Keeping up with Fishersville Mike

In my internet journey today, there's no need to "catch up" with local blogger Fishersville Mike since I regularly pop in on him. We are both listed on the Staunton News Leader aggregator and sometimes cross paths while out and about the SWAC area, most notably at the Mitt Romney rally in October 2012 at Expoland in Fishersville. A fellow member of Smitty's Axis of Fedorables, Mike is a crossroads for many of the other bloggers with a running blog update on his sidebar.

The only thing I could disagree with him about is his Grumpy Cat on the sidebar with the warning, "Let it snow somewhere else." LOL. I'm a snow lover but it sounds like my fellow SWAC blogger would like to jump from Christmas straight into spring.

I've been to see Pat in Shreveport today as well as Smitty at The Other McCain. Here's a wave at Mike in Fishersville just a short hop from my corner of Augusta County ... I'm on my way to visit another blogger friend. Happy 2014!

A visit with Pat in Shreveport

I've been negligent recently in checking out many of my fellow bloggers around the internet so decided to head down to Shreveport to check in on blogger Pat Austin, a teacher who writes "And so it goes in Shreveport."

Pat writes in a style very similar to mine ... a little of this, a little of that. We both have our feet firmly planted in politics but also enjoy sharing our windows on the world wherever we go. She could easily be called a photo-blogger because she has shared photos of the sights and events in her corner of the world including antique shops, towns, and other areas as well as people and places.

One of my favorites is her regular post featuring her roundup of what's going on with other blogs, something I haven't done for a while and really should try to reincorporate into my blogging.

Now that I've dropped in on Pat, it's time to travel around and stop by some others whose blogs I haven't visited during the past busy months. It's the new year and what better way to kick it off than with long-time blogger friends. Enjoy your day ... I'm sure I'll enjoy mine!

Congratulations ... a new little McCain is born

The newest little McCain has hit the world at a bouncing 8 pounds, 3 ounces, as announced by proud first-time grandpa and blogger extraordinaire Stacy McCain:

My first grandchild -- 8 pounds, 3 ounces -- James William McCain Jr. Congratulations, Jim and Danielle!

Pop on over to The Other McCain and see the pictures. Congratulations to the McCain family!

Announcing VPOD: 'Virginia Politics On Demand -- Conservative Reason for the Commonwealth'

There's a new source for conservative commentary and political analysis in Virginia.

Some of Virginia’s best writers, broadcasters, and humorists -– and all keen conservative political observers – have launched “Virginia Politics On Demand,” a new Web site for information and commentary.

The site, which can be found at http://vapolitics.us, offers insightful analysis and original information to the Virginia political conversation.

"Many political web sites focus on advocacy, and there's a need for that, but our goal is to be more analytical and original," said J.R. Hoeft, the publisher of VPOD. "We want to help Virginians understand why something is happening, not why we want something to happen; and, we want to provide unique information, not something you can read somewhere else."

In addition to politics, the site will provide perspective on history, economics, society and culture, and how they affect today's political landscape. Two opinion leaders will also offer their thoughts on major topic, but from different conservative perspectives, and the audience will have the opportunity to vote as to which policy position they support.

The contributors (http://vapolitics.us/authors/) to VPOD include conservatives from every corner of the Commonwealth and have decades of political and media experience. Additionally, VPOD welcomes radio personality Steve Batton and cartoonist Kurt Michael who each offer their unique talents to the line up. In addition to Hoeft, Batton, and Michael, are Alton Foley, Jason Johnson, Wayne Ozmore, Andrew Schwartz, Scott Hirons, Tim Donner, Stephen Spiker, Jason Miyares, Rick Sincere, Steve Thomas, Mike Thomas, and Lynn Mitchell.

Besides the web site, VPOD can be found on Facebook at http://facebook.com/VirginiaPoliticsOnDemand and Twitter at http://twitter.com/VPOD2. Interested parties can also subscribe to a free newsletter for alerts and regular updates: http://eepurl.com/zsSqf.

- VPOD -

Blogosphere bids farewell as "The Other McCain's" Smitty heads to Afghanistan

How many blog posts does it take to send off a conservative blogger who happens to be a Navy reservist going to war in Afghanistan? In the case of "Smitty," Stacy McCain's sidekick over at one of the most-read blogs, The Other McCain, the answer would be 35. At least. And probably more.

