It’s a loss to the blogosphere. Clayton is one of the few bloggers I’ve met in person. (We went to the same church for about a year and a half.) He’s one of the more impressive lights to have graced the blogosphere.

Of course, Clayton’s blogging had been less frequent in recent years and he’d had some career changes. Continuing the blog in face of a lawsuit may not have made a lot of sense as his own interest was waning.

The Cramer case does suggest that there maybe a need for a national blogging association to focus on this narrow issue of fair use. Bloggers across the spectrum need to come up with a solid definition of fair use and then be prepared to defend the rights to fair use through a sort of legal defense network. The fact of the matter is that the Review-Journal is nothing more than a bully. It’s going after these websites because they KNOW that most of these folks don’t have the money to defend a lawsuit.  The bigger media blogs like Hot Air (owned by Townhall), Red State (owned by Eagle Publications) and of course, Daily Kos are safe. But where are small and medium sized blogs to go for protection.

While bloggers disagree about a lot of issues, I think we can all agree that citizen bloggers shouldn’t be crushed by the media conglomerates.

1. Find a candidate on the other side who is eccentric and completely unelectable and highlight said candidate.
2. Ridicule the candidate’s ameaturishness as well as the wacky statements he makes.
3. Try to tie him in to more mainstream and sensible elements.

I have to admit I’ve tried this a few times and it can be funny, but it’s also slightly hackish.  In the 2008 U.S. Senate election, Pro-Life got 1.3% of the vote.  This is as sporting as shooting fish in a barrel.  It’s like  beating up the weakest guy in the room and feeling smug about it.

I’ve met Pro-Life several times. I don’t agree with all of his tactics or some parts of his platform, but he’s a nice and a dedicated guy who has done the best he could for what he believes in. He hasn’t done any violence to anybody or run afoul of the law.

There are many folks on the left who run for office who are the same way.  Honest folks who express what they really believe. In fact, when we vote this fall, it’s not an understatement to say that Pro-Life will be the most honest candidate for Governor running this fall.

Now, he may be too honest, and even with his honesty, he doesn’t quite have the qualities, I look for in a Governor, however, I see little reason to heap scorn on him.

And perhaps, it’d be wise to save our scorn for political leaders who will actually do harm to our state and nation.

“Boys will be boys.” -1909

“Boys will need Ridlin.” -2009

Doug Giles has a provocative piece on why pastors avoid the culture war. 

John Nolte suggests a very simple reason for the decline of DVD sales: the movies stink. Don’t believe him? How many of the movies made in  the past year would you care to see again, let alone have taking up space on your shelf.

Here’s Lookin’ At You: I finally got to see the Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart. I’m a nostalgia guy and a 1941 film was right up my alley. It was an incredible film, scarred only by the amoral nature of Bogart’s character.

Still, Bogart’s performance was stunning.  Sam Spade was a tough character to do with a lot of versatility and volatility. Bogart’s pulls it off flawlessly. And for the pure ability to play a part and take it to a whole new level. I don’t think any actor, modern or otherwise can hold a candle to Bogie.

Laugh A Little: Over at Newsbusters,  Noel Sheppard gets all into a tizzie because of the President’s comedy routine on Friday Night. With all due respect, I’ve got to say, Lighten up. Not everything is worth shouting, “Fire!” over and Obama’s speech on Friday Night was okay. It was comedy.

Heck of a job, Bieter: The Boise Metro area is performing at the bottom 40 in the United States during this recession. Is Boise ready for some common sense in government for a change?

Did Publius Boo Hoo when National News agencies violated the privacy of Buckhead, the man who uncovered CBS’ lying about Dan Rather.  What about the outing of various homosexual Republicans on the specious grounds that if one is homosexual you’re bound to support all laws in favor of gay rights? Not to mention the Proposition 8 maps designed to intimidate people who gave money in support of Prop. 8 or the “Know Thy Neighbor” policy of the gay rights groups.

I personally will not engage in these tactics,  and I don’t encourage them, but I don’t have much sympathy for a left wing that tolerates tactics that make indicating a blogger’s last name. seem insignificant at best.

Unfortunately, and I know this will annoy the heck out of some people, but you must now again register to post comments. Sorry fellas, but I’ve spent a month fighting this thing and as we best we can tell, the original attack came through the comments. So, without being on Google’s naughty list, and having done everything I can to fix this site, I say welcome back.

Yes, I’m aware that there’s an issue with Google, and I’m working to resolve it. There’s no need for Alan at Idablue to make a blog post about this and post a screenshot. Not that that ever stopped Alan from doing it…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKzZJoPu1OQ&eurl=http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=4363&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

(Hat Tip: Government Bytes.)

Hero Adam Kinzinger is running for congress.

Brad Stine has a hilarious post about gender in the post-modern world.

A parody of the Schoolhouse Rock featuring the stimulus Bill.

If you have any problems with the virus that was causing the issue. Here’s how to resolve it.

Caroline Kennedy will not be the next Senator from New York.

The RNC Chairman’s race will be won through a series of backroom deals and will be decided on the 4th ballot. In a surprise compromise, Mike Duncan will be elected General Chairman (day to day leader of the GOP) and Michael Steele will be the National Chairman (public face of the party.)

Rob Blagojevich will be gone from office by the 1st of April.

Bob McConnell will be elected Governor of Virginia.

Michael Bloomberg will be re-elected Mayor of New York, proving you don’t need a political party to have a political machine.

The Stimulus Package will pass Congress and one week after it’s passed, it will be discovered that the bill includes regulations to abolish the BCS system and require college football to have a playoff.

The unemployment rate will hit 9% by New Years day, 2010.

The Cabinet appointee who will face the most scrutiny: Eric Holder.

There will be no Senate vote on the Freedom of Choice Act or on the Employer’s Free Choice Act.

The Obama White House will blunder with Health Care reform, trying to move too quickly and too fast to get something through, but will instead force the bill into the congressional meat grinder. By the end of the year, health care reform will still be in Congress and will be three times the length of whatever legislation Obama originally submitted.

Benjamin Netanyahu will be elected Prime Minister of Israel and will be a thorn in the side of Secretary of State Clinton.

The Minnesota Vikings defeat the Indianapolis Colts, 26-23 to win the Super Bowl.

The Texas Longhorns win the NCAA Championship

The Phillies will finish 3rd in the NL East, while the D-Rays win the Wild Card, The Red Sox will not make the playoffs and the World Series will come down to the Cleveland Indians and the New York Mets. Indians in 6.

Heath Ledger will win Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker. The Dark Knight will win a couple minor Oscars, but will not take home an award for Best Picture or Best Director.

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra will bomb so bad that there will be no sequel.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: will deal a death blow to the X-Men franchise.

Star Trek will be a surprisingly successful reboot that will revive the Trek Franchise and earn $250 million at the box office.

