Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

THANK YOU!

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Deval said after our celebrations this evening we all need to go to work. At BMG, with Mission #1 accomplished (a Democrat in the Governor’s office), we’re looking forward to more work as well.

Before we do that, however, we’d like to pause, draw a deep breath, and shout out a big THANK YOU to the blogosphere for having made possible the wild, incredible ride we all have had here over the past two years.

We’d love your thoughts on a question we have addressed briefly before and return to now: what should BMG do next?

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Comments

  1. There is more at stake than discrimination in the Constitution.  Even if that amendment is killed or defeated, Massachusetts same-sex couples do not have the protections and benefits of marriage.  Their own country treats them as strangers, and most other states do not recognize their legal union at all.  All it takes for a person to get out of their legal commitment is a 45 minute drive into a neighboring state, where they are free to marry someone else, without having to ever think about their former Massachusetts spouse.  Defeating the marriage amendment Thursday will not solve these problems.  These problems are very tangible for real people.  Not being recognized by the Federal government causes serious troubles for older couples especially, and not being recognized in other states all same-sex couples.  So, people interested in securing equal benefits and protections for same-sex couples should look beyond Thursday, and look beyond defeating the constitutional amendment.

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    My proposed compromise would give federal recognition as marraiges for committed same-sex couples in civil unions, and allow civil unions to be enacted even in states that have prohibited “marriage-in-all-but-name” civil unions, and the only thing anyone would have to give up is the right to do something that probably will never be able to be done anyhow (conceiving children together) and the name marriage (which needs to continue guaranteeing the right to conceive children together).

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    Also, my proposed compromise wouldn’t require changing the Constitution, and if people in the future ever felt that same-sex conception ought to be allowed, it would only be a matter of Congress repealing the law, and same-sex civil unions being automatically changed to marriages.

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    Please, BMGers, unless same-sex conception using genetic engineering is important to you, let’s take this opportunity to throw out the stale old vitriolic script and look at this whole question in a new way, a practical way that accomplishes so many things that ought to be right up your alley.

    • I’ve read your post three times now and still don’t understand what the heck you are talking about. 

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      You support federal legislation that would authorize civil unions in every state but specifically reserve the name “marriage” for mixed-sex unions.  Okay, not something I support, but I can see your point.

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      But then you vaguely refer to same-sex couples giving up their right to concieve children and reserving “marriage” as a term refering only to woman/man unions because it “needs to continue guaranteeing the right to conceive children together.” HUH?

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      You would somehow enact federal legislation to prevent non-married couples (of whatever gender) from concieving children?  This seems so ridiculous (and so blatently in conflict with the liberty and privacy protections in the Constitution) that I’m convinced I misundertsood your second point here. 

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      Can you elaborate?

  2. reading this, but I hope BMG will stick around.  There are always political issues to discuss in Massachusetts.

    • I can’t even believe I managed to drive home from Boston…

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      I think I’m still sorta in shock. I believed we would win, but I’ve been so flat out on the campaign for so long that I need a day or two to adjust back to civilian life!

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      The fact is, I have so many ideas buzzing around my head regarding what to do next, I don’t know where to begin. I want to transform my blog into a BMG-style blog, but I have to do a ton of research on that, I’m not sure Soapblox is the direction I want to go. I have also made a promise to my volunteers that we’ll be getting together to make plans for future endeavors, I’d like to see some sort of Dem activist group in the region, and of course I want to see more group blogger events.

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      So despite utter exhaustion today, I’m feeling like sitting around to recover isn’t a good idea…

      • Lynne — You and everyone who worked so hard for the Deval campaign in Lowell deserves tremendous credit. Looking at the Globe map, Lowell is a blue island in the red sea that is the Merrimack Valley (Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Dracut, Methuen, Westford, Chelmsford, Billerica, Wilmington, etc.).

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        Go home and get some sleep!!

  3. This is housekeeping — and it’s driving me nuts.

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    There are a number of links to blogs which are apparently for all intents and purposes defunct. Mark Jurkowitz has been gone from the area for a while now. Left Center Left hasn’t posted anything since mid-August… you get the idea.

  4. I’d like to thank you for this forum. It’s gotten me excited about the race and as a result, I was more informed than usual on the candidates and the issues.

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    As for what to cover in the future: all the issues that have been so important in this race!

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    I trust Deval Patrick. But I still want to see how his governorship plays out in terms of strengthening education, health care, etc., in terms of relief to cities and towns that will allow them to thrive and take on needed projects (most notably school building projects) that often get defeated by people who can’t take on more property taxes. I want to see if we can get property tax relief.

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    I’m especially concerned about the health care law that the politicans were so pleased with themselves for passing. I know someone who left the state because it was one more burden she couldn’t take. She was suffering financially, yet she didn’t qualify for assistance in getting health care under this new law, which is to take effect in July of 2007. At that time, she would have been forced to purchase health insurance. Politicians seem horribly ignorant of the cost of health insurance, which costs thousands per year for just one person.

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    Those are my suggestions. Hope they can keep you busy for a while. đŸ˜‰

  5. and I’d bet Cos has the scoop.  On the news, there was a claim that 6 or 7 voting locations in black neighborhoods ran out of ballots.  In one location, the claim was that 500 people voted in the primary, and the location was sent 500 ballots for the general.  In another location, there was a claim that when more ballots arrived, they only sent an additional 50 — not enough for all those waiting in the queue.

