Searching For A Good Leftyblog
Before I get into the actual post, let's be clear on one thing: being in the Northern Alliance is one of the great flukes of my life. I personally consider myself a very run-of-the-mill blogger who happens, from being in the right place at the right time, to have fallen into company with some of the very best bloggers in the business - like a double-A first-baseman who gets called up to the Yankees. If someone asks me "Who are you to judge other bloggers", the answer is "A very lucky guy, and not much else. Take it for what it's worth".
That being said, many of us in the Northern Alliance have been looking - for a long time, now, in fact - for a "good" lefty blog - meaning, a left-wing blog that is:
- Well-written
- Employs a level of logic, or at least maturity, greater than that of a narcissistic high school kid
- presents the left in a way that wouldn't embarass me if I were still a liberal.
It's not easy.
First things first - this is not a combative thing; when we put together our blogger party last week, we made the occasion politically-ecumenical, in fact specifically invited bloggers on the left (as many as we knew), specifically because there is no real point to having pointless, overtly political squabbles among a community that should have every reason to host a meeting of the minds.
Finally, Fraters posted the question; what's a good, non-institutional, Minnesota-based lefty blog?
Chuck Olsen - who runs Blogumentary, whom we (other than the Powerline guys) all met for the first time at our Blogger party, and who was a genuine pleasure to meet - responded.
He (and his commenters) passed us a list of local lefty blogs.
So, not that anyone asked me, but let's look at them.
By the way - I'm going to leave politics out of these reviews. "But you can't! You're a conservative!" You're right, I am. Make of it what you will.
Democracy for Minnesota - Well, it's certainly polished. But it looks like it's an institutional blog, either for Howard Dean or for Americans Coming Together. Nothing wrong with that - but blogs that serve as press organs for political organizations aren't exactly the independent voices that we're looking for.
BushOut.TV - This blog shares some people with Democracy For Minnesota, and focuses on campaign advertising. It's actually a fairly interesting blog; they update frequently, and the material is relatively well-written. Downside: they quote Hesiod as a credible source.
Blog of the Moderate Left - Jeff's a good guy. The problem with BOTML - disagreements about politics aside - is Jeff's affinity for a type of blogging that Atrios and Oliver Willis gave a bad name; the "Long quote with the sarcastic zinger" school of blogging, and a Kos-like mania for polls. Even Kos doesn't make polls interesting. Unlike Kos and Atrios, I'd actually like Jeff to write longer, less "gotcha"-oriented stuff.
Minnesota Liberal - For starters, it hasn't been updated in two months. When it was being updated, the writing was facile, and extremely derivative of Atrios; like Blog of the Moderate Left, it seemed (on skimming through its archives) to focus mainly on the latest anti-Bush hatchet-piece-du Jour.
Minnesota Progress - Same as above.
Space Waitress - I've been reading Spacewaitress for a while, intermittently, and I enjoy her blog. Ms. Waitress is a good writer, generally - when she sticks with her main subject. Which is Ms. Waitress. That sounds dismissive - it's not. Ms. Waitress is at her best when she's writing about herself, her life, her troubles, and so on. But Chuck from Blogumentary says that Space Waitress was "Minnesota's best left-leaning blog last year, easily on par with the Northern Alliance. " I dug through about six months of her posting, and found...very little about politics. A few dashed-off notes, not much deeper than an Atrios headline or a "bush sure sucks", that kind of thing. I'll give Ms Waitress her due - of all the blogs on Chuck's list, it's the one I visited before, and will visit again.
DFL Blog - also an institutional blog.
Moderate Republican- Remember the scene in The Life Of Brian where the Judean People's Front starts arguing with the People's Front of Judea? They are nearly identical, but they just want to be different, so each group takes a different name? That's the way politics in Minnesota was until the early nineties; the Republican Party in Minnesota, as exemplified by former governor Arne Carlson, was a slightly-upmarket version of the DFL. Dennis Sanders, a "30something, gay, African American, Republican minister", wants to return to those days. He's a decent writer, though.