Obama’s approval rating by the end of the year: 46%

Additional:

• Expect an apocalyptic series like Left Behind and the Late Great Planet Earth to become all the rage in the Christian book world.
• Life in the opposition and with a hostile press leads to an explosion in Conservative political blogs. While the number of liberal blogs will be stagnant or decline slightly, 2009 will see an explosive increase in the number of conservative blogs across the nation.

Idaho Predictions:

• Either the Statesman will have new ownership in six months or it will cease to exist within a year.  
• Walt Minnick will cast a fatal vote on a big issue that will see his fate as a one-term Congressman.
• Butch Otter will appoint a moderate, establishment good old boy (or girl) as Lieutenant Governor setting up a heated and divisive 2010 Lieutenant Gubenatorial primary.
• John Rusche will be a less effective minority leader than Wendy Jacquet.
• Soon after November’s City Council election, Dave Bieter will announce as a candidate for Governor in 2010.
• Either Jim Tibbs or Vern Bisterfeldt will step aside from the Boise City Council.
• Conservatives will once again fail to realize that Boise is electing City Councilmen and will have no candidates announce until late August by which point it will be too late to run a serious campaign.
• With the Bush Administration gone, two liberals Idaho bloggers will exit the blogging scene for good by this Summer, while another begins to have doubts about Obama and “progressivism” as a whole. This blogger’s doubts will lead them to vote for the Republican Nominee for President in 2012.

I generally haven’t set up half the social networking sites out there because there are so many. It’s hard to decide what to do. I do have a MySpace and I’ve got Twitter and Shoutlife, but I’ve not done too much with any of them, except Twitter.

I actually am very appreciative of David’s suggestion. Facebook does seem to have a functional purpose. You’re actually able to keep up with what people are doing and I strongly prefer it over MySpace, which, to be honest, I never quite got. So, I’ll be focusing my Social Networking between Twitter and Facebook.

]]> http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/monday-this-and-that/feed/ 0 http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/now-blogging-at-race42012com/ http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/now-blogging-at-race42012com/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:40:22 +0000 Adam Graham http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/now-blogging-at-race42012com/ I’ve been blogging less here as I’ve signed on at a National Blog, Race42012.com, a medium-to-large national blog. While I’ll be cross-posting some entries, as we get into cross-talk and overspeculation for 2012, something that will annoy some folks.  If you’re interested however, follow Race42012.

And now the award for least inspired headline of the day.

I’ll be live blogging the Palin-Biden debate. However, rather than trying to update this post, you can view my latest debate thoughts on my Twitter, shown above.

UPDATE

As I said on Twitter, Saracuda is back. She dominated this debate, particularly in exceding expectations.

But more than that, she connected with the American people. She showed grace, fire, passion, and she did not let Gwen Ifill push her around. Whatever happens in 2008, she’ll be back.

DNC’s real people includes working mother $24 million in debt.-From Scrappleface.

Why is Barack Obama getting numerous interviews with CBN News star reporter, David Brody, while John McCain has had zero. It all has to do with the McCain camp not setting up the interview. This is one of those little things that really leads people to question McCain’s viability.

Yuval Levin paints a picture of what a Joe Lieberman as Veep GOP Convention would look like.

Test your economic type. I tested as moderately towards supply side theory. (Hat Tip: Club for Growth.)

Here’s a movie, I might actually go to see in regular theaters:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CYSGCoflAA[/youtube]

 (Hat Tip: Hot Air.)

Jonah Goldberg makes a very punny post.

I condemn stupid unhinged stuff from the left, but also condemn this T-shirt along with John Hawkins.

Dennis Mansfield talks courtship.

Rod Dreher talks about Protestants who avoid contraception.

Finally, Harrison Scott Key exposes hypocrisy on the left’s Meme against legislation morality.

Due to his location, this man listens to a majority of talk radio on KBAR, a Rupert-based AM station, as well as The Savage Nation and all things Rush on various talk radio stations. He’s not a man I would consider to be up on current events or even one I’d expect to have a solid understanding of foreign policy. I was right, almost. Yesterday he described to me the situation in the former Soviet republic Georgia and what it means to the United States.

Brace yourselves:

Russia invaded Georgia for the same reasons we invaded Iraq: ethnic cleansing, oil, and global terrorism. The only difference is that in a handful of days the Russians have killed more people in Georgia than we have in five years in Iraq and somehow their actions and the number of casualties are not a problem for them, yet they continue to oppose our war in Iraq.

Georgia invaded the southerners (referring to South Ossetians) for ethnic cleansing, Russia invaded Georgia for invading their own people, and Russia will continue to fight until the threat against democracy (i.e. terrorism) is no longer and their oil interests are protected.

If Russia does not retreat the United States will be forced to enter a “super war” in an effort to protect the world from Muslim terrorists and to ensure that oil prices do not continue to rise because of instability in yet another Persian Gulf country. The region of the world responsible for 9/11 will not go unnoticed by the Bush administration…

For a long while I’ve understood how damaging hate speech is on talk radio, I just never realized how damaging misinformation on talk radio is until now.

Now, first of all, one must say that not all talk radio is good, the same way not all blogs are good. I’m open the possibility that Michael Savage is actually pretending to be a conservative, that he’s a far more sinister version of Stephen Colbert. However, what Tara has done in here is use the poor unemployed dude as proof that talk radio listeners are misinformed zombies. It’s kind of like she used a reverse appeal to authority. This guy’s a loser and uninformed, therefore most talk radio listeners are. It depends on the show. Her attack would be as valid as saying, “I know an unemployed guy who reads liberal blogs all day and he thinks 9-1-1 was an inside job to bring aliens to Earth.” Have I proved blogs are dangerous misinformers?

Did Tara’s friend get this from Rush? Let’s go to the transcript:

This Russia and Georgia thing, it’s clear, this was long planned to time with the Olympics. It’s all about NATO. It’s about keeping Georgia out of NATO. Vladimir Putin is KGB and nobody ever leaves the KGB. McCain was right about this. This is KGB and there’s a great piece, Victor Davis Hanson today has a fabulous analysis of this. He stole my own words before I uttered them, so I can’t accuse him of stealing my words. What this is is the Russian nation once again feeling pride. They have felt snubbed ever since the Cold War ended. And some might say, and I wouldn’t disagree with it, but I don’t care, it’s not a big factor, we weren’t the most gracious winners. We plucked Ukraine away from them. We snubbed them in a number of different ways. We did send some people over there to try to teach ‘em democracy, that snubbed ‘em too. They’re feeling pride, as Victor Davis Hanson says, as they go into Georgia and South Ossetia and start murdering innocent civilians, you’re not going to see Russian citizens marching in Moscow with “No blood for oil signs.” You’re not going to see the Russian citizens demanding humanitarian aid. The Russian citizenry is going to stand up and applaud because they got their national pride back. The Putin government is sending a message, too. “You can’t stop us. Only by our good graces are we going to stop. You can’t stop us from bombing any pipelines.”

