I really appreciate all the thoughtful feedback you gave me on why you read this blog. Naturally, I enjoy all the compliments, but it’s more the tone of the comments that I find useful for understanding what it is that I do that has worth to people. It will help me stay grounded with what I do well and it created a voice I will be able to hear inside my head when I am not being faithful to what my readership values.
I’m kind of at a crossroad right now. I started this blog to protest the Bush administration and to help take power away from the Republicans in Washington. Then I became dedicated to helping Barack Obama win the primary against Hillary Clinton, and then the election against John McCain. After that, I wanted to help the president have a successful first term and make sure he was reelected.
Most of that has been accomplished. It’s not like the fight ever ends. But I need some assurance that there is a point in continuing this thing. And, frankly, I need like one-thousandth of Andrew Sullivan’s money or I can’t keep doing it.
In any case, your encouragement gave me a boost. Thanks for the input.
As long as you are being faithful to YOUR values this blog will be great.
I didn’t post on the feedback thread because I came to the thread so late in the game.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be eating lunch instead of breakfast if I take the time to go back and rate every comment that expressed the reasons I read this blog, and there were two or three where I thought “wow, I could have written that, down to the last word”.
Money is tight for me right now, so it would be helpful to have some idea of what kind of money you need to raise. Because there’s a difference between “this is what I can spare right now” and “what can I give up in order to help keep Booman in the game”.
And if you happen to be inspired to write another screed about Harry Reid, this time about the filibuster, I’m pretty sure I would be inspired to eat ramen for a week and send you my grocery money. š
I’m sure it’s not cheap to keep this place running. I don’t have a lot of cash to spare, but I do have more than I did during the run-up to the 2012 election. Having a progress bar or similar of what you want to raise to keep the lights on and where we are (monthly or annual) might make the need more concrete.
I know you’ve got a Donate button, but it’s too easy to ignore that after a while (and popup windows asking for donations get annoying – the balance is hard).
Maybe like the one in the top banner at LibreOffice.
Don’t drop a bomb on us and say, “Sorry, I can’t afford it – the lights go off tomorrow. Thanks.” without letting us help before-hand. Thanks.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Well, I was late to the comments about why we come here, so let me jump in early this time.
As I stated in the “why do we come here” thread, we come here because the tone is civil, the discourse is informed and intelligent, and everyone, for the most part, contributes opinions in a respectful manner.
And there’s humor and compassion, too.
Why should you keep going? I can’t answer for you. I can’t imagine the pressure you must be under to provide daily insights, commentary, and analysis on all the things happening in both the political environment and world news in general. It has to be exhausting.
I don’t have much dough, but I try to contribute bitty amounts when I feel flush. I know that’s not a major issue, but it surely has to be another element in your decision. Doing this all for free can’t be easy.
But let me say that you are amazing and offer so much to your online community. I consider you a friend, even if we’ve never met. You’re my go-to guy for observations and opinions because I trust and respect you.
I hope you’ll stay at this. Maybe one day we’ll see the frog-marching of some of the villains in our political realm, but even if we don’t, we know you’ve got our backs.
Thanks!
yes, tone is civil, really appreciate that.
Again, just want to say “Thanks”. Dropped a little something in your till. Probably not quite one-thousandth of Sullivan’s nugget, though. Hope those who value what you do here, and are able, will do what they can to help out.
I haven’t had time to comment much since before the election, but oh how I depend on my numerous trips a day to the site, both for your reasoned, wise and so often prescient insights as well as the company you keep. The crowd here is informed and enlightening. Never go away!
(just made a modest donation to back up my words!)
BooMan, I don`t think that I stated this strongly enough in the other thread. For me, you provide an unravelling and easily readable analysis of goings on in DC, and elsewhere. I come here for thoughtful daily posts. You don`t need to have an election on the horizon to provide a highly valuable service.
I have been reading your blog through Google Reader for a few months now. It stands alone in its rational, pragmatic, and informative analysis. For all the reasons (and more) cited by your many wonderful commenters, I opened an account and donated in the hope that you will continue doing this good work. We need your voice.
Yeah, like what Watergirl said…it’d be nice to know how much you need. I think AS needs about $900,000, so if we take what you said literally, that’s $900. I don’t think that’s going to keep the fire going at the cabin lol.
I paid $32,500 in student loans in my first year paying them off, so my pockets are empty (at the moment). But with my tax return (gotta file still) and paycheck this upcoming Friday, I’ll have enough to send something your way. And I’ll have my Wells Fargo loan paid off by June/July (assuming my budget sticks), which will free up more cash. So yeah, can you give us an idea, or is that too personal/intrusive?
I would love to have this site formated to read on my nexus….
Also, if one could buy it as an amazon subscription, that would be cool.
Blogs were born and raised being asked to demonstrate their relevance. Every step of the way, every goal reached, there’s been a political moment looking back and then forward saying ‘well that’s done, now what do we do and will anyone care?’
