The other week I was on the John Carlson Show discussing proposals to subject political blogs to federal campaign finance regulations, which not only would have forced unpaid bloggers like me to meet costly and time consuming public disclosure requirements, but would have also made it a felony to mention a candidate by name during the final 60 days before an election.
Well, the Federal Election Commission issued its proposed rules on Friday, and as Jerome Armstrong at MyDD explains, for the most part, they’re pretty darn good.
For a blogger, this is great news. However, for a campaign, I’m unsure of the implications of their ruling. From the sounds of it, Google ads and Blogads are now going to have to carry a disclaimer. I can’t imagine that even being practical for candidates to run disclaimers in their search-term ads.
As for me, I’m free to do what I do without any interference. In fact, I’m also free to do what I do and work as a paid campaign consultant, without subjecting HA to any reporting requirements.
Hear that candidates? The state’s most influential and effective progressive blogger is now available to help you develop and execute your new media strategy. Get me while I’m still cheap.
Goldy, stick to what you do best — offing fools and incompetents like Michael “Horse’s Ass” Brown and David “Mother Beater” Irons Jr. Getting people elected? Well, you have … uh … no track record.
In the meantime, how do I eat?
Goldy – I agree with Rabbit. Really, other than hate and intolerance, what do you have to offer a candidate?
Does this mean you have changed your mind about what the talk shows say or do?
Goldy,
As the Dave Ross show/failed-candidacy showed us, the line is clear. Bloggers should be considered like talk show hosts — you advocate for a party, a candidate, etc….you need to follow the rules.
If I, a single lonely voice, decide to contribute a measly $100, the whole world gets to see and decide. Your influence is *much* greater and should require equal access, etc.
Get over it. Get with it. Get on board. Do the right thing.
Goldy, just because you CAN legally mix campaign work and advocacy journalism doesn’t mean you should.
The ethics quickly get tricky. For example, if you do paid consulting work for any candidate you discuss here on HA, you have an ethical obligation to disclose your relationship. I could see why you wouldn’t want to, because frankly that would undercut your credibility as an independent (if opinionated) observer.
I don’t think you can have it both ways: Either you are an advocacy journalist or you are a political operative. Even doing a little of the latter can taint you.
The success of national blogs such as Talking Points Memo illustrates that you can make a living as an advocacy journalist. It takes time, effort and tradeskill, but it can be done.
I hope you proceed carefully and don’t let your ego and greed get in the way of ethical decisions.
In the meantime, how do I eat?
Commentby Goldy— 3/26/06@ 10:59 am
The term “judiciously” comes to mind.
New poll results just out from SurveyUSA. Cantwell’s ranked in the bottom 30 Senators (73 out of 100).
Goldy — if Cantwell gets elected or the gal in the 8th — apply for a job. Beats a fee.
It’s funny how upset you get about regulating political speech but think nothing of regulating other people’s livelihoods and property. Hypocrite.
I can’t imagine that anyone believes that you don’t receive explicit marching orders from your handlers and probably pocket cash too. Unregulated cash, that is.
2
Become a lawyer and settle automobile accident claims for a 1/3rd contingency fee. Journalists don’t get paid anything. Journalism is a hobby.
3
If Redneck agrees with me, I’ll need to rethink my position, because something’s wrong with my position.
6
Seriously, Goldy, I agree with Green Thumb. If you mix campaign consulting with advocacy journalism, you will no longer be an advocacy journalist, you will be a party operative. It will destroy your credibility.
Lord knows, America needs independent blogger-journalists far more than it needs more party operatives. We already have a surfeit of the latter. Independent web journalism is where the action is, because MSM is not doing its job, as you have pointed out so many times. It’s people like you pushing on MSM journalists who will save our country from the fascists, if it is to be saved at all.
Yeah, I understand the eating problem all too well, but don’t you have some marketable computer programming skills?
3
“Really, other than hate and intolerance, what do you have to offer a candidate?” Commentby Mark The Redneck— 3/26/06@ 11:16 am
Wingnut hypocrites like Redneck make me laugh as I watch them try to make their horse push the cart down the street. If we’re nasty, it’s because the REPUBLICANS DID IT FIRST, and we’re fighting fire with fire!
It would be downright funny, if it wasn’t so damned pathetic, to listen to the shills for the Hate and Intolerance Party preach against the evils of hate and intolerance. Memo to Mark the Bet Welsher: If hating the haters makes us haters, then I guess we’re “haters.” If not tolerating the intolerance, bigotry, and racism of the Party of Haters makes us intolerant, then I guess we’re intolerable. By the twisted definitions of the haters, anyway.
