes screaming, ranting headlines.
I) Should be first maybe--THE politics here is overlorded by a right wing conservative. This is good news and bad news. The right reads us, but not really the left. I wanted us to get more political and lefty but I was outnumbered or out voted or the interest was not there. Not sure.
I want to make one point here which I think is badly needed. Most of the 'conservative' writers on this site are NOT the kind of conservatives you'd find on RedState or FreeRepublic (both of which have banned me). Many of us are not religious right people, and we're not rabid warmongers and we're not a bunch of nativists and hiomophobes. You lump us with them because we don't trust the democratic party or like their policies. Take a trip to a hardcore conservative site sometime and then come back to BC and tell us about it.
Dave
45 - Dr Dreadful
Cindy, the owners of Blogcritics banned Moon from the site some time ago, following an escalation of malevolence from her which culminated in a particularly offensive remark involving the wife of another commenter.
For some reason, Chris and I were under the impression that she had merely agreed voluntarily to stop commenting. So when she resurfaced, we let her stay - although, knowing her track record, we kept a close scrutiny on what she wrote.
However, Eric, Lisa and Phillip have now confirmed that Moon is not welcome on the site, and so we won't be hearing from her again.
If you have any further questions, I suggest you contact Eric.
46 - Heloise
Dave, thanks for your reply. And I know you were kidding when referring to the nut who got on the tower at UT Austin, but please don't use gun, tower and rifle in the same sentence or metaphor or kidding. It makes me nervous...I was talking about getting on TV or recognized for a book or something.
Yes, you are correct. I read and listen to the shows you reference. Sean and Rush give the right a black eye. For a long time I had no idea you were Republican or conservative. Hell, what am I talking about I'm conservative. Voted for the president (whomever won) for many elections.
I am a centrist and would appreciate it if everyone were. But truth be told Rush and Sean agreed with me on the bailout...it shouldn't been done.
I wanted to write an article "Bailout Meet Bonfire" WTF happened to our dough? And you seemed to think a bailout was okay.
Heloise
PS: No more rifle references...please
47 - Clavos
Damn well.
48 - Jet
Funny, you never see bumper stickers that say "I VOTED FOR BUSH TWICE!"
49 - Cindy D
Thanks for your reply Dr.D
50 - Cindy D
And Dr.D,
I wasn't here in the past. So, I can't have any opinion on it. I didn't see anything current that warranted banning. So, I am relieved that it was not something current.
51 - Cindy D
ROFLOL @ Jet!
52 - Cindy D
But still,
I am extraordinarily sad about moon. I will try to write a letter, not that I expect anything to come of it.
She had a lot to offer in terms of challenging the "conventional wisdom". It's very, very important to have a person like that involved in any debate.
53 - Dave Nalle
Cindy, feel free to send me an email and I'll give you the details on Moon's departure privately. It's not something we need to hash over again here. My email is on the front politics page.
Dave
54 - Dave Nalle
Yes, you are correct. I read and listen to the shows you reference. Sean and Rush give the right a black eye. For a long time I had no idea you were Republican or conservative. Hell, what am I talking about I'm conservative. Voted for the president (whomever won) for many elections.
There are indeed many kinds of conservatives. If you want to hear a conservative talk show host who makes sense and isn't a ranting nut, see if you can find Neal Boortz. As I recall he is on somewhere in your area. I was able to pick him up when I was there last fall.
I wanted to write an article "Bailout Meet Bonfire" WTF happened to our dough? And you seemed to think a bailout was okay.
Me? Come again? I wrote the first of a small number of BC articles questionijng the need for a bailout.
Dave
55 - troll
it is a mistake to silence Martha's voice
...just my opinion but y'all know that already
56 - Mark Schannon
Heloise & others. Thanks for good comments. As for news stories, Jordon, there was a time when we/I worked hard to get hard & timely news stories out daily & the editors (I was one at that point) worked just as hard to get them published fast.
Case in point. My article yesterday about the polls closing the case for ol' Jug Ears. Was published within an hour.
And as for the left vs right, Dave's right that while the righties seem to predominate, except for a few, they're not the nutballs...usually. We used to have more liberals...me among them...and I hope to be here more often.
And, as for the posts vs. the comments, the problem with opinion is that unless it's very cleverly written, it's just that--opinion. The interesting stuff happens when bright people start debating it, which happens more on this site than others.
Whew. I'm tired & need a nap.
57 - Clavos
The interesting stuff happens when bright people start debating it, which happens more on this site than others.
This the chief reason why, when I accidentally stumbled on BC over two years ago, I stuck around.
Quoted for Truth.
58 - Clavos
My article yesterday about the polls closing the case for ol' Jug Ears. Was published within an hour.
So was Heloise's last. She even thanked me for it...
