During the Webb/Miller primary and deep into the 2006 general election campaign, Mr. Burke continued an astonishing campaign of personal attacks against Lowell, RK, Jim Webb, and Webb supporters.
Here are a few "greatest hits" posted anonymously by Mr. Burke:
"Lowell, like Goebbels, wants to be the master of misinformation about Webb and a CENSOR of free speech.""Commissar Feld deserves to be punished for his totalitarian actions. He is not a Democrat. He is not a Marxist. He is not even a Communist. He is a Stalinist!"
"Feld deserves to be held accountable for the damage he is reaping on the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, too many people are afraid to confront him because he will aim his Webb attack dogs at those who do take umbrage with his rants."
"Once people realize that Commissar Feld (and some others) censor their blogs to eliminate opposing views, Pravda (formerly RK) loses any impact it might have had. It is just a "house organ" for Webb and, unfortunately for Lowell, he is going to have to suck on that "organ" when Webb loses."
"But like most bullies, Jim Webb shrinks from the actual fight and hides behind the coattails of his band of bullies."
"That is why Webb left the job of Reagan's Navy Secretary, he didn't want to give the men and women of the military a pay raise. Helping the big defense contractors build more ships was more important to him."
Consider that many of these attacks were leveled AFTER Jim Webb secured our party's nomination for the US Senate. Yes, the Chairman of the 11th District Democrats likened Lowell Feld, a Jewish American, to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Could there be a more despicable personal attack or proof of personal vendetta?
RK is one of a handful of state blogs recently selected to report from the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. This weekend, Mr. Burke took it upon himself to circulate a petition among Virginia Democratic Delegates which would remove RK's "embedding" privileges. In the process Mr. Burke engaged in a campaign of guilt by association and personal destruction. He has impugned the integrity of Lowell and this blog in general, accused RK of "pay for play" blogging, and through his ignorance of basic internet protocols such as "links," has accused RK of the worst kinds of excesses perpetrated by others.
All this would be laughable, except that Burke has apparently convinced several others that RK should be stripped of the rights and privileges it was granted by the DNC. That's not just reprehensible; it's the height of hypocrisy coming from an individual who is clearly driven by ignorance, paranoia, nastiness, and vendetta.
We understand that Mr. Burke has his reasons to attack RK, and that some within the Democratic establishment are shocked that mere bloggers or grassroots activists might have the temerity to question their manifest authority over all things within Democratic politics. Current Democratic elders do not hold permanent title on all powers within the Democratic Party. Those of us who make calls, knock on doors, write letters, meet with members of Congress, and attend our party meetings have our own opinions. If we have questions about policy, current office holders like Mr. Burke can listen or not, but they're not going to shut us up. In short, we're here to stay, we're not going away.
When Mr. Burke says things like these...
...are we going to see Lowell cover the Obama delegates, but ignore or ridicule the Clinton delegates? Will politicians that Lowell dislikes (like Connolly and apparently Kaine) get no coverage while Lowell's chosen ones get massive coverage?
...it is beyond reprehensible. Clinton delegates have every right to attend the convention, and Lowell has proven through years of dedicated service his own devotion to Democrats of all stripes and progressive politics in general.
When Mr. Burke Says things like this...
...WE JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO BE EMBEDDED with the Virginia delegation on the floor where you have the potential to embarrass and hurt good Democrats you may not agree with, insult good Democrats you may not like for whatever reason, or eviscerate good Democratic candidates who refuse to pay you to write favorable stuff about them.
...it just makes him look like a fool.
Lowell Feld is one of the nation's pre-eminent local bloggers. He was a leader in the "Draft Wes Clark" movement in 2003. Along with Eric Grim, he co-founded RK in January 2005 and was a leading voice in "blogging Tim Kaine into the Governor's mansion". He initiated the "Draft James Webb" movement in January 2006, tirelessly championing Webb's historic primary and general election campaigns, the latter as a member of Webb's campaign staff (among other things, Lowell helped raise millions of dollars online for Webb). In 2007, Lowell and the rest of RK helped raise over $25,000 for Virginia Democrats. In 2008, Lowell and the rest of RK worked hard to ensure that Barack Obama won the Virginia primary.
More broadly, RK is recognized as the leading Democratic blog in the Virginia political blogsphere, which itself is lauded as one of the most well-developed and sophisticated in the nation. Lowell and Texas blogging savant Nate Wilcox are the authors of Netroots Rising, coming out June 30, which has already been hailed as one of the most sophisticated histories of the rise of the internet in political organizing.
