Cross-posted from The Global Sociology Blog.

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I Voted for Clinton, These Were Not My Reasons Why, by Kate Harding. A very good list, although I admit number 10 is my favorite:

10) Because you want to see all the bloggers and pundits who’ve been screaming, “Why won’t the stupid bitch quit?!?” forced to eat shit when she takes her boobs and moves into the White House.

Okay, I’m not sure that actually qualifies as a bad reason. But you have to admit it’s kind of petty.

Melissa McEwan on the recent Tuskagee-like research done using industrial waste in black neighborhoods. Ick.  Read more 

That posts like this and this have to be written.

A little bitchy, but what’s not to love about that? John makes the important point clearly:

There’s been a marked recent increase in the number of people asking me to write about their organization, campaign, or client. Whether it’s a non-profit with some new-fangled incredibly-esoteric project, a politician promoting their latest highly-interesting-to-them but-kind-of-boring-to-you policy proposal, or a public relations firm being paid big bucks to push the lame ideas of yet another client, the volume of “give me free publicity” requests has skyrocketed of late.

Interestingly, at the same time, the number of ads these same groups are running on blogs has plummeted.

…

My point isn’t that the blogs should be bought, or can be bought. My point is that the blogs should be supported by the larger progressive community, and they’re not. Liberal non-profits, political operations, and companies interested in reaching either a progressive audience or an inside-the-beltway crowd wouldn’t think twice about spending $60,000 on a Washington Post ad, spending a good chunk of change on an ad in The Hill or Roll Call, or paying a PR firm a $20,000+ a month retainer to get their news on the blogs, among other venues (NOTE: the very best way to get me NOT to cover a story is to have a PR firm contact me). But the notion of spending $800 (or hopefully, several thousand dollars) on a blog ad gives them serious pause. Then they turn around and expect favors.  Read more 

Once, His Lordship the Grey One put up a post comparing stats for his Mighty Blue Implement of Power and that of some Potter fanzine site. The difference was truly Awesome, and the Potterites showed what “dedication” and “popularity” really look like in online communities/causes. In that spirit, I offer the following. Do read the whole thing:

The results suggest a startling conclusion: On average, companies generated roughly $28 in earmark revenue for every dollar they spent lobbying. And those at the very top did far better than the average: More than 20 companies pulled in $100 or more for every dollar spent.  Read more 

We at Corrente have worked humbly and tirelessly to bring Civility in American political discourse to the next level, so that the Moderate and the Bipartisan will never, ever have to leave their comfort zone when they enter the rough and tumble of the blogosphere. So that’s why, readers, when the conservative, Cato Institute drew my attention to the “anger index”* I was terribly, terribly distressed. In fact, grieved. Mortified.

And so, prayerfully, in the spirit of Proverbs 15:1 (“grievous words stir up anger”) I decided to return to a 2005 post we wrote that listed things we weren’t angry about, and people we didn’t hate. And—hat tip here to timeless values—-even after two years, the list is still good!

But there were one or two things I had to add, so I’ve updated the list and reposted it here.  Read more 

1. We are not angry at Bush for his war of choice in Iraq.
1. We are not angry at Bush because 2,000 3163 Americans have died in Iraq, together with tens of thousands of Iraqis.
2. We are not angry at Bush because in Iraq “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”
3. Nor are we angry at Bush because the WMDs were not found.
1. Nor angry that the aluminum tubes story was not true.
2. Nor angry that the drones story was not true.
3. Nor angry that the bioweapons story was not true.
4. Nor angry that the “yellowcake uranium” story was not true.
4. Nor are we angry at Colin Powell because nothing he said in his UN speech to justify the war was true.
5. Nor are we angry at Bush or Cheney for claiming that Iraq and 9/11 were connected when they were not.
6. Nor do we hate the members of the press who enabled Bush’s war of choice.
1. Especially we do not hate Judy Miller whose WMD stenography helped Bush “fix the facts.”
• Nor her boss, Bill Keller, who still has his job.
• Nor Keller’s boss, Arthur Sulzberger, who still has his job.
7. We were were not angry at Donald Rumsfeld.
   1. We were not angry at Donald Rumseld because his “Revolution in Military Affairs” resulted in sending our troops into urban warfare in Iraq without proper armor.
   • We are not angry that the troops still aren’t properly armored, in 2007.
   • Nor are we angry that the troops had to buy their own armor, for which they have never been recognized or reimbursed.
   • Especially we are not angry that the Pentagon bills the troops for armor when medics remove it to treat wounds.
   2. We did not hate Donald Rumsfeld for using an automatic signature machine to sign condolence letters to the parents of dead soldiers.
   3. And furthermore, we did not hate Donald Rumsfeld for taking souvenirs from the Pentagon site on 9/11, a felony.
8. We are not angry at Alberto Gonzales for writing memos purporting to justify torture.
1. Nor are we angry at the higherups who set up concentration camps and then let their subordinates take the blame when the truth came out.
2. Nor do we hate the higherups who got promotions after torture occured on their watch
3. Neither do we hate the doctors and psychiatrists who violated their Hippocratic oaths by abetting torture at Gitmo.
4. And if the torture techniques we have spread in Iraq are ever used in this country, we promise not to get angry about it.
9. We are not angry at the Republicans for “losing” $8 billion dollars meant for Iraq (2004; 2007).
10. We are not angry that Iraq has become what it was not before the war, a training ground for terrorists (2005).
11. And we promise we will not get angry if Iraq ends up as an Islamic theocracy.
1. And we further promise not to get angry that 3163 Americans will have died to make that happen.
12. And we promise never to hate the members of the White House Iraq Group (Hughes, Libby, Card, Matalin, Wilkinson, and Rove), who worked together to make it all possible.
1. Even if Bush gave them all promotions. Every single one of them.