In the 24 hours since I launched my first annual HA Pledge Week, 38 readers have contributed nearly $1,400, bringing me more than a third of the way towards my one-week goal of $3,500. That’s an amazing start, and I thank all 38 of you for your generous support. (As for the other 2100 readers who visited HA today, well… you know who you are.)
Still, not everyone reacted so positively to my pledge drive. I expected the usual personal attacks belittling me as stupid or lazy or a societal leech, and my trolls didn’t disappoint. But by far the nastiest comments came via email, where one pseudonymous righty lectured that my “shameless panhandling” made me an “unfit parent,” and claimed to have copied the email to DSHS along with my street address and phone number.
Whatever.
Of course, if I were a righty blogger with a comparable impact on local politics and media coverage (and yes, I know that requires a leap of imagination on both counts) I probably wouldn’t be reduced to begging — at least not publicly. The right has developed institutions to nurture and support up-and-coming talking heads, and help build and promote their profiles. Faced with the prospect of losing a right-wing voice like mine, a faux-think-tank like the EFF might find me some cushy job, or a friendly publisher might offer me a generous book deal. Nobody on the right would expect me to continue doing what I do for as long as I’ve done it without some sort of steady income.
And yet that’s exactly the status quo on the left. This despite the fact that us netroots bloggers have not only become an integral part of the Democratic Party’s messaging machine, but have raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Democratic candidates.
Chris Bowers writes about the “one-way flow of progressive movement money,” and he comes off sounding rather pissed. And rightly so.
In a painful and disturbing irony, the same Democratic political consultant structure that the netroots seek to reform–and which Markos and Jerome called “The Consultant Con” in Crashing the Gate–is actually being funded, reinforced, and strengthened by the netroots. Roughly one-third of the money that went to Democratic campaign consultants in the 2003-2004 election cycle came from netroots activists….
[…] While I don’t think the netroots should regret any of the money it raised for Democratic candidates during 2003-2006 […] we needed to do more to help support the underfunded people, institutions and ideas that make the progressive movement possible. Just lining the pockets of already well compensated consultants is no way to build a movement over the long term.
My partner at BlogPac, Matt Stoller, has previously written about examples of full-time progressive movement activists who receive little or no compensation for their work. Maria Leavey, who did not have health insurance, passed away last month as the result of a heart attack a doctor could have identified. […] Local progressive bloggers typically lose money on blogging every year, even as they help transform local media and activist scenes. Even a prominent blogger such as myself, who helped raise around $2 million for Democratic candidates and committees in the 2005-2006 cycle (and transfer another $3 million into competitive races through Use It Or Lose It), spent the entire 2005-2006 cycle without health insurance. Quite frankly, it is pretty brainless for someone such as myself to help so much money flow into the hands of a small number of highly paid consultants without simultaneously raising money to meet my own basic needs, such as health insurance. What the hell was I doing?
But I am not just angry at myself, or the general lack of funding currently available to the people, institutions, and ideas that make the progressive movement so vital. I am also pissed off at the Democratic and progressive establishment that is funded with our dollars, but which refuses to fund us in return.
I’m not ashamed to be asking for your contributions, but I don’t particularly relish doing it, and I realize that long term this is an unsustainable way to support my work. My personal goal is to integrate my blogging and activism into a fulltime radio gig or some other kind of paid media venture. But my personal finances aside, the larger deficit is institutional, and if we want the progressive blogosphere to continue to grow in size and influence, the progressive community is going to have to step up and find a way to support bloggers of merit. This means labor, environment, pro-choice and all the traditional private and institutional backers of progressive candidates and causes are going to have to dedicate resources to funding bloggers like me. You can’t expect us to do this work, unpaid, indefinitely… and in the long run, you get what you pay for.
But in the meanwhile, I need your help. If you value what I do, if you would miss this blog if it were to suddenly go away, if you look forward to the impact I might have on future elections, I ask you to please reach into your pocket and throw a few bucks my way. I don’t do what I do for the money, but the bank that holds my mortgage does.
Six days and $2,100 to go. Thank you in advance for your generous support.
“The right has developed institutions to nurture and support up-and-coming talking heads, and help build and promote their profiles.”
Yeah, and the money comes from criminal enterprises:
“When Moon became a major benefactor of the American conservative movement starting in the latter half of the 1970s, it was a time when the conservatives desperately needed money …. From a mysterious and seemingly bottomless slush fund, Moon ladled out cash ….
“Where Moon gets his cash has been a long-time mystery that few American conservatives have been eager to solve. ‘Some Moonie-watchers … believe that some of the business enterprises are actually covers for drug trafficking,’ wrote Scott and Jon Lee Anderson. ‘Others feel that … the Church has simply continued to do the Korean government’s international bidding and is receiving official funds to do so.’
