Burnt Orange Report

Bilingual Blogs / Blogs Bilingüe

By Phillip Martin

¿Están listos para el Reporte Ánaranjado Quemado en Español?

I found this story in the Houston Chronicle about the future of bilingual blogs, and I thought it was interesting:

VOY, a media company that targets the growing Spanish-language market, has launched a service that allows users to create free blogs in Spanish and English.

VOY Blogs will allow users to choose their own domain name, personalize the design and reach the expanding global Latino market, said Fernando Espuelas, VOY chief executive.

"VOY Blogs is the next frontier in this ongoing global conversation and we are excited to be at the forefront again, this time by providing Latino bloggers around the globe with a platform to create unique communities and express their ideas," Espuelas said.

Kinky Spam

By Damon McCullar

If nothing else, it's cool to have Kinky running for governor for all the play on words that can be created. Seriously though, earlier today on Perry Vs World there was a spam attack that kept posting comments from seemingly different folks and they all had the same content: "www.kinkyfriedman.com". While I'm inclined to think this was the work of some overzealous supporter with some net knowledge, Kuff makes a good point about the future of the blog and bloggers:

I'm sure it's just a fluke, but the thought has occurred to me that this sort of thing could be a tempting dirty trick for some upcoming Karl Rove wannabe. Spam a bunch of blogs with an opponent's campaign URL so that the blog owners ban the URL and bitch about it to their audiences, thus not only generating a lot of badwill for your enemy among some opinion leaders, but maybe even getting some regular press coverage out of it just for the sheer novelty factor. It shouldn't be too hard to cover your tracks - I'm pretty sure the originating IP address for comments can be spoofed.

We've also had that kind of problem here at BOR with "Kinky" folks commenting with different "names" but all of the comments coming from the same IP address, although our comments like that have been more "human".

When I started blogging, I looked forward to having the power to spur debate amongst a common audience, but more and more the audience is becoming polluted with people that distort the debate for their own purposes instead of people that are content to bring their unique prospective to the debate. Blogs grew because the "Crossfire-ization" of cable news left a vacuum for honest debate. If we're not careful and can't find ways to police ourselves against these kinds of manipulation, the voice of honest debate will once again be lost and, barring the advent of another communications medium, could be lost altogether.

BOR Rates Top Traffic in Texas By The New Politics Institue

By Damon McCullar

In a report (brought to my attention through Common Sense Blog)released yesterday by The New Politics Institute Burnt Orange Report ranked #1 in web traffic (15,772 views per week) followed closely by Off The Kuff (15,436) and Pink Dome coming in a distant third (13,572).

I've not got a chance to read the report yet, but it examines the effect of Blogging on politics. BOR rated 76th out of 104 nationally. That's pretty good considering we aren't a national blog.

Looking Fresh

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I'd like to congratulate Pink Dome on their new look. Of course, I'm glad I will never have to worry about putting any pink on this site when I start looking at redesign here over the break. (Though if anyone is hankering to do that for me, feel free to drop me a line; that's one e-mail I will respond to when I go on vacation.)

This of course was the result of a failed attempt with a new blogging package that just didn't work last month (though their new release may be better, I'll see). I'm not sure if I will follow that concept again or not. Content comes before style for me for blogs, but I'm open to suggestions...

New Blog

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The official blog of the State Tejano Democrats is up and running. Check out the Tejano Insider here, which reminds us that Howard Dean will be coming back to Texas for a couple of events, including the Third Annual 2005 Hispanic Leadership Summit which will be held in San Antonio from August 5th-7th at the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk.

There will be a reception for the 2005 DNC Hispanic Leadership Summit & DNC Chairman, Gov. Howard Dean at Plaza Juarez located behind La Villita Assembly Hall (S. Presa Street at La Villita Walkway) on Friday, August 5th, 2005 from 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm.

The Future?

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Though we can certainly smirk like schoolchildren at this comment left over at In the Pink Texas's post on Bell's Announcement, it makes me a bit sad because there are a lot of the WDs that I really respect. So I would like to ask you? What or who do you think is the future of our Texas Party? Do we have any Paul Hacketts around this state? (Remember to donate to our Honorary Texan today, BOR has already given $105 of the total so far!)

The wd40s - most d40s period - are tired and burned out, anyway, at least the ones I know. UDems and others like you folks over at BOR - you are the future of the party. When you come of political age the state may have swung, and I can’t wait to see what you do with it. You are often inspiring. (Yechh, I’m gushing.) Anyway, keep up the good work and don’t lose faith. But it’s going to be a rough road.

Comment by Dont Mess w/ Pink — 7/28/2005 @ 2:31 pm

Of course we now have Chris Bell as another of our candidates in addition to Barbara Radnofsky and David Van Os, but my question is less about this year's statewides, more the back bench and the future.

Austin Chronicle Hypes Capitol Blogs

By Phillip Martin

The Austin Chronicle has a new story in tomorrow's edition about "The Blog Days of Summer." Click on the link to read.

