Open Thread
By driftglass Tuesday Jun 02, 2009 7:30pm
Steve Gilliard -- my blogfather and a one of the genuine masters of the form -- died two years ago today.
Which, of course, tells you nothing.
So instead of let me tell you something.
More after the jump, open thread in comments...
Steve left the bright lights and accolades of being a front-pager on Barsoom and hung up “The News Blog” shingle on August 3, 2003, and it should surprise no one who read him on even a semi-regular basis that his first post was entitled “Why Blacks don't vote Republican” and fairly hummed with his signature clear, unapologetic, incandescent-enough-to be-seen-from-orbit style--
“…
Now, in the real world, the GOP still tolerates racists. Not the "I'm not comfortable around black people kind" or the "my family would never accept a black person kind", but the "I hate coons" kind. Some would never ever use those words, but the GOP has two problems with blacks, and they don't care about addressing either one.
...Most average black people are socially quite conservative, even if economically, they would be progressive. But the idea of being subervient to people who clearly seem to relish making the lives of the poor and black harder is insulting. So the GOP gains no traction.
Ultimately, the GOP has to decide, either continue to support racists or embrace a wider America. Until it does, it will be the party of decline.”
-- that was to become cool water in a vast media desert for so many of us over the next few years.
His next few posts on “Vichy Democrats”, the political naiveté of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the intersection of military strategy and foreign policy drew on his strengths as a historian, journalist and hard-core political junkie and established a basic motif that Gilly would return to literally thousands of times over the next four years: bringing his strong, well-informed and impenitent writing to bear on politics, the media, war, race, sex and history.
However this snip from a “Thank You” post from his first day on the beat will give you a better sense of Gilly and his mission than any words of mine:
This blog will reflect my interests, which will cover more technology than your other left-of-center blogs. I've been a registered Democrat since I was 18 and I don't see that changing. I know politics, but I don't have much of a political agenda.
…
As a rule, insulting me is pointless. I don't know you, unless I know you, and I have friends and a life, so I'll just ignore or toss the insults. Argue the facts and things will be fine.And since I'm here, let me say something else:
I don't play cute with the war fan club folks at LGF, Newsmax, Tacticus, Opinion Journal and the rest of them. I think they're wrong. They're wrong about this war, this country and the people who run it. I don't respect their opinions, because that's all they have. They insult their opponents, they denigrate their arguments and they offer few facts. I grew up with conservatives who actually respected other people's opinions. These people want to crush their opponents and treat their arguments as irrelevant. They're not interested in discussion, but polemics. Their arguments are wrong and I will say they're wrong when I discuss them.
Or. if you’re not one for long bios, then simply this:
Steve Gilliard began The News Blog on August 3, 2003.
He blogged powerfully and prodigiously on media, politics, war, race, sex and history for four years, always with an eye towards reshaping journalism itself.
He died.
And a billion newspapers went belly-up.
(Yeah, I stole it from Mark Twain. So sue me.)
See you around, pal; breaks my heart that I never got a chance to meet and thank you face-to-face.
And, of course, Eff the Effing Yankees. Now and forever.
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and Fuck the Fucking Yankees.
I found his brilliant writing in the last year of his life, what a mind. And as good as his political writing/insight was, I especially loved it when he wrote about food. He turned me on to one of the best regional cookbooks I own - Marvin Woods Low Country Cooking, my daughter and I fight over this book all the time. Thanks Steve.
how could he be...he work wasnt done when god took him
but i bet he is hanging with uncle duke right now, and havin a party
Barry asks Iranian ambassadors to join in on the festivities at U.S. embassies this July 4. The fifth suicide at Gitmo.
Obama views Iran's desire for nuclear power as legitimate. Cheney flip-flops and supports the (states' rights version of) gay marriage. Darfur women are frequent victims of rape. Kim Jong Il's son is as unprepared to run a country as George H.W. Bush's son. Latest passport rules for Canada + Mexico. A Gitmo judge says that the feds can't hide the "evidence" being used against Gitmo detainees. The ACLU fights to get those torture photos released.
for GLAAD's action alerts.
Two knuckle-head radio hosts in Sacremento talked about physically abusing transgendered children.
I think it was last year, I felt that as if I was in a good place. That he ceremoniously took on the "liberal" mantra, and proclaimed himself a liberal to be embraced by a site like this one was moving.
I already had been coming here for about a year prior to that. Damn, how time flies.
I wish I would have been a part of C&L when he was involved. I would like to believe we could have gotten to know each other. Rest in peace!
I didn't know him, but have appreciated the many pieces I've read by him.
