How Quickly the Landscape and Mood Changes

Paradigm shifts can be felt in many ways, and sometimes there is no better thermometer than the blogosphere. A quick glance around shows these things...

- Virginia Virtucon reports that MSNBC had it's highest ratings ever. I know that I probably watched more consecutive minutes of that channel than ever before (though I do tune in regularly to take the pulse of the opposition). I watched a bit of that channel last night to simply see the left's reactions, and it appears that many conservatives did the same. From what I saw, Howard Dean was gracious in his admission of party screw-ups all around in Mass. Rachel Maddow was fiery and clearly angry. So angry that even Chris Matthews was taken aback by some of her commentary.

- Many left bloggers think that this is because they did not pass health care "reform". If people are against what you are proposing (which they seem to dismissively admit to), why would they support you if you had already passed said reform? If anything, passing health care reform is like pushing the self-destruct button on all of Congress.

- Bearing Drift is hearing rumors that Rep. Rick Boucher (VA-9) is reconsidering running for reelection (something many Dems are doing, especially after last night's win for the GOP). Given that he is a bit of an oddity in terms of political affiliation vs. district demographics, he would be the only Dem that would really stand a chance in the "Fighting 9th" this year. If Boucher goes, the Dem control of that seat goes with it. Given the vulnerability of Glenn Nye and Tom Perriello in the 2nd and 5th Districts, respectively, and the possibility of a hard fight in the 11th (Gerry Connolly's district), the Dems cannot afford to have to pump a lot of money into a 4th fight in this state, as it will really spread party resources thin.

If You Haven't Checked It Out...

...Tucker Carlson's new site, The Daily Caller, is quite an interesting place to go.

Carlson seems to have adopted more of a libertarian bent recently (has even come out in favor of gay marriage, apparently, which belies the "neocon" label attached to him). This makes him a bit more appealing to a guy like me, as I am someone who believes strongly in individual liberty.

Give it a look, though the site design is a bit off (needs some tidying up), I do get that "righty HuffPo" feel from it, lol.

The Podium Goes Unmoderated

I'm removing comment moderation. It seems that some of my "one-time" posters have told me that they thought that (due to the moderation) their comment never posted. I'll just remove that confusion and let them all post.

Chap(!) Petersen's "Decade of Zeroes"

Chap(!) and his bow tie have an interesting retrospective on the memorable and incredible things that have occurred during the past decade in Virginia Politics and general events. Give it a look. Chap, despite sitting on the blue side of the aisle, is a first-class gentleman and plays it pretty straight here, with some interesting choices for his categories.

New Podium Policy

If the President is going to refer to himself as "Barry from D.C.", then so will I.

Carry on... ;)

A Little Maintenence...

FYI for readers...I'm going to be tinkering with designs late at night. So if you visit the blog in the late evening or midnight hour, things may occasionally look drastically different with the blog's overall look. Will I make a permanent change? Who knows, but I'm going to tinker around a bit :)

Blogroll Additions (Link Pimpin')

On the Virginia front, I've added...
- Fishersville Mike
- Fred Malek
- Tidewater Liberty
- Andrew Clem (don't know how I didn't have this on there before)

On the National front, I've added...
- The Humble Libertarian
- Republican Liberty Caucus blog
- Libertarian Party blog
- Free State Blogs

Check 'em out!

Shenandoah County Growing in the Blogosphere

I had gone away for a while, and now I'm back. However, it appears that a few other Shenandoah County-based bloggers have come about.

- Craig Orndorff (not the one from WSVG mornings) has a very good political blog. I've only corresponded with Craig a few times, but I do enjoy his site.
- The 7 Bends of the Shenandoah Valley website has a blog that has been up and running since October.
- The Tea Party group in Strasburg did have a blog-styled site going until very recently.

Nice to see some other Shenandoah County-based bloggers hitting the scene.

Also, I have done some blogroll updates, both statewide and national. Added some good blogs, removed some that became inactive or just weren't reading anymore.

The Thanks I Get for Being a Friend to Conservatives...

I guess I'm too libertarian to be in the club, despite being ranked number 17 ;)

Ah well, the SWAC group never really liked me anyway, though I've never really known why (except that I backed Myron once or twice, that seemed to irk them). I've always thought I've shown them a good amount of respect.

*shrugs shoulders*, c'est la vie.

