| Since Friday is the day for important but questionable news dumps, as well as significant but forgettable mundanities, Please allow me to indulge in the latter. As I am so very fond of bulleted lists (or bullets for that matter) lets just begin.
1) Matthew Koehler has been elevated to front page post status, that is if I have done so correctly (always open to question.) His issues may often be singular, and his statements may not always meet with approval. I don't care. He has a great deal to say of importance to the left. That I do care about. Which leads to ...
2) Thank you all for the well wishes and encouragement you have left in email, comment and link. I just hope that we are all up front about this. I am not Matt Singer, or Jay Stevens, and I can't even begin to fill their shoes; nor do I intend to try. What I do intend is this ...
3) Keep this site running. That means we need content, community and activity. I will treat them in discordant order. Activity:
A) Please comment. Just 'cause I watched Kill Bill 1 recently, I have to quote: If you have anything to say, now's the f'ing time.
B) I've already made the plea for diaries, and being a beggar, I will make it again. Post what you have. Do it under your own name, and that's a huge bonus big plus extra good. But if you have anything to add, post it.
c) Rate. Matt stopped by today and reminded us all of the power we have as a community. We can rate comments. If you think someone is trolling, say so. If you think someone has something great to say, then damned well say so. The complaints about such? Well that's my problem, isn't it? And hopefully you'll be surprised at how easy it is for me to deal with it. Which also too,
Community.
We're in this together. I only agreed to take this gig because I believe that the left should have a significant voice. Matt and Jay built the megaphone. It seems it's time we use it. But there is a problem now, isn't there? Democrats don't like the left, and the left doesn't like Democrats, and radicals don't like centrists, and the blue dogs ... well nobody really likes them.
It's probably time that I clarify exactly where I'm coming from. I call myself a "moderate", some would say centrist. Yet every time I've taken a test to peg me on a political scale, I've landed just slightly to the right of Leon Trotsky. In this Amurkin world, that makes me a moderate, and hopefully won't get me an ice pick through the head. But Montana is truly center right, and moving rightward with every breath we all draw. So where is this website?
Simple. It is "Left" in the West. I've argued before that it is not "Democrats" in the West. It isn't, and that needs to be known. I have no intention of administrating this website for the benefit of Democrats at the expense of the left. Some may argue that I am not fulfilling the desires of Matt and Jay. I'm not convinced that's what I'm doing, nor do I really care. I have been tasked with keeping this website running, and that I will do. And for that, I need the left.
(We'll discuss my love affair with Democrats as time goes by.)
4) People needn't worry about trolls. I know, now more than ever, that many have never commented or participated here, yet read and want participation. Folks, I've been at this a long time. I can recognize a troll about a mile away. A few will stop coming here simply because I am now an admin. That's a good thing. The others? My hammer is named Troll's Bane, and I have no problem using it. Seriously, if you want to be a part of this community, do so. I ask you to trust me to take care of the rest. That's my job, and that I will do. |