59 - Ruvy
I have to agree that it was a mistake to silence Marthe's voice - but the decision apparently arose from the owners and top manager of the site. We all publish and comment here by their leave, a point well worth remembering.
Frankly, while the level of discourse here isn't terrible, I've noticed the same arguments over and over and over again. It does get very tiresome.
On the other hand, original thinking is tiresome. Trying to get an original thought in some of the Jewish sites I'm on is even harder than getting a point across here....
However, at some of the other sections the comments get even worse, especially the ones that seem devoted to fans. The comments editors will know the sites I'm talking about. They are doomed to read every single comment on here, and I suspect that the "kiddie" sites (Y U HATAS ALWAYS RITN THAT SHIT?) are the ones where they take Tylenol or aspirin before reading. What kids used to writing text messages do to English is shameful.
One article on Japanese racism against whites has inspired so many hateful and idiotic comments (most of which have not only nothing to do with the article but display more than adequately why the Japanese should be contemptuous of both whites and blacks) that they make the nastiest comments here look like sweetness and light by comparison.
60 - zingzing
dave--trying to email you about that moon thing. but the republic... email is sending back an error.
61 - Dr Dreadful
troll @ #55, Ruvy @ 59:
Indeed, gentlemen.
62 - Baronius
Maybe the Moon thing isn't worth recounting, but there are enough newcomers to this site like Cindy who should probably hear the story.
Moon was on this site a few years back, for maybe 8 months. During that time she posted thousands of times. Most of those would eventually be deleted as personal attacks. It became impossible to decipher comments threads, as people would be responding to removed comments, and some of those would be removed as well. I'm not faulting the Comments Editors; they did an amazing job removing all the insults.
Moon had pet attacks for different people. Some guys were gay, or had small equipment. A few gals were fat and needed to have more sex. Everyone was a liar and a moron, and many of us were murderers. On an average visit, 3-4 of the 5 Fresh Comments would be insults from Moon.
Moon had her defenders, a few of them. Of course, as Lisa recently found out, it didn't matter if you agreed with Moon. She'd find a reason to harass you. But some people felt that the greater crime would be silencing her. (I was not one of them.) Eventually, she came up with a couple of pet attacks that got her removed from the site.
We lost quite a few interesting people during those months.
63 - Cindy D
Baronius,
Thank you for your consideration. I just emailed Dave and I thank him for his.
My experience with moon was, like zing's (before she was banned). I was afraid to talk directly to her. I feared her. Though I had a gut respect for her. When she came back during my brief time here, I finally engaged her. I found that illuminating. Her viewpoint is one that gets no voice in our culture.
In the words of Mark Schannon, whom I have come to respect in my short reading of him, and who has not expressed any opinions that would suggest a ban,
"And what did happen to Moon. She's been cranky but not particularly nasty in the comments I've seen. We need her...."
I think moon is a vital voice in a community such as Blogcritics and a unique and necessary voice. Why not dwell on the present, rather than the past?
64 - zingzing
see, cindy, the thing is that moon was pushing people away from the site. having her around was fun (and i was never scared of her, i just lost respect for her,) but her being around meant that a BUNCH of interesting points of view were being lost. a lot of people would stop showing up if she was around. so she had to go.
were you able to get through to dave's email? mine just bounced back.
65 - zingzing
but i hate to see a banning. even just one man should be allowed back in. as disgusting as i find him, i'm sure he found me equally so. and i can be quite offensive when i want to be.
66 - Jet
No Comment, Zing
67 - zingzing
that, in itself, dear sir, is a comment. and i am deeply troubled by it. if you are commenting on what i think you are commenting on. and then if you are, i don't deserve it! i am innocent! a lamb...
68 - Cindy D
zing,
Then I guess i was mistaken. Our impressions were decidedly not the same.
69 - zingzing
meh--i didn't disagree with MUCH of what she had to say, politically. other than her ridiculous racism and constant charges of sexism. i respected her opinion and knowledge on SOME subjects.
but i just didn't like the way she "communicated" with others. it was... bitchy, to say the least.
70 - Cindy D
zing,
Dave's email:
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 unrouteable address (state 14).
Whatever the fuck that may mean.
Sorry Zing, I did not mean to recount your position as "fearful" of moon.
I merely related to some post or other you made. Probably in my imagination.
71 - zingzing
cindy--after i tried sending the email the traditional way, i went to the republic of dave website and used the "contact" portion of the website. maybe that will work. but i haven't heard back from him yet.
72 - Cindy D
I am likely to think that the entire fucking world is probably something I imagined.
It's all GOOD! There is no injustice--anywhere! You may all go back to your cubicles.
73 - Jordan Richardson
It's getting mighty weird around here...
74 - Cindy D
yes weird indeed, perhaps I should fear for my posting privilege.
75 - Baronius
Cindy, I know the least satisfying answer in the world is "you had to be there". Me, I'll talk to anyone, but there was no point in talking to Moon.