Gold Star Awards, October, 2010

Wow.  It's been a busy month, here at IMHO.  26 Posts to date - well over my previous, personal record.  And some of them were even pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I've got at least one more post that needs to go up before election day, and there are some un-replied-to comments that I have to answer (or at least acknowledge) as well.  (And hanks again to everyone who comments - it's hearing from all of you that really makes this worthwhile for me!) And before the month is over, I want to make sure I get the new GOLD STAR's announced for October, while we're still IN October.  So, without further ado, we're up to 1954 now, and that means three Gold's, no Silver's.


The Bill Dickey Gold Star #26: YouTube

This has been SUCH a long time coming.  Of all of the iconic, marquis web pages out there (ebay, google, amazon, etc...) YouTube is, far and away, the most important. In fact, I'll go so far as to call it the greatest innovation in and tool for freedom of speech and freedom of information since the First Amendment.  YouTube makes each and every one of us a journalist, as political commentator, an infotainer, a pundit, a talk show host, and an activist.  It gives everyone a voice and everyone a platform.  And with the Mainstream Media growing more useless every year, stories such as those of Lauren Valle and Kenneth Gladney get what might be the best, most objective treatment, in the chaotic free-for-all that is YouTube.  Never again will "they" be able to suppress the story, or hide the truth.  It' possible that YouTube didn't think they'd change the world when they started out.  And given the preponderance of 10 year old i-Carly wannabe's, there's some fairness in rolling your eye's at this depiction of them.  But we now live in a world in which the information is controlled by the people, and once a single person has it, the WORLD has it.  And that may be the most powerful tool for Democracy since the Constitution.


The Rabbit Maranville Gold Star #27: HuffPo

Right up front, let me clear something up: I am not a huge fan of HuffPo.  But "Rabbit Maranville" is about as obscure a Gold Star as you can get, so now is as good a time as any to acknowledge, and give due credit, to what HuffPo represents.  A Liberal Platform, yes, but far more importantly a MODEL combining blogging, journalism, editorializing, punditry and reader input.  Many have followed, and few have achieved the scope, reach, audience or level of name recognition that the Huffington Post has.  Arianna is the reason many of us are here, doing what we do, and why we might be taken the least bit seriously by anyone outside our core audience.  So what DON'T I like?  Meh...  IMHO, there's just too much Celebrity Fluff more my tastes.  Not enough Kutner and Reich, and way to much Baldwin.  But that's fine.  It is what it is.  It's not The American Prospect, after all, nor is it...


The Bill Terry Gold Star #28: The Humanist

THIS is more like it.  I'll admit that I read them less than I read some other (like TAP) and less than I probably SHOULD or NEED TO, because they really do a fantastic job of digging into the really meaty, political and philosophical issues, going well beyond merely a liberal, or even a humanist perspective and looking at things from all angles.  Which, if they have one, may be their biggest flaw: They make my head spin.  But I highly recommend them for anyone who really wants to THINK.  (Of course, given the polls of late, that's a painfully minute audience, but still: It's still about the strongest endorsement I can give.)


I should get to everyone's comments tonight.  Have great weekend and a safe and fun Halloween everybody!