In short, Virginia Democrats could not ask for a more qualified, higher-profile blogger to represent them at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Lowell should be judged on his merits, his years of service to the Democratic Party, and his history of leadership excellence, not on the hearsay and defamatory fear mongering of a vengeful political adversary, regardless of his station.
The tradition of Democratic politics is this: we join the fight for the soul of our party during primaries. Afterwards, we come together, heal wounds, and unite for the general election. As the Webb/Miller battle in 2006 and the Clinton/Obama contests of 2008 have shown, that kind of engagement makes for stronger candidates and inspired activists. But there are those sad and disgraceful few, like George Burke, who seem incapable of letting bygones be bygones, and who let their own personal ego issues get in the way of Democratic unity and the future of the party.
In a year which will signal one of the greatest political realignments in American history, perhaps it is time for the likes of George Burke to grow up, put salve their bruised egos, and get on with the critical business of winning elections and governing effectively.
This message issued jointly by the RK Executive Committee:
The Grey Havens
The Green Miles
Eric
Rob
Lowell
code
teacherken
P.S. With regard to Ben Tribbett, he is an astute, knowledgeable observer of Virginia politics who often provides superb analysis. He has done great work for Democrats over the years. Having said that, there are certainly times when he goes "over the top" and ad hominem in his blogging. RK does not condone that. True, we link to NLS, but so do most Virginia Democratic blogs (and numerous national blogs). This entire issue of NLS's occasional rhetorical excesses is simply a huge red herring by George Burke to stir up anger against ALL the blogs, which he can't control and therefore hates. It should be obvious to any fair-minded observer that George Burke's conflation of RK and NLS is intentionally misleading and false. If George Burke has issues with Ben Tribbett, he should take them up with Tribbett directly, not use those issues to tar RK with the same brush.
just kidding
I'm going to stoke speculation with a "no comment".
When I saw this in the Onion earlier today and then read your comment, I put two and two together... hmmmm.
For what it is worth, I do not hide my identify - my real name is Kenneth Bernstein, and I reside in Arlington. There can be legitimate reasons for people to blog under pseudonyms, perhaps because of the nature of their employment. Mr. Burke chooses to attack bloggers even as he himself has used pseudonyms to attack others - something quite inappropriate given his role as a party leader.
For better or worse, Ben Tribbett speaks for no one except himself. When one of us posts here we as members of the executive board sometimes make distinctions: if I post something on the front page, or elevate the work of someone else, it does not mean that it is intended to speak for the whole board, but that it is something I think worthy of that attention. If I post something particularly personal I do not put it on the front page, but instead post it as a diary.
When we speak as board, we consult and we make it clear that it is a board statement.
We as a board are not of a single mind on many issues and many races. We have not as yet endorsed in the forthcoming gubernatorial contest, even though our members have their current predilections.
When we link to something it may be not that we approve of it, but because we want to expose the erroneous quality of its argument.
Vebdettas should not be a part of Democratic politics, regardless of against whom or on behalf of whom they are fought.
Having said that, do not expect us to shy away from controversy. Nor should you expect that we, as individuals or collectively as a board, will be dictated to by individuals who temporarily hold party office merely because they dislike whom we, in a free exercise of our political rights, choose to support or oppose.
We are Democrats. We compete in a spirited fashion in primaries. That is what primaries are for. And we will not cease from that, any more than we would expect Goerge Burke or Ben Tribbett or anyone else to cease from it.
At the end of the day, we need to be able to come together in order to win general elections.
Chap Petersen and Leslie Byrne had a spirited contest for the nomination for Lt. Gov. Chap supported Leslie in the general, she supported him for state senate and he supported her in this Congressional primary. That we may be on opposing sides in primaries should NOT lead to such a divide that we can not come together for the common good.
This is a personal statement.
Peace.
That said, it is worth noting that it would be nice to see some of Leslie Byrne's supporters work on their fellow supporters to bring them into the fold behind all of our nominees this cycle. I don't doubt that the brain trust here is united for a Democratic victory, just some of its allies.
I'd also politely ask you to consider whether linking to Mr. Tribbett's 64-part series broadly entited "Gerry Connolly sucks" in a post from one of the above-signed front-pagers (see here: http://www.raisingkaine.com/sh... might not be construed by a reasonable person as an endorsement of the over-the-top rhetoric that you above say you do not condone.
I certainly agree Mr. Burke should find the strength within himself to let it go, but I don't think he's the only person who needs to take a silent minute for self-reflection on this matter.
And I'm sorry, but I do not find anything at the link you provide for this site.
While I don't completely agree with your assessment that my link, yes it was mine, was an endorsement of over-the-top rhetoric, I do recognize that I should take greater care with my links and with the context that those links are presented. Linking is an integral part of the web [why it's called the web :-)] and as such not every link should be taken as an endorsement of whatever is linked to. Sometimes the link itself is a poor choice, sometimes it's just the context in which the link is presented. And that is one of things I'm going to take away from this situation.
