Hokey dokey...Al Giordano is one of the brightest stars in the progressive blogging community. Incisive, steady and penetrating progressive commentary on the primaries and election cycle.
As some of you may know, his preeminent blog...The Field...moved from Rural Votes to its NEW home as a result of contretemps arising from Al citing Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals in a post about organizing. (Censored for Alinsky? Sheeeesh!!!! Go figger! Oh well.)
More after the flip
You can now read the details about the apparent Stalinist boot coming down on Al over at this this post by Al. If one reads Al's post on the purge, one can read for oneself the e-mails that he received from Deb Kozikowski, the "guiding light" of Rural Votes and form their own conclusion. It makes for gripping reading.
But there is more...Prior to the move, Rural Vote had solicited money to send Al to Denver. Here is a portion of the post by Deb Kozikowski, a scant three or four weeks ago.
"It’s absolutely imperative that we send Al to the convention.
- snip -
"If enough readers of The Field donate or pledge a total of $5,000 by May 31, we’ll be able to assure that this historic convention will be reported live from Denver with all the accuracy, insight and investigation that has made Al Giordano the "must read" for political reporters and junkies throughout 2008.
"(Plus, I get a certain thrill thinking about going to some of the most important events accompanied by the notorious Al, who has the attention of nearly everybody, inside and outside, who will be there.)
- snip -
"So if you think this is a good idea, and want to read Al’s reports from the convention floor and every other corner he would report from in Denver, let us know in the comments section the amount you can pledge by May 31."
Given the split, Rural Votes has apparently decided to withhold Al's credentials. In addition, while they have been returning monies to individuals who request a refund, they have NOT given Al the balance that was raised to send him to Denver (and much of the money that was given to fund his writing to begin with.)
But this is the progressive community. Instead of whining and fighting, there are positive steps that we can take to do something about this. waterprise2 (aka Pam) has started an online petition urging the DNC to give credentials to Al. I heartily invite folks to take advantage of this opportunity to let the DNC know that Al is deserving of a place at the table. The community at large will be the richer.
Petition - Give The Field Credentials