If you're a young whippersnapper, you may find it quaint how many people of my age cohort – I'm a third of the way through my seventh decade – are still kind of blown away by the speed with which information travels these days. For those of us who grew up in an era when a 17-inch black-and-white television was still a luxury for many Americans and 2500 jam-packed daily newspapers provided our primary connection to the outside world, today's media bonanza can be quite stunning.
Here at Daily Kos, being plugged into a networked community of liberal and other Democrats adds to this abundance by providing connections that extend the power of our work as political activists and feed our passion and compassion as political junkies. Even amid the numerous civil wars and "pie fights" that have been with us from the get-go around here, the capacity of those connections to make progressive political themes "go viral" and to let us have an impact on national discourse has been nothing short of mind-boggling for some of us old farts. Community power.
I was reminded once again of that last Sunday when I wrote a diary called Got a Favorite Progressive State Blog or Two? The idea behind this was to help Kossacks get plugged into progressive blogs in their back yards (or places they find politically interesting) in preparation for the 2010 elections. I've always followed a handful of such blogs, and when John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, I found myself along with thousands of others reading a humorous, sharp-edged blog called Mudflats for the inside skinny of Alaskan politics under its wacked-out governor. With Thomas "Tip" O'Neill's notion that "all politics are local" firmly in mind, I provided some seed corn in the form of a few links to other state progressive blogs and asked readers to provide links to the same in their own neck of the woods.
The results of that request, plus additional poking around on my part, can be read in the list compiled below. There are only four three missing pieces: the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Maryland. If you know of progressive blogs focused on politics in those realms, add them to the list. If you, too, can't find one, you might think of starting your own.
Go exploring in the listed blogs below and you'll find quite a number of people you're familiar with, Kossacks providing insightful, delightful and sometimes infuriating information about what's happening in their states, with predictions about what's likely to happen. Everything from tidbits to full-blown investigations. The only problem with this endeavor is that these local blogs can become quite addictive.
For instance, there's Desmoinesdem, who blogs Iowa at Bleeding Heartland. A recent entry:
Congratulations to the same-sex couples who received marriage licenses in Washington, DC today, the first day same-sex marriage became legal in the capital. The city council had approved same-sex marriage rights last fall, but "because Washington is a federal district, the law had to undergo a congressional review period that expired Tuesday." The weddings will begin on March 9 because of a mandatory waiting period.
One person who wasn't celebrating today was Representative Steve King. He complained yesterday that Republican leaders in Congress didn't push "hard enough" to overturn the D.C. city council's decision on marriage equality.
There's RDemocrat, who cross-posts at DK from the The Hillbilly Report. Writing wonderful stuff like this:
The Kentucky Senate race was getting quite boring. Leave it to eccentric, Looney Tune Jim Bunning to heat things up. One would like to think that the outgoing Senator who was shunned by the McConnell machine because he is a can or two short of a six pack decided to shake up this race but then you realize that well, Bunning is a can or two short of a six pack. However, his callous, uncaring and hypocritical "stand" earlier this week against the nation's unemployed has indeed ignited the Kentucky Senate race, which quite frankly was becoming a yawner.
And there's Sean Soendker Nicholson's Fired Up Missouri, where, if you'd been reading yesterday, you would have learned about the wackery of Missouri’s 9th District Republican Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer:
President Obama is neither a Democrat or Republican...I truly believe he’s a socialist, in the traditional sense of the word. He believes in the goodness and greatness of government. He truly believes in this way of life.
Click to see the whole list, alphabetized by state. I know you've got others to add.
Alabama
• Left in Alabama: The Progressive glog for a New Direction in Alabama Politics.
Alaska
• Shannyn Moore: Just a Girl from Homer: Painting a Red State BLUE, One Stroke at a Time.
• Blue Oasis
• Mudflats: Tiptoeing Through the Muck of Alaskan Politics.
Arizona
• Rum, Romanism and Rebellion
• Blog for Arizona
Arkansas
• Blue Arkansas: A Blog for Progressive Arkansas Democrats.
• Arkansas Blog
California
• CalBuzz
• Calitics: A progressive open source news organization for California politics.
•California Progress Report
Colorado
• ColoradoPols: Politics, News and Inside Information.
• Squarestate.net: The Progressive Political Blog for Colorado.