Our part is below though the Chronicle gets snarky with snarksters PinkDome and In the Pink Texas as well. And it's nice to see some of the newer groups including the Texas Kos group get recognized. Kudos to Naked Politics! -KT

Founded by UT Democrats, Burnt Orange Report is the biggest of the Central Texas lefty weblogs, linked to by heavy hitters like DailyKos.com. Largely covering state and municipal politics, BOR also lends local perspective to bigger-picture issues. Although sometimes victim to the common inclination to ubiquitously mention events covered elsewhere in more depth, like national and world news, the professionalism with which BOR conducts itself is a rarity. A thoroughly comprehensive set of links, not only to like-minded bloggers, but to a gaggle of news sources and Republican adversaries as well, rounds out the site.

Blog Tales

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

God, I love reading Kinky's Blog now that I've got the xml addy to read it (http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/blog/atom.xml) I can keep my eyes from getting color burned. Today's post was particularly... amusing? inspiring?

P.S. I'm off to dinner on the East Side to eat with Kos and Jerome and some other Austin politicos to chat about technology, blogging, and such. We'll see what I have to report later.

Movable Type 3.2 Beta 1

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Burnt Orange Report has been upgraded to run on MovableType's 3.2 Beta release. Not too much should change on the front end (other than the site being down for about 4 hours last night) but there are some new things on the back end that I hope will be worth it in the time that we take to transition to the site redesign. Of course being a beta tester, I'm sure we will run into problems since I'm already seeing some of them. So unless you have some extra time right now, hold off on the upgrade.

All Your Internets Are Belong to U.S.

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

LINK

This is an Open Thread about the Internet. Al Gore jokes encouraged.

A Conversation with PD

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Because I have nothing better to post as I work on the new site, I provide this entertainment for your pleasure. Really, I love all the Texas blogs, but I love where this went.

PinkDomeTX : bloggers are supposed to be sexy.
BOR: well you most certainly are
BOR: you have style
PinkDomeTX: at least i like to portray that image as opposed to dorks in front of a computer with conspiracy theories!
BOR: hahah
BOR: you and INPT bug me a lot you know
BOR: here we are, Texas bloggers, trying to make a respectable living off of rumor laden news and being the tipsters of texas
BOR: and you two have to come along with your capitol snarkiness and photo editing skills
PinkDomeTX: bwahahaha
BOR: stealing all our traffic, no, not stealing it, using us to promote you and then end up with 3 times as much as we have
PinkDomeTX: haha
BOR: making me have to deal with BOR writers that ask, can we have more pictures on the new site?
PinkDomeTX: HAHAHAHAHA
BOR: I WILL NOT CAVE
BOR: we are SO TOTALLY going to corner you on the RESPECTABLE JOURNALISM front
PinkDomeTX: respectable journalism? EW
BOR: Just you wait, when I lay out the new BOR 3.0 Media Relations Team, we are going to be having to get extra phone lines to handle all the reporters calls.
BOR: Shut you down, out of service, run out of the capitol.
PinkDomeTX: well just talk about gay sex. that will work!
PinkDomeTX: eh. i've got a real job. and I hate politics. i'd still write PD if only three people were reading
BOR: Yeah, well be prepared for that, after the BOR onslaught!

Do blogs have personalities? Sure they do. Though I think BOR will have a nice case of schizophrenia when we increase to 13 writers.

Get your Grits

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Scott Henson over at Grits for Breakfest has some interesting comments from a panel hosted by Campaigns and Elections magazine. It's a good read so head on over there to read about blogs, blogging, and the fair use of them.

We See People

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Just a short note to say that we were happy to see all the bloggers at the bloggers caucus, one of the most interesting of the day. Shout outs to A Little Pollyanna and Pink Dome who I was thrilled to chat with in person. Saw Tim McCann from the Chris Bell blog, but didn't have a chance to say hi. Also, I'd like to direct you to the Kos at DemFest blog.

I also wanted to point out that Judge Charlie Baird, formerly on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and one of the last Democratic judges elected to statewide office, is a candidate for the 299th Judicial District Court in Travis County, and has hired Austin political guru and former Texas Dean campaign director Glen Maxey.

In addition, it was brought to my attention a candidate against Mike Krusse up in Williamson County is Karen Felthauser, who last ran as a write in in 2004. This time she will actually be on the ballot as a Democrat and has a kick off reception on June 22 (next Wednesday). So all you Williamson County folks, check her out and help us make a Democratic takeover of Central Texas.

In addition, I ran in Lorenzo Sadun, of the Write In Sadun campaign for CD 10 which ended up without a Dem on the ballot last year. He reports that he is working with a candidate from out in Harris County on building his contacts here on the Austin side (yes, Houston and Austin in the same congressional seat) and to make sure that the Travis County folks are on board and energized. He's back to teaching Math here at UT but is still making sure that the voters of the 10th have a choice and know about it come November 2006.