Note: Rush didn’t say it was all about oil. Didn’t call for a superwar.  Agree with his analysis or not, it’s not what Tara’s friend got. It might be alleged that he got it from some other radio hosts, but as someone whose actually listened to good talk radio hosts, I’ve heard several hosts including Rush, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin get into fights with callers who are out there either way and they argue.

The leftosphere doesn’t exactly have room to throw stones. For example, last week, many liberal bloggers continually inferred that Brandi Swindell hypocritically asked for money to pay off the City of Boise for her legal fees while she had thousands of dollars lying around for a trip to China. This was blatantly inaccurate and could have been discovered by reading the Idaho Statesman piece which stated:

Swindell’s trip to China was funded by the National Clergy Council, of which Schenck is founder and president.

Swindell didn’t have money for a trip to China either. She was able to go because the National Clergy Council paid for the trip. Still, comments proliferate on liberal blogs about this somehow being tied to the money sent to cover the legal expenses when all one would have to do is read the Statesman to find out that this wasn’t the case.

Given the misinformation that from the leftosphere and that no attempt is made to correct factual errors in the narrative, the phrase, “Get the beam out of your own eye” comes to mind in regards to blanket criticism of entire catergories of information sources coming from that quarter.

UPDATE

Fixed a grammatically confusing sentence. Alan questioned my statement on Michael Savage:

Also, Savage is a far more sinister comedian than Colbert?

Essentially, yes. I think it’s possible (not 100% certain, just a theory) that Michael Savage is a comedian and that every episode of his show is his own private joke. Back in the day, Savage was a far leftist and is now far to the right. Listening to his show is almost like a parody of conservatism.

You add to that fact that he lives in San Francisco and gave $5,000 to Jerry Brown’s Attorney General campaign and I’ve got good reason to suspect his sincerity.

I’m going through hundreds of e-mails and thousands of blog stories. (How few of those stay relevant after a week.)

I’ll extend a hearty thanks to Warner Todd Huston, Steltek, Rosemary, David Oatney, and of course GOP Chairman Norm Semanko for providing so much great content while I was away. Posts will be restarting from me shortly.

Dear Adam, I hope you had a wonderful time! Thank you for your trust in me. This means so very much to me. I do not know if your readers have blogs of their own but for the ones who do not, to allow someone to write on your site is a very distinguished honor. It means that you trust someone not to trash your site, your readers, and your good name. I pray I lived up to your expectations.

I do know there is one article I had to update twice, with the help of Bubblehead. (Thank you, Bubblehead.) I wish I had never written it, but I believe in leaving my mistakes available for all to see. Why? To let others know, and to remind myself, that I am only human and I do make mistakes.

That is normal. It is NOT normal when someone becomes too haughty as to not admit their mistakes. Not to mention anyone in particular (Obama), but there are some people out there who fit that description.

Getting back to the point. Writers are not always remembered for all the good articles they have written, they are sometimes remembered for their mistakes. I guess everyone will now be able to remember me for a little while anyway.

Adam, it has been a pleasure and an honor to write in your place while you were on vacation. No one, but no one, could ever take the place of you, though. Glad to have you back! Thank God your journey was safe. Welcome home.

BTW, are you going to tell us what you did? Where’d you go? Did you get into any trouble? Just a little? lol. Just as long as you had fun.

Let me know if you would like to rest and have us continue, or if you’re BACK back.

Darn it, I’m sounding silly because I never know how to say bye. So long for now!

PS. Rosemary’s News and Ideas (WordPress) and Rosemary’s Thoughts (blogger). (I made no such promise, Todd! lol)

Well, it looks like the big honcho will soon be back in the saddle and before he cancels my login, calls the cops and gets a restraining order, I thought I’d say thanks to all AB readers for not getting too mad at me and allowing me to stick around the blog for a while. (I will not be posting again today. Usually I take it a little easy on Sundays)

It was fun and I hope that we all meet again soon. Maybe at Publiusforum.com, which I am still swearing not to promote.

Thanks again for your attention, keep reading and let’s keep the faith.

Yours,

Warner Todd Huston
Publiusforum.com

Bob has asked me to post this for him, because he keeps getting error message, even over here. I must admit, I get an error message too, so I am going to try a different approach. That is why you see this additional writing and a different title. His title that he chose is, ‘Denial of Service Attacks on Flight 93 Sites‘. He believes it is important for everyone to know that we are having an effect, as do I, because someone has flagged his blogger account and had it shut down. Below please find what he has written. His will be in italics.

At 10:33 PM last night, I received an email from Boston Maggie, saying that her blogspot site had been locked due to a spam report. She had posted some things about Jawn eF’n sKerry, (who served in Viet Nam, BTW) and she assumed it had upset some Taxachusetts liberals, who responded by hitting the “Flag This Site” button. At 10:34 PM I received an email from Blogger telling me that MY blogspot site had been locked for the same reason. Someone had hit the “Flag This Site” button on my site as well.

I would just like to add that I find this childish and disgusting. If they don’t like free speech, go back to Saudi Arabia! hehehe. Oh, I’m also writing this in the hopes that the computer will notice this is not the same post as the one I received an error message. heh.

Text of email from blogger:

Your blog at: DCProtestWarrior has been identified as a potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling out this form.

Your blog will be deleted within 20 days if it isn’t reviewed, and you’ll be unable to publish posts during this time. After we receive your request, we’ll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. If this blog doesn’t belong to you, you don’t have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won’t be affected.

I am interrupting this email just in case this is the problem. Does anyone know what an 404 is?

We find spam by using an automated classifier.

This, in fact, is not true. Blogger contacted these two people due to someone flagging their site. Remember?

Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly.

It most certainly was!

We sincerely apologize for this error.

Oh really? Who is that on your donation list? For whom are you voting?

By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers.

This is a load of crap, because you told me you couldn’t block pornographers from my site! Hypocrites. I complain and there’s nothing you can do. Someone else complains once, and you shut everything down? How dare you!

For more information, please see Blogger Help.

Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting efforts.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

After a few email exchanges with people OUTSIDE the blogspot community, we came to the conclusion that someone was targeting sites with one similar theme:

I have followed the instructions contained in the email from blogger, as has Maggie. We will keep you updated on the progress. I feel certain that the issue will be resolved in our favor.
I have also emailed blogger support and informed them of my suspicions.

Please supply any technical help you may know of that I don’t, which would not be that hard. lol. Thank you for helping ConcreteBob and BostonMaggie. Have a good night.

