Leadership is an Adaptive Challenge

What a joke (0.00 / 0)

Let me get this straight - earlier today, a post that told the truth about Rick Noriega's sham campaign, and spread the word about the only candidate for Senate with any real positions, Ray McMurrey, was on the front page, and was being promoted by Phillip Martin.  The post has since been taken down from the front page, as was noted by TWO different people who commented at the bottom of the post.  Now, in its place, we have a long post from Phillip about what he's doing with his life (no one cares) and how we should all come together as Democrats, and send Matt and KT thank you emails for running this site.  Hmm, does anyone think that KT got a little chippy with Phil over promoting a post that bashed his boy Noriega?  And now the front page is headlined by this post, with is long on platitudes and feel-good rhetoric (is that what they teach at Harvard?), but no useful information, and no acknowledgment of the petty little soap opera going on behind the scenes.

Could the Burnt Orange Report staff be any more shameless in its promotion of Rick Noriega's candidacy (and its silence on Ray McMurrey's)?  I would have thought that a "community driven" website would give equal opportunity to opposing viewpoints, but on the front page, it seems that the community is much smaller than advertised.

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by: Jeff Versteeg @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 06:05:55 AM UTC

Wow, you got that one wrong (0.00 / 0)

I promoted Hugh's post without reading all of it. Later last night, I actually read all that he had written -- which was basically a rehashing of his previous discontent for Noriega (so nothing new) --  I demoted it myself. KT had nothing to do with it.

The post on which we are both commenting on is something I've had written since last Friday. I thought people on BOR would be interested in questions about leadership, but because it was personal in nature, I put it up early in the morning to ensure it would get bumped down with more "real" news as the morning started (which will happen shortly).

Asking questions about what actually happened is better than making presumptions.

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 13:00:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This explanation is even worse than the stonewalling that KT is doing (0.00 / 0)

Let me start by agreeing with you - it is better to ask first rather than making presumptions.  I did make a presumption about what was going on behind the scenes because, frankly, no other explanation made sense to me at the time, given BOR's favoritism for Noriega.  There are other possible explanations that I would have accepted, but the one that you have given is not one of them

In regards to your putative explanation, it's complete nonsense.  Hugh lays it out perfectly on his comment to the post in question.  It is impossible that you could have read the first half of Hugh's post and not understood that it was about Noriega not being progressive and taking money from Bob Perry.  It is also impossible that the second half of the post would have changed your mind about the first half.  IF YOU WANT PEOPLE TO GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT, YOU CANNOT FEED US A LOGICALLY INCONSISTENT EXCUSE AND EXPECT US TO BELIEVE IT.  You must think your readers are complete idiots.  It is very obvious that someone else, most likely KT, told you to demote Hugh's post, and that you have come up with a very flimsy cover story.  You are insulting your readers' intelligence by persisting in this lie.  

As far as your posting on leadership goes, which pushed down David Van Os' very important, informative, and much commented-on posting about the SDEC, I would not have put it on the front page.  It contained your personal thoughts on leadership, and a thank-you to Matt and KT, but no real insight into or information about a current political issue or campaign.  However, I don't run this site.  It is the prerogative of the editors to highlight your favorite posts (and of course your own posts) as you see fit.  Perhaps a better system for a "community driven" blog would be a Digg-style method of recommendations, where the front page reflects the most popular or most commented-on articles, but that is another discussion.  

The Burnt Orange Report chose to endorse Rick Noriega at a time when no one else was running, and when we didn't know a lot about his campaign.  Why a political blog that is dedicated to open discussion and debate needs to endorse any candidate is a mystery to me, but if you are going to do endorsements, I can't fault you for endorsing Noriega at a time when no one else was stepping up to run.  There is another candidate in the race, though, one who is a true progressive and is out there speaking on the issues - Ray McMurrey.  I wouldn't expect BOR to change its endorsement, but i can't help but scratch my head when people who probably self-identify as progressives are actively promoting the corporate candidate instead of the progressive.  

I guess my question is, why do you guys go through all the effort to run this blog?  Is it to foster open debate on the left, like in the post on the SDEC?  Or is it to maintain your status on the bottom rung of the TDP hierarchy?  

