Sunday, July 11, 2010

Floyd's Lap Dance


Pardon me while I whip this out! This post has been a long time coming, and I may meander a bit in telling the story. Try to stay with me: this cat's tale is a convoluted one.

First of all, I want to thank all those who helped make July 10, 2010, what might turn out to be the ultimate high point of my blogging days. These include Bree Palin, Gryphen and Patrick, who apparently decided it was time to recognize Palin Babygate, the regular readers who commented and sent me direct messages, and of course, all the newbies who finally discovered that there might be something interesting to read over at PB. I can only hope that a significant percentage of you will continue to visit and comment.

That brings us all to an annoying little pebble in the mattress that I do not think we shall ever completely remove, the comment system at PB. After reading through many of your issues posted here and at IM yesterday, I spent considerable time further researching the problem. The short answer is that I do not think I can find a better solution than we already have. All those little known and even less utilized comment options have been deleted. You must now unequivocally set up a Google account to comment on this blog. I do not think this option is as scary or problematic as you might fear. You can provide as much or as little information as you choose, and you can change it at any later time, too. When someone clicks the link on your comment to learn more about you, all that must be listed is your screen name and how many times others have sought the same information. If sharing any information with Google privately that is not displayed scares you, I am afraid I do not have a better alternative. I have been using the Google system on all my blogs for years, and I have no complaints whatsoever, as either a blog author or commenter on other blogs.

To continue this discussion about comments, I must include the two big boys of our industry, PG and IM, two blogs that are as significantly different from PB as they are from each other. PG uses the Disqus system for comments and IM allows anonymous comments with moderation. Especially considering the subject matter and lack of anonymity, I am sure any of you would agree that I would have to be truly nuts to offer anonymous comments without moderation. I personally do not like moderation, from the standpoint of either a blogger or a commenter. If something changes in the future, I shall, of course, change with it, but for now, the Google system probably works best for me. Yes, I have often considered copying PG's Disqus system idea, but whenever I analyze the big picture, I decide against it. If that's what the gang over at PG wants, fine, that's their business, but the swirling circles of chit-chat that this sort of system encourages is just not my thing. Yes, I want to have a lot of influence over the mood and direction of our movement, but that does not necessarily include a large herd of regular commenters. I would much prefer a large herd of regular readers, some of whom have already conversed with me via direct e-mail on a regular basis. Gryphen has his thing, Patrick and Kathleen have theirs, and I have mine. I hope none of you are offended by this analogy because no offense is intended. I hope thousands of you flood my in-box with comments. I read every one of them. However, I want to read them as they come in and are posted at PB. I do not want you to have to wait for me to come home from an errand, sort through all the messages, and then release the appropriate ones to the blog. I also do not wish to return home to a relentless spam or Palinbot attack, either, courtesy of having the convenience of Anonymous comments.

For all of my newcomers, please allow me to indulge in the repetition of what you regulars most likely already know. I am not, nor have I ever been or ever had interest in becoming, a journalist, a rock star, a television or radio personality, or a scientific researcher (all right, that one I did at one time aspire to be, but that's another story). I have a lot more in common with Karl Rove than President Obama, aside from the political side of the fence Mr. Rove has wallowed in for decades! I am a behind the scenes sort of guy. I have never had the looks for television or the voice for radio. What I am is a writer. Bree mentioned in the interview how she always just threw her blog posts together quickly without thinking much about them, and that is indeed how most bloggers write, but not me. I have to be in a special imaginative, creative frame of mind. I have to have a catchy title, a hook like a Top Forty single, a purpose, and an emotional ending of some sort to tie it all together. Nearly everything I write has been mulled over in my mind beforehand, sometimes for months, never for merely moments. When I get my story together, I nail it down in the computer, along with all my previous inspirations. I do the majority of the editing in my head long before I begin to write, so there is usually little to be changed after the composition has been made. Everything is proofread because pesky errors will always find their way into even the best planned posts.