If we behaved like Republicans, we would have:
1. Photoshopped a fake photograph of a young George W. Bush speaking into a microphone with a Vietcong flag as the backdrop, and circulated it all over the internet;
2. Invented a fake story of candidate George W. Bush having an affair with a journalism intern, and circulated all over the internet and mainstream media;
3. Our political operatives would have created a fake veterans’ organization to circulate lies about George W. Bush’s military record* (*unfortunately for George, the stories Democrats circulated about his military record are true);
4. Our political operatives would have created a fake “voting rights” organization to circulate lies about who really resorts to fraud, dirty tricks, intimidation, suppression, and voting machine tampering;
5. Our political operatives would fictionalize and circulate lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie, etc., about who really is fucking up this country.
So take that and shove it up your ass.
8
From Survey USA (see post#8 for link):
“Cantwell’s … overall approval rating is 51% … 16% of her fellow Democrats disapprove of the job she’s doing as U.S. Senator; and 31% of those describing themeslves as liberal disapprove. 42% of Independents disapprove; 35% of Seattlites (Metro) dissaprove; and 50% of men statewide said they disapprove.”
Well, that’s no surprise. All you have to do is read the comment threads right here on HorsesAss to see that progressives and liberals are unhappy with Cantwell’s vote in favor of Bush’s Iraq military adventure and her vote to renew the Patriot Act. If you think these numbers are somehow an endorsement of the GOP candidate, you have rocks in your head. Cantwell’s numbers are suffering because she’s perceived as TOO FRIENDLY TO THE BUSH AGENDA. Despite her lagging approval ratings (compared to other Democratic senators), she still beats the crap out of McGavick.
Any assertion that Washington, a blue state, is going to dump Cantwell in favor of a rightwing multimillionaire insurance CEO is out of touch with reality.
Lying Wingnut Asshole @10
“I can’t imagine that anyone believes that you don’t receive explicit marching orders from your handlers and probably pocket cash too.” Commentby Rex— 3/26/06@ 1:05 pm
Prove it.
People like “Rex” don’t do any research, don’t have any facts, they just pull shit out of their anuses.
MTR @3 illustrates how right-wing double speak works: He spews hate and intolerance and then turns around and blame liberals for exactly that . . . while refusing the acknowledge his own hypocrisy.
This is a time-honored tactic of the right, but the Rove/DeLay Gang has taken it to new heights. What’s interesting about double speak is that it is done best by psychologically stunted individuals who are so unreflective of their own contradictions and bigotries that they can spew the Big Lie with impunity.
Authoritarian regimes tend to be filled with people like this. That’s why they are so dangerous.
And people like Rabbit derive their sense of self from posting and responding to their own posts to boost Goldy’s comment count.
What’s a matter bunny? Afraid you aren’t getting a cut from the till?
Reeks@20 Ah, gee, Reeks you don’t have your own blog :cry: Sound more like you ( :mrgreen: ) have self-worth issues.
Thumb – Me? hate and intolerance? When? Give me an example.
No, you guys have cornered the market on hate and intolerance.
…it’s just that the reality is vaginas make us men .
Comment by GBS— 12/29/05 @ 5:44 pm
…vaginas do indeed make us men.
Comment by Donnageddon— 12/29/05 @ 5:55 pm
…how big a capacitator do we need to shoot MTR into orbit with a flashlight battery?
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 3/12/06@ 3:42 pm
Government exists to make private wealth possible.
Commentby Belltowner— 3/12/06@ 4:15 pm
I like Castro’s system better. He confiscates the employer’s property, shoots the employer, and the workers get quality health care for free. We need something like that in America.
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 3/19/06@ 3:42 pm
Don’t talk to me about “core beliefs…”
Commentby headless lucy— 3/25/06@ 7:07 pm
I really believe somebody SHOULD snap up Goldy on his offer. Even though his experience is primarily running an initiative and being a political activist through blogging, Goldy has proven himself highly effective at what he does. Goldy is politically saavy. And, considering the many times Goldy has put his neck on the line (like breaking controversial stories), it is remarkable that he always comes out on top!
Getting Goldy “on the cheap” right now should be an excellent gamble. It may turn out that he is not as effective a political consultant as he is a muckracker, but all indications are otherwise, and he is cheap.
Guys, let’s be clear. I will not vote for someone who voted to pass CAFTA unless she commits to overturning the WTO, because only by pulling the US out of the WTO can we change any provisions of our foreign trade laws to improve the environment or labor standards. Illegal immigration has increased dramatically since GATT and NAFTA were signed into law, and they should be un-changed, meaning we should repeal them immediately. There is no such thing as free trade. Trade needs to be managed by competent organizations and individuals who care about the consumer and the citizens of the member countries’ rights. Corporations cannot be trusted to have undue influence over our laws, and because the WTO is the worst violation of our national sovereignty we’ve ever witnessed before in history, it’s time we ended its hold on us, and chose to assert our independence from the “global marketplace”.