Interestingly, while Fox has been training their audiences to salute first and forget to think later, always taking O’Reilly’s cue and shutting down any curiosity of fact search, you’ve taken the tact of encouraging curiosity and promoting analysis and a variety of solutions.
And so while the Fox’s may run out of hit and run dictates; you’ve positioned this blog to peel back the layers of discussion so that we all want to know more. The anticipatory fear I have of what damage Monday morning will reveal is tempered by unpacking the fearmongering, by learning to laugh at it when I see one of Brennan’s calls to his Congressmen.
This works. Thanks.
Maybe smaller blogs like this one should have a section where readers could find out about their high-impact posts over the years.
Just managed to contribute for the first time. I wish Visa/Paypal payment mechanisms didn’t always assume everyone in the world has a zip code. We don’t even have post codes in Ireland, and my house doesn’t even have a number!
I’ve always been a bit conflicted about contributing to US causes because we have so many problems to confront here at home, and the US is, after all, the richest country in the world. But much that happens here is also influenced by the US and at least we don’t have extraordinary rendition flights through Shannon anymore and our ex-Guantanamo inmates seem to have settled in nicely. I may complain that Obama’s foreign policy didn’t represent a major change from Bush, but at least there have been no more Afghanistans and Iraqs and torture is, at least officially, no longer condoned. So we should be grateful for small mercies and give credit where credit is due. Persuade Obama and Congress to close Guantanamo and give all the inmates there a fair trial and more contributions will be winging your way!
Ok, a bit more seriously, Many thanks for your ongoing analysis of the US political scene. I may not always agree with you, and have sent a few little barbs your way from time to time, but the bottom line is that you are the best analyst around, or at least the best US analyst that I have found. I often feel your perspectives are very USA centric, but then I don’t make any apologies for being Ireland/Europe centric, so why should you? If I say that you have become a bit Obama/Establishment Democratic party centric, that is not necessarily meant as a criticism because Obama has moved the Democratic establishment significantly in a more progressive direction on many issues.
If I am sometimes intolerant of the machinations/compromises involved in US policy making and execution, it is because I can to often see the real costs to lives around the world. Why should the world tolerate the US doing more damage to the world’s climate than any other nation. Why should US war criminals, almost uniquely, be immune from prosecution for their crimes in the International courts set up for that purpose?
So keep up the good work. The world deserves more from the US than the Hollywoodification and Foxification of all human experience. You are a witness that a better US and thus a better world is possible.
I missed the other thread entirely so let me weigh in. I enjoy thought, in all its many expressions, and there is a wide diversity of thinking here freely expressed. Of course, the Team thing is part of it too – I’m partisan to a fault – but we can engage ideas here and have (mostly) honest conversation around different ideas. You set the context and bring valuable information and perspective, but for me it’s as much about the commenters as the front pagers – I read every word that TarheelDem writes, look to seabe for an unfiltered Gen Y view of the true Left, Frank S and Oui for Eurpoean views of the US, and I appreciate many others who provide nuggets of thought that I never would have originated myself. I don’t always agree, obviously, but that’s not the point – the point is to understand and engage ideas in order to progress towards a more perfect union.
You created and maintain the frogpond, but it has an ecosystem of its own. Keep up the good work – it is valued.
Booman I suspect much of your readership is like me, appreciative but silent most of the time as we lurk. I wish I could do what you do but my full time demanding job ultimately made continuing my own blogging activities too difficult. I sympathize with the money aspects you struggle with to sustain this. Doing all those podcast interviews I did on my site for years and still keeping them accessible costs me money every month. This is a labor of love and urgency. The David Brooks of the world can get rich peddling their drivel but for the rest of us its about hopefully shaping a better society.
Like you I was initially motivated in opposition to the Bush administration. My political identity is now very much in flux even as I continue to largely vote for Democrats and identify progressives who are worth a damn who share my values.
I remain left of center but increasingly believe our salvation will have to come from people creating their own counterweights to the institutions that serve our war mongering kleptocracy. I’ve dedicated much of my free time since my 20s as an activist for the Democratic Party but am becoming more convinced that energy may instead be better used in other directions on a community level. But as the GOP reprehensible I don’t want to pull the plug on the Dems even as they too often only talk the talk without walking the walk.
One feature of your posts I admire is you explain the complex well. A few years ago there was a community blog called Open Left which I thought was the most pretentious crap I had ever read anywhere on the blogosphere. They turned me off and if I’m not mistaken no longer exist. But every day for the past six plus years I’ve always come here at least once a day.
What you do is good and needed. And the dissent your writing provokes among those of us who don’t always buy into the netroots pro-Obama justifications of the moment are also needed. Booman Tribune is discourse at its best where we can have the likes of you and Arthur Gilroy at the same place.
So thank you for giving us this space, keeping the plumbing working, sharing your valuable insights and allowing other thoughtful people to disagree. Our society has so many holes, gaps and violence. Repair and salvation can only come from people who want to figure it out and this is a community of readers, both vocal and readers who silently lurk that want to learn and make our world a better place.