I have never written fiction. I have read some of it, but I prefer nonfiction of many different types. Every book I have written is a compilation of many such inspired short pieces as described above. Yes, I am planning another book. I have been planning it since 2002, but this particular story has already been delayed several times. This next book will not be an expose of the scams of Sarah Palin, although a large majority of many blog posts that I have made at PB and NIAFS in recent years will be edited into the content, along with other material that I began writing long before I had ever heard the witch's name. As I said, I am not a journalist. That is just not my thing. I am a psychosocial, political and economic, commentator. There is a little Bill Hicks, Bill Maher, Bill Engvall, George Carlin, Bill O'Reilly, Jean Shepherd, Lewis Black, Michael Moore, Al Franken, James Howard Kunstler, Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, Robert Rimmer, Peter Egan, and Kurt Vonnegut in practically everything I write.

There is one key point that I wish to make about my position on Babygate. No book or politician is going to bring the bitch down. Books are written to tell you all the gory details of the story after the central scam has been exposed. Yes, Romney, Huckleberry, and others have plenty of reasons and ammunition to stop her, but they ain't gonna do it! Why? I don't know, but that is the story of the century, folks, and that is precisely why I started this blog. We have to scream it from the rooftops. The MSM is in on the scam, and the bigger the media entity or personality, the deeper they are in on it. She is not being brought down for lack of evidence, and I think this misguided concept is why Palingates bugs me. The evidence already produced has been overwhelming. One more picture or one more secret document is not going to do the trick. It is great that PG is assembling and publicizing all this stuff, but it ain't going to muzzle the pitbull. Live by the sword, die by the sword, and this screechy voice of hate is supported by the only media that can take her down. We have to convince them that the truth is about to escape and they have to grab onto the caboose of the gravy train.

In-depth interviews are one of my favorite things to read as well as write. I left Charlie Rose out of the list above so I could mention him here. I would love to repeat yesterday's performance over and over, but my tubes are tied. Like the cat above, I am ready to party, but I need someone to party with. I know many secrets and I am good at keeping them, but more key players need to come forward. One idea I think that would work concerns how so many have pleaded with Gryphen to just tell us all more of what he knows, even when it is only rumor and supposition. Why not let me send him one of my interview questionnaires and he can send copies to some of his anonymous sources? Then he could send the replies back to me and I could edit the result into one inclusive interview with several sources at once. All the interview subjects' identities would be known only by Gryphen. What's wrong with that idea? I would be happy to interview Audrey, Gryphen, Morgan, Patrick, Barb Dwyer, or any other of the famous names of Babygate, too. All they have to do is contact me and say yes.

Where is all this going? I don't have the foggiest notion. I have no more Aces or Jokers up my sleeve at this point. I am as wide-eyed and bushy-tailed as the cat in the picture. Where is my lap dance?

14 comments:

eliminatehypocrisy said...

I like your style, Floyd, and your blog. What a nice discovery for me this morning.

Palins Pussy said...

Glad I found your blog. I think it is a great idea, to have a questionaire filled out and then publish the results, and all the identities are protected

GenieO said...

I like the idea too, but I can see one big obstacle - probably the very one that keeps Gryphen quiet.

While there are probably tons of people who know little scraps of dirt on Sarah, none of it is important enough to bring her down. And they are not willing to risk her wrath for something that won't do the trick.

The people who really know something big enough to end Sarah's public career, are such a small circle of insiders, or former insiders, it wouldn't take Sarah long to narrow the field and figure out who it was, by the nature of what they spilled. They wouldn't be as anonymous as you think.

mary said...

First visit to your blog yesterday, Floyd, although I've enjoyed your comments at Bree, IM, etc for months. Your interview with Bree was a real treat. I'm having a great time exploring another palin blog and I like your unique take on it. I agree that only babygate will bring her down. As Bree pointed out, a lot of people have no idea of the Wild Ride story at all. That is just crazy.

wayofpeace said...

warm greetings, FLOYD.

and a huge THANKS for bringing BREE for an encore.

pat1755 said...

I'd be a lot more likely to become a regular reader/commenter if you'd quit taking gratuitous pokes at other bloggers.

Floyd M. Orr said...