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by: Jeff Versteeg @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 21:15:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So many places to go (0.00 / 0)

Jeff,

As Matt stated before, we have bias. We choose to be Democrats. And in a race that had a Democrat, an Independent, and a Republican, we chose to support the Democrat. We stand by that choice now.

That being said, if you, Hugh, or anyone else -- anyone, at any time -- want to write a post that is primarily positive about McMurray, we'll promote it. But you, Hugh, and no one from the campaign has put forth such a post.

Beyond that, I don't know what else to tell you. I don't need to justify what I choose to write. And if I may extend some friendly advice, you should stop obsessing about us and attacking us so much, and start promoting your own candidate.

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 22:56:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Why did BOR endorse Noriega? (0.00 / 0)

   It may well be that Noriega putting one of the BOR principals, KT, on the payroll had something to do with the decision.  Of course, we'll soon be told that KT's hiring came AFTER the decision to endorse, and there was absolutely no causal connection, blah, blah, blah.  So when another smarter, more articulate, more progressive, better informed candidate comes along -- don't tell me that, I'm bought and paid for, my mind is made up.
  This sorry situation is the unremarked-upon elephant in the room.  In the U.S. Senate Democratic primary, BOR has a massive conflict of interest. In such a situation, most of us would go to extraordinary lengths to be fair -- but not the editors of BOR.  They are willing to be caught in far-fetched fibs ("I only read half of Hugh's post before promoting it") or level wild accusations ("McMurrey supporters sent me hate mail") to protect their position.
  A week or so ago, KT posted a first-hand report about Noriega's triumphant appearance in Sun City.  The news?  A big segment of the audience had served in the military, proving that Democrats were on the march in Williamson county. Few other facts were reported.
  Within a couple of days, we learned from MSM reporters about some of those missing details.  Mr. McMurrey (to BOR, the Invisible Man) had also been there.  Noriega had tangled with the moderator and arrogantly gone over the time limit.  He had used profanity with reporters.  He had dissed Sun City residents (many doubtless members of the Greatest Generation) for playing golf near a lake in their well-earned retirement.  When somebody had the effrontery to post reference to these inconvenient truths in a BOR comment, all reference to them were soon taken down from the site by the editors, Stalinist style.
  And there's more.  Adulation of our leaders is demanded, like a Cult of Personality.  Happy talk is posted, and substantive discussion of issues is deleted (a metaphor for the Noriega campaign).  Matt insists that free interchange of ideas is encouraged -- just not personal attack -- even as posts exchanging ideas are deleted and unsupported accusations of hate emails are leveled.
  Don't get me wrong.  I love this site.  But it's for the entertainment value, not its intellectual honesty.    

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by: Buck Smith @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 03:17:28 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Who We Are (0.00 / 0)

Feel free to read this.

Not that the truth will necessarily matter to you, but for the record, BOR -- as a blog -- never endorsed anyone. We endorsed a draft effort to get a competitive primary --- which ended up being good, given that Watts dropped out.

When Watts dropped out, Matt Glazer -- individually -- endorsed Noriega. KT still hadn't, and I never have. A couple months ago, KT moved back to Austin, TX, and has a job with the campaign -- which he has told everyone many times over.

For a while, Noriega was the only person in the race. McMurray was an independent (why is this fact not important?), so we were supporting the Democrat candidate -- us being a Democrat blog and all. McMurray decided to switch and run as a Democrat. Ever since then, we've been waiting on some sort of outreach from his campaign -- any kind of diaries from his supporters -- and we have none. I won't speak for Matt or KT, but all I've gotten has been a couple generic e-mail press releases, and I rarely post those from any candidate.

But I am posting a McMurray piece tomorrow. Feel free to come back for some more laughs.

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 04:00:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

durn it Phil (0.00 / 0)

You stole all my main points! Now what are people going to think?

But if there is going to be a Vast Burnt Orange Conspiracy, you're going to have to run against me for permanent chair.

Actually, now that I look at it, my timestamp is later. Does that mean anything?

Please read the Community Guidelines and How to Rate Comments.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 04:15:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

BOR actually hasn't endorsed noriega (0.00 / 0)

But if it would make life easier for you, I think pretty much all of the front-page writers support him.