“While Moon’s representatives have refused to detail how they’ve sustained their far-flung activities – including many businesses that insiders say lose money – Moon’s spokesmen have angrily denied recurring allegations about profiteering off illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs. …
“Without doubt, however, Moon’s organization has had a long record of association with organized crime figures, including ones implicated in the drug trade. Besides collaborating with Sasakawa and other leaders of the Japanese yakuza and the Cocaine Coup government of Bolivia, Moon’s organization developed close ties with the Honduran military and the Nicaraguan contras who were permeated with drug smugglers. …
“The evidence shows that there was much more to the contra drug issue than either the Reagan-Bush administration or Moon’s organization wanted the American people to know in the 1980s. … The contra-connected smugglers included the Medellin cartel, the Panamanian government of Manuel Noriega, the Honduran military, the Honduran-Mexican smuggling ring of Ramon Matta Ballesteros, and the Miami-based anti-Castro Cubans with their connections to Mafia operations throughout the United States. … In some cases, U.S. intelligence officials bent over backwards not to take timely notice of contra-connected drug trafficking out of fear that fuller investigations would embarrass the contras and their patrons in the Reagan-Bush administration. …
“As Moon continued to expand his influence in American politics, some Republicans began to raise red flags. In 1983, the GOP’s moderate Ripon Society charged that the New Right had entered ‘an alliance of expediency’ with Moon’s church. Ripon’s chairman, Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, released a study which alleged that the College Republican National Committee ‘solicited and received’ money from Moon’s Unification Church in 1981. The study also accused Reed Irvine’s Accuracy in Media of benefiting from low-cost or volunteer workers supplied by Moon. Leach said the Unification Church has ‘infiltrated the New Right and the party it wants to control, the Republican Party, and infiltrated the media as well.’ Leach’s news conference was disrupted when then-college GOP leader Grover Norquist accused Leach of lying. …
“Despite periodic fretting over Moon’s influence, American conservatives continued to accept his deep-pocket assistance. … By the mid-1980s, Moon’s Unification Church had carved out a niche as an acceptable part of the American Right. In one speech to his followers, Moon boasted that ‘without knowing it, even President Reagan is being guided by Father [Moon].’
“Yet, Moon also made clear that his longer-range goal was destroying the U.S. Constitution and America’s democratic form of government. ‘History will make the position of Reverend Moon clear, and his enemies, the American population and government will bow down to him,’ Moon said, speaking of himself in the third person. ‘That is Father’s tactic, the natural subjugation of the American government and population.’
“In September 1987, conservative columnist Andrew Ferguson cited some of Moon’s anti-American sentiments as cause for concern, despite his appealing anticommunism. ‘There is little else in Unificationism that American conservatives will find compelling,’ except, of course, the money, Ferguson wrote in the American Spectator. ‘They’re the best in town as far as putting their money with their mouth is,’ Ferguson quoted one Washington-based conservative as saying.
“Though Moon’s money sources remained shrouded in secrecy, his cash undeniably gave the Right an edge over its political adversaries … Moon’s organization had proved itself too valuable to be cast aside, regardless of … strange behavior and … questionable sources of money. …
“Government documents showed that the Reagan-Bush team was shielding Moon’s operation from investigations at the same time Moon’s newspaper was doing the same for the administration. According to Justice Department documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, federal authorities were rebuffing hundreds of requests – many from common citizens – for examination of Moon’s foreign ties and money sources. …
“Some prominent figures on the American Right went to great lengths to conceal their financial connections to Moon, making sure his assistance passed through several hands before it got to their pockets.
“For instance, on Jan. 28, 1995, a beaming Rev. Jerry Falwell told his Old Time Gospel Hour congregation news that seemed heaven sent. The rotund televangelist hailed two Virginia businessmen as financial saviors of debt-ridden Liberty University, the fundamentalist Christian school that Falwell had made the crown jewel of his Religious Right empire. … Left unmentioned in the happy sermon was the identity of the bigger guardian angel who had appeared at the propitious moment to protect Falwell’s financial interests. Falwell’s secret benefactor was Sun Myung Moon …. Covertly, Moon had helped bail out Liberty University through one of his front groups … the public record also reveals that Falwell solicited Moon’s help in bailing out Liberty University. …
” … Moon’s secret financial ties to Falwell raised some sensitive political questions since the bail-out came at a time when Falwell was collaborating with other conservatives who were producing videos that accused President Bill Clinton of murder and cocaine trafficking. … Reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers, the videos helped stoke the fires of the ‘Clinton scandals,’ which kept the Clinton administration on the political defensive for much of its eight years …. Did the $3.5 million from Moon’s front group give Falwell the means to become a national pitchman for the conspiracy videos? Did Moon help bankroll the scandal mongering as part of a design to cripple the Clinton Presidency … ?