Pat1755, you're right about that. Sometimes I tend to be a little too candid for my own good. Thank you for reminding me.

heidi1 said...

Thanks for making it easier for us to post, Floyd. Your rationale is excellent.

I like the questionaire idea a lot. But I'll have to agree, at least partially, with your commenter GenieO.

$$arah or a minion will able to spot an 'insider' right away, by virtue of the details they might divulge. However, I think the questionaire might also elicit a lot of more general details, which when assembled, might paint a picture. These people might not be so easily identified individually.

The main player here, IMO, was Dar Miller, the natal hospice nurse, who then decided to deal with older patients. She very unfortunately died (was killed?) in a house fire. The true keeper of the keys to everything is Dr. CBJ. Nothing short of a run for the White House, and its attendant investigations, will open that lock. $$arah can't have that.

I appreciate finding your blog. It's now on my "read every day" list. I like knowing who you are, and what your goals are for the blog.

heidi1 said...

Thanks for the great blog, Floyd. Based on how good your interview with Bree was, I also hope you can have further ones with Gryphen at IM and Patrick at Palingates. I've always enjoyed reading your posts on all the blogs.

KiheiKat said...

Always here and always appreciating you Floyd. It was wonderful to hear from Bree too.

There are so many elements to the dangers we're facing now, I think a concentrated effort will have to be taken. We must learn to be as efficient as the enemy in spreading the word. That's always been the progressives problem/blessing. We believe in truth & reason. Now we need to learn focus & group determination to stop this.

I am encouraged to see how people's awareness of the Dominionists is spreading. They have their tenacles in every phase of our lives and are daily becoming more blatent. There are many "stealth candidates" out there now pretending to be moderates, like McDonald. He didn't waste any time showing his true colors after he was elected. The voters were warned but chose not to believe. Our Lt. Gov is running for Gov. He's definitely a "stealth candidate." People can't believe he's a rabid fundie because he's Catholic. I even had to argue with a good, ex-Catholic, progressive friend of mine who steadfastly believes that Catholics don't have fanatical sects. She's not alone. Feeding her the facts is slowly opening her eyes, and yes she is naive. Unfortunately there are many well meaning, naive people out there.

OK - I'll stop with my rant. Thanks for all you do Floyd!

KiheiKat

PS - I hate google - my fault. I have an account but can never remember what phony name I used to sign up. :-) Ah, I know, I'll sign up again with my partially "new" name.

sarahbyheart said...

Floyd don't you think that you are being a little arrogant expecting the bloggers to come to you for an interview? If you want them to help you why not write to them. And while you're at it you could apologise to Patrick for calling him a liar. You'll have to be a lot more diplomatic than you have been so far Floyd. How about it?

nancydrew said...

For what it's worth, one of the things I enjoy about your blog is that the comments don't overwhelm what you are discussing. The disqus system, with its "likes" and "reply" distractions create a temptation for some to comment on everything. When that happens the blog post itself gets somewhat "swallowed". The echo-js-kit system leaves one's errors intact without an edit mechanism. Google seems like a good fit for your blog. And thanks for getting Bree out of retirement briefly. I do wish her threads were still intact--someday that archive would have been fun to point to with the "where the hell were you guys?" jeers that paid reporters have coming their way. Soon I hope.

Floyd M. Orr said...

Thank you for your brief analysis of the various comment systems, Nancy Drew. The results of my research were much the same. I think the Google system fits the needs of this blog quite well. For those who have asked about the future availability of any material from Bree's blog, my impression from her is that is not going to happen. You will just have to refer back to the old Palin Deception site and others for those photo comparisons.

lisabeth said...

Why don't people in Alaska who were involved in the birth of Trig come forward. We know the reason why. There was no birth by Sarah. This is a smoking gun for me. There isn't a single doctor, nurse, janitor, ANYONE who can testify they saw Sarah and Trig on the 18th. Not one person?! Isn't that very telling!! I think we should put google ads everywhere asking for people to come forward with ANY info.

Also off topic Floyd you know that you can still get rants from painbots. People can just register under a fake name.
At least you can delete them.