I mean really .... was it an accident the Senator Webb invited Lowell to sit in on his speech to the National Press Club??
I personally wouldn't bother with this site if I didn't respect the talented pieces and thoughtful views that make their way to RK.
As far the Lowell watch is concerned .... I'm figuring that he's pushing to get NETROOTs on the street.
2) if Ben had posted those things on RK, we would have taken action, as we have in more than a few cases where people's rhetoric has been inflammatory
3) if you think we have not been critical of NLS, you are sadly mistaken.
Ben isn't "one of our own", he's his own person and makes his own decisions. If he goes over the top, that's his decision. We do what we can to keep that kind of thing under control here and count on our community to help us make sure things don't get out of control.
First off, RK may currently be the most effective broadbased communication tool in Virginia politics for either party. It serves to quickly and effectively disseminate information, offers a platform for those who wish to share ideas or intel, and if it has not been more successful it is only because it is not more widely embraced. I wish we had something like it in the GOP.
It is a pity when party officials of any flavor condemn new people, ideas, methods, or opportunities simply because they disagree or cannot control that which is new. An unfortunate combination of this plus personal pique seems to be driving Mr. Burke.
As a partisan, I feel like I should thank Mr. Burke for helping the GOP by causing rancor and trying to shut out RK. I don't see that trying to revoke the credentials for one of the most effective communication tools the Demos have makes much sense.
As a blogger and political observer who believes that the real test of things like blogs should be in the marketplace of ideas, I think this fit of pique a blunder that will not serve Mr. Burke well in the long run.
Bottom line: Why do you actively try to hobble your best horse just as the big race is coming up? Makes no sense to me.
Wish we could woo you from the "dark side", a strong voice like yours would truly be welcome in progressive politics.
Thanks for your 2cents. I'll throw 'em down the well and wish for a higher level of political discourse across the Virginia blogsphere for years to come.
I have always thought the self-titled name of this blog, "The Progressive Voice of Progressive Virginia" has been a little off. If it truly were, it would publish stories from all sides, not just the chosen candidate of choice in a primary.
There were many, many progressive Democrats who voted for Gerry Connolly, Harris Miller and Mike Turner who wouldn't mind hearing about their candidate of choice or not being insulted for choosing to vote for their candidate. Far too often, this blog and others have looked too much like a schoolyard fight instead of an intelligent discussion on the issues.
I know I will see someone post, "write your own blog." That's fine. I posted a complaint here and I assume someone will try to take me to task for it. However, don't paint yourself as "the voice of progressive Virginia" if you're not going to be fair to all sides.
Other than that, this blog is written and run very, very well. There is a reason I stop here at least once per day.
You do great work and I would truly appreciate hearing more from you here in the future. I would love to see you as a regular contributor.
Meanwhile, I agree that there is a strong need for a broader spectrum of voices at RK, the door is always open.
Please don't be a stranger.
We get better as a community and a party when we can hash things out in this forum. Yes it gets heated, sometimes it goes beyond the pale, but I think you'll agree that the effect overall has been a net positive.
The problem with Burke and some others is that they seem to be comfortable with the blogosphere only up until it poses any sort of threat to their vision of how the party should run. The tactics they employed toward Charlie Hall are a great example of how party unity comes second to consolidation of power and punishment for those who pursue a different vision. This behavior toward Lowell is another example of Mr. Burke acting on the bitterness of the recent primary (from which this community seems to have largely moved on by the way) to punish a fellow Democrat for "heresy" as he and his compatriots perceive it.
I for one hope Mr. Burke will release his vendetta and allow us all to focus on the much bigger tasks at hand this year, and allow Lowell to head to the convention and represent us well, as he always has.
Those of us in the rest of Virginia recognize RK for what it is. An opportunity for the people who run the place to be in the good graces of Democrats. Granted, there was a lot of work done here during the Webb candidacy. However, not residing in NOVA means that I just look at RK from afar, wondering what might have been.
The 'democratic blogs thank you' segment of a post a few days ago made my eyebrows go up. There are other blogs, and they also support Democrats. Please don't deign to speak for all of us.
I guess the best that I can say is, don't be so full of yourselves. You aren't better than sliced bread. This isn't the only or even the best blog in Virginia.
If there was one shred of humility over here, I wouldn't mind taking part again. I left, because I saw very few instances of downstate anything being talked about. This blog is overwhelmingly about Northern Virginia, and you should just admit it.