Throughout the night, recently elected Fredericksburg SuperStar Tom Musselman has been talking to a lot of people, speaking at the non-urban caucus in particular. He also spoke to Jim Dean, Howard's brother who is now the Big Dog over at Democracy for America, which just broke their first post Dean bat, again, at $100,000. Traded some business cards, exchanged some words and strategy, all in the middle of Threadgill's where everybody who was anybody was tonight (meaning like all of DemFest!)

I see a pattern, do you?

By Jim Dallas

First Tom DeLay criticizing Justice Kennedy for doing research on the Internet ("that's outrageous!"). Now, Bob Novak criticizing NARAL lobbyists for searching public records (from Pandagon).

(To be sure, CNET argues DeLay might have (operative word "might") had a point; although I disagree -- judges do conduct sua sponte investigations often enough for lawyers to invent the term sua sponte and law students to know what sua sponte means. I'd criticize a judge for doing bad research (ala Pierre Salinger), not for doing research.)

I'm a bit torn on this issue, so let me elaborate. Normally us liberal types are for individual privacy. When you go and compile information on people without their permission, that makes us liberal types cranky.

But I, personally, would note, that once you've compiled the data, the worst thing that you can do is to hog it for yourself. David Brin, who normally writes science fiction, wrote a book a few years back making this argument - that it's better to have transparency.

People who go ape about search engines are not trying to defend privacy. They are trying to keep you from getting your hands on information that exists and someone else would otherwise hoard - and hoarding for their benefit, NOT for yours. Information not only "wants" to be free, it must if we are to have a free and accountable society.

Die, Nazi Spam, Die!

By Jim Dallas

I'm moderately frustrated by spam for herbal viagra and free porn. I'd probably be slightly frustrated by spam selling world peace and universal harmony (now only $19.95).

But German hate spam, apparently the product of a virus, has assaulted my gmail account, and it pisses me off in ways I didn't even know I could be pissed off.

Update Firefox

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Just to let y'all know, Firefox has released an update to 1.0.4 now. If you havn't yet, update your browsers. If you havn't made the switch from Explorer (or god forbid, Netscape) switch to Firefox. I know personally that Byron and I (and many of the Student Government and University Democrats leaders on campus) are Firefox fans with its tabbed browsing and all of the great plugins that can be coupled with it.

Don't Panic

By Jim Dallas

We're often asked, "what can I do to improve my blog?" Stephen Fry and Joby Talbot answer this question. iTunes required.

Another Blogger Story

By Byron LaMasters

This time from the Fort Worth Star Telegram. My position remains the same - any publicity is good publicity, so thanks for the plug to BOR. We get top listing under "Popular Texas political bloggers":

Burnt Orange Report -- Byron LaMasters of Dallas, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and friends cover state politics. They support the Democratic party. www.BurntOrangeReport.com

I can't complain with that, and I certainly appreciate the plugs from State Rep. Aaron Pena's blog.

Texas Lege Group Blog

By Byron LaMasters

Aaron Pena is turning our Democratic legislators into legislator-bloggers. Check out the Lone Star Rising. It currently has posts from Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), Rep. Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen) and Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont).

Via Grits for Breakfast.

Firefox 1.0.2

By Byron LaMasters

Via Kuff, I see that there's a new version of Firefox to download. Once you switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox, you won't be switching back. Download it here for free.

BOR on CNN's Inside Politics?

By Byron LaMasters

I've received several emails this afternoon telling us that we got a plug on CNN's Inside Politics today. I didn't have the chance to watch, but I'm curious - what exactly did they say?

Let us know in comments...

Update: Ok, via email, here's the transcript (emphasis mine):

CROWLEY: Tom DeLay is among the hot topics in the blogsphere today. Here with me now to tell us all about it are CNN political producer Abbi Tatton and our blog reporter Jacki Schechner. Jacki, what are you hearing about Tom DeLay, or reading, I guess?

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Candy. What we're reading about in regard to Tom DeLay is just the blogs, especially those on the left, keeping track of what is going on; all of his alleged ethical transgressions. Not so much digging on their part but really sort of collecting a roundup of what has been going on. Over at the Burnt Orange Report, a liberal Texas blog, they smell blood. He says: "There's something big coming soon," over at Running Scared, another liberal blog. They say: "While the Democrats are drooling, the Republicans are concerned. And he says: "With new allegations servicing on a near daily basis, the bug man is rapidly becoming a liability." So speaking of daily.

ABBI TATTON, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes. If you're having trouble of keeping track of all the DeLay stories out there, go to thedailydelay.blogspot.com. This gives you a roundup of all the different mainstream media stories out there on the congressman. Now Congressman Tom DeLay is also the subject of tomorrow's Blog Call. This is a group of liberal and progressive bloggers who have got together. They don't want to wait around for the mainstream media to pick up on their exposes. They want attention. So they have organized this weekly conference call, a blog call, where they're inviting members of the mainstream media to call in and find out what they're blogging about. Not reading the blogs themselves, actually calling up on the phone. Now this was the subject of a New York Times piece today that lots of bloggers have been linking to and reading and commenting on. Here, Amy Langfield (ph), not a political blogger, but read this this morning in The New York Times and she wonders why reporters can't just read the Internet. "This story," she says, "it's about some frothy political bloggers holding a conference call so reporters don't know how to use the Internet can listen to bloggers talk about what they've posted on sites in the past week. Just shoot me now."