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    So, what’s the scoop?  Major human error (miscalculating how many ballots to send)?  Minor human error (miscounting how many ballots were taken)?  Voter suppression?  Indifference?

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    I hate this kind of crap.  There’s just no excuse for it.  I’d love to find out the scoop.

  6. Go to Disney World!!

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    p>  BMG should continue to hold Mass politicians as accountable as BMG has always done. Keep scrutinizing everything. Treat Patrick the same way you treated what’s-his-name.

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    p>  Mass politics has not suddenly come to a crashing halt now….

  7. You must dedicate yourselves completely and totally to covering the Billionaires every day and every night, darling!  Where else shall you find the humor and glamour which we provide?

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    Cannot you just picture it, darling?  Profiles of fabulous Billionaires and their exciting lifestyles!  Billionaire perspective on the news!  Billionaire fashion tips!  Your readership will skyrocket, darling!!  Your fashion sense would become finely tuned!

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    Do at least consider the idea, darling!

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    Toodles!

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    • my favorite member of the ubercapitalist upper class!

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      Cheers, and see you around! Keep that pinky raised!

      • We do so adore the support!  I have posted some amusing and enlightening election night photos on our blog, if you wish to scurry over there.

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        Don’t they illustrate extremely well what I am proposing for BMG?!  Glamour!  Excitement!  Wit! 

  8. I would reccomend that you focus on improving the mechanics of the site.  The politics of the day will continue to drive the content.  The mix of “official” posts and excellent writing of your active participants will continue to make BMG an interesting place.  Your first goal (as “owners”), in my humble opinion, should be to make the blogging/browsing experience as user-friendly as possible.

      • I’m not a particularly computer-savvy person, and I generally find the site very user-friendly, so please take these suggestions with a grain of salt.  The best thing you could do would be to ignore my thoughts while talking to other bloggers and seeking their suggestions.  Nevetheless, a few thoughts:

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        1) Create a “link of the day” item:  Find and prominently display (top of the page?) a key report, study, map, etc (today, for example, I would have used this link:
        http://cache.boston…. – but it could and should usually be something less timely and more substantial like: http://www.masstaxpa…).

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        2) Clean up the existing links.  There are way too many and they lack a needed organizational structure. I’d like to see a “New from Non-Profits” section with new studies/ reports, for example.

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        3) Simplify the threading process.  Sometimes it seems hard to “reply” to a thread and that posts should be “parented” more.  I think.  Again, I’m not a blogger but I do get confused and it does look terrible when it gets to the 4th or 5th reply and it’s all squeezed on the right side.

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        4) Do something about the crappy ads.  If there were less ads but they were more prominently displayed (at the top?), I suspect you could charge more per ad without having to include the siezure-inducing stuff like the “Worst President Ever” ad.  The ads look too cheap.

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        5) Impove and expand upon your “Upcoming Events” calender.  Properly promoted, BMG’s “Blue Events” calander could become the place to go to find out what important events are coming up.

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        That’s all I’ve got of the top of my head.

  9. As I wrote a while back, progressive Democrats now form a de facto party which is more powerful than the Republican party.  Blue Mass Group should highlight the various struggles for power between progressive and non-progressive Democrats.

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    A good first step would be to highlight news about the MA progressive movement: cover what is going on in the DFA groups, the PDA groups, the NetrootsMA group, and the blogosphere generally, as front-page items.  And, may I suggest also, cover the goings-on among unions, MassEquality, and Neighbor to Neighbor.  These are establishment progressive groups which may or may not be our allies from issue to issue.  The relative strength and group dynamics of establishment and netroots progressives is now among the most important long-term stories in MA politics.  BMG is in a good position to cover it thoroughly.

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    As a baby step, I suggest that we celebrate every Friday as “netroots Friday”.  Keep an open thread up all day and ask people to post news from whichever grassroots political group they are involved in.  Then one or two volunteers can work on compiling the comments into a sort of newsletter, available each Monday.  This will help us cover what is going on in the netroots, so we’ll still need to work on covering the establishment.

  10. I think this should become a forum to debate the issues important to this state.

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    We all have different approaches and ideas for the issues; in fact, we probably disagree over just what the issues are.

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    This forum rises above the rest in the state. The intelligent comments, the civility, the focus has been fantastic.

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    A forum like this could even be how our elected leaders put their finger on the pulse of the state. Imagine the power in that!

  11. Deval talks about bringing together disparate groups to work with government for the public good.  For instance, venture capitalists, academics, and scientists to form an incubator in MA for alternative energy research.

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    So, reach out to those groups and have them represented in BMG “special series” posts/interviews to talk about the issues and task forces that will have to be pulled together to make this campaign promise a reality.

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    Also, get rid of those damn blinking BlogAds.  Just get a Google AdSense image account.  They’re less intrusive and might even make you more money, which ought to cover the increasing costs of more people flocking here!

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    Great work.  Keep it up!

    • blogads bring in a LOT more money than Google ads.  But in the future I will try to reject ads that have annoying blinking images.

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      Great ideas about the special series, though.

      • Or if you don’t want to reject them, just edit them to be non-blinking images?  There are a couple in the right-hand column right now that I wish you’d do this to.

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