I did happen to notice a code I am unfamiliar with: _mce. What does this do? It may the cause of our 404 error message. Some computer programs use codes that no other program will allow. Hmm. Should I try this again now that I’ve found some codes and deleted them? Hmm…

PS. How ironic. Blogger is the one doing the banning, and blogger is the only one that would allow me to post this so far! My head is spinning. lol.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary’s News and Ideas.

Hello Adamswebians. Or is that Adamaswebbots? Or maybe Adamswebists? What ever ya’all call yourselves you may know by now that Adam is taking a well deserved vacation. And if you didn’t know that… well, you do now. He’s asked me and several others to guest blog for him as he takes some time off and before I start I’d like to introduce myself. I swear that I won’t give any shameless plugs to my own blog, Publiusforum.com, my podcast efforts at Voice of Liberty Podcast Network, my daily work at NewsBusters.org, or my ever present posts at Stoptheaclu.com, Mensnewsdaily.com, the New Media Alliance, the New Media Journal, Alan Keyes’ Renewamerica.us, theCanada Free Press, or the other 10 or so sites I appear on. I just won’t do it. I swear.

As Adam recently informed you, I am chiefly a media critic and social commentator. Of course I indulge in issues of national politics frequently and local politics infrequently. But, my main subject is the culture wars evinced in the anti-American media. I won’t embarrass myself to imagine I have a clue what is going on in local Idaho politics, naturally.

I hope you all enjoy what I have to offer, reminding you that I won’t plug my own blog at Publiusforum.com, and if you have any comments, please feel free to leave them here at Adam’s Web.

I look forward to the week ahead.

Warner Todd Huston
Not talking about Publiusforum.com

I’m going to be mostly away from the blog for the next week. It’s probably the longest I’ve stepped away since at least July, 2005. I’m off to a Writer’s Conference outside Portland, where I hope to perhaps to have a shot at selling a novel. Yes, like many political writers, I’m an aspiring and hardworking novelist. After this conference, I’m off to the Comedy Sportz World Championships in Portland at the Gerding Theater.

Your prayers are much appreciated as we travel, as well as for our transportation and finances. Last night, my car decided to blow a head gasket. Thankfully, this didn’t happen in an isolated spot in Eastern Oregon while we were on our way, but it’s going to be a chunk of change to fix.

While I’m away, I’m going to offer readers two things here at Adam’s Blog:

1) Because it’s Summer and I feel like it, we’re going to have a Monday-Friday Dragnet marathon featuring Public Domain episodes of Dragnet from the 1950s along with embedded versions of the 1960s shows from Hulu. A little something lighter to lighten your day while I’m away.

2) Guest bloggers. While we won’t have any regular Idaho Guest bloggers, I have given a prominent Republican Author access and barring something coming up, I fully expect we’ll see a post from him on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Our Guest Bloggers are:

David Oatney of the State of Tennessee, who will be boss around here while I’m gone. David is one of my best friends and we’ve know each other nearly ten years. Going way back in the day. We actually had a venture before the Dot Com boom went bust. David is a candidate for Alderman in his hometown of White Pine.

Warner Todd Huston is a prolific writer and media critic who is syndicated across the Internet. He is a tireless advocate of freedom, a man who has fiercely exposed the hosers and posers of the American left. He tirelessly exposes corrupt unions, anti-American marxists, and the far left press. He hails from Chicago, Illinois, but we will not hold that against him. I had the pleasure of meeting Warner Todd at the Conservative Leadership Conference last year and I knew he’d make a great addition to our blog. To quote praise from the townspeople of Hooterville for Oliver Wendell Douglas, “He’s a three-namer.”

Rosemary: I’ve exchanged a lot of e-mails with Rosemary over the years, generally they’ve been about my site not working, particularly with Linkfests. Rosemary is a wonderful lady with a good blog that points the truly exceptional nature of our nation’s military and other topics. She is a proud patriot, with a great focus.

The Values Voter: Okay, he may not post much. I’m hopeful we can get 1 or 2 posts out of him. He’s gone a lot of the same time I am, with about three days when he’s home, but maybe 1 or 2 posts will show up. If it does, we’ll be blessed. Being introduced to his work was one of the great positive things to happen out of the Huckabee campaign. His writing is Class A and the way he combines words with graphics is simply genius. His blog is one of the best blogs you’re not reading.

Steltek: A man of mystery. A creative writer and past guest poster, when he comes he brings his A game. I don’t know what he’ll say, but it’ll be worth reading.

To my Idaho Conservative readers, I ask you to give our distinguished guests the respect and attention that you give me. To most of our Idaho liberals, I ask that you treat these guests the exact opposite of how you treat me.

Until next time. Farewell. No more pure text quotes for now.

Charting the growth of Wal-mart. (Hat Tip: Club for Growth.)

Day 2 of Mike Huckabee in Rwanda.

Andree Seu on the impact of scars on our lives.

Smith faced a difficult race for reelection in 1982, when he was opposed by former New Jersey Senate President Joseph P. Merlino. At the end of one of their debates, Smith approached Merlino to exchange pleasantries. Merlino was quoted as saying “Beat it, kid.”

Merlino, the powerful elder statesman, lost. Congressman Smith is to this day Congressman Smith and beyond challenge.

Reading the latest comments from the leftosphere reminded me of this incident. Alan at Idablue believes I should be persona non grata at the Idaho Statesman:

Oh, and please, tell Kevin Richert that he ought to give Adam his own column or find somebody else to quote. Richert once said he quotes Adam so much because the Idaho right is a vast wasteland of rational thought, er, no, sorry, that’s not it, it’s because the right has such a small presence on the blogosphere and he has few choices. Well, the constant appearance of Adam on the Statesman’s op-ed page is giving him credence (that I don’t think he deserves) as the reporting on Fischer’s and Swindell’s activities is giving them.

Oh no, Adam Graham gets 3 paragraphs in the Statesman. You must stop him! Must stop quoting him!

Criticism leveled about Bryan Fischer being quoted was proceeded by Bryan being quoted less. As gratifying as it is to be quoted by my hometown paper, I get a lot of comments in various forums.

However, I’m also encouraged that I must be saying something right. As Mike Huckabee said, “If you’re getting flack, you must be over the target.”

Why am I so problematic?

As I’ve written, I think Adam became politically aware at the zenith of the influence of the religious right, a group he is proudly square in the middle of. Part of their reactionary world view is that they are a persecuted minority – victims – that must battle the forces of secularism. He is young enough that he doesn’t see the zenith as the peak; he doesn’t have sufficient political experience to put it into context.

I’m young and inexperienced, says the Democrat. By the way, I assume then he would urge Democrats to go out and vote for John McCain for President and in District 18 to choose Julie Ellsworth over my peer in age, Branden Durst. And what about quoting the Statesman Democratic blogger Tara Rowe, who is even younger than I am?