Minnesota Politics - The anonymous writer is probably the closest to a NA blogger of the bunch. He's only been in business for three months or so, and while I disagree with most of what he says, and think he needs to do his blog for another year or so, he's not half bad.
Let's Fight - Very irregularly updated, and just not all that interesting.
Secret Farm - Chuck Olson's side project?
The Game - This blog seems to be a diaryblog written by a very disaffected, underemployed recent college grad who exudes anger and mourning for Paul Wellstone. The one thing other bloggers seem to mention about him is that he swears a lot. So did the guy I sit next to on the bus. No, that was unfair; but the guy seems to be a budding Rottweiler of the left. Note that I never, ever read the Rottweiler.
Cursor.org - Is it a blog? Is it a mini-Slate? Cursor has its feet in both ponds. It's an interesting read, and for me these days, a regular one.
RPhaedrus - Jason is an old co-worker of mine, and I'd call him the best lefty blog in town - but I imagine he'd blanche at being called "lefty". Jason is as non-aligned as they come.
Rational Enquirer - Not a blog.
Any other suggestions?
Posted by Mitch at
August 6, 2004 08:35 AM
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Here's your problem Mitch:
"presents the left in a way that wouldn't embarass me if I were still a liberal."
Those of us who moved "across the aisle" when we grew up have a hard time taking our old rejected perspectives seriously. Especially when the majority of those advocating them (though not all of course) never challenged their own assumptions in the way we did.
There is a reason there are hordes of formerly liberal conservatives, and precious few formerly conservative liberals. And the reason has nothing to do with politics.
Doug
Posted by: Doug at August 6, 2004 09:25 AMStrip Mining For Whimsy:
http://www.noematic.org/mine
He doesn't always write about politics, but when he does, it takes some serious work to deconstruct his arguments. And his other stuff is pretty dang good as well. Also be sure to visit his Red Pages link on the left.
Posted by: Ryan at August 6, 2004 10:01 AMSMFW is pretty good, but is he local?
Posted by: mitch at August 6, 2004 10:07 AMWhoops. Sorry about that Mitch, I kinda overlooked the local requirement. SMFW is out of Seattle, so he can't play.
Posted by: Ryan at August 6, 2004 10:32 AMHey, you callin' my girlfriend a "side project"? ;-)
[Secret Farm belongs to my gal Lori.]
I wouldn't disagree strongly about anything you wrote here, although when I have time I'll look for some of Space Waitress' political and economic posts on topics like voting machines and labor. She switched blog hosts at some point so I hope the archives are intact.
Also? We're building a death star.
Posted by: Chuck Olsen at August 6, 2004 12:19 PMI noticed the g/f bit after I was at a place where I couldn't modify the post. Arg.
I was looking for SW's archives - she had a reference saying they'd disappeared in one post.
A liberal death star; that is post-fodder in and of itself.
Posted by: mitch at August 6, 2004 12:36 PM"Note that I never, ever read the Rottweiler."
I used to read him (still have him blogrolled, I think), but he is definitely one of the victims--along with Oliver Willis, Josh Marshall, and probably others I can't remember right now--of becoming near-parodies of themselves. They used to be interesting and even occasionally thoughtful, but now just come off as raving anti-whatevers.
I'm curious to know whether it's the positive reinforcement from their commenters or some other force that bends them into what they are, but I don't know anyone with that kind of time to dig through archives.
Posted by: Steve Gigl at August 6, 2004 01:36 PMHey, it's hard work writing long narratives. Much easier to post the sarcastic zinger. And when you're both working fifty hours a week, going to school, and raising a daughter, sometimes that's what you can do.
But I do try to write narrative--vis what I wrote about the DNC. And while I track polls, I try not to just fling 'em.
That said, I'm just a guy with a keyboard. And I do what I can.
