I've been procrastinating. This is exactly the diary I really hate writing.
I'm scolding y'all.
Please follow me over the flip.
Last quarter, Obama raised close to 8 million from the netroots. Edwards did spectacularly well too. And, while I don't have any evidence, I'm betting that Hillary is doing OK.
Meanwhile, BlogPac is withering - at least to the extent of the NetRoots Hero earmarked dollars.
I took on the job of Activism Drector of BlogPac because I was, perhaps naively, hoping that I'd be able to help out people that helped out the netroots.
So far, we've made three awards. Cliff Schecter, Lane Hudson, and Matt Ortega (profile coming soon) have each won a $1,000 grant for their extraordinary work. And their work has been extraordinary.
Further, John Javna has devoted an extraordinary amount of time and effort to profiling the awardees. His diaries have been wonderfully written profiles of people who have done things many of us aspire to and all of us admire. It is fascinating to learn what makes these people tick and what methods they've used to affect their activism.
Now this is the problem: this activism award needs to be self-supporting. When we last posted a diary - one that went to the rec list - my BlogPac ActBlue page raised a total of $100 - from a four donors.
I don't want this to be a "noble experiment" that turns into an ignoble expire-ment for lack of support. The truth is that this award can be sustained by 200 people that commit to donating $5/month. 100 people at $10/mos. 50 people at $20/mos. 20 people at $50/mos.
So when I look at the number of people that open up their wallets to campaigns - knowing full well that their contributions are ultimately enriching Fox News, General Electric, Disney, Viacom and an inbred class of political ad-makers and consultants...
And then I think about the unemplyed Lane Hudson - the man that broke the Mark Foley story and is probably responsible for winning 10 Democratic seats in the House... then I think of Cliff Schecter, who pioneered the art of mocking Republicans on national television with a ruthless style of rapier wit - and went uncompensated for his efforts... and then I think of Matt Ortega who was about a week away from joining the Army because he couldn't get find a decent job otherwise - even though he's done as much research on Blackwater and the rest of the war profiteers as anyone in the blogosphere...
Well, it makes me feel the need to scold. So here I am, scolding.
You know, as an activist myself, I know for every 20 projects you start, only 1 or 2 will be successful over the long run. As such, I'd probably let this go, except for one thing:
Amanda Marcotte is still unemployed. She uprooted her life to go work for a great man, got attacked by a cretinous and hypocritical thug and still hasn't regained her stride. It's times like these that demand we pull together and support our own. So I'm making one more attempt to get y'all to step up.
Take care of your own. It's important.
Update [2007-4-10 20:36:51 by Mike Stark]: It would be completely inappropriate for me to neglect thanking all of you that donate(d) and for noting that I am not expecting the destitute, those on a tight budget, or anyone that simply can't afford to give right now to give anyway. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, as a student with a young child and another due in July, I fit into the latter group. As true as that is, however, I have found a way to give in that BlogPac offered to pick up my expenses for the trip out to CPAC last month. Instead of submitting my expenses, I held a fundraiser at CallingAllWingnuts.com that raised enough to cover my expenses. So that's kinda-sorta like a donation I think...
Update [2007-4-10 21:12:53 by Mike Stark]: Well, it looks like this was just the hand in the back we all needed. Less than an hour and a half later, the fund is approaching $800 and the diary is at the top of the rec list (which really surprised me - I don't usually expect scolds to get very far...) So it looks like the award will at least be around for another month, and if I get better at reminding y'all, it will probably be sustainable. I can't tell you how good I feel about our community... Hey - after Marcotte, I'm gonna need new nominees. So feel free to make suggestions in the comments...
And THANK YOU!!