Blogging is full of surprises. One thing I never expected when I started blogging was that there would be a paparazzi. It didn’t occur to me that there would be some kind of disaffected fan club that would go around analyzing everything from the hours I keep to the rating habits of my girlfriend. I had no idea that I would become the subject of conspiracy theories. Who knew that The Mighty Kos would seek to destroy me at the instructions of the Elders of Zion or that Simon Rosenthal would seek to co-opt me by secretly paying me off with blogad revenue. I’ve seen a lot of these theories going around. Today the big theory is that I am a racist. A few weeks ago I was a major booster of the Casey campaign for senate. The odd thing about all this is that none of it is coming from the right. It all seems to be coming from the left. Or maybe it is just supposed to look that way. I don’t know.
Perhaps the most amusing thing about this is just how badly thought out most of the conspiracies are. I get lumped in with other bloggers that are totally different from me, have different political views, and do not coordinate with me. Chris Bowers was initially a Kucinich supporter in 2004. I didn’t take Kucinich seriously at all and supported John Kerry from beginning to end. Yet, Bowers is constantly treated as though he is some kind of centrist, especially in comparison to me.
He’s not. His politics are different from mine and they are immensely different from Markos and from the whole general tenor of Daily Kos. But you would never know that if you just listened to the paparazzi.
It looks to me like the paparazzi are almost uniformly made up of people that have been banned from Daily Kos (at a minimum) and that have some kind of obsessive-complusive jilted lover mania that requires them to read every comment made by a front-pager at the orange site and then comment on it. This has been going on for a long time. But now it has extended to Chris Bowers and to me.
I guess it is a compliment, in its own way. It’s kind of bizarre though. It’s hard to believe that people have so much anger and so much time to do these things. As far as I know, I haven’t done anything to anger people other than show leniency to a member of this site that some people wanted banned (a la Michael Ledeen….faster please). That hardly seems like a reason for making a habit out of bashing me personally and stalking around my private life. But, hey, like I said, blogging is full of surprises.
It isn’t easy to do what the front-pagers here do. I’d like to think we provide everyone some entertainment, some information, a nice place to hang out and discuss stuff. Unlike some other sites, we’re not in this for the money. I’d like to make enough to pay my bills and not have to dip into my savings, but that is rarely the case.
I am getting a feeling for why so many celebrities hate the press so much. Invasion of privacy, taking statements out of context, misquoting, outright malice, libel. It’s not very amusing. And I’m not entirely sure it is worth putting up with.
I assume you’re talking about the new post on Mo Betta today by Arcturus calling you a racist, and many other things, for your recent post contrasting El Paso and Juarez.
I’ve got a better solution. Just take one second to realize that it was an asshole post. And then ignore it.
I had to search to find it, and then I wondered why some of the people on the same blog who post here didn’t protest.
My last memory of Arcturus is of a comment he made to one of my diaries to the effect he was throwing up.
You’re right. Consider the source.
don’t hold your breath waiting for anyone to protest. So far that group as not protested being lied to, to having lies exposed, to having a smear campaign run against me, to the intentional attempt to get a blogger fired, or to anything else I have seen there.
No apologies. No mia culpas. No retractions. No outrage at being lied to and misled by each other.
And yet they profess to be concerned about this community.
But that is only one group. There are others.
And as far as I can tell, the only reason for their anger is because of an administrative dispute here and/or because they seem incapable of treating me and Markos as different people with different worldviews and different sites with different rules.
What is everyone talking about? A link, please?
I’m out for the rest of the night – was just checking in for a second. But I know what it’s like to be misrepresented, misquoted. Hell, I’ve even been very rudely impersonated online, so you sure as heck have my support, BooMan.
As your site becomes important, and as it becomes more critical of DK (ala posts like the Gate Crashing one that lasted for days), you have to expect whatever forces support DK to attack BT.
Don’t let it get to you. This is a HUGE compliment. It means you have grown in stature, and are starting to become a threat to the system. Dick Gregory noted that, when he found out the government had contemplated his assassination, “My God. I have become so powerful. I must be the most powerful man in the country. My own government wants to kill me.” (Not a direct quote – going from memory.)
I’ll be very upset if that’s the Arcturus who used to post here because I liked his posts. But assuming what you say is true, and you seem an honest person to me, I’m in your corner, BooMan. I’m in it because you ARE honest.
Good luck – I’ll have to check back tomorrow and see whatever I missed.
The pro-Kos people yell at me for allowing Kos bashing. Never mind that they keep telling people to come here if they don’t like it there. But they are tolerable. I’ve been dealing with them since the pie wars and they haven’t bothered me for a while.
