CNN with Howie Kurtz from 10-11. I should be on in the second half.
I believe the topic will be KSFO, but I'm really in the dark as to what exactly Howie will want to discuss. At my suggestion, they've also invited Dan Riehl, of Riehl World, to debate the topic.
I don't mean to be a dick, but the truth is by the time the 6-7 minute segment is over, CNN will want to hire me as a sanitation engineer because I will have mopped the floor with Mr. Riehl...
Anyway, other news:
DisneyHatesYou.com has hit a snag. My host had his basement flood and took the week off. As soon as it launches, I'll let you know.
In the meantime, here's a tremendous new Youtube to keep you tied over. (Who has the skills for this stuff? It's friggin amazing!)
Finally, this really treads a fine line, but I don't know how else to talk about it from my perspective. What this is is an email I sent to a good friend that runs in fundraising and progressive strategy setting circles. I talk about a very real problem that I'd really like to get some feedback on from everyone. I don't care if your name is George Soros, Richard Mellon Scaife or Bill Gates... Nor does it matter if you don't have two cents to rub together - if you've got a spark of an idea, let me hear it... (I've redacted some of the content to protect identities and to keep other promises of secrecy)
*** and I have been getting pretty angry and frustrated and we really don't know who to talk to. We've both demonstrated an incredible devotion to this cause we're all a part of, but we're both looking towards the future and realizing that something's gonna hafta give or we're gonna be forced to bail out...
We've both got families. My second child is due in July. He just had is first three months ago. Neither of us have hit our career strides yet, but we've both spent endless hours and a not insignificant amount of money (that by all rights should be spent on our families) on "the cause".
we both have high-paying alternatives, or at least serious prospects. He can make plenty of bank as a corporate speech writer, I can do the same as a lawyer...
Neither of us want to change paths - we both love the battle we've joined. But it's looking more and more like we're gonna have to, well, to coin a phrase, move on.
Why? Because we can't afford to keep spinning our wheels doing good work that we can't make a living from. Like anyone else, w're faced with some hard choices. Do we continue spending our own money to further the cause, or do we make sure our kids are going to be able to go to college? Well, that's a no brainer...
So, I'm throwing this conversation back at you. Why is it that when I look around at the Fellows at Center for American Progress, MediaMatters and other progressive organizations, I see all the same people. And to be honest, that's the only place I see them. I don't see them impacting elections or taking on Republicans in a way that excites the base and draws people into the party... ***
I guess my point is that we do shit - we get shit done. The people we see on the boards of all these think-tanks - well, they don't do shit - at least not that we notice. And the same people are paid by all the same organizations - some people I've never heard of are on 4 or 5 diff't boards...
Ugh.
If *** and I (and god knows how many more) give up on this, then it'll be two hard-earned brands thrown in the trash. It'll be people with experience and "institutional knowledge" (such as it is) lost for nothing.
This isn't an explicit fundraising appeal - instead, I'm asking y'all to start conversations with people that run in your circles about how you can incentivise activism. I know people don't want to pay for shit that's already been done, but activism, by it's very nature, is mostly spur of the moment. I've ranted and rambled, but I think it's time somebody started talking about this.
Best,
Mike