(Off topic: Alan Keyes? Alan Keyes?!?!?)
Posted by: Jeff Fecke at August 6, 2004 04:13 PMEl Jeffe,
Two jobs, two kids, also single. Cry me a river...
:-)
Posted by: mitch at August 6, 2004 05:20 PMBLOGUMENTARY interview with POWERLINE:
BLOGUMENTARY: "Does TCF know you blog, Scott?"
SCOTT J.: "Wellll, that's a difficult issue..."
How much news-gathering and/or blogging do you do on the clock, Mitch? I'm not trying to be facetious or play "gotcha". But time is a huge factor in blogging, and anyone who writes a good/prolific blog is stealing those hours from somewhere.
This may be better for an offline conversation, because I think we need to protect each other as bloggers. As in, not get anybody fired.
Posted by: Chuck at August 6, 2004 06:32 PMChuck,
To answer your question: I do not one second of blogging on the clock. I'm a contractor. It'd be a lousy idea.
I have co-workers who spend time on fantasy baseball, talking about fishing trips, smoke breaks.
I'm all for nobody getting fired; I spent enough time unemployed last year. Fact is, I am not able to blog at work, even if I wanted to.
Offline is fine.
Posted by: mitch at August 6, 2004 08:17 PMBy the way - the closest I get to blogging on the clock is, occasionally, jotting ideas on my palm pilot for use later.
Posted by: mitch at August 6, 2004 08:18 PMHm. It's taken me three posts to answer Chuck's one post...
"anyone who writes a good/prolific blog is stealing those hours from somewhere."
I certainly do. I get up at 5-5:30AM. I blog until I have to get ready for work (and, during the school year, get the kids ready for school. I steal from my sleep allotment.
At night, sometimes, I'll blog after the kids are in bed. I steal from my housework.
On weekend evenings, if I don't have a date (which is usually), I'll blog on less time-sensitive things that I can "bank" for the coming week. So I steal from my social life.
My employer gets his/her money's worth, though.
Posted by: meeotch at August 6, 2004 10:11 PMGood idea. You definitely need something to shake up the three-man echo chamber I heard on Saturday.
Posted by: dack at August 8, 2004 11:04 PMI didn't know the Maron show ran on Saturday.
Posted by: meeotch at August 8, 2004 11:11 PMIm afraid your probably on a fruitless search there mitch for 2 reasons.
1. the "local" requirement. You guys are in a fairly conservative area (i.e. the midwest) while theres plenty of folks with left leaning tendancies blogging out there, the majority come from more coastal areas.
2. Your identification of the left as "the enemy" as opposed to the "loyal opposition" really precludes your being able to see any point of view to the left of nixon as anything other than deserving of ridicule. Im not picking fights here, but you looking for what is (in your opinion) a "good lefty blog" is like a dog looking for a "good cat blog". Your never going to find one as long as you think of all people whose opinions differ from your own as uneducated/naive and/or stupid.
Unfortuneatly from where you sit (surrounded by people who agree with you and backed up with your fellow right wing blog "gang") Your seem to be unable to see where you really sit on the "chart". It seems to me that you see yourself as moderate/centerist right when to most folks your barely to the left of Buchanan.
Good luck on the search. Id vote for Fecke if it had to be local to you.
Posted by: JasonDL at August 9, 2004 12:20 AMJasonDL: Oh, where to start...
"1. the "local" requirement. You guys are in a fairly conservative area (i.e. the midwest) "
Huh? I - and the entire Northern Alliance except for King Banaian - am from the Twin Cities, one of the most liberal areas in the country, home of the Mondales, the Daytons and the Humphreys, a place with Greens on the Minneapolis City Council and the likes of Jay Benanav and Sandy Pappas controlling Saint Paul.
"2. Your identification of the left as "the enemy" as opposed to the "loyal opposition" really precludes your being able to see any point of view to the left of nixon as anything other than deserving of ridicule."