I have no opinion about Geo Burke or any of that kerfuffle. However, if there is one thing that looks horrible, is a situation that is allowed to get to this point without someone finding a resolution. I don't care one way or the other.
Have fun, but remember, the rest of the Commonwealth blogs too, and they also occasionally get to talk to high-up politicians. You're just not that special over here. And yeah, that means Lowell too.
Frankly, I am getting kind of bored with the whole thing.
One of our biggest concerns has always been getting more voices from around the commonwealth.
While I take umbrage at your assertion that RK is a
An opportunity for the people who run the place to be in the good graces of Democrats.
I certainly understand how some things come off looking pretty ripe from outside.
I consider you a real friend from way back, so this comment really bums me out. I, for one, would absolutely LOVE to have you put more of your expert analysis and commentary here at RK.
I know we don't do justice to the 5th. I'm a big fan of Perriello, but with the 11th battles going on up here, it's been tough. When we have posted in favor of Tom in the past, solid activists like Jackson in the 5th who I respect have really taken after us... pretty ruthlessly.
I'd welcome having you post here all the darned time if you could, we need your voice.
Oh and one more thing, I was only thanking Moran for giving the blogs a shout out in his speech. I think James Martin is the only front pager at RK who has decided who to support for 2009, and he's in the tank for Creigh.
I used to be around here a lot. Then it changed, around January 2006. No longer were we able to let it all hang out. No longer would we escape troll ratings or administrative wrist-slapping if we cursed.
If I thought these issues resonated enough, or had some traction for anyone, I might still be posting here.
As it is, I see it as a situation where I need to inform Democrats. On my own blog, DemCentral, or others. If I were to do a drive-by here, I would feel like I wasn't giving it the attention I need. Just as you all can't give everything the attention it deserves.
Some of you might be surprised that my county went 75-25 Obama. That is good for the future.
I would have to think a long time about posting here again. There have also been some bad feelings that never got cured. I am thinking of a certain essay written by the proprietor that basically said that the rest of Virginia doesn't matter. I know he apologized, but for me and others, that was the last straw.
I basically publish here during the election season. I hope everything goes well over here for you.
Mark Brooks
Cursing isn't allowed, that's just part of the community rules, nothing we can do about that. I read DemCentral daily, and I'd love to have you or cvillelaw crosspost whenever you've got something you think might be of interest.
As for the whole "ROVA don't matter" issue, I'd have to get some context. If someone once believed that, I can't believe anyone does now. Nobody's thought that since long before Warner was elected. Hell, if there's one thing RK is founded on it's trying to unite all of the "4 Virginias" under Democratic leadership.
These open discussions are the heart of what we try to do here. Any day without soul searching is a day wasted, and RK has never claimed to be perfect. We're happy when people say we're "the best", or "outstanding", or "fantastic", but the day people start thinking we're perfect is the day we know we have REAL trouble.
The point here is that this community is you.
With the exception of Lowell and Eric who founded the darned place, every member of the exec and every front page blogger came from the ranks of the diarists and commenters here.
Honestly, running this place is lonely work, and the more contributions from the members the more alive this place becomes.
TGH
P.S. I think there's been maybe 5 joint declarations in the 3 years that RK has been in operation.
Case in point: you're a big fan of Sean Holihan? That's nice. It makes you a member of a very large club, as everyone is a fan of Sean Holihan. I've known Sean for a decade, and in that time I have never heard a soul say anything bad about him. But while you addressed your personal admiration for Sean, you didn't address his observation that "far too often, this blog and others have looked too much like a schoolyard fight instead of an intelligent discussion on the issues." Sean's point is not only related to the monolithic perspective that's lately been offered here, but the tone in which perspectives are offered, and you didn't acknowledge or address that.
It's not the first time the observation has been made, so I'm wondering if it will ever be addressed?
The rules here at RK are designed to encourage as broad a discussion as possible. They are set by the executive committee who were selected because they've been the ones who were here fighting it out day in and day out over the last 3 election cycles. This blog and the thousands of words a day we produce don't just happen by themselves and nobody gets paid for the stuff that hits the pages here.
All of this discussion starts to sound eventually like the guys who said they'd commit suicide if Bush won in 2004. Limbaugh basically said, give me a break, if you want to win, convince people. It was possibly the only intelligent thing Limbaugh has ever said. He was right.
As for the "schoolyard" issue, we strive to maintain the level of discussion at RK. We aren't perfect. We live in a grey area filled with conflict, controversy and varied interests, and when it's push time, we aren't afraid to hit hard. On issues, on policies, on vision, on character, we are not afraid to take our position to the mat, but everything we do is driven by the passion for progressive principles; among them inclusiveness, decency, courage. We keep those principles at heart and seek to practice them.