The people I am talking about are actually anti-Kos people. Not just anti-Kos, but anti all the medium to large bloggers.
Most of them are not Democrats, but greens, independents, or from the commonwealths. I’ve always been welcoming to people to the left of the Democratic party, but obviously that is not the case at Daily Kos.
some people are just fighters….they are always fighting with somebody about something….they cant and dont get along with people in their personal, professional or recreational lives….thats just the way some people are.
those people often find each other….they feed off each others negative energy.
its sad.
Here’s the link:
http://mobettameta.blogspot.com/
It’s the top post today.
I like a lot of the people on that interesting little blog, and I darn sure agree with everything they post about DKos. It’s a shame to see the growing rancor between them and BooMan.
Here are some of the diarists I saw posting on that website:
spiderleaf, cruz del sur, boran2, supersoling, Iowa Victory Gardener, NLinStPaul, Kidspeak, Janet, Diane101, Marisacat, catnip, Nanette, sjct, Olivia, Teach313, canberra boy, XicanoPwr, dove, DuctapeFatwa, brinn5etc., blueneck, scribe, James (James Benjamin? — Okla. psych. prof.), and Man Egee.
When I say posting, I mean comments. Didn’t see any genuine diaries, just bile and rant and bitterness and chastising of Booman, congratulating each other for leaving, with a few trying the water.
I don’t have the time to read other blogs and never did. What matters most is the content here, mature stuff which doesn’t get personal, regardless of disagreement. Good writers may leave in a tumult, but good ones will arrive here, too. That’s the way of all organizations. I’ve seen it happen in community-based groups, in civil rights movements, even a synagogue.
I’m sorry to see Booman’s stress. It’s not as if he’s making a mint to make up for it.
I would not paint everyone with the same brush. I don’t think that is fair.
Thank you!
You’re right. Some of these only dropped in to say hello. Maybe three were very critical of you (I gather they have been banned). Nobody defended you.
The Booman Tribune tops their list of links to “Meta-rant inspiration.”
You should read the post I wrote below, or go to the forst diary itself. Don’t be so unfair. Super did defend him!!
You really went out of your way, didn’t you??? I posted there once, and said that I had posted there on this diary. Do you really care who posts there, and what are your intentions to advertise here?????????
You are correct, and I’m sorry I didn’t skip the names of people who just dropped in to say hello. I was just amazed at the number of recognizable names.
I care if the posts are anti-Booman.
I had no intention of smearing you at all. Please accept my apology.
Taken. There are a lot of great people that have left, many of them are friends. I don’t like at all what is going on. Not at all. Meta diaries only inflame the situation more.
And let me add – it gets easier. When I first got online and got embroiled in the Kennedy assassination, I was subject to the vilest, most vicious personal attacks one can imagine. Everything about me was impugned in some way or another. But when you stand up and hold fast, you find 1) you’re a lot tougher than you realized, and 2) others look to your example to find their own courage.
So take it as the price of fame, especially of the best kind – challenging an establishment. Relish that power. Don’t be put off by it. People look to you for an example. Be the leader you are and don’t back down.
Hugs. More tomorrow.
Yeah, exactly. Don’t worry about it BooMan, I think everyone here knows that you aren’t a racist. If anything, I think you’re feeding the beast when you take the time to read anything they say. Like an attention-starved child, all he’s looking for is a reaction and he got one.
Even the best barrels have a few rotten apples. On our side that decay tends to manifest as the holier-than-thou PC police and the professionally offended. In other words, those denied the comforts of a sense of humor or an imagination.
Not really worth troubling yourself about, Boo.
And I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to be in the spotlight the way you are. It’s not something I would choose for myself.
I hope you were able to “hear” what I was trying to get across in my diary as well. It’s not something I “wanted” to write, but it wasn’t going away. It was something I had to find a way to address. I wrote a bit about why, here.
Or, in simpler words, the recent “blogroll amnesty” thing was the catalyst leading me to realize, with respect to the larger issue…
Can’t go over it
Can’t go under it
Can’t go around it
Got to go through it
So, I won’t try to second guess or deny the thoughts and feelings you’ve expressed above, and I hope (and am inclined to believe) that you would also show me the courtesy of taking me at my word. I don’t think I’ve ever provided any reason not to.
I just want to be part of a community that is working cooperatively to make things better for everyone. As the mom of a special needs/gifted adolescent, as someone who has repeatedly struggled to make ends meet in spite of working hard and having a good education, as someone who knows how it feels to be “on the margins” based on a various demographic descriptors, this stuff really matters to me.