CORRECTION: Megan reminded me that there were three who sat on the right side of things over at DWJ, not two as I had stated in the comments below. It's been a while since I reminisced over the old DWJ days.

A Return...?

It's been quite a while, but the Podium may be seeing a return to action.

Yours truly has been off finishing up his Bachelor's Degree program, and will be done by mid-December, thus leaving me with the free time that I did not have previously. So right now, I'm simply contemplating the idea of coming back to blogging. The time seems right, and I've talked plenty of politics with people during my hiatus, so I've stayed pretty much up-to-date regarding most of the shenanigans that are Virginia politics.

Will I or won't I, that's the question I have to wrestle with at this time. We shall see...

No Humility in Victory, No Graciousness in Defeat

Just like we saw a total and complete lack of graciousness from the left in 2004 when John Kerry lost, I'm now starting to see a complete lack of humility in victory amongst Democratic supporters.

There's the continued attacks on McCain and Palin, the hate-filled speech towards Republicans as if we were early in primary season, the "seance" comments by Barack Obama towards Nancy Reagan (which actually better apply to Hillary Clinton, but is still a misnomer of a term).

Tonight, we have another good example...my wife (who has a McCain/Palin bumper sticker) was harrassed for several miles on I-81 by a couple of college-aged kids holding up handwritten signs that said things like "Ha Ha You Lost!!" and "McCain Sucks".

Pathetic. No humility or decorum in victory at all.

I Will Not Take The Same Road as the Opposition

While I will remain very critical of Obama's policies and decision when I do not agree with them (which I hope will not be as often as I fear it may be) I WILL be something that Democrats/liberals have not been.

I will remain loyal opposition. I will put my country first. I will not suffer a conservative version of the "Bush Derangement Syndrome" that has plagued the left for 8 years. You won this election, I concede that easily, because there is no point in doing otherwise.

If you think that this will dampen my spirits and leave my objective to promote my beliefs daunted...think again. However, I will not desert my nation because I believe they make a mistake in selecting a leader. I will work my tail off to promote a better America.

Now let's get to work on this country, shall we?

Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction

If Obama wins, this blog will swing even more libertarian in nature.

I only disagree with certain LP subsects on a few issues, but those subsects are the most vocal subsect of the party. Considering I'm a conservative-leaning libertarian (or a libertarian-leaning conservative, depending on the issue and your own perspective), I'm going to have to take a harder line against a quasi-socialist, ultra-liberal Obama administration...should he win.

Wandering My Way Back Into the Blogosphere...

I am finally relocated, reset, and ready to go again. I've done some occasional blogging over at Daily Whackjob, but I find myself getting more headaches from the lack of anything constructive outside of arguing with zen (which is at least entertaining and smacks of intelligent conversation).

In the coming days, the Podium will finally make it's return...and we'll get down to business.

I have to blog again...can you blame me? I mean, in times like these, I have to cling to my blog, because I'm just a typical small-town resident who is bitter.

Oh, No...He's Gone Quiet Again!

Once again, I've been pretty silent as of late. I'll tell you why...

- I'm moving at the beginning of March. No, I'm not going to Florida as I had alluded to many months ago. I'll be moving to New Market, VA. Simply relocating from one end of Shenandoah County to another. However, getting everything situation requires time and effort.

- My writing time is no longer solely dedicated to politics. I was recently hired to start writing a monthly opinion column that deals with a guilty pleasure of mine...pro wrestling. When the column is up and running (next month), I'll link my columns there for you wrestling fans.

- Busy times...when it comes to real life (i.e. away from the blogosphere) I work in the banking industry, so times are busy right now for many reasons.

I'm hoping that, as life stops getting in the way, I'll return to bringing you more of what comes to my mind, but for the time being, posting will be fairly sparse compared to months past.

Enjoying the Civility

You know, Virginia Republicans (bloggers in particular) seem to have really learned something from last year's GA Primary season. The vitriol, anger, and bitter fight for control of the heart and soul of the party seems to have subsided.

Now, there seems to be a genuinely different tone about this year's Senate primary between Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William) and former Governor Jim Gilmore. A good example of the change in tone comes from an area that is home to one of the most bitter grassroots battles in recent memory, the SWAC-lands (Staunton/Waynesboro/Augusta County), the epicenter of last year's nasty 24th Senate District primary between Sen. Emmett Hanger and businessman Scott Sayre.

