The Washington Post has determined in its infinite wisdom that BMG is the best political blog in Massachusetts. Thanks WaPo!
Of course, that really means that you, the readers of BMG, 95,315 individuals last month according to StatCounter, are a source of political excellence. “You have the power:” it’s not just a slogan, it’s reality. Look at this page: eight of the last 10 posts are written by community members, as opposed to the three Editors, and virtually all of the hundreds of excellent comments in the past week are from readers. My own contribution, for example, in the past 10 posts is limited to a rather feeble recycling of jokes from the late night shows (better, no doubt, than my even more feeble attempts at political analysis).
Click here for the complete list of, “Best of the State Politics Blogs,” from The Fix by Chris Cillizza. And, if you haven’t done so already, please don’t forget vote for us, if you so desire, in The Phoenix 2008 Reader’s Poll (note that you have to vote for us, and then, confusingly, separately click “Submit” for your vote to count in the Phoenix survey).
Power to the people!
BMG has become a daily must-read for me over the last year. Cheers to everyone in this community for the thoughtful perspective you bring on today’s issues in Massachusetts!
This site wouldn’t be what it is without the continual stewardship and dedication of David, Bob and Charley. I’ve been gradually sucked into BMG over the past few years, at first occasionally glancing at it, then occasionally blogging, and now seemingly a daily reader (and still occasional blogger). And I have quite enjoyed it. Thanks. I hope when the Globe has the wisdom to hire you all for their op-ed pages you keep this site going. The NYT has a Freakonomics authors’ (and now readers’) blog afterall; it’s not a novel idea to connect a mainstream newspaper to a blog.
<
p>On a related tangent, my wife is reading the book Bowling Alone now, which is about the loss of community and civic groups in the US over the past number of decades (colorfully exemplified by the loss of bowling leagues). Blogs like this are one of the few things that run “against the tide”, pulling citizens and helping to encourage discussion and interest in local issues. I only wish there was a stronger Cape presence on BMG (where I live), and that I wasn’t so far from the BMG socials. How about a BMG bowling league? Or at least BMG bowling shirts.
<
p>Another (less) related tangent, I just started a blog called elemental cycles. Scientists blogging is a rare but interesting phenomenon, I thought I’d join the experiment. I’ll copy some of my old postings from BMG that I liked (and cross-post new ones of course), and presumably I’ll write some science related postings someday as well.
…I’ll buy you a cup of coffee before your town meeting!
Where are you?
BUT – I expect to be at your town meeting, with my gaggle of signature gatherers for our various races.
Congrats!
The Washington Post’s recognition of BMG is well deserved. Congratulation to the site and the contributors.
<
p>It does take a village!
Congratulations. Do you get a statue or plaque or subscription or something?
but the hell with the WaPo for overlooking the Chimes at Midnight.
<
p>They will pay for that.
<
p>Elias
Hopefully this blog will lead to bigger and better things for all of you guys.
<
p>One small note.
Looking through Cillizza’s list of states and their blogs, I noticed that BMG was the only representative from MA, while RI, NH and ME all had 3. Many states have 5 or 6 blogs listed, and even VT had 2.
<
p>I know that there are a number of other good political blogs in MA (I’m blogless), so it struck me as a little odd that only BMG was listed.
<
p>Come clean Bob, was it the anonymous death threats to Cillizzi, or the cash incentives?
I didn’t even know about Cillizzi’s project until I saw it mentioned by someone else in a different context. I have no idea why BMG is the only blog listed for MA. Certainly, if Mr. Cillizzi knows what’s good for him, he will include Chimes at Midnight (see above). Personally, I think he should put our entire local blogroll on his list. Go MA blogs!