Jason, now you're engaging in transference. I WAS a liberal until I was 20 or so, as were several of my NA colleagues. My parents are both liberals, to one degree or another. I'm clearly VERY capable of understanding the liberal point of view; I rejected it with an articulation and passion that only the true apostate can muster.
" Im not picking fights here, but you looking for what is (in your opinion) a "good lefty blog" is like a dog looking for a "good cat blog". Your never going to find one as long as you think of all people whose opinions differ from your own as uneducated/naive and/or stupid."
Except that I don't, not as a stereotype. "Stupid" is a label one *earns* with me.
"Unfortuneatly from where you sit (surrounded by people who agree with you and backed up with your fellow right wing blog "gang") Your seem to be unable to see where you really sit on the "chart". It seems to me that you see yourself as moderate/centerist right when to most folks your barely to the left of Buchanan."
I'd love to see how you'd substantiate ANY of that. I AM a libertarian Republican, an former LP member, I've been an outspoken critic of Buchanan all along. I am not in the least bit "centerist", I'm an unabashed Reagan/O'Rourke/Hayek/Schundler conservative, which to many people left of Algore means "Nazi", but that's their problem.
And I most certainly CAN review lefty blogs as dispassionately as anyone; as can, I think, you, Jason. In previous threads, you tend to come out throwing the extremist, absolutist dogma, and then start to moderate and become...*reasonable* as more evidence piles up.
So let the drifting begin!
Posted by: mitch at August 9, 2004 08:29 AMOn the one hand, I agree that Jeff Fecke is about as good as the Minnesota left gets in the blog world.
On the other hand, that's kind of damning with faint praise.
Posted by: Allison at August 9, 2004 09:19 AMuh. . .what I meant to say. . was that you are great. . .and we are scum *bow*.
better? drifty enough for ya? LOL
True I tend to get fired up and pop off, however once the irish temper wears off I stick to my guns only in a less "in your face" manner. If confronted with evidence of my wrongness Im more than happy to correct myself.
"one of the most liberal areas in the country"
more liberal than new york? san francisco? When I said coastal I meant coastal. I simply dont see the amount of lefty blogs coming from there that I do from the larger urban areas. I might be wrong, feel free to point a few lefty blogs from the heartland out to me.
"I'd love to see how you'd substantiate ANY of that."
Ok. your a memeber of the Northern alliance.
"Except that I don't, not as a stereotype"
Posted by: JasonDL at August 9, 2004 10:37 AMIm afraid that you really do Mitch. were either limp wristed pink o's or screedy idealogues in numerous posts on this very site. You scent the smell of liberal and the generalizations begin, im not saying your rabid, but you do do it.
Okay, so last night I says to myself I says, "Chuck old boy, you're a right bastard."
Wait, start again. "Chuck old boy, you need to make a good blog post on all this Swift Boat business."
And I did, and I like it. Only problem, my girlfriend comes downstairs at 5:30 in the morning and says "WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED?!?!" I'm uhh, I'm making a post honey!
So, no more lengthy political posts from me for awhile. That's what's nice about the group blog - distributes the work and still keeps things fresh.
Posted by: Chuck Olsen at August 9, 2004 03:53 PMOkay, so last night I says to myself I says, "Chuck old boy, you're a right bastard."
Wait, start again. "Chuck old boy, you need to make a good blog post on all this Swift Boat business."
And I did, and I like it. Only problem, my girlfriend comes downstairs at 5:30 in the morning and says "WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED?!?!" I'm uhh, I'm making a post honey!
So, no more lengthy political posts from me for awhile. That's what's nice about the group blog - distributes the work and still keeps things fresh.
Posted by: Chuck Olsen at August 9, 2004 03:54 PMattentiondeficit.blogspot.com, the blog i write, contains some leftist commentary.
Posted by: tom at August 18, 2004 02:07 PM