I do not often boast of accomplishments and credentials, but, as the gentleman on the left has called my credibility into question, let me tell you.

Unlike a lot of people my age, and liberals who are older than me, I’m under no impression that the History of mankind began with my birth.

I’m also aware of global affairs and how the secularist agenda has progressed worldwide to lead to long-running show trials in places like Canada and Sweden, where folks of moderate means are, if not tried, they’re driven into poverty for standing up for biblical truths. I’ve studied extensively the history of movements, people, and leaders.

I’m subscribed to more than 120 different news and blog feeds and scan about 2000 separate headlines from sources as diverse as Pam’s House Blend, Talk Left, and on the right, people like Jill Stanek, Michelle Malkin, and Don Surber. I read feeds from the AP, Reuters, and various magazines. I have two years of College-level journalism training with a focus in Communications.

I’ve twice run for office in my twenty-seven odd years. I’ve served as State Coordinator for two Presidential Campaigns and been an official blogger on one. I’ve been on petition drives, and been County Secretary of my Republican Party. I’ve been a delegate to my State Convention. I’ve interviewed two Presidential Candidates, held the first ever live primary podcast debate for U.S. Senate in the History of Idaho, and was nominated for a podcast award in 2007. I’ve spoken at a National Conference and I’ve been invited to cover a National Convention.

I’ve been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Slate, National Journal’s Blogometer, and Human Events’ Rightometer among others who had their choice of who to quote and for whatever reason chose to quote me. I’ve had featured diaries on the front page of Red State and The Next Right.

I’ve also been in this long enough to make my share of mistakes, issue apologies, and learn from my errors. My biggest and latest is my attacks on Mike Huckabee late last year, a mistake I deeply regret. I’ve been wrong about Term Limits (I was against them), I’ve been wrong about Bilingualism (sounded like a great idea until Canada almost split apart), and several other things.

I’ve never challenged anyone else’s qualifications to their opinions. If I’m going to debate, I’ll debate arguments, not personality. But Alan wasn’t done.

Also, he’s been raised in the hothouse environment, for reactionaries, of Idaho and until recently, Montana.

So, there you go, folks. My big problem that should disqualify me from being quoted so much in an Idaho paper is that I was raised in the West. Mustn’t trust the natives. Elitism on the march . . . .

So, I think that unless Adam develops more perspective he’s destined to feel bitter and oppressed.

I guess that’ll leave me no choice but to cling to guns and religion. I got a Bible, anyone got a good Colt 45?

He doesn’t know he’s had a great run and now it’s time for the pendulum to swing back.

Ah, so what Kevin Richert needs to find is not only another blogger on the right, but one that is hopelessly defeated. They’re a conservative, but they know they are absolutely screwed forever. Where are those conservatives who know that they’ve had a good run, but it’s now time for the liberals to mount up to their rightful place of leadership under the sun and to reign for eternity to lead the world into a new enlightenment?

Where are those people who will stand up and raise their hands in defeat? It’s downright infuriating for the left to read a feisty conservative, one whose got some gas in the tank and is pushing 30 rather than 70,  standing up for conservative values. Get used to it.

UPDATE

Now, we update a story that if it were any less serious, it would be wearing clown pants:

Kevin Richert at the Idaho Statesman laid down the law:

The implication from the bloggers is that some free expression is somehow more deserving than others. That somehow the freedom of expression should be doled out selectively. That’s not just patently unfair. It’s scary. It’s the same kind of thinking that drives sexually explicit books to a shelf behind a library director’s desk.

As regular readers have probably gleaned by now, I’m rather smitten with the First Amendment. I think freedom of speech and freedom of the press cast sunshine on ideas and opinion of all stripe. I’m going to try to find room in the dialogue — and in print — for all points of view. Even if I disagree with them. Especially when I disagree with them.

I’m a big enough boy to know I’ll get criticized in this job. If readers think I’m giving them only one side of the debate, I’ll get skewered for it. And deservedly so.

Fair enough, I can respect consistentcy.  Chris responded in the comments and was more charitable than Alan:

My issue isn’t with the Statesman’s Other Voices feature, I think that it is the best place to put them. What I, and many others have a problem with is that these two (mainly Fischer) are sought for comment in news stories. Bryan speaks for a very small minority of extremely far right Conservatives, not mainstream Conservatives or the majority of Republicans in Idaho.

I say when it comes to editorial features let Graham/Fischer/Swindell have their space, I think it only helps Democrats when people see just how out of touch these people are with our communities.

As proof of how out of touch Me/Fischer/Swindell are, we’re offered: The vote on the 10 Commandments (which had more to do with low Republican turnout in general coupled with voter fatigue than anything else), Brandi Swindell losing the City Council race (a low turnout election that’s North End dominated), The Idaho Values Alliance funding, and Clayton Cramer’s Primary loss in District 22 (to an incumbent opponent endorsed by Idaho Chooses Life.)

Alan makes a similar argument, though unlike Chris, he’s pushing for censorship:

DFO at HBO also frequently, too frequently in my opinion, quotes Adam. If there are no other voices, maybe it’s because he’s a minority position. Such frequent quoting makes him and his views look more mainstream.

Silence the minority! Of course, the question is minority of what? I’m certainly a minority in the world of the blogosphere where liberals dominate. If one pretends that a slice of Boise I like to call Northendia is the majority of this Valley and this state, then I guess I’m a minority.

I disagree. Idaho is a red state, deep red once you get out of Boise, Latah County, and the Sun Valley. If I don’t represent a majority of Idahoans (and to boast of it with no proof would be presumptuous), I certainly am closer to the mainstream than the leftist bloggers.

The reason there are less conservative bloggers than liberal ones right now is that online Internet activity is driven, not by the majority, but by those who are most upset and motivated. Thus, in a State where Republicans hold overwhelming control of the legislature, both Congressional Seats, both Senate seats, and the White House, there’s not as much motivation to get out and start blogs as there is for Democrats who are hopelessly outgunned at every turn in our state with less seats in the State Senate than a Toyota Sequoia.

When Clinton was in the White House, the early online advantage belonged to the Right with sites like Free Republic. If Obama wins, I suspect that you’ll see a slight drop in liberals blogging and a big increase in Conservatives blogging. If Obama is President, by 2010, Conservative bloggers will almost certainly outnumber the left.

Finally, writing at Fort Boise, Tom declares:

Adam rather makes me think of a Rush Limbaugh Mini-me (or perhaps Nano-me), working hard to find an audience. If hard work is all it takes, maybe he’ll hit the big time. There’s always room for one more in the entertainment business.

I think Tom meant the comparison to Rush as an insult, but I take it as a high compliment, nano or otherwise.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF5F6eYho8U[/youtube]‘

(Hat Tip: Newsbusters.)

