Commenter Outsider posted this:
Ta-Nehesi, I've been so disappointed not only in the mainstream media but in the blogs, including yours, for not posting more on this. The Times ran a story on voter caging a few weeks ago, and few people picked it up. They also brought up problems with voter registration. There is clearly one party that is getting out the vote, and another that is working on keeping it in. And when the vote is kept in, poor people and people of color are disproportionately affected.
There is lots more to post on this issue, so where have you been?
He's right. I've been seeing some of the stuff on voter caging and voter-fraud and I haven't covered it a whole lot here. But you guys know me well--I maintain this blog, try to keep the
comments productive, do some long-form writing, kiss my baby when I see
her, talk to the kids when I can, and raise my own somewhere in between. I'm going to miss some things in the course of all of that.
If you feel like I'm really really missing something big then let me offer a suggestion--start your own blog. I want to distance myself from people who throw that out there in a sarcastic manner because they're getting shit from their commenters. In this instance, I really, really mean it. There's a lot going on out there, and we need people to bring it to light. Don't think anyone will read it? Send me a link, and I'll do what I can. Also scroll back through the early days of this blog? See any comments? It takes time to build an audience--and then time to maintain it.
No disrespect intended at all, but If you really think this army ain't up to snuff, then dammit, stop shouting from the sidelines. Grab your guns, and let's do the damn thing,
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Fair point but - and this isn't meant sarcastically - the election is pretty near. By the time the guy gets the audience, it's 2010.
Much, much respect for acknowledging my criticism straight-forwardly. I'm very impressed.
James is right, too, though. I don't have an audience.
Seems like by the time you gain a blog on The Atlantic, you have some responsibility to give coverage to this stuff. But then, you're not the NY Times, so it's not the same type of responsibility.
The thing is, it wasn't just you that didn't cover this. I read Matt, Huffington Post, 538, and either I missed it or I rarely saw anything posted anywhere when the voter caging in Michigan story broke. I want to know why no one has paid this much attention.
Anyway, you got my respect with that post.
2nd post. This news From AlterNet will blow your mind:
"AlterNet found that some states facing Justice Department pressure to purge voters have long been targeted by GOP "vote fraud" activists, especially where concentrations of minority voters have historically elected Democrats -- such as St. Louis, Philadelphia and South Dakota's Indian reservations. One of those Republican activists who is now a Federal Election Commission member, Hans Von Spakovsky, started the department's purge effort in January 2005 when he was a political appointee overseeing the Voting Section's legal agenda, according to former Voting Section attorneys who worked with him then."
More here: http://www.alternet.org/rights/62133/
Here is a Voter Suppression Wiki that was started about a month ago, trying to keep track of all this. Sad to say, the articles have been coming in so fast, I don't know if everything is there.
http://votersuppressionwiki.wetpaint.com/?t=anon
Here is the Incident Tracker
http://votersuppressionwiki.wetpaint.com/page/Incident+Tracker
The only positive news I've heard on this front is from Montana from all places. The GOP tried AGAIN to throw voters off the rolls, but, they were bitchslapped and had to back down.
In TNC's defense, there is no possible way for an individual blogger to keep track of all this shit for us. It is our responsibility to HELP. And, by god, he is right about starting your own blog if you don't see your message out there. Christ - it takes all of about five minutes, and
For what it is worth, there has been tons of discussion on voter suppression on DailyKos, where I also check in at least ten times a day. And where the hell was 538 six months ago? Posting as "poblano" on Kos.
And, it is showing up in the MSM all over the place, as of yesterday and today.
"There is clearly one party that is getting out the vote, and another that is working on keeping it in."
Unfortunately, this is simply not true. See the link below about the democratic Ohio Secretary of State attempting to disqualify republican ballots. http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/10/court_to_secretary_accept_mcca.html
Also, it's vry important in getting out the not to commit fraud. I suggest you look up articles in the Seattle PI about the 2004 Washington governor's election. Hundreds of voters all turned out to live in the same Seattle self storage complex.
There is plenty of BS from both parties.
Mr Coates, Your blog is excellent. Cover what you want to cover, when you want to cover it, at the pace that seems right to you. Most people read blogs because of the continual updates, the "fresh" perspectives on what's happening, and the particular slant that the blogger brings. Your blog is refreshing, often hilarious, and now my favorite of all the Atlantic blogs (I bounced over to you from Sullivan's, who I've been reading for years).
Sometimes when I hit refresh and you haven't updated since my last read, I get irritated! Keep up the good work!
Are you going for 'anecdote equals equivalence' him JimS?
Both parties do it. One does it far, far more than the other, and (perhaps more importantly) is also much better at it.
I enjoy your blog for a pair of reasons that continue to shine brighter than all others:
Your remarkable ability to link the premise of a post with a single hip-hop verse.
And through your posts, you're able to push that fragile balance between job, woman, home, kid, errands, emergencies, and passions onto your audience.