In which Brady screws up royally

   What he wants, ultimately, are separate societies, segregated on the basis of skin color. Whites here, blacks there, brown-skinned, red-skinned and yellow-skinned people there, there and there, each in control of their own pieces of real estate.

   To achieve that, he says, the white capitalist power structures of the West must be eliminated. And if this vision is ever realized, it won't be through peaceful means. Forget about the nonviolent civil disobedience of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King.

   "I love Dr. King," Shabazz says, "but I'm not going to get beat up to share a toilet with anyone."

   The changes Shabazz wants, he says, will only come through armed insurrection. "Huey Newton said power flows through the barrel of a gun," Shabazz says, invoking the name of one of the original Black Panthers. "We plan to make changes the same way George Washington did, the same way any oppressed people get power."

   He refuses to discuss or even acknowledge any specific plans for revolution, nor will he disclose what kind of weaponry his group has, though he does admit that they're often armed and can shift from "Martin Luther King mode" to "Malcolm X mode" at any time.

So, yes, it was a mistake in identity, but Bernero's campaign later backtracked on the endorsement and tried claiming it was an accident and never should have been included in their press release.  So, apparently they agreed that he's not exactly the kind of "leader" (to use your words) you'd want endorsing your campaign.

For background on the Bernero endorsing Malik Shabazz, please see:  http://www.metrotimes.com/edit...

Worst. Argument. Ever.

Among the Trees

I mean, in a different thread, someone from that area told you to knock if off because you were being offensive, and you responded with a condescending lecture about how wrong she is. And, what has Buzz Thomas done in the last 48 hours to show that Andy Dillon can beat Mike Cox in SE Michigan?

Among the Trees

I was sad to hear some of his beliefs back in school, and I'd be pretty surprised if ANY candidate would want his endorsement.

And let's not start accusing people of race bating.  Hate speech is hate speech, no matter who is saying it.  

Also, stop trying to play the victim card.  You rise and fall based on the strength of your arguments. Make a real argument, rather than pretending that something that no one cares about is important, and I'll stop belittling them.

Among the Trees

This is politics, first of all, which means that it's a rough business.  That goes double in primary season.  But, it's also a world where you stand or fall based on the strength of your argument.

There are lots of entirely appropriate reasons to call out fellow bloggers in diaries.  The fear of being accused of selling this site's loyalties, for instance, heavily influence the way I handle the sponsorship program.  I tell our readership up front who's paying the bills, and I tell the sponsor that their access to posting in no way expands as a result of their financial support (it exists in an already highly liberal state) and that I won't personally write things because they've slipped a few bucks for the maintenance of this site.

Also, keep in mind that this is a two-way door.  A few years ago, for instance, Michigan Messenger did a story about how people were upset that we sold an ad to an anti-labor group.  Our policy is today what it was then ... we make no editorial judgments on who wants to buy an ad because I think the firewall between finances and editorial content ought to be thick and hot.  But, the crux of their story was that a few other bloggers around the state were angry about it and yanked mutual links as a result.  So, this site in general and me specifically got called out by people who wanted to make it an issue.  Frankly, I welcomed it and the opportunity to defend policies I was responsible for.

I guess you're entitled to adopt whatever "blogging code" you feel best fits you.  Based on the rationale you've provided, however, I don't feel that what you've suggested is in this site's best long-term interests.

Among the Trees

It seems that djtyg's logical stream ends with Brady shouldn't be called out for peddling bullshit because he doesn't get paid to be a blogger...

Well, if that's the case, I'd like to remind djtyg that Brady does, in fact, get paid to be a blogger -- the taxpayers pay him to do it.

It's completely unfair for djtyg or others to relentlessly rip on the "establishment" and then cry foul when another blogger or an "establishment" media figure does the same to them.

I wasn't saying that you shouldn't fact-check somebody.  If it came across that way, I apologize.  I was just bringing up an age-old idea about diary titles.

As for media figures attacking the blog, I've knuckled up against certain people in the media lots of times when this blog was attacked.  I've never been attacked by them myself, but have come to the defense of ML.