To the losers belong the spoils. Why an Obama victory would be bad for Democrats and a McCain victory bad for Republicans. From the 2nd Vice-Chairman of the American Conservative Union, no less.

The Fair Tax is being pushed in Utah and the distortions are already showing up.

What Thomas Jefferson thought of Intelligent Design.

See-Dubya is escapaing crazy California.

How lovely? A song that promotes Lesbianism on a family television show.

Plus, the much maligned ministry of apologetics is bringing people to Christ.

And finally, one mistake Jesse Helms did repent of.

#1. Godfather, The (1972)
#2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
#3. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
#4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
#5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
#6. Schindler’s List (1993)
#7. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
#8. Casablanca (1942)
#9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
#10. Star Wars (1977)
#11. Citizen Kane (1941)
#12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
#13. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
#14. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
#15. Rear Window (1954)
#16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
#17. Pulp Fiction (1994)
#18. Usual Suspects, The (1995)
#19. Memento (2000)
#20. North by Northwest (1959)
#21. 12 Angry Men (1957)
#22. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
#23. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
#24. Psycho (1960)
#25. Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
#26. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
#27. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
#28. Goodfellas (1990)
#29. American Beauty (1999)
#30. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
#31. Vertigo (1958)
#32. Matrix, The (1999)
#33. Cidade de Deus (2002)
#34. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
#35. C’era una volta il West (1968)
#36. Apocalypse Now (1979)
#37. Pianist, The (2002)
#38. Third Man, The (1949)
#39. Paths of Glory (1957)
#40. Taxi Driver (1976)
#41. Fight Club (1999)
#42. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
#43. Some Like It Hot (1959)
#44. Double Indemnity (1944)
#45. Boot, Das (1981)
#46. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
#47. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
#48. Chinatown (1974)
#49. L.A. Confidential (1997)
#50. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
#51. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
#52. All About Eve (1950)
#53. M (1931)
#54. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
#55. Se7en (1995)
#56. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
#57. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
#58. Rashômon (1950)
#59. Raging Bull (1980)
#60. Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
#61. Alien (1979)
#62. American History X (1998)
#63. Sting, The (1973)
#64. Léon (1994)
#65. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
#66. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
#67. Vita è bella, La (1997)
#68. Touch of Evil (1958)
#69. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
#70. Finding Nemo (2003)
#71. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
#72. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#73. Great Escape, The (1963)
#74. Modern Times (1936)
#75. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
#76. Amadeus (1984)
#77. On the Waterfront (1954)
#78. Ran (1985)
#79. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
#80. Annie Hall (1977)
#81. Wo hu cang long (2000)
#82. Jaws (1975)
#83. Apartment, The (1960)
#84. Braveheart (1995)
#85. High Noon (1952)
#86. Aliens (1986)
#87. Fargo (1996)
#88. Strangers on a Train (1951)
#89. Shining, The (1980)
#90. Metropolis (1927)
#91. Blade Runner (1982)
#92. Sixth Sense, The (1999)
#93. City Lights (1931)
#94. Donnie Darko (2001)
#95. Duck Soup (1933)
#96. Great Dictator, The (1940)
#97. General, The (1927)
#98. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
#99. Princess Bride, The (1987)
#100. Dogville (2003)

Here are the rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir. (But “Live Fast, Die Young, Leave Clean Underwear” is too long AND previously taken.)
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Serve God is important, obviously, because I think that’s fundamental.

Fight hard. Some people might not like me, but I don’t want it to be because I’m half-hearted.

Get Healthy is important because in order for me to make it to achieve the first two.

I’m not social enough to take five bloggers, so I’ll try two: Rosemary’s Thoughts and Ask Andrea.

One of my past favorite targets in the Idaho region appears to have just given up…This is just one more example the sad figure Adam Graham has become. I wonder if it is all that disillusionment with his chosen party?

What the heck? I don’t make a long-form post around here for 4 days and suddenly, I’m retreating. Yeah, makes plenty of sense. Sorry Binks,  I don’t quit that easy.

While blogs are largely considered the realm of young people who are most Internet-savvy, only 19 percent of people ages 18 to 31, and 17 percent of those ages 32 to 43, regularly read a political blog, the poll said.

The generation most likely to read such blogs are those age 63 or older, 26 percent of whom said they do so. Also, 23 percent of those ages 44 to 62 read them, the poll said.

This is somewhat unsurprising. Being a blogger is a little like being a campaign consultant or a fundraiser. There are names out there that mean diddily to the common man on the street that do mean something to certain “in the know” folks such as some more hip party leaders and such. And then there’s the accidental blog find where you just happen to write something that fits someone’s search terms on Google.

The older demographic for political blog reader seems to go along with the fact that younger people are less interested in politics in general than older folks.

Blogging currently is a field where you can achieve remarkable levels of success and even get to the pro-blogging level like Ed Morrissey or Glenn Reynolds, and still be able to anonymously shop in the grocery store. You get interviewed for news stories, but never get to a point where you gain fame beyond a small circle of political junkies and people who pay close attention to the newspaper. Blogging works great for personal privacy, however there are some egos that will go into shock on reading this account.

Courtesy: XTCD

A couple suggestions were made. First, there was the thought that all those widgety things in my sidebar are the big culprit. Funny thing is that other blogs have even more and seem to do okay.

Chris at Unequivocal Notion opined the issue could be resolved simply. “Maybe that $1.99 plan for 50MB of bandwidth isn’t working out so well.” If only the solution were that simple. I’m with HostIcan (aka HostIcant) with 6500 GB of Bandwidth.

The issue, if anyone is wondering, is actually server load. That means I’m just getting too many visits and too much demand on the server, so therefore they shut the site down until demand lets up. My host has been no help, and in fact I switched over to a VPS, which also couldn’t help me solve the problem, so I canceled it and went back to HostIcan’t, because I’ve got a contract.

I’ve troubleshot MySQL, WordPress, PHP, Apache: all in search of the reason. In the end, having passed through the seven levels of support Hades, I must declare myself at an end. I’ve enabled WP Super Cache and the Internal WordPress Cache. I’m able to keep my blog functional 80-90% of the time and still get some sleep and actually be able to write something rather than troubleshoot my blog every night. Something is wrong somewhere, but it’s not my sidebar and it’s not that I haven’t bought enough bandwidth.

I apologize for any unavailability and would encourage anyone who has a problem with load time to subscribe to the blog feed, so this won’t be an issue:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/adamsweb/GIBU

When my blog began crashing on its shared server due to too much memory, I had to deal with surly and unhelpful tech support, I switched to a VPS account, which I was told by the shared host that I needed. I decided to go through a different company for my shared hosting as I was unimpressed with the service I received (no real help in diagnosing the issue, just an attempt to upsell me to their VPS service at $50 a mont.)