BOR did endorse the draft effort for Rick to get into the race. Unlike most of the blogs that endorsed that effort, BOR did so at that time not because anyone overtly supported his candidacy, but to support a competitive primary with Mikal Watts.

I never endorsed on these pages while I worked at ActBlue.

Matt as he stated in this thread, didn't take endorse anytime before Mikal Watts exited the race. Phillip didn't either to my knowledge. All 3 of us naturally supported Noriega when Watts dropped out and for 2 months or whatever, he was the uncontested nominee. That's when I moved back to Texas and stated quite clearly that I was joining his team which is disclosed in multiple places on this site.

No one is pulling the wool over anyone's eyes here. I support Rick Noriega. So do Matt and Phillip. And while I'm certainly not going to promote any McMurrey posts, others have indeed offered to do that if he drops by.

Until someone comes out of the sky and offers Matt and I jobs that allow our writing to be entirely free of any political blinders, we're going to have to live with the balance of disclosure. For the most part, I'd like to say that Matt does an amazing job of keeping his own work off the blog (at times to the detriment of discussion of certain aspects of issues and campaigns).

I think if you look back over my writings, they are not any more heavily weighted to the Senate race compared to other issues than they would be if I was a completely independent observer. There are certain things I don't talk about either and I refrain from a lot of commentary about local politics and primaries (none of which I'm involved with or taking sides in).

Please read the Community Guidelines and How to Rate Comments.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 04:11:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wow (0.00 / 0)

It has been a month since we have said this, so I will make the point again...

Burnt Orange Report is bias.  We don't say we are fair and balanced.  We promote candidate diaries nearly every time we see them.  We bring journals to the front page to push people into thinking outside their comfort zone.  We defend and attack candidates we love and hate. We do all this for no money, constant threat of lawsuits, and hate e-mail.

I am not asking you to thank us, but if you want to defend McMurrey, then do it.  We don't censor journal content unless it is a clear, unambiguous violation of our rules.

If Mr. McMurrey wants to come on BOR and put a journal together, the odds are, we will front page it once in a while.  However, McMurrey hasn't done that.  His supporters send us hate mail and go in the comments and attack us.  Most importantly, Mr. McMurrey only decided to run as a Democrat after Mikal Watts dropped out.  Before that the esteemed Mr. McMurrey was an independent who attacked the Democratic Party.

Not a nice way to start a campaign.

enough about McMurrey though, let's go back to talking about your critique over our editorial discretion. Every writer with access to the front page can write and say what he wants.  Every person with an opinion can respond in the comments and in the journals, and while we may fundamentally disagree with them, our  belief in the value of the first amendment is so absolutely, comments and journals have few restrictions.  Much like your malicious comment.

I hope this clarifies our positions and my personal feelings on the topic.  Without fail, someone else new to BOR will attack us for having an opinion in a month and they will inevitably feel like they can do a better job than the three of us. So if you have questions or thoughts about our policies, please either e-mail me or wait around for another month, and I will write a similar comment again.

Help build a progressive movement in Texas. Join Progress Texas.

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by: Matt Glazer @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 16:47:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Could it be (0.00 / 0)

that emperor intends to go skinny dipping, or is he just naked?  While I'm not privy to your mail, you seem to be suggesting that criticism constitutes hate mail.  

So let me say that while I love you and BOR, your attempt to defame McMurrey for trying to create change by stepping outside of the party to do so is just status quo thumping BS.  Look around you, almost all of us are thoroughly disgusted with the TDP and our inability to create positive change within it. This quasi-democratic-party-nationalism is the sort of thing that drives good progressives from the party.  McMurrey is an excellent Democrat and an excellent progressive who is willing to work for change in the ways available to him.  

In the opinion of many of your readers you guys made a big mistake by endorsing a candidate so early and a worse mistake by endorsing such a lousy candidate.  Clinging tenaciously to that bad decision does not make you look strong, it makes you look naked.

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by: Hugh Stearns @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 19:17:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Good Questions (0.00 / 0)

No, hate mail is actual threatening e-mail.  E-mails telling me they will kill me or someone knows where I live.  I have actually had some people threaten my cat's life before.   Very nasty stuff.

As for Noriega, I was neutral on the race until after Watts withdrew and I stand by my support for Noriega.  No offense to you or your candidate, but I simply like and agree with the Representative.

