Grateful Dead

We may be going to Hell in a Bucket, but at least we’re enjoying the ride.

Some of it, anyway.

To all our friends

I’d like to thank the following people for the wonderful year that has been 2008:

WordPress.  Without you, we wouldn’t be here.  You gave us shelter from a storm.  You value a freedom of expression and have made this a very user friendly place to be.  Without you, we might have been forced to go to Google blogger and risked being silenced when our voices were needed most.

To the former Kossacks who followed me into exile, thank you so much for having courage.  I know it can’t have been easy to go against the tide of public opinion.  You listened to your inner voice, the one that was grounded in your principles.  Without you, there would be no Confluence community.

To the cross posters and bloggers who created wonderful, interesting content every single day, thank you so much.  You are like the tributaries to this confluence.  Each voice is unique and brings a different perspective, expertise and passion to these pages.  Without you, the flood of mighty waters would be a mere trickle.

To the commenters who make each day a joy.  You add so much to the conversation.  Even the ones where we disagree are a lot of fun (trolls, don’t get your hopes up).  Without you, there would be no burbling in our stream.

To all of our friends at other blogs, thank you for opening our eyes and keeping us from being an echo chamber.  Without you, we wouldn’t know about “linky goodness” or the battle between Trumanites and Stevensonians.

To my BFF who has shown so much patience this year.  You made it Ok for me to ignore you when it wasn’t really Ok.  But you also gave me the space to figure out where this community was going.  Without your support, none of this would be possible.  (I know you consider that a mixed blessing but there is no doubt in my mind that I am the one blessed.)

To Hillary Clinton, thank you so much for showing us how to persevere under pressure with intelligence and grace.  We hear the dogs barking and we are going to keep going.  Without you, we would not have seen that it is possible to triumph in the most difficult environment possible.  Now we know that all things are possible.  We will pick up the ball and carry it as far down the field as we can.  This task is appointed to us now.

Happy New Year to all!  May the creator bring you a prosperous and happy new year.

Together, we go forward.

Never look back.

My New Year’s Prediction: They Will Never Defeat Her – Or Us

Famous, Fierce and Fabulous

Remember how the frustrated Obama bloggers and the corporate media were screaming “Why Won’t That Stupid Bitch Quit” after Super Tuesday, claiming that Hillary was merely staying in the race for some strange, evil, stalker-ish reason? She was like Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction” to some, a racist who was trying to stand in the way of their Beloved Precious’ Big Moment to others. Never did they give a moment’s ink to the fact that Hillary and Obama were tied in pledged delegates, even with the unearned delegates that Obama stole from Hillary in Michigan and the artificial discounting of her delegates from Florida. Nor did they pause to reflect that Obama could just as well be seen as standing in Hillary’s way. She had been earning her stripes in Democratic politics for decades, whereas he had burst on the scene out of nowhere in 2004.

But, as we know, the Obamatons were victorious. And Hillary, in accordance with their fervent desires, has slunk away into obscurity, as befits a person with scary ladyparts whose last name is Clinton.

Or…maybe not.

New Year’s Eve 2008: The year in pictures

Here is the photo that says it all:  The August 25 protest that PUMA did in front of the MSNBC kiosk in Denver.  We literally drowned out the wimpy assed Obamaphiles who were milling around and jeered Chris Matthews when he showed up on the set.  Harriet Christian is holding up the big sign.  She has the yellow plaid shirt on.  And somewhere in this crowd is smarmy Rebecca Traister from Salon who called me minutes before this event.  I told her to meet us there.  I never saw or spoke to her.  We were loud, fearless and came in all stripes, ages, professions, walks of life and lifestyles.  Traister just filled out the typical old, uneducated, working class sino-peruvian lesbian meme worksheet, filed it and called it a day.  I’d call her a bitch but that would be kind.  Simofish has this youtube video of the protest:

The August 25 protest that the media never heard about

The media were all over PUMA HQ but had their story already written

A TX Hillary Delegate I ran into on the street in Denver

RD, trying to cope with bad haircut all summer (jesse in pic above)

LadyBoomerNYC: Caption this photo

Sam Gamgee, Sean Astin, cheering us up the mountain in PA in April

Some of these pics were taken with my phone so they aren’t professional grade.  Do you have any notable pics you want to add to a Confluence slideshow?  Send them to me at theconfluence08 at yahoo dot com and I’ll put one together.