So for $25 a month, I was on a VPS on another service, and again I found my blog crashing the VPS several times a day. I troubleshot the situation as best I could. I actually went into my MySQL database and found that I had one table that was taking up 2/3 of my database that only contained 404 errors. I emptied the entries out and this cut the size of my database from 75 MB to 25 MB. Still didn’t work. I optimized, repaired my database did everything I could. Turned off plugins, turned on plugins, nothing seemed to help.

Then I decided to upgrade my PHP server, which I’d need to do through Apache. The upgrade went awry, the result of which was that I was informed that I needed to have my Apache Server rebuilt, which Tech. Support would gladly do–for $60 an hour.

It was then I found out that PHP version was my most likely problem. My old host had PHP version 5, the new VPS has PHP version 4 installed. This explains all the PHP errors coming from my database.

It has been an annoying couple weeks. So much of what I do and what I’m trying to do in making my way through life is dependent on functional software. I need to work on a promotional plan for Laser and Sword Magazine, but the past few weeks, I’ve had to fight just to have a blog up and running. Hopefully, we can get caught up over the weekend.

At the end of the day, I don’t think I’ll be returning to a VPS any time soon. Successfully managing it is above my technical level. If I worked at it, I could learn, but really all I want to do is blog. It’s good to be back (finally, I hope.)

Show notes for tonight’s podcast as well as any “can’t wait posts” will appear over here.

Hopefully, there won’t be too many posts as short as this one on the front page.

I just had no idea how many times, until I checked the archives out of curiosity. The blog has been quoted five times in the last nineteen days, three times in the last eight days.

It’s an interesting situation to say the least. Overall, I have mixed feelings on it. While, I’ve abandoned the world of Journalism, there’s still something about a newspaper editor believing what you have to say is worth noting. It’s encouragement to me as a writer.

On the other hand, being quoted in the Statesman has (as far as I know) brought me no new readers. It’s hard to gage who actually reads it and rarely does anyone click thru on the Other Views page and visit my blog, perhaps because of somewhat confusing layout, or perhaps because the feature isn’t quite as popular yet. The total number of people who have mentioned my appearances in the Statesman face to face total two.

Of course, the ultimate question is, what’s the reason for the quotes? My theory is that it comes down to a basic lack of conservative voices. To have an interesting round up of other opinion, conservative voices are needed, or otherwise it’s just one side and no real debate. Thus, while I’ve been quoted more often, Richert has keep things pretty much even by quoting quite a few liberal bloggers. I did a search, trying to figure what are the most quoted blogs and opinion leaders that Richert has quoted and these are the results I came up with.:

1) Randy Stapilus-15
2) Adam Graham-9
3) Betsy Russell-8
3) Bryan Fischer-8
5) Red State Rebels-7
5) Mountain Goat Report-7
7) Idablue-5
Huckleberries Online 4
Fort Boise-4
Dennis Mansfield-4
11) Joel Kennedy-2
11) Clayton Cramer-2

He probably quoted others, but this paints a very interesting picture of who Richert has referred to.

Random Yak has a meme up asking for 8 random things:

1) I ran the 100 yard dash (surprise!) and finished last (no surprise.)

2) I lived in a 14 x 70  mobile home that my dad purchased for $1400.

3)  When I moved to Idaho, I lived in Garden City (also in a Mobile Home.)

4) I’ve owned 2 Mazdas and a Plymouth.

5) I’ve got a double jointed right thumb.

6) I proposed to my wife at a bus stop outside of Olive Garden.

7) We were escorted out of the Ohio House of Representatives Chamber in security in August, 2001. The legislature was out of session and the left the chamber open, so my wife and I took  pictures of each other standing behind the Speaker’s Chair.

When I was younger, I wanted to join the Coast Guard Academy.

Now for five other people:

1) The Blue Collar Muse

2) Ask Andrea 

3) Open

4) Open

5) Open

• Some of my buddies from the Conservative Leadership Conference have launched their own Podcast, “Voice of Liberty.” Click here and listen to their first episode. The closing commentary by Ken Marrero is gold.
• Andy Roth takes on excuses for pork spending in National Review.
• For those who want to understand how presidential campaigns really work, read this piece by Mark Blumenthal. To me, the piece points out why “National Polls” in presidential primaries really don’t matter, because the important campaign, the third campaign is going on in Iowa, New Hampshire, etc. (Hat Tip: Hugh Hewitt.)
• I like how Reuters describes a 13 year-old boy who had a sexual relationship with his teacher as her “lover.” Somehow, were it a girl and a male teacher, I doubt that word would be used to describe the 13 year-old girl.
• Homeschoolers for Life are holding a pro-life essay contest. (Hat Tip: Generations for Life.)
• Finally, Boise Guardian uncovers something that the County Government did right.

Bubblehead got into a little bit of a challenge over who has the most page views in Idaho.  Huckleberries looks to “win” this one by a substantial margin.  Of course, to me this brings up the futility of blog rivalries as they exist today.

To me, if you’re going to have a blog rivalry or a blogging king, it’s got to be measured among comparable blogs. I don’t compete with either Bubblehead or HBO.

First of all, in addition to being  a great blog, Huckleberries has the added value advantage of being part of a newspaper. Those nice links on the frontpage help and people get to know it that way. A blog that’s run by a newspaper or media person will have more credibility right off the bat than a personal blog. In a state like Idaho, the numbers achieved by DFO are untouchable, so I concede the point.

As to Bubblehead, he’s really a milblogger that posts occassional political stuff, movie reviews, or an occassional something about Idaho. His target audience is not my target audience. He’s doing his thing, it’s working, but we’re two different bloggers.

Trying to compare blogs across niches is challenging. It’s like asking, “Which is more influential, Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, or Reader’s Digest?” While there might be people who like all three magazines, I doubt they would think of themselves as competitors, because they’re not. Time Magazine v. US News and World Report v. Newsweek makes sense as does Sports Illustrated v. ESPN: The Magazine.

And with blogging, there’s no one definition of success. Some might consider success to be a ton of page views, others might consider it a lot of links or comments. I might consider myself successful based on my speech in Reno and getting to interview Duncan Hunter.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated note, 43rd State Blues earned the wrath of DFO:

 I linked to 43rd State Blues in my blog roll on the right in an effort to give minority Idaho Democrats a voice. But I rarely feature links to this blog in posted roundups b/c it offers little more than mini-rants against Republicans and name calling. I’d be embarrassed if it was the main blog for my political party. Huckleberries Online has evolved into a place where all but the most strident on either side feel welcome. It has become a place of fun and dialogue. I treated Republican Bill Sali with the same respect Thursday as I treated Democratic Policy Council president Bruce Reed Tuesday. As a result, I’m sure they’ll answer again the next time I call. I doubt Sali would waste time with individuals associated with 43rd State Blues. In fact, I no longer will either. Which is their loss. You’d think a group of low-level Daily Kos wannabes who desire to make an impact in Idaho for their minority party would appreciate some attention in North Idaho. If you want a decent Demo group blog, go to Red State Rebels. If you want to ensure that your friends and family vote Republican, show them the juvenile posts at 43rd State Blues.