“Although the most serious allegations in the videos lacked any credible evidence, the Christian Right’s Citizens for Honest Government continued to peddle the allegations of Clinton-connected cocaine smuggling through the Mena, Arkansas, airport … [t]he irony of the allegation, however, was that Falwell’s financial angel – Sun Myung Moon – was the one with mysterious connections to South American drug lords …. Moon, whose history also included close ties to the Asian yakuza crime organization and longstanding allegations of money laundering, had achieved extraordinary influence at the highest levels of the U.S. government by funneling billions of dollars into conservative and Republican causes.”
Quoted under Fair Use; for complete article and/or copyright info see http://tinyurl.com/yfdpyd
Roger Rabbit Commentary: The Republican Noise Machine, including blogs, has been largely funded by a small number of extremely rich individuals whose interests are diametrically opposed to those of ordinary American citizens. The most extreme of these — “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon — who wants to replace America’s democratically elected government with a global theocratic dictatorship ruled by himself — has been one of the largest of these financial supporters … with money that is utterly dirty.
Goldy — why shouldn’t you beg for small contributions from honest people who earned it as legitimate wages? The rightwing noise machine is almost entirely funded with money from robber barons like Scaife, Bradley, and the Waltons — and dirty money from the criminal enterprises of “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon.
The willingness of (mostly young) people to work for organizations and causes, simply because the work pays well, and without scruples or thought for the consequences for their country or fellow citizens, is what made it possible for a handful of extremely rich and evil people to take control of our government.
For over 20 years, one of the Right’s largest sources of cash to finance their propaganda and political operations has been “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon. Here are Moon’s ultimate objectives:
“While professing his love for America in public, Moon … despised American concepts of individuality and democracy, believing that he was destined to rule through a one-world theocracy that would eradicate all personal freedoms … ‘all religions will be abolished except Unificationism, all languages will be abolished except Korean, all governments will be abolished except his one-world theocracy’ …”
http://tinyurl.com/yfdpyd
Roger Rabbit Commentary: And now you know the REST of the story …
Oh, and let’s not forget THIS source of Republican funding:
“Fund-raising group milks vulnerable senior citizens
“By David Postman and Jim Brunner
“Seattle Times staff reporters
“The College Republican National Committee has raised $6.3 million this year through an aggressive and misleading fund-raising campaign that collected money from senior citizens …
“Many of the top donors were in their 80s and 90s. … Some of the elderly donors … wound up bouncing checks and emptying their bank accounts. …
“The Washington State Attorney General’s Office received … complaints about the College Republicans fund-raising letters …. The complaints cited … ‘senior exploitation.’ …
“The Times was able to determine the ages of 49 of the top 50 individual donors to the College Republicans. The median age of the donors is 85, and 14 of them are 90 or older. … Donors interviewed this week frequently expressed disbelief when they were told how much they gave to the College Republicans. …”
Quoted under Fair Use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://tinyurl.com/6tnzu
paypal sucks. 3 times it failed
and
this is about the 3rd time I haven’t been able to use their cludgy system. their developers / project managers are fucking bozos.
Goldy don’t worry. I report right wingers to the cops all the time. One time, this idiot with a Bush sticker on his car got into a road rage incident with my cousin. The guy stopped his car in the middle of the freeway, jumped out, and is lucky my cousin didn’t kill him when he got in his face. In the middle of all this, his 11 and seven year olds, got out of the car to see what their father was doing – in traffic no less. I reported him and the entire incident to child services. I was asked to be a witness in court against this fool and gladly participated. His kids are safe now, away from him. But it took three hearings. I am pretty sure that blogging won’t be considered a reason to get your kids taken away. But I am not surprised that some dick sucking, asswipe republican hopes it happens.
Furball Moonbat Pelletizer: When your charitable contriibutions ($99, what a joke) reach my level and are sustained yearly, you may criticize me. Otherwise, go hump some animal. Allow me to suggest Froggy. ROTFLMAO.
For a disgustingly diseased evening, call 1-900-Furball
Furball: I placed the ABC News charitable comparison where 24 out of 25 red cities are more charitable than blue cities. You are the moron.
Been studying the nouns lately?
Did you validate Cuyohoga County, Ohio where the vote tamperers are from, is thoroughly run by Moonbats! from dog catcher to County Commissioner?
You still have not said if ANY WingNuts contributed. Can you tell us if any have?
Carl: I already stated my position. Yearly, I give five figures to charities. This is not a charity. This is a libtard landing zone
Carl: I already stated my position. Yearly, I give five figures to charities. This is not a charity. This is a libtard landing zone with righty rebuttals!
Carl: Just think, the WEA thinks it’s a charity. Once it gets the teacher’s money the WEA feels it can throw teachers’ money at their favorite Moonbat! cause.
