It's August already? Gosh, it must be time to head for Texas and ignore the PDB. But let's not ignore the view of the world from
The Liberal Coalition.
Coturnix says the way to survive is to be smart and invisible.All Facts and Opinions is on the air. And jammin'.archy thinks there's an agenda behind a conspiracy theory.Bark Bark Woof Woof looks at the Democrats' chances.blogAmY lets China have it over their extermination of dogs. Grrr.Moi at bloggg finds a plant that would be very popular in a certain type of bar -- like the Velvet Spike.Collective Sigh sees signs of of extreme weather in South Africa.NTodd wonders how effective sanctions can be.Echidne continues her series on divorce in Winnuttia.TRex at FDL is off to help the Lamont campaign.First Draft on Target pleading poverty in Chicago.Happy Furry Puppy chronicles the misdeeds of the left this week.iddybud on losing Turkey as an ally.Left Is Right on how the VA is screwing the veterans.Lefty brings back-up.Liberty Street on Rummy's ruminations before the Senate Armed Services Committee.Make Me A Commentator: Funny, you don't look neo-conish.Musing's musings on minimum wage.Pen-Elayne has a way to let you play with Steve Colbert's "On Notice" board.Rook's Rant on those dangerous tree-planting kids.rubber hose asks how many more plans Israel has.Scrutiny Hooligans on his uncle's great idea.Sooner Thought on a surprising switch in Oklahoma.Speedkill on pseudoscience in Montana.Steve Gilliard on Joe Lieberman's newest allies.T. Rex's Guide to Life has the lowdown on the Florida Progressive Coalition.The Countess offers a tale of irony about a father's rights advocate.The Invisible Library: you bring the loaves; he's got the fishes.WTF Is It Now?? has the president's vacation plans.The Yellow Doggerel Democrat on the adminstration's ideas for keeping us safe....You Are A Tree has a word.
What? You haven't joined the Florida Progressive Coalition? What is
wrong with you?
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
This is the third in a series of posts to explain what we are attempting to do with the
Florida Progressive Coalition. Previously, I talked about building a progressive infrastructure in the state and providing tools for progressive activists, this time, I'll talk about the remainder of the tools and content our group is going to be providing to Floridians.
One of the problems we think is that the voters don't have enough information in their hands. Part of this is a problem with traditional media, which has to focus on the more sexy stories or those that will draw the most readers -- such as the incessant coverage of one of the least competitive races in the state -- Bill Nelson and Katherine Harris. Harris is such a freakshow that readers want to hear the latest craziness from her campaign and the media dutifully responds. And let's be honest, many of those stories are fun and entertaining. But do they really help the voters of Florida? No, they don't. It seems the only person who doesn't know Harris is going to lose is Harris.
Another part of the problem is that traditional media don't have the air time or column space to provide in-depth information on candidates that is accessible at any time. Sure, many papers regularly talk about local politics and most print a election insert once it gets close to voting time. But are those things really enough? We don't think so.
First off, we're starting up the largest group blog on Florida politics anywhere in the state and one of the largest group blogs on politics anywhere in the world. We currently have more than 35 members and are constantly adding more. We're also going to be inviting any progressive activists -- party members, interest group advocates, student activists and anyone else who believes in progress for Florida, our country and the world -- to join us and post to the Florida Progressive Coalition blog.
Our other key activity is providing the largest database of information on Florida politics and issues available anywhere. To do this, we'll be using the ever-popular wiki software made famous by Wikipedia. Our site is open to the public and anyone can add information to it, but most of the info comes from our members (and we do, of course, keep an eye out for spammers or people who try to put false or bad information on the site). It's incomplete at this point, but we're constantly adding new information. It's broken down into several portions:
1. The Florida Elections Project (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/index.php?n=Main.FloridaElectionsProject): Information on all viable candidates for all offices in Florida at the legislature level or higher. The information in this section is multi-faceted and not limited simply to progressive points of view.
2. Issues (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/index.php?n=Main.Issues): Information on all issues that are relevant to Florida voters and residents. We are trying to provide a balanced look at each issue. We think that if voters have accurate information on the issues, they'll logically agree with the more progressive position.
3. Florida Progressive Organizations (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/index.php?n=Main.FloridaProgressiveOrganizations): A comprehensive list of all progressive groups in Florida and contact information for each group.
4. How-To (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/index.php?n=Main.HowTo): Information for progressive activists on how to do everything from contacting legislators to running for office.
5. We'll also be providing various other links, endorsements and information (such as an interactive calender and a section on Florida political history) as time permits and eventually, we plan on expanding our county and city politics information.
You can help. If you are a progressive and you have something to say, join us and become one of our bloggers. Once you join, you are welcome to post on anything related to politics in the Sunshine State. If you aren't the blogging type, you can also help provide us with information on candidates, elections, groups and the other things we are adding to the wiki. Anything that you think is relevant to the politics and issues of Florida has a place on our site. Adding to the wiki is easy and open to anyone. Just go to the page you think needs updating and click on edit and you are free to add info. If you spam the site and add things that are untrue, we'll delete them, which is quite easy and takes one click. If you mess up the formatting or anything like that, don't worry, we'll fix it. What we want from you is new, valid information we don't already have on the site. Thanks, and with your help, we'll guarantee that Florida is a blue state.
The Plan, Part 2The Plan, Part 1