Well done, driftglass.
And thought he would make it too.
It was tough reading his blog during his illness but their was alot of fight in his posts.
Need more fighters on the left like Steve.
As Iraq deteriorated, I found myself going to Steve to get a clear explanation of the war's operational details. I still frequently wish I could go to his latest post, which would help make sense of the latest campaign or fuckup. Such a loss for us all. Thanks for keeping his memory alive.
I first came to read Steve Gilliard for his take on police brutality. His writing style, casual and impassioned yet still precise and fact based, is something I've looked for around the net but only infrequently found. I can't believe it's been two years.
Chavez Accuses CIA of Backing Plot to Kill Him
Chavez knows ..
rogues within before. Damn well, Chavez knows. He has the resources to know!
you dont think he could also have created a false flag op?
come on
you're way wrong on this. Google "The revolution will not be televised."
don't you!
I just knew you were fos!
*
Chavez is no dictator. He definitely wields executive power, but he seems to be doing the will of the people.
And after all that's what an elected president is supposed to do.
He certainly enjoys his position of power, but he doesn's seem to exploit it for personal gain.
And he's clearly done a lot of good for his people and for the people of the world by challenging the Western Fascists.
And "tin-plated" he most certainly is not. He's dam smart.
INDIGENOUS!
What the f is wrong with you uncle! Are you undercover?
Fuck you!!! Dictator my ass. I'm sick to death of you idiots who trumpet the party line like it's the truth. The truth is that the US is responsible for most of the ills in the world today. US policies have caused uncounted deaths and horrendous hardships in dozens and dozens of countries the world over. Any country that does not toe the line of US policy to perfection is ripe for attack.
It's people like you, people who unquestioningly buy the propaganda that the US is perfect and could not possibly do any wrong that allow the abuses to go on.
Learn a little history. Not the history that is taught in school or on the network news. The REAL history of the abuses that have been propagated around the world in the name of the US. Learn how many leaders have been overthrown or executed because they refused to fall into line and bow towards Washington.
Of course I don't expect that you'll learn anything. People like you rarely do. They keep their heads firmly up the butt of the powers that be and never want to come out for air.
Everyone knows. (Except the right wingers.)
Hitler was a pussy by comparison.
He's actually considering Max Fuckus's plan to tax benefits, even though he said he was against the idea in his campaign.
Obama shows a little more every day that nothing of major importance is going to change. There will cosmetic changes that he'll point to, small changes that don't really change anything at all. In the main though, it will be same shit, different president. US policy will not be affected.
You will never be forgotten.
Just sock this back to them...(Reagan Did It):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/opinion/01k...
Great piece, as always.
I grew up in the 50's and remember the time before credit cards. Oh, they existed, but each card was good only at a particular store or company. And rarely did people carry a lot of debt on those cards. It was more like an extension of the installment plan for buying things.
And I remember when my dad got a credit card (ie a bank card) because it made it easier to shop without carrying cash. But he always paid the balance at the end of the month.
Krugman nailed it. Using debt to finance our lives, instead of income or real wealth to finance our lives, began under Reagan, and has dragged our entire economy into a pit.
China's buying Hummer from GM cuz SUV sales are booming in China.
China's got a lot of cash to spend (savings? savings are so passe' in the USA) .. and there's an industrial firesale going on in the US now ..
Asians are big savers. When I go to the bank at the end of the month, they're all there updating their passbooks because they want to check the interest.
The Japanese Post Office is also Japan's largest bank. It has $3 trillion dollars in people's savings.
I wonder how many rednecks and Palin-loving soccer moms will buy Hummers now that they're not owned by the good ol' U S of A?
the shopkeeper has compassion (when the robber explains his family had no food) and lets him escape with $40 and a loaf of bread (and was going to get the robber a gallon of milk too).
who is Muslim.
http://www.tkf.org/story/tariqstory.htm
In my work as a juvenile probation officer, I was exposed to this story. I met him and invited him to speak to all of the 6th graders in this city of 150,000.
His story, as a Muslim, dealing with the death of his only son, believed there were two victims at each end of the gun. It was lost, in a sense, after 9-11.
Tariq's father teaches forgiveness as a way of ending the cycle of violence. It is the Islam way!
Who among us could be as big as Tariq's father!
We all could learn from such a great example! :)
from the Islam Way?
You betcha!