Finally, we are responsible for what happens at this blog. Sean's comment, "far too often, this blog and others have looked too much like a schoolyard fight", refers to others. We just can't control speech on the internet, again.
If you and/or Sean want to contribute to elevating the conversation and adding alternative viewpoints, I encourage and invite you to do that and to continue to do that here.
We'd love to have contributions from other regions on the front page. Again, it's not easy to recruit writers from all regions - or, at least it hasn't been easy for us. If you'd like to contribute, or have ideas about how to find more writers, please let us know.
We would love to have regular participants from further downstate, because we know we lack the on-the-ground insight.
And we'd love your voice, if you chose to share it periodically. And it's okay to cross-post with a link back, as I sometimes do w/dkos pieces.
Feel free to contact me directly at kber at earthlink dot net if you want to chat further. And if you give me a phone# I'll be happy to eat the call. now that school's out I have lots of extra cell minutes.
Still thinking of that time at Sweet Caroline's in Winchester listening to the Texas Chainsaw Horns and Rena.
Oh, and in case you didn't see, Carnacki got one of the scholarships to Netroots Nation!
Peace.
Would I have liked to see more pro-Hillary diaries on the front page? Sure. Was it frustrating at time? Yes. But was it unfair? No.
At the end of the day, a blog is private property. Personally, I think RK hurt itself by not being more even-handed during the Obama-Clinton battle, at least about letting pro-Hillary diaries on the front page and I suspect in the fight in the 11th), but that is for RK to decide. It opted to endorse Obama, and as a reader and occasional diarist with a different opinion, I respected that (I don't mean to imply that you didn't, Sean).
In fact, RK provided me with a forum for expressing my opinion -- opposed to that of the site -- that was beyond anything I could have created on my own. My views were criticized by Lowell, but never censored.
I explained to several of the parties involved, that from my vast experience (being old has a few advantages) in not-for-profit and volunteer organizations, especially those for which the membership always has passionate feelings, problems like the one that started 2 summers ago have a bad habit of growing into something bigger as they feed on the frustrations and anger of each new episode in the "soap opera". At the fear of being "troll rated" again by Ben like he did last time, I tried this (check the ratings) back in December to get both sides into a neutral public forum in a controlled environment to get the old stuff out of the way with appropriate appologies and actions and open a respectful dialog on new stuf and concerns....
I have had several of the elected national delegates specifically say they wanted nothing to do with having Ben embedded for the damage he has done consistantly to anybody he has a vendetta with or the rediculous and no longer "cute" ratings he gives attendees of various functions. Unfortunately RK or Lowell in particular by his association with some of Ben's escapades has taken collateral damage which itself has become seperately infected and made this worse.....
I also deeply respect Lowell's efforts, insight, and contributions in general, but there are MANY non-blogging members OF THE PARTY who don't have the advantage of reading all the GOOD stuff here and even on NLS when Ben is doing an analysis.
I talked to George as recently as this morning on several other topics and he is still agreeable to a public resolution of this and other problems. To respect his side of the story, and there is one, recognize that there has been attempts even by him to explain the current issues and resolve them if possible immediately, however all the ancient (2 yrs ago) history gets drug out as the reason for this problem and it isn't him alone. Infact he feels he is doing his elected job to represent the other members of the 11th CD Committee and others from the state committee who were the real source of the petition....
For all the criticisms that have been leveled at George in this diary, in my opinion, he still does an amazing job of serving his committee membership as good or better than most anyone I have observed since becoming active on NoVa politics. The facts are we NEED people with his expertise and Lowell's as well as the rest of the RK team in this incredibly active election year....
You of some kind have a keyboard obviously. Why don't you use it? Or is this better because you are in a hurry to rate me?
I think that the Party should tell all imbedded bloggers that if reports from the Convention (it IS a PRIVILEGE, not a RIGHT to be there by the way) are made in bad taste, in an offensive manner, in a manner that invades people's right to privacy or right to have a good time (the pursuit of happiness includes the right to have a little fun), then the Party will make sure that the NATIONAl party is given the name of that blogger, and this will be taken into consideration when granting privileges again next time.
This isn't squelching free speech. The right to exercise free speech only applies to the right to be free from unreasonable GOVERNMENT intrusion into free speech. Last time I checked the Democratic Party wasn't an official branch of the U.S. Government unless our Constitution has been changed in the last few days.
I think everyone should move on and "get over" past offenses, and that the Party should admit these bloggers with the warning that they behave live grown ups and represent the Party well, or they won't be invited back again.
At the end of the day, the problem with Burke's position is that he opposes any blogger not controlled by the Democratic party being embedded with the delegation.