The meta-discussion about the party is a long one, and I would be happy to have it, but the people at the TDP do a job they believe in and ultimately, we are all working to make Texas a better place.  Whether or not we always agree on tactics, strategies, or policies, they are working tirelessly and thanklessly to take back Texas.

I hope you disagree with us.  I hope you voice that disagreement.  We aren't the entire community.  Me, Phil, and KT are part of a much much larger community that includes you and everyone else who visits our site.  We can't be every where in Texas and we can't know everything going on.  We aren't always right about how things should be or how they should be done.  We know that and embrace it.  What we do know is that when we voice our opinions, we are stronger. When we work towards a common goals, we are a better.

Blogging is only part of the whole and getting offline and doing is more important than any word I will ever write, but that is why my online support follows me to my community.  Every word I type is followed by a donation, a knock on a door, or a call to a voter.

If you are as passionate, tell me and the entire BOR community, but attacks are never helpful. Hugh, you are an important part of this community and people like you make this all worth wild.

Help build a progressive movement in Texas. Join Progress Texas.

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by: Matt Glazer @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 20:49:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hold on a minute (0.00 / 0)

Are you saying that a McMurrey supporter has sent you an email threatening your or your cat's life, or both?  That is the insinuation here, and it is a pernicious one.  You need to either confirm or deny that an actual McMurrey supporter, and not some other disgruntled BOR reader has sent you an email like that, immediately.

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by: Jeff Versteeg @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 21:21:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This has nothing to do with McMurrey (0.00 / 0)

Here is what I said:

Burnt Orange Report is bias.  We don't say we are fair and balanced.  We promote candidate diaries nearly every time we see them.  We bring journals to the front page to push people into thinking outside their comfort zone.  We defend and attack candidates we love and hate. We do all this for no money, constant threat of lawsuits, and hate e-mail.

You are the one that made this whole post about McMurrey.  Not me. Not Phil.  The McMurrey campaign and its supports have never threated me, but it does constantly annoy me.  My bias is with Noriega, and comments and threads like this help to solidify it.

If you would like to continue attacking me and Phil instead of go out and campaign or write journals of support, that is your prerogative.

Help build a progressive movement in Texas. Join Progress Texas.

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by: Matt Glazer @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 00:01:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Here is the RELEVANT portion of what you wrote: (0.00 / 0)

If Mr. McMurrey wants to come on BOR and put a journal together, the odds are, we will front page it once in a while.  However, McMurrey hasn't done that.  His supporters send us hate mail...

In response to a request for clarification by Hugh about what kind of hate mail you were receiving, you wrote:

[H]ate mail is actual threatening e-mail.  E-mails telling me they will kill me or someone knows where I live.  I have actually had some people threaten my cat's life before.

So you see how these statements could create the impression in someone's mind that McMurrey supporters had sent you e-mail that threatened your or your cat's life, which of course they hadn't.  Thanks for clearing this up.

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by: Jeff Versteeg @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 00:41:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

As the author (4.00 / 2)

of the above mentioned once promoted, quickly demoted post, I would like to thank Phillip for promoting it.  I would like to think that what has replaced my post is a harbinger of changing attitudes about the senatorial race.  In August when there was no great alternative in this race all of the Texas left blogs had jumped on the Noriega band wagon giving it a lot of momentum.  Because there was not a viable progressive candidate there was really nothing to change that momentum.  Now, months after the Noriega people have repeatedly promised to put out a platform and all that we have gotten is a blustery citizen soldier, the shine on that band wagon has worn off.  

While I'm obviously not opposed to questioning authority including that of BOR, I am also not opposed to thanking them, as Phillip suggests, for the job that they are doing.  The fact is that in August when I wanted to find information, and now when I wanted to promote a truly progressive candidate, BOR was my first stop.

Blogging and democracy in general are messy, imprecise, trial and error endeavors.  I personally think that the early piling on to the Noriega band wagon by all of these blogs was an ugly mistake that can be improved on going forward.  While questioning authority can work to prod people into new directions, it can also cause them to dig in and fortify.  I'm not sure why my post was taken off of the front page but it could be because I pushed a little hard in making my point about Noriega last summer.  I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's see how things go.

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by: Hugh Stearns @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 13:15:42 PM UTC