"The Progressive Curmudgeon" may have journalistic history, but I think he's making a mistake on this one. **UPDATED**

****UPDATE**** Mr. James has only now added in my comment on his blog.

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On a previous post, I had a reader named Franco leave a comment for me regarding an article on the blog "The Progressive Curmudgeon." One of the articles accuses Sarah Palin of saying some very serious racial epithets. (I'm not going to cut-and-paste anything from the article or link to it because of the accusations it makes, you guys can find it and read it yourself.) Franco asked me what I thought about it.

My first response to Franco in the comments:

If you are talking about the "racist epithets" article, I don't know. I've never heard anyone make that claim and I've lived here 25 years and have lots of Valley friends. Also, her husband is part Yupik...enough to be a member of the Native Corporation. That's no proof, of course, as people can justify anything in their heads. However, it would make the use of those epithets rather ironic.

I'm seriously considering asking my brother-in-law. He's one of the leaders of Alaska Right-to-Life, was an ardent worker on her campaign, writing on some of her speeches and dragged all of his kids out to carry signs for her during the election. I would hope he wouldn't want to so strongly support someone who is racist.

So I went to the "Curmudgeon" and read everything. I even posted. The results ended up in the second comment:

Franco:

I wrote a comment on that article. I said that I was a Dem and if I could prove something like that was true, I'd post it in a heartbeat. However, in the 25 years I've lived in Alaska, of all the folks I know in Wasilla and the rest of the Valley who know Sarah Palin and including my bro-in-law, leader in Alaska Right-to-Life and worker on her campaign, I've NEVER heard ANYTHING about Sarah expressing racism in any form.

I also mentioned that his article was quite misleading regarding Alaska politics. I told him that many of the old guard, hard-core Republicans hate her. Some because she exposed Randy Ruedrich's inappropriate use of State resources (which she should have) but also many die-hard Conservatives because she's not a real conservative. She espouses conservative stances on social issues, yet while in either office never did anything to further them. She espouses conservative fiscal values but has run up the debt and increased spending both times in office. So his insinuation that she is "in" with the Repugs is wrong, which makes his article somewhat suspect to me.

Interestingly enough, he didn't print it. I did not write the comment anonymously unlike the others who criticized him so anyone reading it would be able to find their way to me and my blog. Also, all other disparaging comments printed (other than being anonymous) were also written by McCain/Palin lovers. I guess he knew their questions would be viewed as less-credible.

Additionally, he seems to have taken a lot of what he's saying straight from Anne Kilkenny's wonderful email-turned-call-to-action which has gone viral all over the internet. Anyone can use that sucker and sound like they know what they are talking about for awhile...until they try ad-libbing.

Do I understand anonymous sources? Obviously...all folks have to do is read the blog the last week and a half to know that. Is there a Lucille? Maybe...although I've NEVER heard anyone use the term "Aboriginal" up here to describe someone of Alaska Native descent. Even if there is a "Lucille," we don't know for sure that she is telling the truth.

Other things I find suspect:

In the 25 years I've lived in Alaska, I've worked in Prudhoe Bay, have spent time in Fairbanks, Kodiak, Juneau, Barrow and all over the Kenai Peninsula. I've worked in Construction for most of my career which is the reason for my...errrr...salty language. I have never heard the terms: "Aboriginal" (I explained that before), "Arctic Arab" or "Sambo" in reference to Alaska Natives or black folks. As I've heard a number of epithets in my time, especially those directed towards me since my daughter is black, I'd probably have heard that one before.

(Regarding "Sambo"--that's wayyyyy out of Sarah's and my generation -we're roughly the same age.)

Now, here's a disclaimer: his articles could all be true. His anonymous source could be real. His information could be attained from people who know what they are talking about.

However...while I went forward with the comment from McHugh Pierre about the McCain people coming to Alaska without naming my extremely-credible-source, that was with information that was not-at-all damaging to anyone on a personal level. (It annoyed McHugh, but who didn't enjoy that?) This information is not something I would ever take public without verification...it is very personally damaging to Governor Palin and I'd better be ready to back it up.

So, like I said, this could all be true and maybe someone will come forward who has experience with other examples of this behavior. However, for many of the reasons I previously stated I wouldn't be surprised if we never hear a peep.

Since I wrote this comment I've made contact with some other Valley friends. Realize, some of these folks have had close connections to either Sarah or her kids for many years. (Yes, he got that part right, they are scared...I wrote about that HERE and for Firedoglake.) The information I get from them is that NO ONE has EVER heard Sarah use racial epithets or anything like that. As much as they might like to see Sarah lose her VP nomination, they (like me) won't support lies which tarnish the whole Progressive movement.

I also have another reason for writing this: I refuse to have my credibility damaged by someone making claims that may be geared solely to "grab the limelight." Yes, Alaska is hot right now and it's amazing how many new blogs have sprung up both within and outside of Alaska. Suddenly, all kinds of folks are "Alaska experts" or "have a good friend with information." I welcome them...whatever it takes to get more folks in the blogosphere, I'm all for it.

