Blog Florida Blue Logo Contest Winner

We have a winner in the Blog Florida Blue Logo Contest. And here it is:




Many thanks to Storm Bear for submitting the winning logo.

So, what are we going to do with this fantastic logo? Well, we have a lot of work to do to Blog Florida Blue , so let's talk about it below the fold...


First, I would once again like to thank all the very talented Kossacks out there who submitted designs for the Blog Florida Blue Logo. As one who can't draw a straight line with a ruler, I am in awe of all the creative talent in this community.

As I stated in the Blog Florida Blue diary back in May:

I'd like to invite all Florida bloggers to adopt this brand name (and now this logo) whenever they are blogging on the effort to elect Democrats and build the Democratic Party in Florida. Blog Florida Blue can be a powerful branding device linking otherwise disparate efforts from Key West to Pensacola.

There are a lot of interesting things going on in the Florida blogosphere and the Florida Netroots these days. In June, we had the Bloggers Luncheon at the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) Jefferson Jackson Weekend. There are too many things going on at the Florida Progressive Coalition to mention in a single diary. One item of particular interest is Florida Progressive Radio. This is done through Blog Talk Radio. Their second show had FDP Internet Director Phillip Perry as their special guest. I particularly liked FPC guru Ken Quinell's Crashing the Gates in Florida Diary.

In the end though, the point of all this activity is to get more Democrats elected to public office. Since this is a Presidential election cycle, there is a huge amount of interest being paid to that particular process, and rightly so. However, if we are really going to be successful in Blogging Florida Blue, we are going to have to think longer term and more strategically. Sites like Build Florida's DEC's can help us do that, because we definitely need help building our party infrastructure. We just had a special election for an open Florida State Senate seat (SD-3). This election did not go the way we wanted for any number of reasons. There are a lot of good diaries that gave tactical reasons why we were not successful. In Reflections on SD-3 , I take a more strategic look at the loss.

We also need to pay a lot more attention to "building our bench" here in Florida. Local elected officials are like stocking your farm team with up and coming talent. Most of the best candidates for higher office have had prior public service experience, mostly as elected public officials on the local level. Congresswoman Kathy Castor was a Hillsborough County commissioner first. State Representative Rick Kriseman was a St. Petersburg City Council Member before getting elected to the Legislature. And if you think losing an election is the end of a political career, think again. The best political move our Governor Charlie Crist ever made was taking on a losing effort against US Senator Bob Graham.

We have a lot of work left to do to Blog Florida Blue. But we have a great launching pad coming up in October at the Florida Democratic Party Convention in Orlando. We are going to have the Bloggers Conference as an official part of the agenda. And we are looking for a special guest speaker to keynote the Bloggers Conference. We have already started putting out feelers to get a certain guy named Markos from DailyKos to give the keynote address. So I just want to end this little missive with a shout out:

Attend our effing Convention Kos!

Message From a Floridian in Afghanistan

Something really interesting and really moving has happened recently in the Florida Blogosphere. Meowmissy announced the creation of the Florida NetRoots blog. This is a welcome addition to the ongoing effort to Blog Florida Blue . It has been welcomed by progressive blogs across Florida including the Florida Progressive Coalition and Florida Kossacks. This is, in and of itself, an interesting development.

What happened next is the really moving part. It truly is amazing to realize the reach of the blogoshpere. To find out what has moved me so, follow along....


After announcing the Florida NetRoots blog, meowmissy let us know she had been contacted by

a servicemen from Walton County currently serving in Afghanistan. He asked how he could help with the blog.

For those of you not familiar with Walton County Florida, I have one little statistic for you. George W. Bush beat John Kerry there 73% to 26% in 2004.

In response to his question of how he could help with the blog, I asked meowmissy to forward a couple of questions for me:

First, what do both active duty military folks and veterans think is the best way to support our troops in Iraq?

The second is how do the veterans feel about the current administrations' pronouncements about supporting our troops versus their actual delivery of services (health care, etc) to veterans?

Meowmissy had also been contacted by someone serving on the Executive Committee of the Florida Veterans for Common Sense . She passed along those questions and one of her own:

And how do they feel about the recent vote to continue funding the war?