I want to work together with people who agree that “It’s about we, not about me”. But I do have plenty on my plate already. Working as hard as we do to “put food on our family”, keep geriatric cars more or less running, keeping up with the usual issues of having one young teen and one pre-teen–and then adding the challenge of negotiating the whole IEP process–it just doesn’t leave me a lot of energy or patience to put up with what has been an ongoing problem for me at Kos.
And I absolutely refuse to believe that I have to suck it up and deal with the way things are over there if I want to be plugged into a larger blog community. And I’m not willing to accept that being the only place a whole long list of candidates/elected officials post, often as their only means of outreach to the wider blogosphere.
I’ve got no problem with what you wrote. I do think that some of the Kos hatred is irrational and way over the top. But they are the ones that decided to unleash the diary police and let people like DHinMi and Miss Laura and, yes, even Delaware Dem go around abusing people. They earned a lot of that anger.
I don’t see how I have earned it, or how Chris has earned it.
But it’s bigger than me. Some of these people are so aggressive that they are intimidating people into not posting here. So it basically amounts to an attack on the whole community.
I haven’t gotten any intimidatios to post here there or anywhere.
I have just gotten my TU back, and finally went to MT’s commetns. I could not believe what I saw. And I can not believe that you did not jump in right away and put her in her place Booman. I guess you should have banned her at the second commet.
All I know is that I have friends there, as well as here. And if both places want to bann me, that will be fine with me. I guess I am getting sick and tiered of all this bullshit.
Right on, Renee. Thanks for your courage. Keep telling the truth, loudly and clearly. It matters.
The main thing interaction on community blogs has demonstrated to me is that many people have a tendency to act in a much different manner on the Internet than they would ever dare to do were the interaction face-to-face.
I agree with you psi. I can say my true persona and my online persona are one and the same. I am loud mouthed, opinionated, and even have a warped sense of humor, but I do try tp respect others and do not stoop to lies or name calling to get a point across.( Well, I do call repugnants names, but they earned them. LOL)
Yeah, it’s always amazing when you meet someone that you only know from online conversations. Usually the angriest people online are lashing out and acting tough because they can’t in the “real world.”
I’m soooo out of the loop, that I had no idea you were the subject of so much attention/criticism.
As an actor, I used to avidly read reviews of all the shows I was in. I found that no matter what was written it tended to eff me up. If it was good I tried not to vary what I did at all — which was deadening. If it was bad — it either made me timid about my performance or it caused me to push it way too hard.
I stopped reading reviews all together. Most of the reviewers hadn’t been on stage since high school — if then, yet they felt empowered to comment as if they knew what they were talking about.
If possible, forget your critics. Don’t read them. Don’t give them power over you.
You produce material several times a day, seven days a week. Some of it is spectacular. Some is damn good. Occasionally, you stumble. Big deal. What you are doing is of great value.
Hang in there.
See what happens when I leave for a few hours.
have a fucking camera that works.
Don’t worry Boo. Your secret life is safe with me.
I’m generally just a lurker on Booman Tribune (and dKos, and MyDD, and most sites) and thus am completely out of the loop about who the paparazzi are, etc. etc. But when you say stuff like this I gotta comment.
“And I’m not entirely sure it is worth putting up with.”
Don’t quit blogging. Yours is a valuable voice.
– average lurker
Don’t ever underestimate these fuckers. They are fucking vicious. If one of them shows up where I am in the United States I will fucking shoot them. And I’m a pacifist. I’ll be in Europe in about 30 days and good luck finding me there, fuckers.
I don’t have a problem with someone disagreeing with me and you sure don’t have to like me (or Boo or anyone else). But when you take it to the “next level” and start endangering totally innocent people, that’s when it goes too far. These “paparazzi” are freaking psychos.
The difference between Boo and Britney Spears is she has the BUCKS to hire bodyguards etc. Freaking loons. It’s just a fucking blog you freaks!
So you are going to shoot someone because of a blogg???
Are the new rules in effect already??????
Of course not. A blog is where people write things down. There’s absolutely no reason to GO TO SOMEONE’S HOUSE. That’s not blogging, that is stalking.
Good lord, just write whatever you want to and say whatever you want to! Say as much mean nasty or disagreeing things as you want to. But quit going to people’s houses!
Pax
I know nothing of going to someones house. But before you call all the people there fucking freaks, you should at least know what they are saying. You should go there and read all the posts, and notice that not all agreed with that diary.
And if someone goes to someone’s house, put a restraining order. As simple as that.
so far, no one has gone to my house. I know you’ve had some mercenaries come after you over that series you did on Afghanistan, but I haven’t had those problems. There is no need to talk about shooting anyone.