Smitty's Veterans Day announcement of his imminent deployment caught some off-guard. After all, these wide-spread eclectic citizen journalists are keyboard jockeys, not camel jockeys. Smitty had confided to a few that he would be shipping out but was firm that he didn't want anyone blogging about it before the 2010 elections. Nothing, he emphasized, should draw attention away from the immediate task at hand: send Democrats packing with pink slips in hand as Americans toiled to begin a correction of their political course on November 2.

Smitty can ship out knowing that task was accomplished and that the blogosphere will be a watch dog to keep the mission on task.

His farewell blog told where he was going and that he would be on hiatus from writing for a while:

Stacy has greased the skids here, but there will be a hiatus in regular blogging activity for the Smitty portion of this blog duo at the close of this post. I hold orders to activate in mid-November and report to Kabul, Afghanistan in time for Christmas. Bandwidth, and latitude for skylarking online will not exist until the end of 2011.

With an outpouring of thanks, good-natured jostling, and bids for safe travels, bloggers responded to the news that "Smitty" aka Chris Smith was deploying to Operation Enduring Freedom by doing what they do best: write.

Familiar blog names such as Fishersville Mike, Yankee Phil, DaTechguy, Little Miss Attila, The Lonely Conservative, No Sheeples Here,  Point of a Gun, Red State Eclectic, Right Wing News, theblogprof, Troglopundit, The Frugal Cafe,  Red State, Pirates Cove, SWAC Girl, and WyBlog and many more hung their hearts on their sleeves to salute this patriotic American. Who says bloggers don't have feelings?

In typical Smitty style, however, he didn't want the attention on him. As he wrote:

But don’t thank me; thank Americans, from the Founding Fathers forward to the Tea Parties, to my electrician brother-in-law who just runs around fixing things all day. The exceptional American dedication to individualism, the ideals of the Constitution, and the courageous soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in whose bigger footsteps I follow make it all worth it. I’ve benefited so much from the American people, educationally and otherwise. Thus, it’s with a sense of gratitude to you that I depart on this set of orders, finishing out my Navy Reserve career in active duty style.

In a follow-up "thank-you" post, Smitty was appreciative to everyone for the "outpouring of well-wishing concerning the deployment." He added that his mother called him and broke down at the sheer volume of responses from the blogosphere. He deserved it. One blogger called him an officer and a gentleman. He's all that and more.

Thank you, Smitty, for your service ... and Godspeed.

Cross-posted at Free Republic
Cross-posted at StrictlyVA

A bit of this 'n that from around the blogosphere

A new blogging week brings a look around the blogosphere to see what news is making the rounds.

Congratulations to SWAC bloggers Yankee Phil (#2) and Fishersville Mike (#5) on BlogNetNews/Virginia. Jason agrees with Rep. Tom McClintock at Augusta Water Cooler. Bob posts a beautiful photo at The Journey of the clouds after a Shenandoah Valley storm.

Tom White's News Hound was up early sniffing out the latest batch of interesting blog posts at Virginia Right! Thanks for the link, Tom.

Pat has her lineup down in Shrevesport.

In Virginia Republican District Chair news....

JR has District Chair results posted at Bearing Drift.

Right here in the 6th District, long-time GOP activist Trixie Averill is the new chairman.

Virginia Virtucon's Lovettsville Lady reports that Howie Lind is the new chairman of 10th District.

Morgan Griffith won the Republican Congressional nomination from the 9th District.

Around the Shenandoah Valley....

Mike smelled the honeysuckle blooming, a reminder it's spring in the Valley, which is a great time to take in a movie at Hull's Drive-In outside Lexington.

Republican Charles Djou wins in Hawaii:

"The people of Hawaii have given us a short-term lease with an option to buy in November. This is not the time for us to rest on our laurels. This is the time to redouble our efforts to bring out change. To do good, to restore our nation to prosperity." -- Charles Djou

The Other McCain has it covered ... so does Virginia Right! and No Sheeples Here and American Power.

Lots of great reading in the blogosphere. Enjoy ... more to come.

Conservative blogosphere roundup

It's the first day of Daylight Savings Time 2010 and we awakened to half the clocks set on DST and the others still on EST.

SWAC bloggers
On the calendar spring is six days away and many are ready for it after the prolonged, snow-filled winter of 2009-10.

And no one is more ready than Fishersville Mike who has been waiting for weeks for the start of baseball season. Also be sure to check out his Sunday morning roundup of some of the best writings in the blogosphere.

Augusta Water Cooler enjoyed the warm air coming in the window while looking at snow on the mountains and thanking God for all He has provided.