For instance, see SWAC Girl's post on Marshall-backer (and former RPV spokesman) Shaun Kenney visiting the SWAC-area GOP's Breakfast. She posts a picture of herself, Kenney, Augusta GOP Chairman Kurt Michael, and Chris Green (who you all know as Spank That Donkey). She notes in the photo's caption that 2 of them are Marshall backers (Michael and Kenney), the other 2 are Gilmore backers (herself and Green). She also states that, no matter the winner, they will back the GOP candidate.

In the comments section of the post, an anonymous poster points out the Hanger/Sayre primary...to which SWAC Girl swiftly replies "Hanger vs Sayre is over. We have moved on."

Another example of the change in primary climate is the spirited debate between the Bloggers 4 Bob Marshall and Bloggers 4 Jim Gilmore. While they debate the pros and cons of their respective candidates, the general direction is still debating their candidate versus the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, former Governor Mark Warner. This unity will help Republicans as they move beyond the primaries and into election season.

Basically, two very encouraging trends can be taken from the current GOP primary season in Virginia.
- A lack of "piss and vinegar" running through the veins of opposing sides.
- An engaged, lively, intelligent debate about the pros and cons of each candidate.

Kudos to Virginia's conservative blogosphere and the grassroots in general in really doing a superb job in promoting their respective candidates in the best manner possible.

An Apology

Posting will be light this week. A combination of nothing much going on and the lovely fact that I'll be halfway over the hill on Thursday :)

I'll post anything of real note, such as thoughts on the Michigan primary.

Top 10 Virginia Political Blog Stories of 2007

The stories that made the blogosphere buzz...

10) GOP politicians join the blogosphere - Jim Gilmore, George Allen, Brandon Bell, and Marty Williams all started their own blogs in the 2nd half of 2007 in an attempt to help conservatives catch up to liberals in terms of how loud their digital voices were heard.

09) The quick rise and fall of Virginia Oddsmaker - This was everyone's favorite Virginia blog for one hot second (including me), then inexplicably collapsed for no known reason.

08) The near-implosion of Roscoe Reynolds' campaign - When Roscoe angrily dodged questions about his questionable campaign consultants on a local TV show, the ensuing words that were typed by bloggers were deafening.

07) Blogs United - Some thought it went well, others did not. Many people believe that there will not be another bipartisan conference of this kind with bloggers due to their mostly-partisan nature. To this, I (and others) say "nay", but many disagree with me.

06) Joe Stanley/ODBA - Joe Stanley, a political consultant, likens the ODBA to Satan's Children (well, to sum it all up) and then links a false ODBA website to the NAMBLA website. Ben Tribbett at NLS (and friend of Stanley's) attempts to set up Daily Whackjob (Whackette in particular) as the fall guys for this revelation, and then attempts to smear the ODBA itself.

05) Blogging Ethics - Was the buzzphrase for most of the spring and summer as bloggers argue over what constitutes "good" blogging ethics.

04) SWAC vs. The World, the Hanger/Sayre primary - Conservative bloggers who supported Scott Sayre in the 24th Senate District primary got into it with other conservative bloggers, liberal bloggers, the Staunton News-Leader...the tension and ill feelings were quite palpable for a while.

03) Election '07, Dems Take State Senate - Riding momentum from the 2006 national elections, strong grassroots work in the Tidewater area, and a growing "blue" trend in NoVa, the Dems took control of the State Senate and made a few gains in the House of Delegates.

02) Abuser Fee Uproar - Most people hate it, the Dems blame the GOP, the GOP blames the Dems, Gov. Kaine applies fee to Virginia drivers only, and the ensuing debacle that occurred.

01) The Virginia Tech Massacre - I don't think this needs any description as to why it was so important.

Any other stories that hit the blogs this year that you feel warrants inclusion, any stories here that need to be excluded? What's your take?

New Addition to National Blogroll

This blog has actually been around since December of 2004, but still pumps out some really good blog posts. It's also another sign of the growth of diversity in the Republican Party and for conservative politics, in general.

Go check out Hip Hop Republican, which is what many have tagged me as being (even though I'm a fan of all kinds of music, I'm a hip-hop fan first...which may surprise some).

For the 3rd Time Since Election Day...

...Republitarian has wiped out all of it's posts. What's up with that, Myron? Or Dave? Or Christa?