As I recall–and please correct my memory if faulty–Jack Idema’s cronies didn’t put on their ski masks and stalk Soj in the still of the night.
They counter-attacked online (on their so-called “Super Patriots” website) and through threatened legal action (which I take was never prosecuted). The Idema supporters also had a blog, Caosblog.com, that launched verbal attacks on Soj.
Or did I miss some physical confrontation? The spectre of a heavily-armed Soj waiting for the wrong person to knock on his/her door is a bit perturbing.
For those of you lacking background on this issue, please Google:
“Jack Idema Soj”
It’s quite the saga.
Hi. I’m well aware of all the work you have done to try to out soj’s identity. Per, the new rules none of that activity can be carried on here and if I notice that you are continuing it, it will be a bannable offense. This is not anything specific to soj, not does it reflect on the merits of your research, which I am neither accepting nor refuting. This rule applies to all members here, whether they are prominent or not, or have front-paged at an affiliated site, or not. No efforts to uncover and reveal private information is permitted, even if you feel someone has misrepresented themselves. I understand the desire to get to the truth. But it is inconsistent with the expectation of privacy I want for members here. That trumps everything else. So, this is a warning to you about carrying on that campaign here, or even anywhere else, if you want to be a contribtuting member here.
…the background of the “mercenary” remark. If you re-visit that remark, you will see that it was quite fuzzy. “Go after” can mean somebody criticised you, or that somebody physically threatened you. You still haven’t defined what “go after” means. As long as that phrase is undefined, some could take it to mean that Soj is, in fact, in fear of his/her life. I have no idea whether or not physical attacks were threatened, attempted, or made against Soj, and was wondering if you did.
Once again–what does “go after” mean?
p.s.: I find it interesting that you didn’t quote the new rules to Soj, who just threatened violence in a rather reckless manner. Very interesting. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Did somebody come to someones house?
No more comments like that, please. I`m as much of a pacifist as the next pacifist. Your threatening comment proves you are no pacifist.
I am rating this a 2 cause that was way over the top.
Didn’t know all that was going on. Sorry all those things have been said. Have some coffee and doughnuts. The blogs have all been crazy lately.
I figure you’re not trying hard enough in politics unless you’re pissing some people off on a regular basis (hopefully not your own supporters). At least us small potatoes office holders usually get health care so we can get the knife wounds in our backs patched up cheap.
Seriously, keep the good stuff coming. You know you’ve got a lot of good people behind you;-)
Whenever you put yourself out front in any endeavor you get those who will attack you, and it seems as if for no reason at all. Your description of what’s happened with you reminded me a little of what it was like for me as a business owner. I started an art gallery in a medium sized town where a lot of other people wished they had done it first. It was as if everything I did became important which was wierd for me since I’d never been so, well, “exposed.” Everything was subject for criticism and people who acted like my best friends were attacking me behind my back. It really brings people out of the woodwork to make you miserable it seems. So you just have to let them go on their way and if it’s worth it to you keep doing what you want to do.
I sure hope you keep going here. All the kos stuff is beyond me. I care about issues too much to want to be involved in that stuff which seems petty and stupid to me.
I am very new here. I used to lurk at Kos regularly but have come to realize that I am left of that crowd and went searching for other blogs.
You have created a place that smart and friendly people could come to form a community. This is not an easy task, and if these ‘paparazzi’ can’t tell the difference between this site and DKos, then they are a lost cause.
David Bowie and John Lennon collaborated on this one:
“Fame
Is it any wonder I reject you first?
Fame, fame, fame, fame
Is it any wonder you are too cool to fool
Fame
Fame, bully for you, chilly for me
Got to get a rain check on pain
Fame”
It’s all about the collaboration.
Don’t go looking for the crap – you can deal with it when it comes here.
What you do is beneficial to me, and to so many others. Maybe you’re just focusing on feeling the pain instead of the gratitude.
Try to take it easy, dear. Celebrate President’s Day!
putting up with. But you’ve become a voice of principle and sense. Your departure from the scene would be a loss. I can’t know the price of your visibility. I’m essentially an unknown blogger and sometimes the hate E-Mail from both the right and left in private gets too much. What you sometimes endure is public. I suppose the way to view it all is jealousy combined with truth becoming a threat to some.
Keep in mind there is a “silent majority” out there who lurk, don’t participate or write who appreciate what you do. An office colleague of mine reads you everyday for example and very much appreciates your insights and point of view. He doesn’t have an account here, or with any site or a blog of his own. They’re a lot of people like that and you make a difference to them. Is that enough for you? Only you can decide and nobody else is in a position to make that judgment. I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you had enough.