Yankee Phil reminds us of the great work the Boy Scouts of America do in preparing our youth to be productive young men as he congratulates the two newest SWAC area Eagle Scouts. Thanks to Phil for his work with the BSA.

The Journey has his latest weekly issue of THYME Magazine ... Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor and suggests that the U.S. not limit itself to only 10 ideas (as suggested by another magazine). Great reading if you've not checked it out before.

I think Augusta Conservative is still in winter hibernation with no new posts the past three weeks ... but he will be back.

Virginia blogosphere
Bearing Drift kicked off a new online magazine this week featuring an exclusive interview with Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Virginia Right! unleashed the News Hound on the Virginia blogosphere ... and became the newest member of the Jeffersoniad Bloggers.

Virginia Virtucon continues to point out the hypocrisy of the Washington Post ... good job, Riley.

Right-Wing Liberal calls attention to the Democrat maneuvering to try and pass health care without passing health care and warns, "We will not allow you to hide your vote in parliamentary jelly roll."

The Bulletproof Monk lists all the issues in the health care bill that you don't know about and says, "No wonder Pelosi wants to keep you from reading the bill!"

The Write Side of My Brain continues with posts for Lent 2010.

Sean Kenney reminds us of the ongoing civil war in Liberia. That's Supervisor Kenney....

The Contemporary Conservative is out with a flurry of posts including one that points out the privacy-starved world we live in with all the networking tools at our finger tips.

Citizen Tom has video and commentary about a military flyover that was denied for the first time after 42 years by the Obama White House and, though a story that is from last summer, it reminds us that we must preserve our American heritage.

From On High notes Newsweek's recognition -- finally -- of President George W. Bush's part in keeping America safe after 9/11 and reminds us, "He never wavered. He never faltered. He never surrendered. Despite all the naysayers. Including a host of whiners at Newsweek."

Two Conservatives says, "I have NEVER been as afraid for our country as I am today. Of course, I never would have suspected that our elected officials would propose, and our media would accept, the idea that a bill can be passed without voting on it." Hear, hear.

National blogosphere
The Other McCain has seen thousands of Americans turning out to protest the proposed health care bill that Democrats are trying to jam down our throats and is amazed that Dems appear determined to stay on their maddening path regardless of the fact America does not want it. Reminds me of the Augusta supervisors' reaction to 1,000 citizens last year....

And So It Goes In Shreveport has her spring break edition of a Full Metal Jacket Wrap Around. She also has thoughts about the government health care bill that just won't die.

Hot Air took note of the small turnout for the liberal "coffee parties" that were supposed to take place over the weekend with some interesting comments from coffee party attendees who are, you know, the "tolerant" ones in this country....

Red State calls attention to "the crack cocaine that is the nanny state" and says health care socialization is just the latest from the Democrat drug lords.

And, finally, American Power disputes the coffee party claims that they are not "anti-tea party" and says, " The 'coffee parties' are explicitly anti-tea party, or they wouldn't have adopted an alternative beverage for their identity." Thanks for the link, Donald!

Tom White of Virginia Right! ... welcome to Jeffersoniad

The News Hound is in the house.

The newest member of the Jeffersoniad is right-of-center blogger Tom White from Virginia Right! Freshly off his CPAC experience in DC and blogging at Rep. Eric Cantor's annual campaign breakfast, Tom has been busy since our first meeting almost a year ago at the RPV Convention in Richmond. Be sure to check out the wide array of posts he puts up. Welcome, Tom! It's an honor to have you with us.

Congrats JR and Bearing Drift!

Bearing Drift ... "Virginia politics on demand." Keep up the good work on the conservative front line of the blogosphere.

Happy New Media New Year from Family Foundation

Victoria Cobb, who is director of the Family Foundation, reminds that the conservative news we look for is available through the New Media, not the mainstream media, and that is where we can all continue to follow the news in 2010. She writes:

Now that Christmas festivities are over, we typically look to the New Year with great hope and expectation for better things in our lives. It’s a natural: New Year, New Beginnings. It’s a launching pad for self-improvement and new opportunities.

People look to the public square for fresh starts, too. We hope our elected leaders learn from the mistakes of the past and listen to the peoples’ voice. In Richmond, a new administration and House of Delegates begins work in January. In Washington, however, there are those who continue to force upon us government expansion and intrusions that limit our freedoms in spite of the public’s vehement “No!” So, we have two interesting dynamics: We must watch state government to ensure it keeps its promises and we must engage the federal government to prevent entire takeovers of industries that limit our freedom.