I spent years doing the print version of what you are doing now, and have a badly underfunded retirement account to show for it. So, yes, I have great sympathy for your situation (and will think about what I can do when I have a moment to spare).
I would also encourage you to consider that the alternative press has had many fine people who have worked their asses off and failed to make an adequate living at it. It’s a brutal field where many are called and few are chosen.
Unfortunately, most of the alt press outlets that manage to make it (at least for a while) possess a certain amount of business trade skill. You’ve shown a lot of talent as a polemicist, but a few “help me!” cries for money does not a sustainable business make.
Stewart Brand once described the alt media biz as a confidence game — you’ve got to convince folks that you have what it takes to make the business model work. I’m still skeptical; you seem like you raise money as an add-on rather than as an integral part of your daily efforts. I don’t see how that can work, at least in the long term. And, like any other person with modest assets, I try to target mine toward those activism projects with the greatest likelihood of success.
There is a certain cause and effect to alt media efforts. For example, because of the choices you’ve made regarding the structure of the comments threads, in my view you’ve severely limited the range of people who are willing to spend much time participating. And as the likes of TPMcafe.com illustrate, participation can translate into dollars.
It frankly isn’t clear to me yet whether you have what it takes to make this blog work financially. I hope you do. Please do not take this as a slam. I’m just concerned that you don’t yet have a viable strategy.
Reading between the lines of the post, I am gathering that Goldy wants the Dem Party or Netroots to send him money for promoting their causes. Yes, he wanted to support Darcy, and raised a lot of money for her. But, if those organizations start paying him, then how is his voice any longer independent? He becomes a paid shill.
And if they did start sending him money, would Goldy post the fact so everyone reading this site would be clear how he earns a living?
Goldy, I’m all for contributing a few bucks toward your venture. We all benefit from it – even the Wingnuts who troll your site.
And your comments that Republicans have financially rewarding “pathways” is not without merit. Sometimes it is simply keeping the child in the “family business”, despite every indication that he/she is not suited for it (W. Bush springs to mind). At other times it is funding a conservative “think tank”, who’s purpose is to use a purported non-profit to teach their young how to raise money, exploit mailing lists, etc., as well as to “park” their future candidates for a few years until the next election cycle. And let’s not forget the newest Republican pathway to future political influence: talk radio and Fox News.
Goldy
What is wrong with institutional support?
Isn’t HuffPost self sustaining? It seems t me there is apotentially self supporting model that could sell adds etc.
While I’m glad to have the chance to send you a few $$$, I do wish you’d put the Google ads back.
I never missed an opportunity to click on the far-right ads, giving Ms. Coulter, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and the Washington State Republicans the chance to do their part in keeping you running. Hey, they send money to their bloggers, they can send money to you, too!
Bring back the Google ads!
There are ads on the site, for Goldy to make money, visitors need to click on the ads and travel around the internet with the ads………..
Green Thumb,
I’m not sure it’s possible to make a living off a political blog that focuses on local issues, because the potential audience just isn’t large enough to sustain sufficient advertising. But on the other hand, my impact far exceeds the size of my direct audience, and the value I produce for the progressive movement and the Democratic Party would be sorely missed should I need to give this up for more remunerative work.
The question facing the Democratic Party and movement progressives is how do we support people like me? Do we just take what they give until they burn out, and then move on to the next idealistic volunteer? Or do we try to build an infrastructure that nurtures and supports young talent (or in my case, not so young talent)?
Our system is set up to raise enormous sums of money to be spent on consultants and media buys. I think some of that money would be better spent reinforcing and growing the netroots and other grassroots activists and media.
The Resume of a “Self-Made” Republican:
1976-84: Attended Highly Priviledged Grammer School (only suspended twice, reinstated when Father paid all damages and contributed to endowment fund).
1984-90: Attended & graduated from Socialite Prep Acadamy, played football, rugby, swimming, polo. Suspended only six times, but record expunged when Father paid all damages and contributed to new school gym fund.
1990-94: Attended U.S.C. Majored in partying, headed fraternity pledge hazing committee, and the Young Republican Committee on Election Dis-Enfranchisement. Graduated with B.A. in Business when Father paid all damages and paid for a new library.
1994-96: Consultant, XYZ Business & Political Consulting Inc. Worked as an assistant manager on Uncle Frank’s campaign. My job was to attend all fundraisers, meet the donars and laugh at their racially insensitive jokes, and remember their names and the names of their wives and children. Received a big raise when I married the daughter of a big Republican contributor.
1996-2000: Congressional Staff Assistant for Uncle Frank. (A low-paying government job, but the trips to play golf in Scotland on the corporate jets were awesome). Learned much on that job, heeded Uncle Frank’s advice to “pay my dues”, with a little help from the part-time “job” Uncle Frank got for my wife as a “public relations consultant” for a major oil company, which paid for our Georgetown Brownstone.