I hope you hang in there. I don’t always comment on your threads. Full time job, life obligations and my own blog don’t leave me much time. But I learn a lot from your writing and appreciate the platform you provide.
All sympathy aside, I do feel the need to add that no anonymous person has changed history – or, I guess, not that we know! 😉
If people want to step up and make a difference, at some point, it means shedding the protection of anonymity and facing the fire.
If that’s not your aspiration, BooMan, that’s fine, and I’d support whatever choice you make. But I just wanted to point out no one gets it both ways. There’s a price to be paid for challenging the establishment, sooner or later. Some will pay that price, others won’t. The ones who pay and brave that have my utmost respect.
Although I don’t like Meta stuff, and I view much of it (but not all) as an unnecessary distraction from serious global events, I felt compelled to comment in this post…. especially if I happen to be the unnamed site member who was viewed as “professionally offended” or “humorless”. And ya know, even if I wasn’t that unnamed member in question, the name calling probably fit me, at least from an outside perspective, without knowing my frame of mind each time I’ve posted. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know the first thing about what other people are going through at any given time, or what might prompt them to behave in a certain manner.
On the one hand, this venue is so incredibly enriching, with continued education beyond my wildest imagination, and placing us in a position to develop relationships on a global level! Wow. Within just a matter of the past year, I never would have dreamed of such great opportunities and wonderful connections. On the other hand, it can be so damn frustrating and limiting in nature, in that we’re unable to read body language or understand a person’s intent. Bottom line…each of our comments are driven by our personal frames of mind at the time we post.
To bring this to a more personal level…
Last week I shared a comment with you about Senator Dodd’s record in the financial industry. When I wrote that post, my true intent was to share information and let you know that there are all sorts of good reasons why he might have voted against class actions. (On the other hand, for all I know he had lobbyists from the financial industry pressuring him to do so. I don’t know.) It wasn’t until I read your response that I took a second look at my comment and realized it came across as bitchy scolding. My frame of mind at the time? Right before posting my comment, I had been engaged in a series of e-mails with a financial advisor/long time friend, and our relationship is such that we send each other notes of brutal one-upmanship regarding the financial industry. In that specific relationship, it’s our source of humor, and I honestly had no idea that I was carrying that frame of mind and that tone over to your site in my comment to you. Instead of my backpedaling follow up posts, I should have just come right out and apologized, letting you know that I had acknowledged my inadvertent tone….but truth be told, I was so embarrassed about it that I didn’t want to draw attention to my post.
Regarding humor? Here we are again with our frames of mind, and not knowing what’s taking place in each other’s lives. Late on Friday night I received a call. The type of call that’s reserved for that hour of the night, which results in an instant rush of adrenaline coursing through your veins, knowing the news will not be good. Turned out that one of my dearest friends had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and her out-of-town family asked if I could be at the hospital with her until they arrived. While hastily shutting down my computer, I couldn’t help but notice a comment you made to me, and I felt the need to inquire about your intent. In all candor, my vulnerable state of mind and distress made me feel as though I had been targeted among the dozens of comments in that thread, and I truly didn’t understand why you had asked me if I thought I “deserved” a lower UID. Some might view my reaction as lacking humor, but they had absolutely no concept of what was going on in my head at the time.
In another thread, someone commented about being in a state of grieving, which left them unable to write diaries for now. I know that feeling all too well. In fact, I think this medium can be a magnet for people who are suffering. I’m not quite sure how to articulate my thoughts, other than saying that this forum provides a sense of comfort and belonging, even if I’m not feeling up to participating.
In contrast to tone or frame of mind, your personal integrity had been slandered through accusations of racism. Thing is, anyone who knows you, or anyone who has participated at this site for longer than two minutes, would view that comment as laughable. Lord knows, we all have our faults, but racism ain’t one of yours. I’m sorry you felt the need to defend yourself, and I probably would have done the same. Heck, I wouldn’t have even known about the situation had you not brought it up and if someone hadn’t provided a link. Here again, your frame of mind prompted you to FP the situation, even though supersoling had already taken it upon himself to step up to the plate and cover your back for you.
Yes, I realize this comment is overly verbose, and longer than most diaries, but I’m not in the frame of mind to post my writing in a diary format, in which I’d need to respond to comments. I just wanted to make sure you knew that I probably won’t be in a position to write for awhile, and I didn’t want you to think it had anything to do with any perceived slighting. Just life, and our frames of mind.
good night and all my best,
-a