For someone who publishes things every day and often discusses my personal experiences, I’m still a pretty private person. I don’t really like or feel comfortable talking about myself. When it comes down to it, there isn’t a whole lot I can say about myself that doesn’t implicate other people and their right to privacy. I don’t want people judging my parents or my siblings or my ex-wife or my ex-girlfriends or my immediate family or even my friends.
I can recite where I’ve been and what I’ve done, but without context that isn’t very interesting. So, I’ll just ask you.
If you had to describe me to someone who’s never met me or never read a single thing I’ve written, what would you tell them?
Believe me. I’m not fishing for compliments. I just think you’ll do a better job of telling a reader what to expect than I ever could.
You think very deeply, and you have excellent political instincts, which is why I recommend your blog to so many people on the left AND on the right.
In fact, BMT/PP is one of only three blogs I read with any regularity these days, the others being TPM, Atrios, and Balloon Juice (and BJ is losing me).
Pragmatic, rationalist progressive; seriously nerdy about congressional procedure, electoral math, formal logical arrgument and “spooky” history. Tend to skew big picture (but not meta), also not afraid to get a little bit deeper on an issue if it is called for. You’re a respectful writer, you try to really see things as they are rather than jump at shadows or engage in wishful thinking. Also, you treat the other side fairly. Husband, father, Dead head.
I tell people that you’re a whole-hearted progressive, but that you are much more interested in establishing root causes, formulating strategy, and predicting what will happen that you are in ranting or rallying the troops per se. (Though your analyses do serve to rally the troops — just in a different way.) I also tell you them that you’re one of the most insightful political analysts I know on the intertubes.
I live in the western Philly suburbs, so I hope to meet you in person someday.
(And it’s totally fine to fish for compliments. You deserve them. It ain’t like you’re rolling in dough.)
An articulate and rational thinker — like most philosophy majors.
The way I first heard that story is that Gena responded, “You will never know everything about me.”
un-apologetically raised in an intellectually privileged environment. This base gives your explanations a really clear logic (with their fine grained information content) as you explicate your perspective. As it were.
I was at a social gathering a while back with a group of local Dems. And a few of them commented to me that they really enjoyed the posts I put on our County Dem Party Facebook page. Most people on Facebook will generally only link to an article or story, and really give no context or add any commentary to it. I had been not only linking, but adding information and a backstory to almost every post, more often than not with information gleaned from discussions which had occurred here. And this sometimes has led to actual substantive discussions on the Facebook page, often with non-Democrats, about issues which I have posted. Interestingly, these Dem friends asked me where I came by some of the ideas, information and viewpoints that I often referenced and used. And my immediate response was to tell them about this site. It amazed me, but most of them weren’t really in-tune with much of what was available in the blogosphere. And most of what they had been digesting was the conventional political wisdom that generally passes for “robust political discussion” in the mainstream world (think Politico and HuffPo). As a result of telling them about your site, it turns out that a couple of them are now regular lurkers here.
When I pointed them in this direction, I told them that this is a place with a robust, diverse, intelligent and rational viewpoint of what is really going on in the world of politics. And that it was one of the few places where you could find an intelligent, prescient and informed view of what was going on every day. You might not be fishing for compliments, but I’m going to give one anyway. I am involved in local politics because of this site, and the people who have populated it over the last ten years that I have been around. That being said, I now don’t know whether to love you or to hate you for that, Martin.
Booman (Martin Longman) is relentlessly levelheaded, realistic, thoughtful and pragmatic about politics. No one writing on the political scene today is right more often than Boo. His blog is must reading.
Right more often than wrong.
In terms of readers, I’d first mention your ability to explain the arcane (or often-misunderstood) details of the political process, the ‘how a bill becomes a law’ stuff, etc. You offer a v. effective combination of getting into the weeds and ‘big picture’ stuff.
I’d probably say that I find your focus on the left’s ambivalence about wielding power v. interesting, and also that I think you’re ambivalent about power (which is my way of saying that you’re probably more centrist that I’d prefer).
I’d say that your approach to issues sometimes surprises me, and always interests me. I’d describe you as small-c conservative, probably, and small-o optimistic. (The big-o Optimists being starry-eyed dreamers.) I’d mention that you sometimes delve into subject that I hadn’t even thought of, and that when you’re really passionate about a subject (opioid abuse, for example), you’re as good as anyone writing.
Best blogger in the business with insightful knowledge of both the political system as a whole and the rule making of the legislature, specifically. Ability to attract and foster the most thoughtful commentators among mainstream political ideas is matched by no one that I can think of. There’s a reason why many of us agree with “traditional” left view of things yet still come here to comment.
Also is willing to reach out to commenters and go out for drinks and food.
You can articulate an idea or ideological position without emotional baggage.
In addition to his insightful political commentary, his writing reveals his innate honesty, sincerity, and humanity to his readers on a daily basis. I’ve never met Booman (Martin Longman), but I feel as though he is one of my best friends. Whenever I’m confused or upset about the events of the day, a new dose of his analysis, at the very least, gives me a deeper understanding of our times.
A pragmatic, levelheaded Democratic partisan with a superior understanding of politics.
Booman: a blogger so good even his comment section is worth reading.
Booman-Someone who is desperately searching for a way to make things right in the U.S. but is still caught between his own native intelligence and (largely culturally dictated) so-cailed “pragmatism.”
I’m rooting for native intelligence, myself.