Continued in the extended entry...

SCHECHNER: It's actually organized by a democrats.com, which is a liberal site, the Blog Call is organized by them. So obviously on the conservative side they are lashing out. They've got some pretty harsh words. We found one that was a little less scathing, and it's Outside the Beltway. And they say that they have no problems with bloggers trying to get notice in the mainstream press, or with activist bloggers banding together to get the message out. Their problem, this was interesting, is that the conference calls represent bloggers acting as political operatives and not as journalists. Another story that the blogosphere is talking about, the blogs talking about the blogs today, feels like a Monday, is that over at -- it was News Day, it was Stephen Levy's (ph) article -- or Newsweek, I'm sorry, my bad, Newsweek. Stephen Levy's article about the blogosphere being made up of primarily white males, or dominated by white males. A lot of the blogs think this is just a perception. It's not actually in fact the case. There are some people who feel that that's what's going on. But they have got some arguments against it over at Air Force Voices. This gentleman says he's a Hispanic male, so maybe he should just stop blogging, being sarcastic. What he liked about Captain Ed, over at Captain's Quarters, is he talks about he marketed his blog. He's one of the bigger blogs. And says that in short: "I took the time to learn my market and adapted accordingly. I haven't stopped marketing the blog either and don't plan to any time soon.

TATTON: Chrisnolan.com (ph) here, this is a female journalist writing about politics, the media and the Internet. She is saying -- she is talking about this and she has 10 issues here. One of the things she points out, this medium was first taken up by techies. And she's saying that men are linking to men even though the blogosphere has gotten much larger, most of these men still reading the guys they started out with three years ago. There are broader horizons but it's pretty much just talk.

My general mantra on blogging is that any publicity is good publicity. Even when the mainstream media attacks blogs, their attacks only serve to spur interest in our medium - thus increasing our visibilty and traffic. So, I take pride in the fact that CNN is watching what we write here.

SXSW Interactive blogging

By Nathan Nance

I'm in Austin today blogging the SXSW Interactive Festival. Right now I'm sitting in a panel discussion on blogging about online worlds. Not real worlds; online worlds.

But at least these are our people. They're gamers and bloggers.

I'll be blogging all day from the Conention Center, liveblogging the keynote interiew of Wonkette at 2, and the Al Franken conversation at 5:30. It'll be over at my blog Common Sense at its new URL and blog host. Eileen from In the Pink and Pink Dome are supposed to be here as well.

Not exactly related

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Just a public service announcement. If you want a G-mail (google e-mail, 1 gigabyte) Account, just leave a comment with the e-mail address you want me to send the invitation to. I have 50 invites and don't mind tossing a few overboard.

Sign the Letter

By Byron LaMasters

All bloggers, left to right, should sign this letter.

Late Night Fun

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

For all of you Austin students that read us, I would encourage you to join the "I Read the Burnt Orange Report" facebook group. Because we love you just as much as we think you love us.

Guest Blogging

By Vince Leibowitz

You know those people the late-night talk show hosts always have on their shows when a big name cancels or when, is in the early days of the Jimmy Kimmel Show, no one really famous wanted to come on the show? The low "B" and "C" list celebraties?

Well, if the Blogsphere has such a list, I'm on it. In addition to my guest posting here at BOR, I've also been asked to participate in a blog from Wood County, Wood County Issues. It's a blog that covers a lot of local politics (check out this great post about a letter the DA recently sent out) plus a wide variety of "other" material like the dangers of feeding deer at Holly Lake Ranch.

Though I'm a Van Zandt County resident, I used to live in Wood County (for more years than I like to remember), so I still keep up with politics over there. Plus, I'm sure I'll be able to come up with some other stuff from time to time.

So, now that I have added yet another blog to my list of guest-duties (which I'm very excited about, by the way), I'm wondering...should I send out some head shots and writing samples to try to get more guest gigs? You know, I could probably get quite a lot. I'd be like that guy who always goes on Letterman with all the zoo animals except, of course, without the zoo animals and much more entertaining.

Actually, that would probably not be a good idea. I'm pretty selective about sites I'll associate myself with. Wood County Issues has a reputation in Wood County for really getting down to the truth of various issues and breaking stories the local papers won't touch, so I am pleased to be a part of that. BOR's reputation is, well, obvious, and I am floored every time someone says they've seen my name here. Political State Report, the other blog I write for frequently, is another site that's getting more and more well-known and has a good reputation.

On the other hand, there are a number of blogs I just couldn't see myself writing for. At the same time, there are a number of Weblogs I'd just die to be able to write for on a regular basis in addition to my other blogging (hint, hint, hint to about three or four bloggers in the universe, by the way).