However, I won't tolerate folks who don't know what they are talking about smearing the rest of us with bad journalism...and bad journalism can happen from folks who once had good reputations. I would rather waste valuable writing time posting this on the blog to distance myself from the "Curmudgeon" than be thrown into the same category next time I post legitimate information on all-things-Palin from a credible anonymous source.

(Photograph courtesy of "The Progressive Curmudgeon.")

Unless they perform a miracle, liveblogging Obama's acceptance is out the window

Photo: Invesco Field, Denver

Per Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic:

The big announcement comes tomorrow, according to Democrats.

On Thursday, August 28, Barack Obama plans to accept his nomination at Invesco Field in Denver, rather than at the Pepsi Center.

It's going to cost the convention committee a lot of money to make the move, but Invesco Field can handle more than 75,000 spectators and will make a much better picture.

Interesting...that comes on the heels of a negative New York Times article and the DNCC response regarding planning and money issues. I don't think it's too hard to figure out that this was probably the Obama Campaign's idea and they are probably paying for it.

1) This is good news for many in the general public as well as other bloggers who don't have DNCC credentials.

2) This also means that it's good news for my team, especially my daughter. We can all be there for the highlight!

3) However, from a credentialed blogger perspective, this is kind of a drag. This is the highlight of the Convention and not only will it be unlikely that we can liveblog it, but I can't see how I'll be able to bring my laptop at all since it's completely out in the open with no rain protection.

So, good and bad news, depending on how you look at it. We'll find out more tomorrow.

Blogger Selection issues include accusations of political favoritism while the minority exclusion discussion is going strong

It seems that there are more issues than the diversity question surrounding the blogger selection. There is a letter for Howard Dean signed by 21 folks on the State Blogger List requesting that he make a detailed review the selection process.

The story that some POC blogs have a accused the DNC of minority exclusion in the State Blogger Selection process I initially wrote about here is moving up as well.

Pam made another post on this issue...a good one. She brings up one of the points I made:

Absent answers -- and the announcement of the blogs selected for the general pool, the conversation has evolved into a fine example of how difficult and frustrating a dialogue involving race can be, and communication styles that make defense shields go up, it's like watching the Titanic heading for the iceberg and can't be turned around. For instance, Linda finally brought up what I feel was the crux of the problem:

While it's obvious that the tone used by certain members of the AfroSpear has rubbed me the wrong way, I can see the benefit of raising this issue in the first place.

My response was that I agreed it was an issue. Black bloggers who, we must assume, can afford a laptop and travel expenses to Denver (or raise those funds) cannot be classified the same as blacks who couldn't eat at a lunch counter back in the day. When people go around tossing out "Jim Crow" so liberally, it automatically places everyone in defensive positions, regardless of the merits of the complaint/observation at hand. It can also diminish the reality that was Jim Crow.

That's just my opinion, of course. I know if I took that approach here at the Blend, I'd have few readers willing to engage me on the difficult topic of race relations -- it's tough enough as it is because people are so self-conscious of the third rail and the comments are lighter in those threads. Those who go for the flamethrowing "Jim Crow" approach may not, however, have any interest in dialogue, or are so frustrated with hitting the wall of white privilege (and the denial of it), that they don't care how it comes across as long as the point is made, the issue is raised and action taken. It illustrates a frustration based in reality out there and a communication gap between parts of the blogosphere communities that has been difficult to bridge.

It also seems that there are some other blogs weighing in on the issue. Some may be more selectively picking blogs to link on this issue than others.

Francis also made another post in response to one of my comments on the AAPP blog:

I think we all know how this works: When those who developed the criteria for blogs participating at Denver developed this particular set of criteria for "state blogs", they had a clear idea of which blogs they wanted and they wrote the criteria accordingly, both to include some and EXCLUDE others.

If they had wanted diversity among the state blogs (as we have in the Democratic Party), they would have included multiple blogs from each state and these blogs would have been selected based on their ability to reach necessary constituencies in each state. Instead, their definition of "best blog" is divorced from and oblivious to the question of the whether these individual blogs have any traction among ALL of each states' target constituencies. The simple fact that there is only one state blog per state proves that they DO NOT have traction among all of each state's target sine qua non constituencies.

If they had analyzed their needs this way, it would have been obvious that each state needs to have at least one white blog, a Black blog, a Latino blog, a woman's blog and a gay blog. But, you won't find that diversity to any significant degree on the DailyKos/MyDD bloglist and you also won't find that diversity among the state blogs.

The entire "state blog" formula just validates the DailyKos/MyDD belief that something OTHER than diversity is most important when reaching out to Democratic Party constituencies.

What about the Asian blogs? The Jewish blogs? The Muslim blogs? As someone who does event planning for a living, the idea that the DNC would be able to handle that kind of logistical nightmare is not reasonable. I believe that the long-term solution for all of this doesn't really fall on the DNC...it falls on the blogosphere, including the minority bloggers themselves.

Francis did not respond to my latest comment on AAPP, where I sum that up:

After a couple of days, I revisited all of the posts from everyone on the issue...I admit that the tone of my posts was in reaction to what I perceive as a strong, accusative tone here and on Francis blog (as well as his comments). I needed to step back and look at the whole issue.

