Saturday Alaska Progressive Blog Roundup - April 26, 2008

That's one of the first salads of the 2008 season from our greenhouse. Arugula, lettuces, beets (from last year), goat cheese and pecans, with a lemon-honey-mustard dressing. They're next to some barbecued lamb and chicken skewers.

The power went out at our house between Palmer and Wasilla last night at about midnight, and hasn't gone back on yet, so I'm over at Vagabond Blues in Palmer, reading e-mail and doing this post.

Progressive Alaska Welcomes Two Progressive Blogs:

One is new, the other has been around longer than Progressive Alaska. Radical Catholic Mom should have been put up on the progressive blog roster here some time ago. But it was the way the blog came into context on some issues in the Alaska blog community this past week that got me to say, "This blog needs to be listed as an important Alaska progressive source."

Essentially, I've spent a lot of time helping Ray Metcalfe get his views out. They're in conflict with some people in the Alaska Democratic Party. I've voiced my opinion that to cut Metcalfe out of forums, or deny him access to party materials other candidates have is wrong, not to mention stupid. So, I should extend that same courtesy to Radical Catholic Mom, and her anti-choice (or, pro-life, as she believes) views.

I'll write more about that when I can focus on the issue directly, but - welcome, Radical Catholic Mom! Sorry it took me so long.

The other one hasn't started yet. The amazing guy behind the Alaska Report, Dennis Zaki wrote to me about it, though:

You've inspired me Philip. I've been meaning to start my own personal blog for quite awhile. That blog post you did about Ted and Lisa a couple of days ago pushed me over the edge. I love it that you ripped those two assholes and I want to do it too !!! By having a separate, but linked, blog, I'll feel free to tell it like it is. I always have outtakes and video that I don't use on AlaskaReport that will have a new home. Once I get it going, you'll be the first to know. Dennis

Maybe Dennis just wants to blog so he can actually use nasty words instead of exclamations and things like #&*@@! For anyone who hasn't noticed, my rule here is the one established by Jane Hamsher - "when it comes to writing "fuck," never use an asterisk. You might regret it later."

Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis welcomes internet campaign guru Matt Browner Hamlin to Alaska at her place. Mat has come from the lower 48, to run Mark Begich's internet campaign and blog. Matt has also set his own blog up.

He worked recently as Chris Dodd's internet and blogging virtuoso. I met him last year at a Dodd interview at firedoglake. Howie Klein, the guy behind the most effective, most truthful, truly blue nationwide blog, Down With Tyranny, told Matt to look me up when he got here, and Matt did.

Talks and e-mails with Howie Klein led me to post an essay questioning Ethan Berkowitz's wisdom in accepting a large neo-con PAC donation from a group I described as a "who's who list of supporters of war with Iran, defenders of the worst aspects of our health care industry, opponents of net neutrality, and enablers of the financial deregulation that allows hedge fund managers to be taxed very little, and who helped engineer the sub-prime mortgage industry meltdown. The list includes the producer of Bill O'Reilly's radio show, several Fox executives, war criminal Henry Kissinger's main business partner, and a whole host of other people who make Alaska's Corrupt Bastard Club look like a kindergarten roster."

Klein, whose feeling upon reading the list of donors to the PAC was, ""I know some of these people. -- I feel ill," laughed when he read my description of some of the 21st century robber barons on the list.

Anchorage Press writer Brendan Joel Kelley felt otherwise, failing to recognize the nastiness of the anti-change nature of Rahm Emanuel's core supporters, seeing instead a long list of Hollywood figures who remind him of Mickey Mouse. Kelley's decision to write about this issue in the same context as weird sites that are plaguing Ethan Berkowitz's campaign, and have nothing to do with people on either of Berkowitz's opponents' campaigns, was the worst decision I've seen in Alaska journalism since KAKM's Duncan Moon excluded Anchorage Assemblyman Dick Traini from a Running debate on March 26.

I wrote an open letter to Brendan Thursday morning, before the paper hit the news stands. Needless to say, the Jake Metcalfe and Diane Benson campaigns are unhappy with Kelley's carelessness.

By and large, though, Kelley's doing a great job helping put the Press back on its feet.