Washblog

It seems like Washblog lost steam after the 2008 election.  I know I got burned out.  I am still trying to revive myself.

by raincity calling on Sun Nov 15, 2009 at 07:05:01 PM PST

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I've been doing these online political things since ...'91.

A common feature of political online things is that:

1. people talk politics,
   
2. people disagree,
   
3. some people are real disagreeable, and some are ridiculously stupidly sensitive, and lots of people are somewhere in between,
   
4. people get their feeling hurt, sniff, and take their truck or their doll to a new sandbox, OR, just go home ... sometimes to sulk and hide, sometimes to move on.

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there were people who posted a LOT of really good stuff here - what was in it for them?

at some point being noble to save the world conflicts with paying your bills.

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finally, a lot of the people who migrate away seem to pop up in some organization which REALLY fits thier comfort zone ... of 3 or 4 others who agree on everything most of the time.

Oh well.

When Howard Dean was coming in May of 2003, someone asked me to go with her blah blah blah.  I was soooooooooo disgusted with the Sell-Out-O-Shits and Stu-Pid-Paks, I hadn't been paying attention, and I didn't know who Dean was!

Anyway - I told her - "hello - this is MAY of an election year, in Seattle - there will be 17 people who are also have 43 different Executive Directors jobs of 342 non profits...and ALL will be begging for coin. I'll go, but don't expect to hang around too long."

oh well. the king is dead, long live the king.

rmm.

http://www.liemail.com/BambooGrassroots.html

by rmdSeaBos on Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 04:53:51 PM PST

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At the risk of sounding a bit arrogant, I am one of those who used to post more here but, alas, with my gig at Examiner.com and trying to maintain the Left Shue I let my "duties" at Washblog slip. However I have to say, at the time there was still a very strong group of posters still offering up great stuff.

A couple of things:

I would submit that, while there has not been much in the way of quantity, there has still been some good quality writing going on here, especially as it relates to certain of the ballot measures from the last election. Would I lke to see more? Absolutely. Which brings me back to the subject of this comment. Write a diary of your own and spark a conversation. I am always happy to engage even if I am not the originator of the conversation. Washblog still has the potential to be whatever we wish it to be so be a part of it.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

by The Left Shue on Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 07:32:41 AM PST

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around.  All sites this size depend upon a handful of very prolific bloggers and a group of not so prolific bloggers to keep the content rolling.  Unfortunately, Zappini/Fake Consultant seem to be the only ones left around here and the site really is missing the wonderful work that was done by Noemie Maxwell.

There have also been other notable losses to the core group that was Washblog.  Chad, as he said, doesn't post here very often anymore.  Dinazina and the Ruger family don't post here as often, though they still do.  I left the editorial board about two years back and don't post here much anymore.  I just don't have the energy to argue with all the conservadems from the other local blogs that would come here and attack me for pointing out we needed to primary out the useless Dems in our party if we want real change.

I don't know why the others left, but it's true, the place is pretty much drying up.  Hopefully, people will get rejuvenated with the recent Dem sellouts and come back ready to fight to change the Democratic Party from within or change election laws to break the two party monopoly.

Frankly, until progressives HAVE a political party to talk about and are no longer completely disenfranchised by their government - and make no mistake, 58% of the American public are progressive and most don't even realize it - then there's nothing really to talk about except how the Dems sold us out AGAIN.

Oh, and rag on what a Republican-lite president Obama turned out to be.

by Pen on Wed Nov 18, 2009 at 05:27:16 PM PST

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as Pen says.

The previous writers/leadership moved out of being as active -- are focused on other things.  And it needs, imo, technology updating. It may cycle back up again.  

Leduc's posted this exact same diary before.  Same title, everything.

by noemie maxwell on Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 12:29:41 AM PST

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Once Washblog decided that the important thing was to make a statement as to what it was about rather than focusing on encouraging participation, the seeds of the decline were sown.

Also, I think that Progressives are tired right now.

by dlaw on Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 06:23:16 PM PST

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bothered me a great deal. After the session, I spoke individually with two of our district legislators, and I exchanged email with the third. I was sorely disappointed in what they had to say.

In any case, it has caused me to take some time to rethink what I think about the political scene in this state. For the time being, I have become more introspective.

It's been a helluva year. I lost my job. Then I was rehired part-time. Then I lost my job again. Then I was rehired again full-time. Now I expect to lose my job again this spring. I have much to say about my current employer, but now is not the time to say it.

I guess I'm just waiting for when the time is right to jump back into the fray.

by DWE on Fri Nov 27, 2009 at 09:05:22 PM PST

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I think everyone has their own blog now, and too few people are coming here to cross-post.  There is a LOT going on, even in these quiet months after an election.  Maybe we should think of moving to an aggregator model.

by chadlupkes on Sun Nov 29, 2009 at 01:35:52 PM PST

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up between son-in-law's deployments, knowing that deployment to Afghanistan war is still on his horizon, therefore, another great and we hope not grave sacrifice he, his wife, and their three children will have to make after his 30 months of deployments in Iraq.  

Posted a  very short story today here at Washblog because today President Obama will give a speech announcing his plans for troop escalation in Afghanistan.

In the interim between sil's last Iraq deployment, we worked on behalf of Barack Obama, were thrilled and hopeful with his successful election, and I harbored hope that he would not lead us into another quagmire in Afghanistan.  We did our bit to work on healthcare reform.

We were supportive of our U.S. Representative Brian Baird in his Town Hall meetings on the health care reform issue, despite his betrayal of us in taking a position of support on Surge in Iraq.  What does Baird do on Health Care Reform - votes no...unbelievable.  So likely we can count on him to support the surge in Afghanistan.

Politics has not yet killed anyone in our family, but it certainly has cast a huge shadow over our lives.

Arthur still blogs his own blogs on subjects he is passionate about.  I stopped blogging on my personal blog and here at Washblog.  Found refuge in connecting with others on Facebook - the popular new social networking venue.  

The vision for Washblog did include an editorial board, true, and I'm not sure that squelched participaton.  The technology is dated now, true.  After the eight years of Bush and the right swinging further right, the election of President Obama, I think many here did an incredible job of devoting time to the writing on the issues, and took some well deserved time to realign their personal lives.

Could WB use a facelift.  Perhaps, and perhaps not.  It is testimony to a technology that pushed the new venue of internet media into the future.  The future is now the present, and certainly wouldn't hurt to revisit the vision for WB.  

'Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? ~ Abraham Lincoln

by Lietta Ruger on Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 12:12:06 PM PST

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