I still believe that the DNC did not intentionally exclude POC blogs from the State Blogger Corps. Is it a distinct possibility that they were somewhat callous in taking ethnicity in consideration? I can believe that. Are there also complex issues regarding internet anonymity, etc...involved that the DNC cannot control...ones that bloggers as a whole need to deal with ourselves? Absolutely!

I have been on the lookout for awhile for an Alaska Native Woman blogger as a contributor to my blog. Native issues are probably the most desperately urgent in my state, as Native Women make up about 7% of the population yet make up 45% - 55% of the victims of sexual and domestic violence. So far, I have been unable to find anyone and through this discussion on other blogs, it seems that many others in the blogosphere have the same problem finding POC bloggers. I believe we should work even harder to make it happen and I hope my new-found exposure does that.

I also believe that those of us selected for the State Blogger Corps can use this opportunity to recruit more POC writers as contributors, encourage them to start their own blogs...or something that can have a more immediate impact...encourage already-established blogs to shift their focus and get more directly involved in state and local politics.

Barack Obama saw that the 50-state-strategy was the right way to go and he has proven its success. POC bloggers need to adopt that strategy as well. While the first attempt by the DNC to have a State Blogger Corps may have been clumsy and in need of revision, I believe their overall goal was to do just that. If 100 nationally-focused POC blogs suddenly shifted to state and local politics, what a huge impact that could have on our upcoming Congressional elections!

While I still may not agree with the accusatory tone of the posts, I believe the dialogue that they started is an important one. I hope that it continues here as well as throughout the blogosphere.

I want to point something out here...it was this white chick who was the one that discovered the posts over at AAPP and Francis' blogs in the first place because I was SPECIFICALLY looking at POC blogs who had linked the DNCC State Blogger list. Since I wanted clarification, this white chick was the one who emailed someone I greatly respect, Pam Spaulding, to get her take on it. As a result, she made some very balanced, thoughtful posts on two of the largest blogs in the country. That plus my placement at the top of the DNC State Blogger list are a big reason why this issue is getting so much attention (everyone is checking out my blog first, for better or worse).

I'm not looking for credit. I'm not saying this because AAPP and Francis don't have their own, extensive audiences...they do. I'm DEFINITELY not saying it because I don't think they have an underlying point...I've been very clear that I believe they do. What I'm saying is that this attention started because I WAS MAKING AN EFFORT TO VISIT THE BLACK BLOG COMMUNITY...which several folks in the AAPP claim never happens!

I was initially offended as I felt I was being painted with the "white male, white supremacist" brush just by being on the list. I was able to calm down, strip away the anger and actually let the issue sink in a bit because, frankly, my daughter makes me "not your average white chick". I was more motivated to wade through the rhetoric.

Many, many folks who would be potential allies ARE NOT that motivated or that patient.

Hell...I'm a 46-year-old menopausal woman...I'm not saying don't offend anyone. Why have a blog if you can't blow off some steam? What I AM saying is if you want folks to really listen, try not to OFFEND EVERYONE!

I also talked to the same reporter at the Dallas Morning News that Francis did. She explained that she saw the story because she came to Blue Oasis blog and saw this issue. Here's my part in her story.

Pam Spaulding, an African-American blogger in North Carolina who has applied to the general pool, suggested on her blog — Pam’s House Blend — that minorities don’t blog about state and local politics as much as white people do, narrowing the pool.

A Hispanic blogger from New Mexico agreed and wrote that their blog was passed over in favor of a blog run by a white woman, but didn’t see any discrimination in a majority Hispanic state.

“I do think we should be looking at the quality of blogs,” said the blogger, who only identified his or her ethnicity. “Do we want to include certain blogs of poor quality to fill a sort of quota? No, that would be ridiculous.”

Linda Kellen Biegel, whose Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis blog will represent Alaska at the convention, said the issue should encourage more minorities to blog locally while pushing for more diversity in the entire blogosphere.

“No one knows what anyone looks like in the blogosphere. It’s easy to get caught up in anger, to ignore the actual underlying issue,” she said. “The underlying issue is that bloggers need to reach out and try to find other voices from the community that are diverse.”

I don't believe there is any way to change the State Blogger process for this year. At this point, the best the DNC can do is acknowledge their selection criteria was clumsy and make sure there are extensive and diverse POC voices in the General Blogger Pool.

However, it's also not realistic to assume that ALL blogs should have an equal chance at a State Blogger spot in the future if they don't focus on state issues or even identify what state they are from.

1) State blogs and multi-contributor blogs need to reach out to POC writers and build a group of diverse voices from all constituencies.

2) POC blogs need to focus on state and local issues more if they want to be considered a voice for their state. It doesn't mean any blog would have to totally give up a minority focus. A local voice is much more powerful than a national one when it comes to any issue, including issues of color. National voices tend to be faceless and ignored.

Barack Obama used the 50-state strategy and he will be our nominee. Hillary Clinton discounted it in favor of old alliances and she will not.

I think there is a lesson there.