*
It's why my sister, living in Malaysia, converted (from 'nothing') to Islam. She says it's very peaceful.
every time Michael Steele opens his yapper and crams his feet in. :D
GNA! ;)
My best regards to Jeremy and Andy too!
c&l got me interested in blogs....but it was steve's blog that i made sure never to miss
the man was brilliant
i think the most brilliant aspect of his blog was that so many never knew that he was black
and his most brilliant piece was when he put michael steele in black face...and got reamed from both the left and right for doing it
you survived! Right? er, left? er.....
but what the hell is Cheney doing. He might just as well turn himself in and plead guilty. He's contradicting everything that's on video that he said 6/7 years ago. How can any reputable prosecutor not take what he's saying now and run with it. It would be a great career booster.
Is Cheney Preparing For A War Crimes Trial?
Obama faces the potential wrath of other countries for what they deem protectionism for GM. China celebrates Tiananmen with more website blocking. A drunken cop beats a female bartender, and only risks five years with probation.
How about fair trade? We can't compete with 30 cent an hour wages (slave wages).
try FAIR TRADE
My political perspective is very different from that of the late and much-missed Mr. Gilliard. But I admire his gifts as a writer, particularly the economy and cogency with which he made his points. Not blessed with the gift of brevity, I envied the way he could express his case in a few well-crafted paragraphs.
Furthermore, as someone who has been unabashedly opposed to the war in Iraq since ... well, about September 1990, I appreciated the fact that Mr. Gilliard devoted much of his time and a good portion of his enviable gifts to exposing and condemning the criminal foolishness of that enterprise.
From what I have read about him, he seemed to be an immensely decent man, in addition to being a hugely gifted writer. And in a more personal vein, as I read about Mr. Gilliard's tragic demise, it struck me as something of a warning shot: Blogging can be a dangerous occupation if those of us involved in it don't make it a priority to take care of our health.
My best wishes and sincere condolences to Steve Gilliard's family and friends. His absence makes the Blogosphere a much poorer place.
...and his face appears to have been carved out and shaped by his inner kindness.
he has chosen Philip Reitinger as head of cyber security
this dude worked for microsoft
microsoft's idea of security is putting out a patch that creates more holes than it closes
we are fracking doomed
i dont get it....why not send a team to the next hacker convention and hire the best of the bunch
He would be disemboweling the freaks right now. Imagine what Michael Steele alone would have been in for had Steve had more time.
Unfortunately, we don't control our lives as much as we'd like to think. We die. Let no one forget Steve Gilliard. We do so at our peril.
I could really get fired up reading a Gilliard post. I wish he could have lived to see Obama elected, though I bet he'd hold his feet to the fire when Obama did something he disagreed with. RIP.
As I was developing my blog legs, way back in the internet stone age of 2002, I read Steve quite a bit. I followed him to The News Blog and started commenting there. Like a giddy fan boy, I was excited when he responded to one of my comments, pounded my fist in the air when he agreed with my statement.
He was the heart and soul of the Progressive Net. He put it out there without pretension or sugar-coating. He delivered the goods raw and sharp. We needed to hear it that way. He made a deep impression on every person he touched. For the Repugs, that meant being left battered and bruised.
He was taken far too soon, but he left a legacy that will carry on for many more years.
That face should be ensconced on the Progressive Mt. Rushmore.
Rest in Peace, Steve. We got your back.
thanks for the great tribute. he was indeed a treasure and helped many us hold it together during the cold and bitter winter that was the bush/cheney years. and his insights still illuminate. thanks again.
this comment really isn't about the topic, but this is an open thread, so i'm posting. what is so hard to understand, teachers and our educational system are in jeopardy. many programs here in california including arts, music,possibly athletics are on the chopping block. teachers in la are on a hunger strike.
i can't help but think, when your prez calls for war on a country that was not guilty of the charges put upon them and then this prez asks the american people to support this war by going shopping and then borrows from china and any other country willing to lend the US monies for this preemtive war, maybe i'm missing something but what part of my summation is wrong. the right wingers would now blame obama for the financial crisis we now are in. How many of those now hurting without jobs or potentially without jobs actually voted for bush II and now are quick to pin blame to obama. I would say, it's not rocket science. pretty simple, i think.
You might find his "Letters from Earth" an interesting read. They were released in 1960, (that is not a misprint).
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainlfe.htm
Enjoy.
Steve Gillard was the real deal. He called it like he saw it, and if that was a problem for you, well, tough shit. As someone who found himself opposite Gilly on some issues (thankfully very rarely) I can tell you he didn't tolerate fools or half baked opinions. If you were going to butt heads with him (rhetorically speaking) you better have your facts straight or be prepared to get slapped down -hard! But you always knew he was speaking (and writing) from the heart, and that is why he will always be a hero to me. Rest in Peace, Gilly!
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