Monday, January 15, 2007

My trial blog starts now - update

I am taking a shot at the Blogosphere. After posting on DailyKos, Raising Kaine, and myDD, I am willing to see if there is interest to news, links, and rants on politics for 2007-2008.

I see blogs in MD, mostly in Baltimore, and around Annapolis, but none that address the problems, issues, concerns and observations of those of us around the Beltway. The Virginia blogs rose to the occasion in 2006 and gave Democrat Jim Webb the lift he needed to beat neo-wackjob George Allen. Here in Maryland, we had sent the very nice Connie Morella packing years ago when all she did was sign on to the "Contract with America." Now we have politicians like Paul Sarbanes, Ben Cardin, and Chris Van Hollen: hard working representatives who are honest about where they stand, are voting the way as most of the constituents want, and are remaining scandal-free. It's easy to be complacent. But we are affected by politicans and their policies everywhere, as the 5 Republicans pushed through the Texas legislature by Tom DeLay and Karl Rove proved in 2002. Likewise, politics and politicians in Maryland, DC and Virginia affect us. Their policies on traffic lengthen our commute, and prevent Virginians from going to an NFL game and Marylanders from enjoying Old Town. Their policies on safety stop us from taking visitors to the DC Mall at night, or going to Adams Morgan. It is worth identifying action we can take that goes beyond our jurisdictional lines.

So, I plan to start something. Watch for more to come.


My inspiration to get started today comes from the Martin Luther King Day speech by John Edwards:

Silence is Betrayal

It's time to be patriotic about something other than war

The world needs to see our better angels.

More here on JohnEdwards.com

Thanks for coming by -
please leave a comment with any tips or ideas for me!

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great blog. Your insights are credible and relentless. Keep this going. too bad there's nothing on the antiwar protest at the steps of the congress last Saturday. There should have been a million people in town with nearly 70% disapproval ratings for president knucklehead.

Anonymous said...

Hello. A few folks are working to build a community-based Maryland political web log with a progressive perspective (http://FreeStatePolitics.us).

We're looking for substantive posts, new information and insights, on Maryland and local Maryland politics, policy and players. I've been enjoying your blog and wondered if you might be willing to contribute some of your pieces like this one
to http://FreeStatePolitics.us?

Thanks for thinking about it,

Bo (who doesn't seem to really blog lately at OnBackground.blogspot.com, email on_background@yahoo.com)