I'm just frustrated that after all the years of blogging it just feels like things either stay the same or get worse.

"...Brady does, in fact, get paid to be a blogger -- the taxpayers pay him to do it."

Thank you so much for the ammunition.  This will play very well in the 103rd.

The Schickeltrown Mafia ENDS Tuesday, August 3rd!

Virg Bernero for Governor. Make Michigan WORK again.

Gary McDowell for Congress.

Andy Neumann for State Senate.

Randy Surline for State Representative. Ending the Schickeltrown Mafia One Door and One Dollar at a Time.

I couldn't care less about how you do your advertising.  As for the site's best long-term interest, the Michigan Blogosphere is dying.  All the old bloggers keep going off to bigger and better things, and there's not enough people to replace them.  Which doesn't surprise me, since we can't make a living off of ideals and rants.

People don't take us seriously precisely because we're not getting paid for this.

Tim Skubick gets paid. Do you take him seriously?

They never will, either, so who cares?

I can speak with some authority on this, by the way, since I do get some money to do this (I could get more if I really wanted to put the time into it) and because to the extent that issuing a press release calling someone a criminal is a sign that someone takes you seriously, at least the Michigan Republican Party takes this site seriously (or at least me).

As for this site, it is not the "Michigan blogosphere."  What other people do in their careers or with their Web sites is not my concern; and despite your dire claims, this site is not dying. To the contrary, in fact. Our readership continues to grow, and I see influence from the content posted here reflected in news outlets and press releases across the state.

How is this site so lucky? To a large degree because of those standards you don't care about. Selah.

Among the Trees

The "establishment" doesn't give a fuck about you because you've basically said that until the "establishment" gives you money, you don't plan to do anything for the "establishment" to take you seriously.

or this

The world is not obligated to take you seriously, and when you come to it saying that you have no intention to do things with a basic sense of logic and consistency in your approach, you've given the world all the reason it needs not to.

I never said I don't work to be taken seriously.  What I said was that if someone wants to compare me to a reporter, they should pay me like one.

But if you care to show me what major policy initiative in this state we got passed in the past few years, I'll be more than happy to hear about it.  But I haven't seen anything being done because we somehow influenced it.

2.  Why bug crawled up your ass?  This isn't a personal attack on you, Eric, so quit being so defensive.  The reality is that there aren't as many people writing as there was in 2006.  Your front page shows 11 out of 15 stories written by yourself alone.  It used to be much more diverse.  And no, it's not because of you.

I don't know why you've taken this as some sort of attack on your blog.  It's not.  And you can quit putting words in my mouth.

As to 1., you said as such all over this thread.  You have no intention of living up to standards you apply to others who get paid until you get a paycheck. That's precisely why you'll never get a paycheck.

Among the Trees

I won't make that mistake again.

This is almost as bad as the GOP wasting time on the ML logo.

Remember the 2006 election when this site framed the debate about Dick DeVos and Amway?

Success is not final, failure is not fatal. - Winston Churchill  

But, to the meat of the issue ... dude pops in and tells people how to behave, insults the effort I've put into this site, and then gets mad when I tell him that he's being disrespectful.  Then, despite the fact that I've met him exactly once (and never had a one-on-one conversation) says that I've offended a long-term personal relationship between us.

I've let this stuff go in the past, such as when he's ordered me not to get into fights with other blogs (anyone who actually knows me could tell you that nothing could interest me less), and unfortunately he's been around long enough that people think that it carries the weight of both of us knowing each other from way back when. So, I'd prefer it to just stop.

Among the Trees

The value of a story Skubik writes or a comment you make isn't based on how serious it is but instead on the notice people give it and the mental and emotional reaction it inspires.

Michigan Messenger:  http://michiganmessenger.com/3...

This is why no one takes anything you write seriously, including people from the Dillon campaign.

Among the Trees

Thanks

Success is not final, failure is not fatal. - Winston Churchill  

Right, so do I.

Among the Trees

He was able to get DRIC passed in the House this summer despite very agressive lobbying against it by DRIC opponents.

And, surviving recall is now a qualification for governor? Good gravy, man.

Among the Trees