This just makes no sense to me from a strategic perspective.
Blogs are a powerful tool that empowers individuals to participate more directly in the political process than at any time in our history. Why the Democratic Party would want to get on the wrong side of history is simply beyond me.
Also, RK is the proper blog to be embedded with the state delegation because while it is true that RK occassionally takes shots at Democrats like Clinton and Connally, it is the top progressive blog in the state.
And that is exactly the point: The embedded blogs should represent the Progressive citizens of Virginia as reflected in their reading choices, not the Democratic party elite. the Democratic party has a already has a PR arm to churn out reams of propaganda.
Ben gave several full game plans to the Repugs for the 11th CD race, probably worse than any other candidate in at least this state if not the country. Going negative on Connolly to a level inside the party that probably has never been seen before.... How can that not be considered ???? We don't need to damage our own, the other side will do their best in the fall....
Perhaps there are some ground rules that could be established -- I don't know, and I am certainly not the person to micro-manage the process, but journalists and the subjects of their reporting agree to such rules all the time to allow for fair and full reporting, but also to make sure the people they are covering have a comfortable environment in which to meet their responsibilities.
Perhaps ground rules wont work and the delegates will simply need to accept that times have changed and adjust their behavior accordingly.
It won't be the first time people or an industry have had to adjust to a disruptive technology.
As for irresponsible reporting on blogs well, you got me there. There sure is plenty of that. I don't mean to be so sanguine about it -- it sucks to be the object of that. But nor do I know what to do about it. I just know that blocking the blogs is not the answer.
I can't speak for NLS, as I don't read it frequently, but it doesn't seem to me that Lowell's reporting has ever been objectionable or inappropriate, even if his commentary is sometimes strident or snarky. That's what makes the blog a good one.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Among other things, it recounts how the story about Obama's remarks about certain voters being bitter was broken by a blogger -- who was an Obama supporter!
This example shows clearly that a blogger may be openly supporting a candidate and a party, yet at the same time may feel compelled to honor conflicting duties and loyalties as a journalist, and report something out that is quite damaging.
So it is understandable that there would be people who would wonder why it is worth it to take that kind of risk, in this year especially.
I can't help but think about all the reporters and other journalists who have been riding around on McCain's bus, and who have decided among themselves to take McCain off the record on occasions when he has said something off the wall.
That will be very difficult to achieve if they are placed in a holding pen to merely document the official convention proceedings -- which all of us will be able to stream online anyway.
Lowell writes as honestly and with as much integrity as anyone in the blogsphere and deserves the benefit of the doubt that his writing and reporting will be beyond reproach. The problem really seems to be with another personality due to some of his past editorial decisions. Finding a way to deal with that issue is fair game, imo.
Jim Webb has proven himself to be a statesman, a leader, an intellectual, and someone who stands up for what he believes unlike so many other politicians who live and die by the dictates of opinion polls. The tipping point for me was when he wrote and delivered what I believe to be the best Democratic response ever to the President's State of the Union address.
Webb's legislative work in the Senate has been superlative, his staff is top-notch, and he has put forth strong, credible and effective messages in the media and on the Sunday talk shows.
The quality of Webb's character was highlighted when he appeared recently on Late Night with David Letterman as part of his book tour. Webb was genuinely humble about his heroism during Vietnam when he demurely sidestepped serious questions from Letterman about his Navy Cross and other honors he received. Finally, Letterman himself had to explain the significance of the Navy Cross to his audience and viewers.
I was proud when Senator Webb agreed to be a member of the 11th CD Committee and subsequently delivered a great speech that was informative, inspiring, and unifying before our 11th CD Convention in May. Jim Webb is my senator, he is every Virginian's senator, as much as he is yours.
I say this because this will be my last post on RK. I am tired of reading anonymous quotes attributed to me and having my positions analyzed and character questioned by a group of people who don't even know me. I also have learned by experience that any activity conducted by the 11th CD Committee, including the three 11th CD debates we sponsored and I moderated, will continue to get short shrift or no mention at all on this blog and NLS if I continue to engage you.
I will no longer darken your doorstep so you and Ben can find other characters and "villains" to assassinate with hyperbole.
However, I will repeat the invitation for Lowell and Ben to appear on my TV show. The offer has been extended more than once by my producer who regularly communicates with Lowell, but so far those invitations have been declined.
I adjourn sine die... so your flames will go unanswered.
See, this is why nothing has been done about George Burke. Trying to explain IP addresses to the him and his buddies in Fairfax Co. is like trying to teach a dog long division.