Connecticut
• My Left Nutmeg
Delaware
• Delaware Liberal
Florida
• Florida Progressive Coalition Blog
• The Seminole Democrat
• FLAPolitics
Georgia
• Left on Lanier: A Place for North Georgia Progressive Thought.
Idaho
• 43rd State Blues:
Democracy for Idaho – Blue-shifting the Gem State, one blog entry at a time.
• Ridenbaugh Press/Northwest: political and social change, analysis and commentary (for Idaho, Oregon and Washington).
• The MountainGoat Report: News from the ledge – life and politics in Idaho
Illinois
• Prairie State Blue
• Progressive Fox
• Archpundit: Illinois From Misery.
Indiana
• Blue Indiana
Iowa
• Bleeding Heartland: It's What Plants Crave.
Kansas
• Kansas Free Press
• The Idiot Factor: Todd Tiahrt's folly
Kentucky
• HillBilly Report: A Progressive Community Forum for Rural Americans. City Slickers Are Welcome, Too.
Louisiana
• Daily Kingfish
Maine
• Dirigo Blue
Maryland
(Beltway Progressive and Free State Politics seem to be in a state of suspension.)
Massachusetts
• Blue Mass Group: Reality Based Commentary on Politics and Policy in Massachusetts and Around the Nation.
Michigan
• Michigan Liberal.com: Great :Lakes. Great Ideas. Great Tradition.
• Blogging for Michigan
Minnesota
• Minnesota Progressive Project
Bluestem Prairie: New Media for Greater Minnesota
Mississippi
• Red State Progressive: Political Analysis and commentary from a progressive trapped in a Red state.
Missouri
• Show Me Progress: Missouri’s Progressive Blog Community.
• Fired Up Missouri: News and Views Since 2005.
Montana
• Left in the West: Views from Dry Land Democrats.
• 4&20 Blackbirds: A Journal of Montana Politics and Culture.
Nebraska
• New Nebraska Network
Nevada
• The Las Vegas Gleaner
• Nevada Progressive
• Desert Beacon: Progressive blog for those interested in Nevada and national politics.
New Hampshire
• Blue Hampshire: A Progressive Online Community for the Granite State.
New Jersey
• Blue Jersey: All the news that slips from print.
New Mexico
• Democracy for New Mexico: An information clearinghouse for the grassroots: Progressive : Active : Inclusive.
• NM FBIHOP: New Mexico politics, New Mexico voices.
New York
• Albany Project
North Carolina
• Scrutiny Hooligans
• BlueNC
North Dakota
• North Decoder.com: Making Sense of Politics and Events, So the Media Doesn’t Have to.
Ohio
• Ohio Daily: Blue Collared Blog. Blue Colored State.
• Grumpy Abe
• Buckeye State Blog
Oklahoma
• Oklahoma Citizen
• Okie Funk: Notes from the Outback.
• Blue Oklahoma: Anythiing But Sad.
Oregon
• Blue Oregon: Progressive Politics, News and Commentary for Oregon.
• Loaded Orygun
Pennsylvania
• Young Philly Politics: Progressive, Young, Philadelphia Politics, from Small to Big.
• Midnight Blue
• Above Average Jane: The mostly political ramblings of a small-time, big-mouth community activist, somewhere in the greater Philadelphia area.
Rhode Island
• Rhode Island's Future: Progressiv News, Opinion & Analysis.
South Carolina
• Indigo Journal: The Progressive Political Blog for South Carolina.
• The Politics of Jamie Sanderson.
South Dakota
• Badlands Blue
Tennessee
• Speak to Power
• Southern Beale: Mad at Y’all. Not Taking It Anymore.
• Silence Isn’t Golden
Texas
• Burnt Orange Report: Our Eyes Are Upon Texas Politics.
• The Texas Blue: Advancing Progressive Ideas.
Utah
• The Utah Amicus
• Blue in Red Zion
Vermont
• Green Mountain Daily: Reality-Based Commentary – People-Powered Politics for the Green Mountain State.
Virginia
• Blue Virginia
• Blue Commonwealth
Washington
• WashBlog
• Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.
• HorsesAss: Politics as Unusual.
West Virginia
• West Virginia Blue
Wisconsin
• The Political Environment
• Blogging Blue: Blogging Liberally in the Badger State
•Uppity Wisconsin: Making Wisconsin Progressive Again.
Wyoming
• hummingbirdminds: prog-blogging Wyoming