AG
I would say that you are an excellent writer of idealism and realism. I would say that your perspective is rarely wrong. I would also say that you often bring a new way of looking at the issue(s) of the day that can be startling (like, why didn’t I see that before). You don’t tolerate stupidity and yet you are a compassionate person.
These are all things I’ve picked up from reading you. You are a daily read for me along with TPM, No More Mr. Nice Blog, Charles Pierce, Hullabaloo, and Ballon Juice.
I trust your perspective above all the others I read online.
Booman Longman is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.
I should also mention he and I agree a little more often than not, an agreeable state of affairs from my pov.
Equally at home in an Ivy League seminar or a bar fight.
Over the years I’ve whittled down to just two political blogs I read every day to stay sane. (I’m not counting big frameworks like Josh Marshall’s operation, or Kos.) One of them is Digby, the other is you. That’s all.
I go elsewhere for news, here for useful analysis. As I have for the last 10 or so years. Thanks, BooMan.
My political blog-reading has declined over the past five years, but I still always read Booman first, then Balloon Juice, and Rude Pundit.
I find that Martin offers smart evaluation of political events and he backs it up with research and facts. When I am stumped for answers, I come here to find clarity. And having been here for so long, I know also that Martin and his family are good people.
I post comments here fairly often, and I’m always secretly pleased when they receive support from other commenters, because I respect the other readers here very much.
It’s a pleasure to be part of the community Martin has assembled. Good work, Booman!
Donna
Let’s get a little self-referential loop going. Here’s the link at Political Animal that links back to here.
Ok… Saw this earlier, and then your post on PA. came back to give you a thumb’s up, but was only going to say that what everyone has said is spot on. I have lurked here (had an account I couldn’t get into just now so I made a new one) for years, have seen you on DKos and PA and have shared many of your pieces with family, friends, and co-workers. Your work is pragmatic, insightful, etc. Thanks for efforts.
If you don’t want to talk about yourself, maybe you can help us understand that frog with the hand cuffs?
FAQ
I would also add expect badly dated site design. Bad with the good.
I like it. And I hate the new Dkos.
Coming here on mobile is like wrestling with an elk.
I’ve got a smart phone too. Looking at any website is like wrestling with an elk. The screen is too damn small.
Not really an issue for me, but have you increased the text display size on your mobile? Or try a tablet, theyre an intermediate size so you can make the change in a gradual transition.
I too like it and I too hate DKOS and the BJ one has been driving my eyes bonkers. But dimming all the white space to light gray has helped.
First thing is about me to put this in perspective. I completed a BA with a major in Sociology before returning for a BS in Electrical Engineering while working as a professional level musician. EE made me a great living but my real passion remained Sociology and of course, music. What I enjoyed most about the senior levels of Sociology was directed readings where the classes were conducted as a discussion group of like minded well informed people. Martin has managed to assemble and lead that same type of discussion group of well informed people, holding these people together, creating the only political blog that’s really worth reading in full. This achievement is unequalled.
Martin has an academic background that has enabled him as a virtual expert in logic. That skill has led to countless enjoyable posts where Martin shreds articles posing as journalism in the establishment media.
For many years I considered the Booman Tribune to be a progressive blog. Maybe it’s that my favorite Sociology professor had a sign above his door that read `Marx Room’ or that the Establishment Democrats have shifted so far right they are unrecognizable or my personal politics are way further to the left than even I realized but now I must conclude that Martin’s leadership is more Democratic Establishment than it is progressive.
I say that because when we finally have a progressive candidate running for the Democratic nomination for President as a Democratic Socialist, gaining traction every day, almost nothing gets posted except every angle of every nut case in the Republican Clown Car. The Tea Party as a corporatist financed grass roots movement has captured the Republicans from the inside turning them into the Party of the Crazy. Bernie is resonating as a non-corporatist grass roots movement calling for a political revolution to turn the Democrats, also from the inside, back into the Party of the People, something the Democratic Establishment is resisting.
I think this development on the Democratic side is the most cause for hope and the most significant political development in my lifetime since JFK and the New Frontier. I am however optimistic that Martin will prove me wrong and give this movement the discussion it deserves. We need a progressive blog.
Booman’s writing: very careful, thoughtful analysis towards a pragmatic progressivism. I recommend most highly. He reads others carefully. He is willing to spend time to understand issues and equally willing to take the time to clarify his analysis for his readers.
also, as MNPundit notes, more often right than wrong
Most of all, I respect your tolerance of alternate opinions. It is the mark of a strong mind to not try and force everyone into a mental strait-jacket.
Meant to add “Thank you” to that last post.
Brilliant political analyst with an open mind. That’s as much as I could say because I don’t know you personally.
smart.
thoughtful.
adores his family.
strong American values.
patriot.
sense of right and wrong.
someone you’d want as a neighbor.
I don’t have anything to add to the comments above except to say that I like it that you don’t overdo the personal and that by respecting your own privacy you respect that of your commenters (and readers). We need more of that in this over exposed online world we all inhabit. It’s good that there is a bit of respectful distance between you and your readers.
Above and beyond the quality of your analysis and commentary one encounters a sense of the social ethos of common purpose, shared responsibility and mutual respect; refreshing reminders of the noble cause of civic duty and engagement.
Your work is simple, intelligent, accessible and enjoyable in the populist style of Will and Ariel Durrant’s histories intended for the self-education of the working class.