While that might leave an out for George, that he was working with (or sharing a computer with) the infamous TPP, is a long shot but still possible. I'll give you that. However, some of the language and phraseology were identical or very similar, removing much of that doubt.
What are the odds that the same IP address (especially if the IP's were dynamic as you describe) appears on multiple postings over many days on two different blogs as both TPP and George himself and the writing style is similar between both of these posters?
Is it possible that George is not TPP? Sure - but very unlikely given the two different indicators. Would it hold water in a court of law? No. But then again, they can get hold of ISP records which would verify beyond any doubt who did it.
A unique IP address is by a location usually, not a specic user or computer
The Grey Havens
The Green Miles
Eric
Rob
Lowell
code
teacherken
and while I'm at it, James Martin - James frontpages stuff with fair frequency, why isn't he considered RK (which by the way, I might have to start referring to as Raising Kaine again because its refusal to recognize our liberal (albeit unfortunately weakened) governor is getting about as annoying as "the Democrat Party") "Executive Staff"?
Which basically means he's free to post whatever he wants*, but he doesn't know the secret handshake.
The biggest gripe I have about the Democratic Committees is that the leaders tend to run them like exclusive clubs, for the members and by the members. They don't seem to realize or care that there are Democrats both inside AND outside the committees.
I realize this is a generalization, but I think, as a rule, it applies.
I read RK daily, and miss Lowell's frequent updates already only a couple of days after he stopped posting. I know that RK is the best progressive community blog in any state, and it has been hugely influential in several recent elections. What get's discussed here is the most pertinent political story of the hour, and that has been consistently true for a few years.
I know where influence is, and I know who will be forgotten.
The DNC is not led by dumb people, they see that same impact.
No reason to be upset about whatever Mr Burke says; no one is paying him any mind.
Sure, sometimes we go a little overboard (some of the anti-Connolly stuff was way over the top), but considering the free-wheeling ways of the blogosphere, RK's often thoughtful, well-researched, well-written posts stand out for their quality.
Burke has done a good job of mastering the video medium but doesn't seem to get that series of tubes called the Internet. And he is fighting against the tide -- the DPVA itself is changing and he will be left behind if he doesn't figure out how to accomodate the rising generations and their new cultural institutions.
Having said all that, I think that RK would be better served if we put more distance between ourselves and NLS. I stopped reading NLS a long time ago because it always felt like wallowing in a dumpster. Although Ben's analyses of the numbers are often brilliant, his willingness to say anything about anyone, no matter how despicable -- and let his commenters do the same -- is the exact opposite of what I think we are all about here at RK.
The more closely associated RK is with a scum festival like NLS, the more we open ourselves to attacks from people like Burke.
I personally am glad people on RK scan through the stuff on NLS and quote the bits worth repeating; it means I don't have to wade through the muck myself. So thank you to the RK folks willing to do that.
This is a free speech society, and Ben and George are both within their rights to say whatever they like, subject to defamation and libel laws; as are the many posters on RK. Of course, proving that a specific person wrote or spoke a specific post can be difficult, so in practice speech on the internet is a little freer than it would be in the town square.
Besides, close association with Ben by a few older and wiser people, whom he respects, may help curb the more libelous and inflammatory statements before they happen. So let Ben (and George) rant all they want. Have someone help them realize when they've really gone too far. Continue to associate with them and to call them out when they go too far. I like the free society of people willing to speak their mind.
Connolly is consumed with holding power. Burke and some others seem to want to keep the Party apparatus in the hands of a small clique. They did lose a recent Party election in Fairfax. Unfortunately, Connolly fooled enough people to be able to buy the Democratic nomination for Congress from the 11th CD.
Grassroots activists including me and many others have done a lot of heavy lifting, particularly in the '06 Senate race. Thanks to Connolly, Burke, etc a lot of energy gets wasted on this horse****. I wonder if they are more interested in power than winning elections with the grassroots at the table.
Connolly's not a Democrat. He's a selfish jerk. He serves developers. Fairfax County has suffered under his sprawl policies.
I don't know any Connolly supporters well enough to evaluate their credibility. I cannot think of a more self-serving, greedy politician who has represented me.
Connolly's not a Democrat.
He is, in fact, the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 11th. Like it or not, you don't get to decide who is and isn't a Democrat.
Do you honestly believe that none of the following are not even more self-serving, or greedy? If you live in the 11th, they allegedly "represent(ed)" (yeah, I know they don't/didn't in truth; but as a legal fiction they do) you:
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney
George Allen (past tense, thank goodness)
Tom Davis (soon to be past tense, thank goodness)
Jim Gilmore as Governor (past tense, thank goodness)
I don't know if you are in Albo's district or not - but he would make that list too.