Seriously, though, check out Wood County Issues. I doubt I'll post there as frequently as I post here, but the site's publisher usually comes up with some interesting posts, if you're in to East Texas politics.

HoustonDemocrats.com

By Byron LaMasters

Good for the Harris County Democratic Party. They've started a blog - HoustonDemocrats.com. Via Greg and Kuff.

If they just fix their link to Kuff (which links to BOR instead), they should be all set.

Update: I'm happy to see that the link situation has been taken care of. Kudos to Harris County Dems!

Blogging and Pro-Wrestling

By Jim Dallas

From the frigid plains of Minnesota, Stone Cold Steve Perry takes on Preacher Hewitt:

What I'm talking about is evident in matters of idiom--the countless times, for example, that "liberal" is invoked as a taunting slur, roughly akin to the way "cheesehead" or "the fucking Yankees" might be tossed off on a sports-chat board. It's more than a matter of style; there's a worldview lurking beneath it, and what the worldview entails is summed up in the old Vince Lombardi maxim that winning isn't everything--it's the only thing. Now of course electoral politics has always been about winners and losers in a very important sense. But has there ever been a political moment so openly defined by swagger and triumphalism for their own sake--the will to humiliate the vanquished, grind them underfoot for the sheer pleasure of showing them who's boss? As a popular post-election sweatshirt hawked at the Drudge Report exulted, W is for Winner. Enough said.

What's at stake here in one sense is the difference between the moral universe of the citizen and that of the fan. For the fan, the only crucible that finally matters is being on the winning side. To ask whether what's being won is worth having, or in the public interest, or whether these victories may set the stage for future calamity, is about as interesting and sensible from the fan's point of view as suggesting that the Vikings really ought to think twice about playing the Packers this year (or, more nonsensically still, that bad things may befall them if they beat the Packers). As for the current censorial tenor of politics chat, the most rudimentary piece of fan etiquette is that the spoils and the bragging rights accrue to winners. Trash talk from losers is not endured in good humor. Failing to shut up after your side has been vanquished is an outrageous bit of bad manners--or, when it's politics we're talking about, an un-American activity.

The mindset expresses itself in a variety of ways. There's the reader who wrote to me shortly after the invasion of Iraq to ask, So what if Bush lied his way into war? It worked. The gleeful contempt with which the epithet "losers" was thrown around after the last election, as if it were the only word they could think of that was worse than "liberal." And the party the Power Line crew is throwing itself tonight at the Center of the American Experiment to mark Dan Rather's forced retirement. Will they rent Stuart Scott from ESPN to lead the room in his trademark winner's jeer, "BOO-Yaa!"? Whatever else you may say about Bush/Rove, they certainly didn't conjure this impulse into being.

You see this streak of end-over-means, in-your-face triumphalism playing itself out in the political alliances now coalescing on the right, where anti-tax, government-off-our-backs libertarians are seen to lie down with religious conservatives who want a government at least expansive enough to make sure no one out there is doing anything of which Jesus might disapprove. Or consider the right-wing blogs' dueling weapon of choice, a practice known as "fisking" that consists of reproducing whole stories from other media and yelling at them in hectoring, frequently disjointed asides until the fisk-er either reaches the end of the text or passes out from hyperventilating. It's a performance whose outcome is fixed with a wink from the start, like professional wrestling or, more exactly, like the version of pro wrestling Rush Limbaugh brought to the radio so long ago now: heroes-and-villains political entertainment made in a controlled setting, with lots of ranting rhetorical takedowns and no fretting over questions of equal time or accuracy. It's a show, folks.

A show... without spandex.

And of course, just like wrestling, blogging is totally tag-team. (See the full details here.)

Firefox 1.0.1

By Byron LaMasters

I just downloaded the latest version of Firefox. You should, too. Link here.

DemsTV

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I noticed thanks to a Washington Post article that DemsTV.com should be launching in the next day.

Two Democratic political consultants are preparing to launch a weekly online political talk show that will showcase the party's message, lambaste Republicans and, they hope, open a new front in the ongoing media wars.

It's called DemsTV.com, and each Tuesday, beginning tomorrow, the Web site will feature 20 minutes or so of talking-head chatter from a rotating cast of young Democratic operatives.

"The primary focus is on politics, and, frankly, a heavy focus is on pointing out the foibles and scandals and dirty little secrets of Republicans that we think don't receive as much coverage in the mainstream media as they might," said Dan Manatt, one of the producers.

This week, he said, the program will include opposition research on the GOP's possible 2008 presidential candidates, the panelists' picks for the "blogger of the week" and their predictions of who will be the most important Democratic leaders in the coming years.

The program, which its creators say is the video equivalent of a blog, does not have any formal connection to the Democratic National Committee.

Bloggers To Feel FEC "Wrath?"

By Vince Leibowitz

"Bradley Smith [of the Federal Election Commission] says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over.