2000-04: Lobbyist at a Republican lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. I found I can still make money off my contacts with Uncle Frank, as long as I talk to him only at family events, so the visits or calls aren’t logged in the official records. Gee, poor people must be lazy or stupid! Anybody can make as much money as I do, if they are just willing to do a little work! Of course the minimum wage shouldn’t be raised, it will just encourage the worker to work work less! Don’t they know that hunger is a great motivator?
2000-06: Assist. Manager at ABC Corporation (owned by wife’s father-in-law). What’s wrong with the Justice Dept.? Don’t they know who’s in charge of the government? And why won’t Uncle Frank return my calls?
2007-2010: Inmate # 20070569001 at Bushy Hollow Federal Minimum Security Prison. Founded the local chapter of the Incarcerated Republican Caucus (now the largest in the country). Discovered that a carton of cigarettes can buy a lot more than I ever dreamed possible.
(copyright 2006 by rhp6033: reprints by permission only).
Sorry about the deviation from topic on # 18. The comment about Republicans having pathways to nurish their future leadership just kind of sent my mind off on that tangent….
Carl,
I like reading and I would be bored if the bandwidth isn’t paid for every month………
@12 What difference does it make if Goldy is paid by the Democrat party or not? His views are not “independent” of the base. Don’t see how that makes him legit or not…
@1 George Soros……
@2 I agree!!!! Just to clarify, It is the “rich” who are running the gov. That group is comprised of both D’s and R’s
I think it is kind of sad that Cantwell hired her opponents out of the Dem competition, but can’t shell out a few $$$ for Goldy. Ditto for DB who certainly got way more exposure and “free” pub via Goldy than almost anyone else….
What does that say about how the parties view their grass root orgs.?
Goldy, one thing kind of confused me. You kept referring to a “pledge”, but everyting I see indicates this is a one-time call for contributions. I don’t think that is going to be sustainable. I would hate to see us get into a five-day “pledge drive” every month, kind of like the local public television channel or NPR. At least they give some gifts from time-to-time: videos & books, for example.
Perhaps you can set up a method for regular contributors to authorize you to debit their credit cards every month for a regular contribution? I would be willing to do that. And if you could give some special benefit to those “gold club” or “sustaining members”, it would be so much the better. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, though.
And although you might have started off as a local blog, your influence has become somewhat national ever since the Brownie/Arabian Horse thing.
Right Stuff at 21 said: “I think it is kind of sad that Cantwell hired her opponents out of the Dem competition, but can’t shell out a few $$$ for Goldy.”
Hmmm. Maybe even a broken clock is right at least twice a day.
Perhaps we just haven’t figured out how to leverage the blogosphere into the familiar methods with which the mainstream politicos are familiar?
What if Goldy simply sets up a Blosphere Consulting Group Inc., and hires out his expertise as a consultant to Democratic campaigns on how to benefit from a netroots organization? In other words, tap into some of that “consultant money” which is already going to others? It would give him access to the insider knowledge of the political campaigns, lots of access to the politicos, and provide a way to pay the bills at the same time.
I don’t see anyting wrong with this from the standpoint of running his blog, as he’s never claimed to be a “neutral” journalist. KIRO might have some problems with this, however, if he’s receiving money directly from the campaigns.
John @15,
I only temporarily removed the Google Ad from the banner. There’s still one in the right sidebar, but for the moment it seems to be dominated an add for TaxCut.
re 8: What are the figures you give? Bobbleheads?
Direct Relief International
Hurricane Katrina
Tsunami Relief
Catholic Charities
Action Against Hunger
American Red Cross (via Amazon)
American Jewish World Service
Habitat for Humanity International
Quarters From Kids: Tsunami Relief and Rebuilding
Save the Children
UNICEF
World Vision
9/11 charities
Operation Ensuring Christmas
Speedway Children’s Charities
St Judes Research
Childrens Hospital
Food banks
Make a Wish Foundation
Azalea Charities
USO
Army Emergency Relief
Fisher House Foundation
Scholarship America
Americares
Childrens Network International
Brother’s Brother Foundation
Convoy of Hope
The Humane Society of the United States
Mercy Corp
Northwest Medical Teams International
Samaritan’s Purse
Cancer Foundation of America
National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund
Child Find of America
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Ronald McDonald House Charities –
Prison Fellowship Ministries
Christopher Reeve Foundation
Salvation Army
American Brain Tumor Association
American Kidney Fund
American Liver Foundation
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Deafness Research Foundation
Epilepsy Foundation
First Candle/SIDS Alliance
Huntington’s Disease Society of America
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
Lupus Foundation of America
Lupus Research Institute
National Jewish Medical & Research Center
National Kidney Foundation
National Organization for Rare Disorders
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation
Action Against Hunger
America’s Second Harvest
Bread for the World Institute
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Camp Fire USA
Boy Scouts
Girls Scouts
Junior Achievement
Alzheimer’s Association
Network for Good
American Association of the Deaf-Blind
American Foundation for Disabled Children
Childhood Leukemia Foundation
Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
Kids Wish Network
IF YOU DONATE TO THE BEGGING, WHINING JEWBLOGGER AHEAD OF ANY OF THOSE LEGITIMATE CHARITIES, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.