Yeah, I wish Dennehy or Byrne had won the primary; and I am unhappy with Connolly; but it could be worse. Davis could be running again! As much as you dislike Connolly, because he pretends or is a Democrat, at least he has to try to keep up that appearance, so he is more moldable on some issues than any Republican would be. The sprawl thing sucks; because on that most Democrats have no better record than most Republicans.... but US Congress is not really about sprawl....
And there is the silver lining for having Connolly go to congress. We get a new Fairfax County Chairman (who is running btw?) and Connolly will be being watched, closely, on many issues.
The Obama campaign has the right idea and I quote from the NOVA Obama leadership. "You know what you have to do. Let us know if you need any help." This is the decentralized networking approach to leadership. I think if you contrast Hillary's campaign to Obama's you will see the difference in effectiveness between the Obama (networking) approach and the Hillary (old party top down, authoritarian) approach. I hope the Obama campaign and Howard Dean can make these changes in the national party.
I also hope the committee leadership can grasp the idea that the new blogs and grassroots organizations are ultimately their friends. Didn't Jefferson say we need a revolution every 25 years? I think what he meant was that without some kind of upheaval from the bottom up now and then organizations calcify and lose their effectiveness. I believe the netroots offer than kind of infusion of new blood which is desperately needed by the old Party structure.
The same is true in the arts. In music you need some new ethnic or other unusual influence to keep the art alive. Otherwise you end up with the Lawrence Welk show for ever and ever.
Sadly, as a point of respect for both those who have worked the party for long periods of time before us and for our elders (for frequently there is cross-over); we tend to let them vent a lot.
Also, one cannot argue the value of a really good targeted canvassing list; and that has to come from some very organized group within the party. I am not sure where Bruce Roemmelt was getting his canvassing lists, but they were a joy to use compared to anything I worked with from the Equality Virginia/Vote No Virginia folks (though I am very glad we had something from them; their data was clearly sketchier), and even better than anything we had on the Kerry/Edwards sheets from 2004. The Kaine and combined campaign canvassing from 2005 was also pretty good data.
That Jefferson ideal keeps popping into my head too; I think because I saw it on the John Adams series recently.
One of the most important factors that allows us to correct leadership problems is that state party rules require magisterial committees to reorganize every two years, which is an ideal time to replace leaders who have become too entrenched or for other reasons have gained too much "Old Guard private club" power to the detriment of the party.
One way our PWC chair at the time was able to help fix our PWC problems (not entirely, but close) was to push through bi-laws revisions that corrected the flaws that effectively allowed the Old Guard to have multiple votes on numerous issues. The bi-laws problem that our chair helped us fix was a bit too complicated and confusing for me to explain here (I never quite understood it myself when our chair tried to explain it to me). But the way he explained the effect of the flaw really drove home the result of the original problem: The Old Guard had essentially made themselves a private club, and nearly burned the party to the ground. I don't know who the Old Guard people because I didn't become a committee member until Jan. 2006 (and don't really want to know). But the end result has been that our county and district rank-and-file members finally had as great a voice as our leaders (one member one vote works) and we now all work together toward the real goal of getting good Democrats elected.
BTW, the single most damaging leadership attitude that we have now completely eliminated was the anti-grasroots attitude of the "Old Guard" leadership. A primary reason for their attitude, of course, was that they wanted to have what amounted to total control of volunteers, allowing no "boots-on-the-ground" freedom at all. That in turn drove their belief that only the party leadership structure could win elections and the grassroots volunteers were of little or no importance. As we all know, Jim Webb's 2006 campaign based on the belief in the great importance of grassroots volunteers proved once and for all that grassroots operations, no longer the top-down-directed methods, can wins elections.
I think I see much of the anti-grassroots, and in my mind anti-democratic, attitudes still present in some county committees - happily, no longer the case in PWC.
Good people like you can and will make the sea changes necessary by recruiting more new committee members who will elect new-generation officers who truly believe in the vital importance of a democratic grassroots approach. Another great plus is that it won't be necessary to replace many of your leaders because you already have some officers who already are with you. And even more heartening is the fact that in the course of debate over new leadership nominees, even those leaders who may still be reluctant to accept loss of their power will be convinced by you that these changes must occur. One or two may never accept loss of power, and you can elect replacements.
I would encourage you to run for a leadership position next January, or at least elect others who have the time and feel ready to take on those duties and responsibilities if you aren't quite ready. You are the future of the party, and the retiring officers will support you and help you learn.
I hope my too-lengthy dissertation has given a few more reasons why 2008 is a great year to be a Democrat, and why we can and will turn Virginia Blue in this year and keep it that way for decades (and generations) to come.
T.C.