We have enough resources to rule our own country. Let’s do it, with or without Ms. Cantwell.
“Me? hate and intolerance? When? Give me an example.”
Okay, delving back into the Redneck hate files:
“There are 6 billion people in the world. 2 billion of them are muslim. That means that all the rest of need to pair up and kill one of them. When we all do that, the problem will be solved. And it really is like a cancer… you hafta get every trace of it… every cell, or it will come out of remission with a vengeance. This also solves the global population problem you guys are so worried about, so we kill two birds with one stone.
Commentby Mark The Redneck— 12/17/05@ 8:51 pm”
That type of hatred was neatly encapsulated within a pithy slogan of the 20th century: “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer.”
“No, you guys have cornered the market on hate and intolerance.”
Ein Wort:
Bullshit.
And then there’s this more recent nugget of wisdom from the Redneck xenophobic intolerance file:
“My immigration policy would be as follows:
Assimlate or go back to the shithole you came from.
Commentby Mark The Redneck— 3/25/06@ 8:32 pm”
That might be the neo-Nazi addendum to the following text:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Of course, it doesn’t rhyme…
Goldy–
Looks like the bottom-line here is your are peddling yourself as a “cheap whore”!
Goldy,
When I run for Governor, I’ll hire you for sure. I think candidates would do well to at least consider media strategies that are more than just gives Christian Sinderman et al $50,000 to run some cable ads when they could be a pioneer on the internet. Internet politics didn’t find it’s nitch until the election contestm and on our side until Irons/912. The next big races should be thinking about you.
beaner @ 31,
‘Looks like the bottom-line here is your are peddling yourself as a “cheap whore”!’
I guess I wouldn’t be surprised that that’s your reading of the “bottom line.” But, you’re a fucking idiot, so who give a shit?
MArk The Reddick dares @ 22 : “Me? hate and intolerance? When? Give me an example.”
Comment by Mark The Redneck— 12/15/05 @ 6:27 pm
Thumb – Me? hate and intolerance? When? Give me an example.
No, you guys have cornered the market on hate and intolerance.
Commentby Mark The Redneck— 3/26/06@ 3:38 pm
Pretty ridiculous, Vagina Lips. You equate the possession of a vagina with “stoopidity” and have the chutzpah to plea “give me an example”. You are a fucking nitwit. A maroon. A hypocrite. An example of ignorance exceeded only by your out of control egoism.
Monkeys could do better, and probably do.
Mark the Thieving Redneck,
“DJ – Shove it up your ass.”
No thank you.
“If ya don’t like it, log the fuck off.”
Fuck that!
“How ’bout you refute something I’ve said with logic and reason.”
How ’bout you say something worth debating that I care about. You mostly spew bullshit neocon talking points designed to incite, rather than for debate.
So, I say again, unless you have to courtesy to pay up on the bet you had with Goldy, go the fuck away. This blog is Goldy’s private property. Since you have stolen $100 from Goldy, at least have the decency and stay off of his property until you make good on your debt.
@5
DEAD ON! You nailed it. Goldy, pay attention!
Headline: “Propietor of Scatological Equine Orifice Website Says ‘Get me while I’m still cheap.'” Republicans, following Carvill’s advice, are now trolling $10 bills through trailer courts. It is reported that on Tuesdays they will concentrate their efforts on taverns.
Too delicious.
Goldy, I will pay you to get on a Democrat campaign staff. Your insights are pretty accurate, but I look forward to the candidate delivering your talking points. Not a one of them will make the news due to the prolific use Sh*t and F*ck. Most candidates need more than a two word vocabulary, three if you include B*sh, who is not running. With your sage advice, your candidates could never get a speaking gig, unless it was potty-mouth night. Even the signs would violate the local obscenity law.
There are a lot of insults that don’t involve bodily functions. You ought to try some, but I doubt your frequent readers would understand them.
People like “Rex” don’t do any research, don’t have any facts, they just pull shit out of their anuses.
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 3/26/06@ 2:03 pm
Yeah yeah, but can they pull false documents out of their asses like you donks. I dont think so. Hehehehehehe
Our political operatives would fictionalize and circulate lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie after lie, etc., about who really is fucking up this country.
Yeah, the MSM which is a arm of the democratic party. Go on.
Our political operatives would have created a fake “voting rights” organization to circulate lies about who really resorts to fraud, dirty tricks, intimidation, suppression, and voting machine tampering;
Making up stories about tampered voting machines (Diebold). Yep go on.
Our political operatives would have created a fake veterans’ organization to circulate lies about George W. Bush’s military record
Yeah, memo-gate. Go on….
Terry Jay @ 38
“Not a one of them will make the news due to the prolific use Sh*t and F*ck. Most candidates need more than a two word vocabulary, three if you include B*sh, who is not running. With your sage advice, your candidates could never get a speaking gig, unless it was potty-mouth night. Even the signs would violate the local obscenity law.”