IF YOU TRULY WANT TO REWARD A BLOGGER, CONTRIBUTE AND SUPPORT EDUCATION:
The Daniel Kovach Scholarship Foundation is giving away $2000 to a political blogger this year.
Clearly it is true what they say about a fool and his money. Your supporters have certainly proven this. Wow, $1,700 and climbing.
Goldy, in all seriousness, while I do not support your politics, or for that matter find anything remotely redeeming about you as a person, resident of this state, or even being a mammal (no, I did not contact DSHS).
Let me offer some real advertising advice on supporting this site as well as giving you some form of income for yourself.
Get some real banner ad revenues going:
1. Bring on someone far-less annoying than yourself to represent your interests to others. Will seemed to be doing a good job of stepping in for you and he’s far more diplomatic/personable than you’ll ever hope to be. I would start with asking him to help you out.
Just remember, when speaking to people face to face , personal hygiene is important (shampoo, shaving and for gods sake brush your teeth and wear clean clothes).
2. Any bar that supports Drinking liberally should be supporting your site by buying advertising. You drive traffic to these events and the make money off that. They recognize it and so do you. If they don’t, shop the propsect to another Bar that will support you.
3. Somewhere, sometime ago, I came across your banner prices, which were dirt cheap (like $45). Your site drives traffic (then again, do the screeching liberals who actually come here actually spend money at advertised sites is an entirely different discussion) and you should be getting somewhere in the ballpark of $300- $400 more than you are currently asking.
4. Provide tracking information to Advertisers, x number of people visited your site and of these koolaid drinking freak-shows, x-number of them clicked on the banner. This should come in the form of a report and sent to them monthly. Also, encourage your readership to e-mail those advertisers saying they saw the ad on your site.
Do I need to mention encourage your readers to support your advertised business?
5. Roger Rabbit….. This freak of nature lives on this site. For the love of God, send him a bill for like $200 per month or limit his posts, to say…. 10 per day.
6. Encourage and of your participating readers , who own businesses to support your site by advertising.
This should be a no brainer, as when any one of them replies, they are never just “Joey the Ditch Digger”, it’s always someone “saying” the own a company, law-firm or are a recently retired (Navy, Seal, Army Ranger, (mind you, they are NEVER a cook or clerk) etc…) Medal of Honor winner, who single handedly fought for our rights, until his wife made him retire, and is now running an incredibly successful (insert whatever fantasy business comes to mind)….
7. You’ve done a great job supporting candidates like Darcy Burner, Ron Sims, etc…. who have a loyal following of real businesses owners who support them. Contact them about making some phone calls to support you if they want your support in the future.
Follow the advice and you’ll start bringing in money……
@ 30
I’m more personable than Goldy?
I’m offended! I’m as every bit an asshole as anyone else!
I’d disagree Will.
Whether you want to admit it or not your much more open minded than you give yourself credit for.
Possibly you have the ability of listening AND talking.
Wow, I love how many concern trolls have shown up. It’s really touching.
@8 “Furball Moonbat Pelletizer: When your charitable contriibutions ($99, what a joke) reach my level and are sustained yearly, you may criticize me.”
Puddingbutt: My means are modest, so my charitable contributions are not large, but they are targeted for maximum effect.
For example, the $99 I donated to http://www.operation-helmet.org/ bought a battle helmet upgrade kit for one (1) U.S. soldier or Marine.
The need and demand obviously exist; these kits are distributed only to troops deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan who ask for them, and http://www.operation-helmet.org/ has distributed 33,100 kits so far, and has a backlog of 912 requests (as of right now) awaiting funding from donors like me.
The kits are designed to provide better protection, especially from IEDs (i.e., roadside bombs). If my $99 donation saves a soldier from death or more serious injury, and allows him to return home to his family, raise his kids, hold a job, be a contributing member of society, go to church … well, obviously, it was a damn good investment on my part.
But, puddy, I’ve made an even more important investment: I’ve used my precious vote to try to put people in public offices who will send our troops to war zones with proper equipment so there is no need for private donations in the first place. And what have you done? You’ve not only not supported our troops with either your wallet or your fat mouth, but you’ve squandered YOUR vote on the fuckwads who put our troops in harm’s way with inadequate equipment — and then, for YEARS, have refused to do anything to upgrade their equipment. We’ve been at war for FOUR FUCKING YEARS and http://www.operation-helmet.org/ is still in business because there’s STILL a need for private donations to support our troops with proper battle gear. Why is that?