It is the answers to these questions that have moved me to write this diary. Let's take the last question (Iraq funding) first. Our soldiers' response to this question was most eloquent:

...not much talk about this (Iraq funding) in Afghanistan. About the only thing I hear when people mention it is that someone will usually say something to the effect of "We need to get out of there. That place is a shit hole."

One thing I'd like you to express to your group. IRAQ IS NOT THE ONLY WAR.

People are getting shot at, dodging IEDs and dying everyday here in Afghanistan, and the American people and the MSM have generally forgotten about us. When we were extended to 15 months, most people I told had no clue, because the media only reported that Soldiers in Iraq would be extended. Everyday someone dies in Iraq it is reported in the MSM, but when a soldier in my unit was killed, it was never reported.

The next part of the response reinforces how Hillary Clinton really blew it in the New Hampshire debate when she repeated the Buschco frame:

I believe we are safer than we were. We are not yet safe enough.

Our Florida soldier relates this about the war in Afghanistan:

This war is just. I implore anyone who disagrees to come to this country and see what we are fighting and how we are helping. However, I believe our continued presence in this country to be more immoral than our presence in Iraq. This may sound confusing, but remember this: There is actually a mission here. There is actually an enemy which we can define. There is a clear goal to the operation. However, we have been here for nearly six years. In six years, a nation with the greatest military capability in the history of the world has not been able to defeat a third world shadow government. This is not to say that the troops on the ground have failed, or that the U.S. is not able to win this war. The problem is that this administration has been distracted by a war created and continued by deceit and pride. (Emphasis added)

Our Florida soldier goes on to relate to us his feelings about a recent terrible incident in Afghanistan:

A few days ago, five brave Americans were killed. My reaction was, "and for what?" Why did those men have to die? True, they died fighting a righteous fight, but why are we still fighting it? Why are we still here? Why have we not defeated our enemy here? Why are brave men still dying? Again, because this administration is too eager to save face to commit resources to a just and winnable war.

The most terrible thing is that this is not isolated. This has become the modus operandi for this administration. Resources are committed out of pride to Iraq, so we cannot help victims of national disasters in Louisiana and Kansas. We cannot help our poor because we must give tax breaks to the rich. We cannot aid the sick, because we must aid Big-Rx .... We can not slow the energy crisis or global warming, because we must aid the oil corporations. This administration has a record that is at best immoral and at worst criminal of ignoring big problems that we can actually do something about, in order to protect pride and cronyism.(Emphasis added)

If these feelings of our fellow Floridian, serving in Afghanistan, are being felt in Walton County, I would bet you the 2008 election there will not go to the Republican nominee by a 73% to 26% margin.

Now let's all say a prayer for the safe return of our fellow Floridian.

Welcome to Florida Netroots

Blog Florida Blue

We have a brand new entrant into the Florida Blogosphere. Yesterday, Florida Netroots made its entrance onto the stage of progressive Florida blogs. Much as Florida Kossacks grew out of the Florida Kossacks Mail List, Florida Netroots blog was given birth by the Florida Netroots Yahoo Group.

The founder of the Florida Netroots Yahoo Group and now the Florida Netroots Blog is committed netroots activist Meowmissy (aka Webrageous). Here is Meowmissy's self description from her DailyKos profile:

Web Developer, Public Servant, Cat Lover. When I get my act together I'd like to add writer and photographer to the list.

I'd say she pretty much has her act together already.

Here is the description of the Florida Netroots blog:

The Florida Netroots supports and promotes activism at the local and state level in Florida in order to ensure the election of more Democrats to public office.

The first entry in the Florida Netroots blog marked the debut of a great new project, Better Know Florida :

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Stephen Colbert's ongoing series "Better Know a District" where he does humorous interviews with members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Florida Netroots Blog is going to try out it's own "Better Know" series with categories like "Better Know a State Legislator", "Better Know a Local Official" and "Better Know a Candidate" where contributors to the blog write diaries about specific state or local politicians here in Florida.

The focus is on state and local politicians because the Democratic Party in Florida is in serious need of a strong bench. We won't have good candidates to run for Congress without first recruiting and promoting folks who run for local and state office.

Our mission, in part, is to educate ourselves and others about state and local politics. Together we can Blog Florida Blue .

I think that is a terrific mission statement. I want to encourage you all to check out Florida Netroots and show meowmissy some love.

Welcome to the fight in the Florida blogosphere.

Blog Florida Blue