Man, Terry, you are one uptight motherfucker. I’ll bet if you suck a lump of coal up your ass at night, you would wake up the next morning and shit a diamond.
“There are a lot of insults that don’t involve bodily functions. You ought to try some, but I doubt your frequent readers would understand them.”
oops!
Hey, has anyone ever seen John Kerry’s military medical records yet?
RUFUS,
Seek help. You are still under wildly inaccurate delusions about elections. It’s sad, so sad, to see.
RUFUS @ 44
Yep…you cited some of the data in them!
46
Show me where I could find them? Wow DJ found Kerry’s military medical records.
RUFUS @ 46
Hey, dipshit, what am I, your google monkey?
Ok, ok…just this one time.
To get the records, call: 617-929-2000
Or send mail to:
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205
Ok, ok…just this one time.
To get the records, call: 617-929-2000
Or send mail to:
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205
Commentby dj— 3/26/06@ 9:17 pm
Refer to my post on 40 DJ. The Boston Globe com on. If Fox or other outlets were not able to look at them then he did not open his records to the public. Nuff said.
20
“And people like Rabbit derive their sense of self from posting and responding to their own posts to boost Goldy’s comment count.
What’s a matter bunny? Afraid you aren’t getting a cut from the till? Commentby Rex— 3/26/06@ 2:11 pm”
HorsesAss isn’t about money, and neither am I. I have an income, thank you very much! But I can see how a Republifuck like you can’t think of anything but money. Or … can’t think of anything but money and sex. Because you’re not getting any of either. That’s what Republifucks are — people who spend all their time trying to figure out how to get money without working for it, and how to get laid. My HA posting is a selfless patriot act to save America from wingfucks who can’t even tie your own shoelaces. As for Roger Rabbit being “afraid” of whatever it is you think I’m afraid of … well, I ain’t afraid of you, trollfuck.
22
“No, you guys have cornered the market on hate and intolerance. Commentby Mark The Redneck— 3/26/06@ 3:38 pm”
We don’t hate you, Redneck. We merely despise you. You’re not important enough to be worth hating. And we tolerate you, too. In fact, we encourage you to hang around and keep posting on HorsesAss. We need some trollfucks to kick around.
25
Then who are you going to vote for? The ex-Black Panther who’s wanted in sixteen states for unpaid parking tickets? The multimillionaire insurance CEO who likes Ted Stevens and George Bush? Who? Who ya gonna vote for?
I don’t want to hear any of these self-destructive progressives bitching next year if they stay home on Election Day and McGavick gets in.
DJ YOU LITTLE FUCK HEAD I SEE YOU CAME OUT FROM UNDER YOUR ROCK.I WOULD NOT PISS IN YOUR MOUTH IF YOUR ASS WAS ON FIRE.FUCKIN LOOOOOOOOOOOOSER.
Well let’s see … Redneck hates Muslims, hates immigrants, hates women … that takes in about 4/5ths of humanity right there. He’ll eventually think of a reason to hate the other 1/5th. He probably hates his own mother. Hell, he hates himself … most of all, he hates himself.
38
So now some wingnut is getting all preachy about obscenity. You wanna see obscenity? I’ll show you obscenity. http://www.thememoryhole.org/w.....tos/dover/
Doofus @ various
Doofus, as Moynihan said, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts. Fuck off.
“YO” is a contraction of “yahoo” — the correct spelling is “Y’o.” Like most wingnuts, Y’o can’t even spell his own fucking name.
“DAWO” is an acronym of “Dumb Ass Wash Out”
and “klake” rhymes with “flake”
wow! this thread is up to 60 comments already! That’s more than Stefan’s sucky little blog get in six months.
YO @ 53
“DJ YOU LITTLE FUCK HEAD I SEE YOU CAME OUT FROM UNDER YOUR ROCK.I WOULD NOT PISS IN YOUR MOUTH IF YOUR ASS WAS ON FIRE.FUCKIN LOOOOOOOOOOOOSER.”
Awwww…isn’t that adorable. Our little chromosomal abnormality is alive, kicking, and even squeeking a little bit.
RUFUS @ 49
The Boston Globe com on. If Fox or other outlets were not able to look at them then he did not open his records to the public. Nuff said.
Oh brother…like I give a bloody shit what faux news gets.
dj:
Diamonds are forever. Potty-mouth is dissolved in the septic.
Potty-mouth, however, is not a strong credential for a political consultant or a talk-show host. Strong opinions and keen insight are, and Goldy usually has both, but by limiting himself to a two or three word insult vocabulary he greatly reduces his market.
I think he has something to contribute, but needs a working English vocabulary before he can sell it.
Want the name of my coal supplier?