Give me a break. Please.

Via Off The Kuff, I found this article which did anything but make me want to run out and hire personal FEC compliance counsel:

In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

Smith should know. He's one of the six commissioners at the Federal Election Commission, which is beginning the perilous process of extending a controversial 2002 campaign finance law to the Internet.

In 2002, the FEC exempted the Internet by a 4-2 vote, but U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly last fall overturned that decision. "The commission's exclusion of Internet communications from the coordinated communications regulation severely undermines" the campaign finance law's purposes, Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

Smith and the other two Republican commissioners wanted to appeal the Internet-related sections. But because they couldn't get the three Democrats to go along with them, what Smith describes as a "bizarre" regulatory process now is under way.

Gee. Could they now want to regulate the Blogsphere simply because, uh, so many blogs are progressive and Democrat-leaning? Hummm.

Thanks to McCain-Feingold, which I've never been convinced is just a terribly wonderful piece of legislation because I think it sends more money "underground" than ever before, Smith seems to think Bloggers may not be eligible for the "press exemption" within the law:

The real question is: Would a link to a candidate's page be a problem? If someone sets up a home page and links to their favorite politician, is that a contribution? This is a big deal, if someone has already contributed the legal maximum, or if they're at the disclosure threshold and additional expenditures have to be disclosed under federal law.

Certainly a lot of bloggers are very much out front. Do we give bloggers the press exemption? If we don't give bloggers the press exemption, we have the question of, do we extend this to online-only journals like CNET?

How can the government place a value on a blog that praises some politician? How do we measure that? Design fees, that sort of thing? The FEC did an advisory opinion in the late 1990s (in the Leo Smith case) that I don't think we'd hold to today, saying that if you owned a computer, you'd have to calculate what percentage of the computer cost and electricity went to political advocacy.

It seems absurd, but that's what the commission did. And that's the direction Judge Kollar-Kotelly would have us move in. Line drawing is going to be an inherently very difficult task. And then we'll be pushed to go further. Why can this person do it, but not that person?

How about a hyperlink? Is it worth a penny, or a dollar, to a campaign? I don't know. But I'll tell you this. One thing the commission has argued over, debated, wrestled with, is how to value assistance to a campaign.

So, if a hyperlink is a contribution, what about wearing a campaign tee-shirt or a campaign button? Would I have to divide up the area of my shirt by the space of the button to calculate the cost of the space the button takes up? If I go to Wal-Mart and more people see it, is that worth more? If a fat man wears a campaign tee-shirt, is that a greater contribution because it's more visible than on a baby, for example? If an extoridnarily beautiful woman dons a campaign tee-shirt is that worth more because more men will want to look at her?

Corporations aren't allowed to donate to campaigns. Suppose a corporation devotes 20 minutes of a secretary's time and $30 in postage to sending out letters for an executive. As a result, the campaign raises $35,000. Do we value the violation on the amount of corporate resources actually spent, maybe $40, or the $35,000 actually raised? The commission has usually taken the view that we value it by the amount raised. It's still going to be difficult to value the link, but the value of the link will go up very quickly.

This is totally absurd. Can anyone say (scream) FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTION? I'd personally volunteer to be a test case for this garbage.

More:

The problem with coordinated activity over the Internet is that it will strike, as a minimum, Internet reporting services.

They're exempt from regulation only because of the press exemption. But people have been arguing that the Internet doesn't fit under the press exemption. It becomes a really complex issue that would strike deep into the heart of the Internet and the bloggers who are writing out there today. (Editor's note: federal law limits the press exemption to a "broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication." )

There's sensitivity in the commission on this. But remember the commission's decision to exempt the Internet only passed by a 4-2 vote.

This time, we couldn't muster enough votes to appeal the judge's decision. We appealed parts of her decision, but there were only three votes to appeal the Internet part (and we needed four). There seem to be at least three commissioners who like this.

How can the commission not want to exempt the Internet? How is a Weblog any different from a newspaper editorial endorsing a candidate? It's not, except because of the medium by which it is delivered. If they're going to not exempt the Internet, then, in my view, they would have to un-exempt any newspaper that prints editorial endorsements.

Here's a real kicker:

I'd like someone to say that unpaid activity over the Internet is not an expenditure or contribution, or at least activity done by regular Internet journals, to cover sites like CNET, Slate and Salon. Otherwise, it's very likely that the Internet is going to be regulated, and the FEC and Congress will be inundated with e-mails saying, "How dare you do this!"

This is totally stupid. "Activity done by regular Internet journals to cover sites like CNET, Slate and Salon." Clearly, this would be ripe for litigation. Why would BOR or other sites not qualify? Many sites are written by ex-journliats (In the Pink Texas) or have ex-journalists that contribute (this one, me being the ex-journalist). Furthermore, this day and age, what is considered a "regular" Internet journal, and who is a journalist? It's about like defining what the meaning of "is" is. If you report what you see, write a column on something, etc., you are engaging in the practice of journalism, whether you are working for major media or just posting on some little hole in the wall at BlogCity or Blogspot.

