The influential Washington state blog Horses Ass may cease to exist in its current form as its proprietor, David Goldstein, contemplates a move away from full-time blogging spurred by the need to eat food and pay bills. (Full disclosure: I also blog at Horses Ass as an unpaid contributor, but I'm writing this diary on my own initiative.) More inside.
In a post earlier this afternoon, Goldstein, or "Goldy," as he is known on the blog, asked for donations for the first time in two years.
The kinda blogging I do is a full time job, but frugal as I am, I have fixed expenses — mortgage, insurance, utilities, food, teenage daughter and all that — and I just can’t afford to continue doing this without something approaching a full time income. Hell, I’m 47 years old, and aside from the equity in my house and a few shares of Apple in my IRA, my retirement plans consist of setting myself out to sea on an ice flow.
I don’t mean this as a threat or a complaint, it’s just simple economic reality. So I’m asking you my readers, and all the progressive and Democratic organizations, activists, candidates and consultants who have benefited from my tireless efforts and my obnoxiously fearless and uniquely effective media presence, to either keep HA going… or… well… I suppose you could offer me a job.
While Goldy is often known for his flamboyant style, regular readers of his work know that he often does a lot of digging to get his stories, and that Washington state politics would not be the same without him. He even gets national scoops at times, perhaps most memorably when he uncovered that George W. Bush's FEMA director, Michael Brown, couldn't even run an Arabian horse association without screwing it up.
Goldy also did yeoman's work during the 2004 gubernatorial recount and ensuing court battle, and I shudder to think how totally dominate right wing lies would have been if not for Goldy. Even today, with the near-demise of the P-I and its switch to on-line only, the Seattle Times has a clear run at promoting the worst sort of regressive, anti-worker and pro-Republican policies it thinks it can get away with.
The right has a vast infrastructure in place to spread lies on AM radio, infiltrate them into newspapers and cable tv and such, and we have people like Goldy out there combating them while practically starving. If there were any fairness in the world, Goldy would have sponsors that would let him lead at least a comfortable lifestyle. But life isn't fair, and Goldy doesn't even want a comfortable lifestyle, he just wants the bare minimum he thinks he needs to live on and help support his daughter.
Now, I know there are a plethora of great blogs out there, and a plethora of great progressive candidates emerging. Many folks have had a rough time economically. But I did want to attempt to alert the DKos community that a great blog is at risk, and that as usual it's probably up to us to do something about it. (Donate link is at bottom of his post.)
And one final thing: I'd imagine some might think this is just Goldy promoting himself, and in a way I suppose it's true. But he rarely ever asks for money, only a couple of time in six years that I recall, and his post today is consistent with what he told me about his situation late last year. It's just the way things are, as he stated. Thanks for taking the time to read this diary.