Ouch. However, in the spirit of Republican success, please read 43rd State Blues.

Blog Spotter pointed out that making a living off blog ads is hard:

People hoping to make a living from advertising-supported blogs probably won’t be able to quit their day jobs any time soon – if ever.

That was the reality check BlogAds founder and CEO Henry Copeland delivered at a Networked Journalism Summit hosted by the City University of New York this month.

After first saying mere “dozens” of the 1,500 bloggers affiliated with BlogAds earn their keep solely from advertising, Copeland later told PaidContent.org the number’s closer to 100.

But even then, he’s talking about less than 7 percent of a fairly sophisticated sample set of bloggers – which includes those behind DailyKos.com and PerezHilton.com – generating significant ad revenues. And the ratio of high-revenue blogs is even lower in the overall blogosphere.

Not surprising. You need eyeballs there and you also have to write in the right niche. Certain areas that lend themselves easily to affiliate programs or more profitable ads make more money. And of course, everything takes time as the blogosphere continues to develop. Someday, I hope to earn a living apart from the old 8-5 job. Until then, I’m grateful for it and will do my best at it.

1. The most significant insight I gained from The Washington Briefing was not about the candidates but about the bloggers: Right-leaning bloggers are out of touch with a large portion–if not the majority–of conservatives in America.

Anyone who wonders why the audience for the right-side of the blogosphere is stagnant at an estimated 200,000 readers should look at the supply and demand curve. The right side of the blogosphere continuously focuses on secondary issues and ignores the primary concerns of American conservatives.

I talked to the bloggers on the panel, many of whom are the same bloggers I read daily and interact with here in DC. Then I talked to the people from the audience, most of whom are not political junkies. The differences in the discussions was eye-opening. The top four issues that voters said were important to them are “life” (e.g., abortion, euthanasia, embryo destructive research, etc.), marriage, tax cuts, and permanent tax relief for families. Aside from tax cuts, these issues are rarely talked about by the bloggers on the Right. Three out of four issues are ignored–and this is just the top of the list.

The stark contrast between the heartland conservatives and the DC-centric bloggers became apparent in the panel discussion I moderated on Political Blogging. Although most of the panel members could be classified as moderately social conservative, few of them focus primarily on social conservative issues.

When I mentioned this fact, Erick Erickson made an interesting comment that to be a blogger on the front page of RedState you had to be pro-life. Such a litmus test is noteworthy but raises the question of why, on the most popular center-right blog on the web, you’re more likely to find a post about earmark reform than abortion. (Of course, RedState isn’t the only blog that gives that impression. One member of the panel audience noted that Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters seemed to become less “pro-life” as his blog became more popular.)

Rob Neppell (aka N.Z. Bear) made an astute point that the concerns of the largest blog on the Right–Instapundit–tends to drive our conversation. He pointed out for the audience that Reynolds was not a conservative but a self-professed libertarian who was once quoted as saying he’d be delighted to live in a country where happily married gay couples had closets full of assault weapons.”

The panelists chuckled; the audience didn’t seem as amused. The reaction speaks volumes. The fact that many center-right bloggers care more about getting linked by a radical libertarian than they do in discussing the concerns of their fellow conservatives is one of the primary reasons the Right blogosphere is a failing to have the same impact as the Left.

I am reminded somewhat of the Blue Collar Muse’s speech last week where he suggested the way to build a successful blog was to write about what other people cared about. Certainly, there’s something to be said for this. People who are focused primarily on social issues are not going to find a lot to read on Captain’s Quarters or some other conservative blogs. Gay marriage is almost never discussed at Michelle Malkin. However, here at Adam’s Blog, you’ll find every issue discussed fairly frequently with the exception of gay marriage.

Indeed, you do find quite a few blogs that focus on the matters that matter to Values Voters. While many are quite popular (relative to the blogsophere), none has really broken away from the pack.

I spoke at the Conservative Leadership Conference and the top four issues from attendees:

Cutting Taxes

The War on Terrorism

Reducing the National Debt

Success in Iraq

What this illustrates is that there are two sides to the Conservative movement and suggests that perhaps the issue is not the what of what people are writing but the failure to embrace new technology, by both social and fiscal conservatives.

That said, it would help if some bloggers did talk a bit more about these hot button social issues that many steer clear of, and if others could at the very least stop acting like we’re a plague. Ill-considered posts like this one hardly help.  Making the pretense you can throwt Social Conservatives out the airlock of American politics and win is insulting and silly, but many bloggers make it.

As Joe points out, there’s a strong link between Social and Economic Conservatism:

The second most significant insight (though I had been ruminating on this for a few months) is that the semantic distinction between “social conservatives” and “fiscal conservatives” presents a false dichotomy. Conservatism is rooted in principles (transcendent moral order, social continuity, prudence, etc) that naturally have implications for economics. If you are a conservative you are conservative about matters of society and thus likely to espouse economic policies that are fiscally conservative as well. But conservatism cannot begin with economic or fiscal issues as the primary concerns, much less push social issues to the periphery. Anyone who thinks tax reduction is essential while abortion and marriage are secondary or unimportant cannot rightly be considered to be “conservative”, at least not by the standards of the American conservative tradition. Currently we don’t have a label for people whose primary philosophical concern is their pocketbooks. It is becoming increasingly apparent, though, that we can simply call them “Republicans.”

Social issues do have a fiscal consequences. Whether, it’s a smaller pool of young workers paying into Social Securiy thanks to abortion, increased public assistance for Single Mothers after the Sexual Revolution, or increased crime leading to higher enforcement costs as people have moved away from a respect for God. Social liberalism has a price tag, and the issues ultimately are one. The problem is all the same. To pretend that Social Conservatism is some extra-ciricular point is utterly foolish.

Finally, Joe shares this fact from the event:

Bloggers talk incessantly about “media bias” but tend to overlook their own. Case in point: Despite the reporting of some bloggers, Rudy was not warmly received and did not win over anyone. He was treated politely because he had the courage (audacity?) to show up at the event. But the fact that he received fewer votes in the onsite straw poll than Tom Tancredo shows that he is as unpopular as ever. The idea that Rudy is a palatable general election candidate for so-cons is wishful thinking.

Indeed, he was tops among the Republicans in the poll question of who they absolutely would not see elected, Giuliani finished 3rd at the FRC strawpoll, behind Hillary and Barack Obama and ahead of Dennis Kucinich.

The Blue Collar Muse argues for the Fair Tax.