It's going to be a battle, and if nobody in Congress is willing to stand up and say, "Keep your hands off of this, and we'll change the statute to make it clear," then I think grassroots Internet activity is in danger. The impact would affect e-mail lists, especially if there's any sense that they're done in coordination with the campaign. If I forward something from the campaign to my personal list of several hundred people, which is a great grassroots activity, that's what we're talking about having to look at.

If no one in Congress is really willing to stand up (and I doubt that), then it's time for the folks on the Hill to grow some cajones. This has got to be nipped in the bud, and quickly.

Q. If Congress doesn't change the law, what kind of activities will the FEC have to target?

A. We're talking about any decision by an individual to put a link (to a political candidate) on their home page, set up a blog, send out mass e-mails, any kind of activity that can be done on the Internet.

Again, blogging could also get us into issues about online journals and non-online journals. Why should CNET get an exemption but not an informal blog? Why should Salon or Slate get an exemption? Should Nytimes.com and Opinionjournal.com get an exemption but not online sites, just because the newspapers have a print edition as well?

Why wouldn't the news exemption cover bloggers and online media?
Because the statute refers to periodicals or broadcast, and it's not clear the Internet is either of those. Second, because there's no standard for being a blogger, anyone can claim to be one, and we're back to the deregulated Internet that the judge objected to. Also I think some of my colleagues on the commission would be uncomfortable with that kind of blanket exemption.

"The deregulated Internet?" Yes, that's kind of how it is supposed to be, given that, by and large, free speech is deregulated. Consider the irony in this, should Blogs be regulated: It is constitutional to burn a flag in protest, but it is a violation of the law to put a campaign site link on your blog. So, so wrong.

And, how can you get off saying Blogs are neither periodicals or broadcast media? Periodicals are publications updated regularly (blogs), and the Internet sure seems to me to be "broadcast."

Q. So if you're using text that the campaign sends you, and you're reproducing it on your blog or forwarding it to a mailing list, you could be in trouble?

A. Yes. In fact, the regulations are very specific that reproducing a campaign's material is a reproduction for purpose of triggering the law. That'll count as an expenditure that counts against campaign finance law.

This is an incredible thicket. If someone else doesn't take action, for instance in Congress, we're running a real possibility of serious Internet regulation. It's going to be bizarre.

God yes, it's going to be bizarre. Could you imagene the horror at the FEC when two million bloggers start sending in federal spending reports? Seriously, though, this is potentially one of the dumbest things anyone has talked about in a while.

If they're going to consider Blogs as expenditures to count against campaign finance law, then they'll have to make everyone who wears a tee-shirt, puts a bumper sticker on their car, or a yard sign in their yard "count against," too. Clearly, a yard sign and a blog are both free speech. If you're going to say one form "counts" moneywise, then you've got to say the other counts, too--and not just in that the campaign spent the money to print it, but in that someone put it on prominent display in their yard. At least, to me, this is a logical defense against regulation of the Internet.

Grits for Breakfast Wins Best Single Issue Blog Award

By Byron LaMasters

Congrats to Grits for Breakfast - a local Austin blog focused on Texas Criminal Justice System for winning the highly prestigious Koufax Award for "Best Single Issue" blog.

Congrats to all the other winners as well.

Most Humorous Blog

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The Koufax Bloggin awards are out, and in the most humorous category we get Jesus' General, who brings us this most wonderful cartoon which by far beats the anti-AARP ad.

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Blog Comments

By Jim Dallas

A surreal thing happened today in the blogosphere. I can't really describe it, so just read these two posts:

First. Second.

Look, ever since the beginning of politics and journalism (the second and third oldest professions, respectively), there have been hierarchies which has tended to disregard input from the bottom ranks since the folks at the top tend to generate much, much more noise. That isn't to say that it's purely a power relationship; there's a rational reason why the top dogs get to the top. Still, the stratification of power tends to have a rather suppressive tendency. And when issues of concern do wind their way up the food-chain, it's usually in a highly-digested form (with credit not always going to where it is due).

I guess it was only a matter of time before this latest experiment in dot-communism eventually resulted in such blow-ups. That said, some forms of organization are considerably more permissive of bottom-up percolation.

Bets may now be placed on how long, if ever, the blogosphere will take to organize itself into an optimal information-synthesizing institution.

Some Texas Blogs I've found Recently

By Byron LaMasters

Rio Grande Valley Politics and Dos Centavos...

Geez, those PowerLineBlog Republicans are real A**holes

By Byron LaMasters

Read this and you'll see why.

Update: I've been asked to note, via email, that the blogger in question, John Hinderaker has apologized for the email in this post here. It's clearly written to try and shift the blame back to his opponents on the left, but it's an apology nonetheless.

Jerry Brown Has A Blog?

By Vince Leibowitz

I can't remember now how I stumbled across the link, but it seems that Oakland Mayor, former California Governor, and several-time Democratic Presidential Candidate Jerry Brown has a blog.