It’s funny, that’s the only aspect of this blog that I’ll always be at odds with — writing to help such-and-such a candidate get elected, even when that’s the outcome that I want.
It’s good you delicately remind us not to take something for granted. From my experience, that is how good things are lost. Incidentally, your “Donate” button is fairly well hidden.
Evil never sleeps, BooMan.
never.
Ugh. So true.
Best 9/11 “commemorative” diary of all time…you had me at “ball sweat.”
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/9/11/113645/648
I still feel that way.
Well, we re-elected Obama, but we’re not there yet, so I hope you continue (and we can help towards making that possible). Also, I plan to be here for the transition to prison reform when the time is right.
One thing we need to think about is the future transitioned economy; one that relies less on defense and prisons. It’s great to oppose prisons and the military apparatus — and I do, with great moral zeal — but then one has to ask, “Now where are these people going to work?”
And I’ve never really had an answer to that to be honest, especially in a time of job scarcity.
yes, it’s complicated economically. From what I’ve learned about it prisons are [often, usually?] marketed to rural areas as job creators, but it [usually?] doesn’t work out that way, partly because most residents don’t qualify for Federal prison employment in terms of education and age bracket and employees don’t really want to live near their place of employ. Private prisons have the inmates work [as do some state and federal as I understand it] at low wages that undercut local employment. Also, on the whole they undercut the social capital of rural areas. Ok, that’s some of what I’ve learned about it. It’s a depressing mess, but Booman is up to the task.
“I plan to be here for the transition to prison reform when the time is right.”
That one sentence makes me feel hopeful.
Your analysis is generally so accurate, IMO, that I bet Democratic Party operatives read your blog – or at least I hope they do, and I wish they would more. If the Dem Party paid more attention to you, it wouldn’t feel so obligated, which it obviously does way too much, to follow the CW of the DC Village bubble and the centrist Dem establishment.
Until the Dems play for keeps and openly and relentlessly seek to destroy the opposition, the extreme right-wing will continue to exert undue influence and prevent the progress needed on every single issue. This blog serves a critical role, IMO, in providing the empirical proof of both why and how the extreme right needs to be destroyed, lest we stumble along repeating our errors over and over again (costly wars, economic crises, climate change, mass shootings, on and on). There is a long way to go and a number of election cycles before this can occur. Please keep up the fight.
My computer crashed and I didn’t get a chance to weigh in on the other thread. I concur with most of what I read there, that you are one of the most astute political observers around, are grounded in what’s actually possible, and wise about human nature and political culture.
I wish you made more money at this, or got a gig at one of the big publications; your work is more interesting and accurate than 99% of what they do publish. Like everyone else, I don’t understand how they keep their jobs, much less get invited on TV to further pontificate (inaccurately) and embarrass themselves.
I’d love a Booman podcast, along the lines of what David Waldman is doing, but of course that would likely just mean more unpaid work for you.
Boo, a quick and superficial response might be, “you’re right: we don’t need you”. There are plenty of other blogs out there, some of which reflect my own views better than you do and that probably applies to many of your readers.
I think what I value most about this site is the quality of the comments and commenters. I don’t know any other place where the level is so thoughtful, intelligent, interesting, and civil. This is the one place where I can disagree with a post without ever thinking “Holy shit, how can anybody be so stupid/dishonest? (except for our resident trolls, who seem to be on vacation since the election).
Which moves us to a less-superficial level: what is unique about this site that makes it such a lively and gratifying community? Obviously the difference is your posts and your policies. You make this place an engaging and comfortable online home for a whole lot of us politically and socially obsessed even the ones who disagree with certain of your takes as often as not. You choose to run an honest shop and take the consequences. You certainly have more than enough talent to run a shallow screaming match if you wanted to. Which, to me, is what makes this joint so uniquely valuable.
My only suggestion, besides the excellent idea of a money-gauge graphic, is less long-term election speculation and more attention to policy and its logic and likely outcomes. In any case, BT going away would be an excruciating loss. I suspect its influence goes far beyond what the hits and $upport might seem to suggest at first glance. I’m afraid you’ve created a profound responsibility for yourself by making yourself indispensable.
Please continue to write here at boomantribune!! You are a thoughtful and intelligent voice–and much appreciated. I am one of those people who is on the ground organizing and it can be demoralizing at times. This is one of the few places I can go for information, discussion, and debate.
It helps me to be a better advocate!
I found your blog during the ’07-08 primary campaign, and it’s been at the top of my daily politics reading list ever since. I check in at least once daily and usually more.
You are the only writer I know who reliably connects the reality of votes in Congress with the posture of the administration, and who takes the time to analyze the political situation before assuming the worst of the President. Your writing really clarifies for me what is happening.
I appreciate what you do. I will try to donate more. I wish the world rewarded you better for your efforts, and of course you should do what you need to for yourself and your family. But selfishly, I hope you keep writing here for the long term.
Don’t stop writing, Booman — your commentary is the best and I always appreciate what you have to say. And I also just made a donation through PayPal as a small but material demonstration of gratitude!