I was busy yesterday--went to an R.E.M./Modest Mouse concert in Raleigh (very hot in open-air pavilion, but loved it). Anywho, got home to see that I'd received the email announcement that ProPublica has gone online!  I looked back to see if anyone mentioned it here and couldn't find it in a diary title (maybe it's mentioned in comments somewhere, but there are too many to read 'em all.

Considering the behavior of the MSM, I am very excited to have this new source of news:

http://www.propublica.org/

I'm hoping that this independent, non-profit will be a wonderful source for everyone who cares about getting down to the nitty-gritty, and will provide great fodder for discussions on sites like MyDD.

If you're not familiar with ProPublica, see below to read what they have to say in their Welcome letter (sorry, I don't quite get how to do blockquotes properly):

One upon a time I was a Robin Morgan fan.  Her voice guided me as a budding feminist of the 70's.  One of the things she was famous for was her 1970 essay, "Goodbye To All That" in which she "[broke] free from a politics of accommodation especially affecting women"  http://blog.fair-use.org/category/chicag o/.

But I'd forgotten about Robin Morgan.  

This morning I just read her essay "Goodbye to All That #2."
( http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/0201 08.html ) Apparently it's been around since February, but I missed it.  I'm glad I found it.  It blew me away.

Why did she write #2?  Because: "During my decades in civil-rights, anti-war, and contemporary women's movements, I've avoided writing another specific 'Goodbye . . .' But not since the suffrage struggle have two communities--joint conscience-keepers of this country--been so set in competition, as the contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC) and Barack Obama (BO) unfurls."

In this essay you will hear why she says:

"Goodbye to the double standard . . .
Goodbye to the toxic viciousness  . . .
Goodbye to the news-coverage target-practice . . .
Goodbye to a misrepresented generational divide . . .
And goodbye to the ageism . . ."

Okay, I'm gonna rip the band aid all the way off.  I do it not to be devisive, but to clean out the wound out (more)completely.  That promotes healing, or so I've heard.  

I  believe that we need to look at all the issues.  As you know if you read my diary yesterday and any of my occasional comments, I've been nursing my (real or imagined, depending on your point of view) feminist injuries.  Yet I've had an unsettling feeling that there's more to my disquiet.  The situation is pretty complex, so it's been hard to articulate.  Then this morning I read a comment written in response to an article by a gentleman on another site--Mother Jones,to be exact.  Whoa, what this guy said really resonated with me.

No need to rewrite it, he did an excellent job, and rather than cut and paste his stuff, which seems plagaristic, I'll give you the link to the article.  Read the article if you want, but that's not what I'm talking about:  find Tony Smith's comments below it (he has one long one, and then another in answer to a response).

Now I don't know anything about Tony Brown, other than what I read.  I'm concerned that he will be immediately discredited.  Please don't do that.  Whether he is who he says he is (and this is what I believe) or a "secret-agent-Republican-operative" is wholly beside the point.(If he is, ya gotta admire him, cause he's extremely articulate and cogent regarding the Democratic primary situation, LOL)

Then, I hope we can talk--civilly--about his points.  After all this site is, I hope, more about discussion than about cheerleading...  Like I said, the idea is to heal the wound, right?

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/arch ives/2008/05/8284_clinton_camp_fl.html

This has been asked a few times lately, but it's hard to answer given that I'm still supporting Hillary for the Democratic nominee.  I do see that the mountain is steep, so I am not ignoring the question, but rather, giving it serious thought. Before I can answer it, I need to more fully understand why I feel so strongly.

Truth is, I'm not ready to get on board with Obama if Hillary does not get the nomination.  I, too, am having a political identity crisis, wondering whether the Democratic Party is the right place for me anymore.  I have not declared that I'm voting for McCain, but I'd be lying to say I haven't seriously thought about it.  Trying to find a way down off that cliff, I am looking at all my options.  Right about now I'm wishing for a third party comprised of socially liberal/fiscally conservative (not neocon) ideals.

Let me say this:  On behalf of Hillary and her supporters I feel marginalized and bullied.  (Not at a personal level: when I've written something here I've tried not to be insulting or too inflammatory and, as a result, I've received civil replies from people who disagree with me.  But I see/read a lot and in my gut (Stephen Colbert would be proud) there is something larger going on.