It's a Typepad blog, is pretty plain-jane and only has two posts. But, it is interesting that public officials are taking to the Blogsphere.

My question is why don't more elected officials have blogs? Maybe they should read this article on how blogs could be used to better inform their constituents.

Of course, the problem with any elected official writing anything is that their staff usually will end up writing it for them. However, with Brown's blog, I thought surely he must have done it himself, or else it might have been a little more flashy.

Even if written by "staff," blogging would be a good thing for the Texas Lege. Except for press releases and lots of stats, most of their websites are pretty useless. At least one Rep has already attempted to harness the power of blogs, Rep. Aaron Pena.

I mean, seriously, if you've ever been in the gallery of the Texas House or Senate you know there is a lot of "down time," so to speak. So, why not sit there and send your constituents a little note about what you're doing, via blog. Or, heck, "liveblog" some of that lovely debate such as we witnessed in 2003 over tort reform.

If I was in the lege, I'd tend to try to throw some humor into my blog, and would then probably get screwed come election time after the opponent's consultants sent out a mailer with what I wrote. For example, if I were in the House, I might write...

We're having some debate on HB 111111 today. It's rather amusing. I stopped listening to the Republicans an hour ago, because their arguments are all the same. Betty Brown broke her heel on the way up to the well of the House. Poor, Betty. We all laughed. I'm glad she is OK though. She could have sprained something. And Speaker Craddick looks like he used a little too much hairspray this morning. Can you believe Texas Monthly put him on the cover? Does he really have that much power? Also, did you know they have little "cartons" of Blue Bell Ice Cream in the lounge like we used to get in school? I've eaten 10 already today and it's only 1:30. One of the perks of being in the Legislature. Oh, and today I filed a bil to dismantle Governor Perry's Economic Development "slush fund." More on that later. Oh, wait...we're going to either vote on something or adjourn for lunch or something. Oh, but before I go, what is with all those people in the gallery today? Someone dropped a cell phone from the gallery on down to the house floor. But one of those guys in blue jackets snatched it up the minute it hit the floor. How amusing. Remember, folks in HDXX, if you bring your cell phones into the gallery, don't lean over the railing while holding it in your hand. You're just asking for an accident. I'll be back in the district this weekend and having lunch at the local BBQ place on Sunday, so everyone come by and see me, ya' hear?!

Well, I probably wouldn't blog anything quite like that (then again, maybe I would), but you get my point. By the way, all of that is fictious except the thing about the Blue Bell Ice Cream and the cell phone. My State Representative told me that about the Blue Bell a couple of years ago, and I thought it was neat. But, the stuff isn't free. I think they have to pay like a quarter for it or something. As for the cell phone thing, I saw it happen on the floor, but of the Senate, back in 2003 when I was on the floor where the "credentialed media" congregate during Van Zandt County Days.

Seriously, though, who in the Blogsphere can't see the potential for the state of Texas buying a giant MT license package and letting every state-level elected official have a blog? Supreme Court Justices! Railroad Commissioners! The Speaker! Heck, MT might even give it to the state gratis just for all the publicity they'd get.

Now, think what would happen if every member of the Lege had a web cam attached to those handy little laptops on their desk. Oohhh, the possibilities...

Vince Leibowitz is County Chairman of the Democratic Party of Van Zandt County.

Koufax Award Finalists

By Byron LaMasters

We didn't make the finals in any of the Koufax Awards categories, but go support the two Texas/Texan blogs that made it in the Best Single Issue Blog category - The Daily DeLay and Grits for Breakfast - although unfortunately, you can only vote for one.

Another Capitol Blog

By Byron LaMasters

For an in-depth look at the goings-on of the lege sans the pink, check out Inside the Texas Capitol.

Things are Getting Pink

By Byron LaMasters

It's another week, and it's another pink Texas blog - this one is In the Pink Texas, not to be confused with the Barbie homepage, InThePink.com. That makes two weeks in a row where Texas blog readers have been treated to a new "pink" blog. Last week we found Pink Dome.

In the Pink, Texas will be blogging on the Texas legislature from the capitol, so I look forward to the reporting.

Wonkette has arrived in Texas

By Byron LaMasters

Washington D.C. has its online gossip queen, and with all the wackiness of the Texas legislature, it makes sense that Austin should have one as well. I had my chance a year ago, but I passed on taking it up full-time.

So, for those of you with the burning desire to know the answer to such questions as which state representative is knowledgeable in the art of feng shui, or which state representative has smeared Vaseline on her official photo, then check out Pink Dome.

Pandagon Gets a Divorce

By Byron LaMasters

Ezra has left, relocating to Typepad, while Jesse will remain at Pandagon.

Best of luck to them in dividing their assests. I'll have to add Ezra to my Bloglines, and of course, I wish them well in their future blogging endeavors. They're both great writers, and I enjoy reading both.

Loving the Koufax Awards