Because of unpatriotic shit-wits like you, puddy.
@ 31
Don’t worry Will… being called “more personable than Goldy” is like being called prettier than Rosie. Doesn’t mean much.
And PS – if Roger Rabbit will agree to not post more than 2 comments per Horses Ass thread for the rest of 2007, I will donate $1000 to Goldy.
@9 “Puddybud says: Furball: I placed the ABC News charitable comparison where 24 out of 25 red cities are more charitable than blue cities. 01/26/2007 at 6:45 am”
That happens to be blue-state money they’re giving away to THEIR favorite rightwing “charities” (such as “Rev.” Kenneth Copeland, who needs your contributions RIGHT NOW to make the payments on the his-and-her private jets he bought for himself and his wife, at $20 million per copy).
The reason I say that is because those of us living in blue states pay more taxes to the federal government than our states get back in federal spending, whereas the red states get back, on average, 125% more than they pay in taxes.
That leaves 25% of their federal taxes available to donate to their favorite nutwad “charities.” That’s a pretty hefty chunk of change. And it ain’t even their money, it’s my money, and money contributed by my fellow blue-staters — but that doesn’t stop the red-state freeloaders from taking credit for these “donations.”
It’s easy to give to charity when you’re donating other people’s money, Puddwhacker. Very pain-free.
@11 I think we may have a definitional problem here. Paying your health insurance premiums to a “nonprofit” whose CEO earns 7 figures doesn’t make those payments “charitable donations,” pudwhacker.
@14 The comment threads are what differentiate this blog from all others, and without the free-swinging exchanges that occur here, HA would be just another clone of the millions of personal blogs out there vying for attention. If this blog wasn’t the saloon brawl that it is, nobody would come here.
@39 It goes without saying that a free supply of stupid, ignorant, unpatriotic trolls is essential to Goldy’s business model and success. Thanks for your cooperation, wingnuts!
@40 Oh, and one more thing, wingnuts — please drive to the nearest gas station TODAY and fill up your gas guzzlers so my oil stocks will go up; I purchased more shares of HP yesterday. Thanks, wingnuts. I appreciate your business. Really, I do!
George H.W. Bush has accepted millions of dollars in “speaking fees” from “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon, who runs a global criminal enterprise that includes drug trafficking, illicit arms dealing, and money laundering.
I am in love with my own typing! My keyboard and I have intimate relations at least twice a day (after all, no human would stoop so low).
@24 To compare George Soros with Sun Myung Moon is sheer nonsense.
@29 You gave $5 to United Way last year?
@30 Isn’t that just like a Republican? Telling people to advertise their businesses by pretending to be Medal of Honor recipients? Better be careful, because very soon this will become a crime: http://tinyurl.com/2oa8r9
@36 I don’t loaf that cheaply. If you want me to do so little, you have to pay real money.
Say… what about using the Amazon Honor System to slip you some $$?
Hmmmmm @ 30:
Speaking as one of those people who owns a business (it’s not a wildly sucessful fantasy business. I build systems and networks. It pays me. It beats washing dishes), I would be VERY reluctant to advertise on Goldy’s site.
I have clients who are Democrats. I have clients who are Republicans. I would guess at a blush that the R’s outnumber the D’s by a fair margin. At least one is a really rabid R. He could have a party with our trolls and feel right at home.
I don’t particularly care what the political affiliations of my clients are. You get a pretty good feel by talking with them which side of the fence they’re on. As long as their checks cash and they’re not impossible to work with, I’m good.
The political debates are for after hours, with the sane ones. This does not necessarily mean ‘D’s either. One of my favorite people to argue politics with here is a righty who cut his teeth in BC’s conservative Social Credit party. The fact that his politics are wrong doesn’t concern me. He has a broad and deep knowledge of how Canada and BC are put together, and how the Parliment works with the civil service to make legislation happen.
Now, my real point is this. Politics are politics. Business is business. If I advertise on this blog, I will be seen as a rabid partisan first, and a systems integrator second. Besides, 99% of HAs readers don’t have any use for what I do. So what possible reason would I have for doing that?
jsa….you mean you are not willing to risk losing any business on behalf of your “beliefs”?
that’s very interesting.
smart…yes. but also interesting. you sound like a good business ‘person’……..and you also sound like a conservative.
so ,perhaps, what you are telling goldy is that he should try to find more common ground and instead of harping on the negatives he should be putting forth real, viable, solutions to the ills of society? with less foul language of course……
in other words use his brains to be the “idea-guy” and not just the flame thrower that points at people and screams?
and roger…i see that you are trying to use the moonies to distract everyone here from thinking about what a LIAR you are. so mr.big business rich liberal….why aren’t you making goldy’s problems just go away? i mean you are here constantly….and 3500 is nothing to you right? aren’t you the guy that accuses people of “only” having menial jobs? i have a feeling that they are way ahead of you….they at least have a job.
while you sit here and shoot off your mouth.
i’m interested to know…has anyone at drinking liberally ever even seen mr. bunny here? does he even exist?
the excuses he makes [without anyone even asking him….a dead giveaway] on why he can’t make it to the drunk-fest are always silly to say the least.
so…does he exist?
jsa on commercial drive,
I’m just speechless.
