A Progressive on the Prairie

My recent libel analysis led to linkage from the right, the left and the nonpartisan. But yesterday in the otherwhirled, I was officially labeled a “pissant provocateur.” I take Commander Other’s designation as it is meant, a compliment. Therefore, I shall adhere to the rules and bewstow the award to five other pissant bloggers.

The guidelines for being a pissant provocateur? Commander Other picked a good summary:

1. The award recipients are pissants – i.e., they’re not the biggest bloggers in the ’sphere, they’re not Kos or Hewitt, but their attitudes and proficiencies more than make up for their rankings.

2. They are provocateurs – i.e., they provoke other people into thinking about and responding to subjects they might not otherwise think about and respond to.

3. By virtue of the first two traits, they advance the intrinsic value of a government that is closely, evenly divided between partisans, so no one party has outright control of the outcomes, recognizing that (a) divided government honors the check-and-balance intent of the founding fathers; and (b) divided government tends to work better; reference the Reagan and Clinton years versus the Carter and Bush #43 years.

Like the Commander, I don’t know that I necessarily agree with the Reagan and Clinton references but I’m all for checks and balances. I also particularly like provocateurs, at least those who provoke people into thinking. Although it may be implied in the rules the Commander posted, I supplemented them with the requirement that they had to be blogs I subscribe to in my RSS reader and list on the blogroll to the right. If not, they are occasional diversions, not true pissant provocateurs.

Interestingly, most of my selections are from the SD blogosphere. With a drum roll (likely missing a beat or two) my selections, in alphabetical order, are:

1. Confusion of Ideas. Breakerslion doesn’t post extensively. But when it comes to provoking thought, it’s hard to dispute that his substantive posts do just that. After all, he’s argued that marriage is immoral and brought a smile to my face with his look at religious icons people see in objects. You may not always agree but you will stop and think.
2. The MinusCar Project. If one form of provocation is to get people thinking about things from a different perspective and to ponder whether we need to take certain ideas into consideration in both politics and our lives, my friend MinusCar man is a shoo-in. What began as a project to see if it was possible to survive in the Northern Plains without a car has branched into his continuing effort to “de-motorize” and make minus the new plus. Throw in occasional other diversions and Michael makes us think outside our all too comfortable norms.
3. rant-a-bit. My fandom started back in the days of Tempest, when I always awaited the annual “people who should get out of town” awards. Scott Hudson takes his discriminating eye toward music and the arts and also applies it to pierce a lot of the b.s. that pervades local issues, local media and various personalities.
4. A Sect of Myself. Hopefully, this nomination is not too premature as TSD is a relative newcomer to the blogosphere. The initial signs are right up my alley, though. I mean, how could I not tab a liberal Democrat extremely concerned about the religious right and its effect on America — and who actually lives in Sioux Falls?????
5. Straight Talk. Joel and I disagree on a lot of things. In fact, there’s some things we agree not to discuss ’cause we know we’re simply at loggerheads. That said, I read Joel’s blog because he brings an educated insight to local, state and national issues that is expressed with thought (unlike me, who occasionally engages mouth before brain). Realistic dialectic can not exist unless you’re willing to see what someone on the other side of the political spectrum thinks. Of course, what a lot of people (including me) probably would really like to know is stuff Joel doesn’t talk about on his blog.

There’s my list and I am obligated to tell the honorees they have been “tagged” and are to follow the rules as laid out by the Commander in his post. Of course, some pissant provocateurs look askance at concepts such as tagging — and they are free to do so.

“Among the Handlers,” Michael Bishop, At the City Limits of Fate