Happy Blogbirthversary To Us!

It was nine years ago that there was a rip in the time/space continuum of the cheddarsphere when my friend and mentor, Jay Bullock, gave me a key to his domain, folkbum's rambles and rants. Jay taught me a lot, including how to temper my rhetoric and how to verify everything I'm told, even if it comes from "a friend."

Shortly after I started making my presence known, I became a contributor and eventually administrator at Whallah!, a site dedicated to exposing the lies of the right wing media.

Then eight years ago this day, with the help of many friends, I launched this here blog that we affectionately call Cog Dis.

Since then, I've seen a lot of things, both in my personal and in my blogger life.

I've had to deal with the death of my father and cleaning his hoarder house and then finally moving back into my childhood home.  I've had been through the political retaliation that Walker had pulled on me.  I gained my 15 minutes of international fame when I busted him on his infamous Black Friday fundraiser email.

I've also had many great contributors join me here.  A special salute to my brother-in-blog, Jeff Simpson, who's been a great partner in causing havoc and mayhem among Teapublicans and Republicrats alike.

Not only has the blog grown by leaps and bounds, but so have I.  It's been nearly two years now that I became a contributor to the nationally renowned site, Crooks and Liars, giving me a national platform to expose Scott Walker's lies and corruption.

But most important of all, gentle reader, is you and your patronage.  Whether you're a long time reader, new to the bog or just an occasional visitor, it is you that keep us going.  Without you, we'd be just spitting into the wind of our own little echo chamber.  You are the thing that keeps us going and getting up everyday to resume the fight for all that is good.

So, thank you most of all!

Now, if you'll excuse me, have some cake and let's see what kind of hell we can raise next.

After all - say it with me! - there's more.  There's always more.

Happy (Belated) Blogbirthversary To Me!

With all the sturm und drang of fighting to regain our independence from the dark corporate overlords, I done completely forgot that Saturday was by blogbirthversary.

I've been a part of the Cheddarsphere for four years now and Cognitive Dissidence has been battling against the forces of evil for three years now.

The whole sordid history is here.

But I have to admit, this past year has been a bit more...interesting.

Long story short: If you don't like what I do, blame folkbum.

If you like what I do, please send money.

Maybe They Should've Worn Tea Bags On Their Hats

Last night, I told you about a town hall meeting being hosted by Leah Vukmir and her guest Frank James Sensenbrenner.

The turn out was excellent, with several hundred pro-Wisconsinites showing up to protest Vukmir's support of stripping the rights from hard working men and women, not to mention stripping health care coverage from the vulnerable and selling state assets in no bid contracts.

But unlike Russ Feingold, who was confronted by angry Kochian Teahadists, and listened to their grievances, Vukmir and Sensenbrenner took their gavels and went home:

U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) ended a town hall meeting Monday night after about 30 minutes after repeated interruptions by opponents of Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill. 

Interruptions in the form of shouts and jeers were in response to the presence of state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) and her support of the bill, which would largely strip away the collective bargaining rights of public employees in Wisconsin. 

Attendees packed a meeting room in the Wauwatosa Public Library while an adjacent hallway was filled with the meeting's overflow. Budget bill opponents hoping to recall Vukmir gathered signatures in the lobby of the Wauwatosa Civic Center while outside about 75 protesters denounced the bill and called for Walker's recall.

The rest of the article is statements from frustrated attendees who feel they weren't being heard, much less listened to, by their elected leaders.

Team folbum also had their correspondent there, with their own accounting of the night's activities.

Well, I thought to myself, surely those morally upright defenders of truth and honesty will condemn Vukmir and Sensenbrenner for not listening to the tax payers and the voters, just like they did to Feingold (even though Feingold actually stayed and listened, not once, but 72 times).  Right?! Yeah, not so much.

Oh, Lookie, Lookie!

Oh boy, lookie here!

Oh boy, lookie there!

An Illusory Folkbum Production

If Jay Bullock and Tom Foley ever joined forces on a project, I think it would come out looking something like this:


Source

Now Back To Our Regular Scheduled Programming

I realize that most people who read this site also read the site that brought me into the blogging world, folkbum's rambles and rants. But just in case one of my 5.3 readers wasn't aware, Jay Bullock, top rambler and ranter over there, is my friend and did a lot to help me get on my way to this "successful" blogsite.

So when he put out a notice that he was looking for help, I figured I owed it to him to put up some of my Pulitzer Prize Nominee caliber posts, just so he can get two or three more hits to the gazillion he gets every day.

I wrote about the life and the death of Alexander Orlowski, and inmate at the House of Correction that died from an accidental overdose.

Tonight, I wrote about the aftermath of his death.

But for now, I will be returning to normal and trying to split myself in two ways, instead of three, as I try to keep up here and over there.

If Palin Had Said No To McCain*

Last week, my friend, Greg Kowalski, despite sage advise from yours truly, as well as others, was lamenting about not making the top twenty in the BNN Influence Index. In the comment thread, I pointed out that this index rating system is, to be kind, a bit bizarre and rather meaningless.

To make my point even stronger, this week shows that Cog Dis, with my 2.3 readers, is now ranked number 19 for the state. What I find even funnier is that this site, for the second straight week, is listed as the second most influential liberal blog, right after the might folkbum's (of which I was a regular, but now only, occasional, contributor).

In all honesty, most any of the liberal bloggers on the blogroll in the right column should be higher than moi, in my opinion. But like I said before, these indices should be taken with a grain of salt.

Or so I thought. Apparently, some really do take them a bit more seriously than I do.

Apparently disappointed about not getting the nod to be McCain's pick for Veep, John Heneghan of Georgia, has put his BNN ranking as one of his qualifications to run for public office. (Tip of the crown to David Mastio.)

Perhaps this explains why James Wigderson is so interested in his rankings. He is apparently planning on running against Owen Robinson for some office or another.

Whoever wins that runoff doesn't matter. My money is on Jay Bullock.

*Watch the comments to see if I get scolded by David again.

Funniest. Comment. Evah.

From a comment thread at this post on folkbum's:

I have read that Jindal is a Sikh who took the governor's oath on the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Odds are the Cryptkeeper will tap the Chocolate Krishna to balance out his pasty paleness.Hermann 08.21.08 - 10:07 am

It's a perfect parody of how inane the right's arguments are about Obama.