So what I am hearing is that if your clients actually heard how you truly feel about politics, you would possibly go out of business?
What’s that tell you about your politics?
What’s that tell you about your business?
What’s that tell you about your clients?
What’s that tell you about your life?
Essentially, you are no better than a closeted homosexual with a wife acting as your “beard”. Only to sneak out, afer she’s a sleep to go to a gay leather bar.
JSA, you are Vito from the Soprano’s.
Let’s just hope your clients would not deal with you in the same fashion that the Soprano’s delivered a pool cue to Vito.
I really don’t find that to be progressive and/or liberal. In fact, it’s a little cowardly.
JSA, be honest with yourself, be a man, advertise on Goldy’s site for christ’s sake. Your businees could be seen by well over 80,000 visitors per month (granted 79,000 would be Roger Rabbit). For a mere $345 per month (contact will for details) you would feel a whole lot better about yourself and would not have to live behind the veil you call “jsa on commercial drive”.
Do it now before a client shows up with a pool Cue.
ghost @ 50:
Business is business, politics is politics. I don’t have any more to say about it than that. If I sound like a conservative, that doesn’t bother me very much. When it comes to money, I am a mean, tight-fisted bastard. That’s not liberal or conservative. It’s good fiscal management. If my tax money pays for good schools, good transit, ammenities like parks and libraries, and provides a safety net to keep people from starving or sleeping on the street, it’s money well spent. If it is being wasted, it doesn’t matter if it’s being wasted on things that I think are good. Waste is waste.
More importantly, my average client ships me somewhere around 50 grand. The project I’m on now is worth about five times that. I put together, document and maintain big, complex systems. Yes, I can fix your PC. I do that for friends. I am too old to be paying my rent that way.
With all due respect to the handsome, educated, and wildly sucessful readership of HA, I doubt very many of them can write the sort of checks that get my lazy ass out of bed. I couldn’t write a check to pay me, and I doubt you could either.
jsa………um, being fiscally responsible is CONSERVATIVE…where have you been?
so…i thought your business wasn’t “wildly successful”…it just beat washing dishes.the exact quote is: “it’s not a wildly sucessful fantasy business. I build systems and networks. It pays me. It beats washing dishes)”
and now? “With all due respect to the handsome, educated, and wildly sucessful readership of HA, I doubt very many of them can write the sort of checks that get my lazy ass out of bed. I couldn’t write a check to pay me, and I doubt you could either.”
Hmmmmmmmm…it’s a thinker alright.
wow……so you couldn’t write a check to pay you? one that would, quoting now, “get your lazy ass out of bed”.
if you are getting paid so much then why couldn’t you write a check for yourself again? why is that? i must be missing something here.
oh…i wouldn’t bother youself too much about the size of the checks i can write….and cash. you forgot to add that. after all anyone can write a big check……having the money to do it is another thing.
obviously very much another thing for the posters on here……..
so…i am curious. you seem to contradict yourself in the “fantasy business fashion” which seems to be common on here. maybe i am just misunderstanding?
goldy…i have to ask. by doing this money drive what is the difference between you and tim eyeman?
will there be a difference…other than political slant?
and are you completely disgusted with the people like ron sims that used you and then kicked you under the bus tires yet?
maybe you are getting a real up close and personal look at the average liberal blow hard right now.
it makes you think, doesn’t it?
i mean…the only tax i have ever seen you stand up against is the one that would affect you directly. isn’t that just a tad insincere?
jsa….did i misunderstand you?
and roger…instead of bragging about buying more stocks to serve yourself…why don’t you put your money where your HUGE mouth is and give it to goldy instead?
see…this is why no one takes liberals seriously. you are great at telling other people where they should spend THEIR money….but you don’t do it yourselves.
i think alot of you have forgotten [or never realized in the first place] that seattle is “special”. and i don’t mean that in a good way. you guys are living in an echo chamber of your own making and in reality seattle and the rest of the nation have almost nothing in common.
when you are considered jokes by the raving lefties in arcata california [that have been doing liberal alot longer than you] you are just L-A-M-E.
and really really out of touch…….
uh huh……..VAST silence of whiney liberals when called on their BS…..how interesting. LOL.
Roger, you expressions regarding one purchased helmet are delusions of grandeur. Be a good bunny and buy one every month.