You won’t get the information you need to do that from the Mainstream Media. But you will get it from the New Media. At the Family Foundation Blog, we continue to keep a daily eye on policy, politics and culture, making it an easy, one-stop-shop for you to get all the news, insights and commentary on current events. We hope you make the New Media part of your New Year: Get involved, inform yourself and engage the Commonwealth in the most important issues of the day by reading our blog. Leave comments, see others react and help shape public opinion so we can restore our Commonwealth and country to the days when lawmakers weren’t force feeding us unread and unwanted liberty-restricting legislation. In the New Year, make the New Media revolution your resolution. [emphasis added]

Here are a few recent blog posts I think you will find interesting:
- Important 37th Senate District Special Election and Governor Tim Kaine’s tax increase proposal
- News videos and comment about our Internet safety initiative with the Attorney General’s office
- No Choice At Planned Parenthood: An “Abortion First Mentality” (video)
- Art In The Age Of Obama
- Picture Of The Day
- Colonel Allen West: The American Daniel Hannan? (video)
- Obama At His Best (video)
- A Sad Day For CBS
- Dave Marsden Now Is A Low Tax Guy
- Kaine Was There Before He Wasn’t There
- Is Same-Sex Marriage An Eventuality?
- Charlie Brown, Linus And The Meaning Of Christmas (video)
- CBS Once Wished Its Viewers Merry Christmas (video)
- 40,000 On Charter School Waiting List In New York

Read Our Latest Blog Posts @ www.familyfoundationblog.com
Sign Up for Our Twitter Updates @ www.twitter.com/TFFVA
Join Fans of The Family Foundation On Facebook @ www.facebook.com
Visit Our YouTube Channel @ www.youtube.com/TheFamilyFoundation

Conservative bloggers have made tremendous gains the past few years. Working together, we can continue to fight the liberal mindset and disseminate information to conservatives throughout Virginia and beyond.

Blogging: 101 at RightOnline weekend blogging conference

From Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity....

I'm writing to you from our Americans for Prosperity Foundation's RightOnline conference conference in Pittsburgh, where almost 600 free-market activists are training to win the battle for our freedoms online.

New York Times bestselling author Michelle Malkin just spoke to the crowd.Since yesterday, these intrepid activists have been learning in panel discussions like "blogging 101" and "social networking communications".

Yesterday, hundreds upon hundreds of activists gathered for our AFP rally to send Sen. Arlen Specter a simple message -- vote NO on the health care takeover and NO on the job-killing cap-and-trade. We heard from an amazing 11-year-old Pennsylvania middle schooler named Quentin Cody who eloquently made the case for freedom and from Teri Adams who heads the Independence Hall Tea Party (Philadelphia).

And here's some encouraging news from the USA Today/Gallup poll published Thursday.In a survey of 1,000 adults, 34% of Americans say demonstrators at town hall style meetings (that's you and me) have made them MORE SYMPATHETIC to the protesters' views, and only 21% said the protests made them less sympathetic.

Even more importantly, Independents by a 2 to 1 margin (35% to 16%) say they are MORE SYMPATHETIC to the protesters' (our) views.These Independents are the Holy Grail of politics, and they're agreeing with us that the health care takeover is a disaster for our families and our nation.

In the face of the Obama Administration, Pelosi, Reid and their liberal friends vilifying us as "un-American," "evil-mongers," "astroturf," "mobs" and worse -- the American people are taking our side against these political elites.

If you ever wondered, "Can I make a difference by getting involved?" here is your answer. Hundreds of thousands of Americans just like you and me are getting involved.They're attending rallies, calling and emailing their elected officials, talking to friends and family.And, it's working.It's making a difference.

You're making a difference.

But, we face enormous challenges.Right across town, the left-wing NetRoots Nation is meeting to plot how they are going to turn things around for their side.They heard from Bill Clinton Thursday who made an aggressive pitch for government-run health care.Sen. Arlen Specter spoke to the liberal crowd and bragged that he would help them pass Card Check and other "Democrat priorities" by opposing filibusters.

We've still got a long way to go.To win, we must keep up the pressure. Keep winning over new supporters. Keep turning out at rallies and events.

Americans for Prosperity's Patients First 'Hands Off My Health Care' bus continues -- one's in Montana right now and the other heads to Indiana first thing Monday. Our anti-cap-and-trade "Cost of Hot Air" tour gets back on the road this Tuesday hitting Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. Please come to one of these great events.

And, make plans now to come to Washington, D.C. for a national "Town Hall" meeting on October 2nd, as well as Americans for Prosperity Foundation's 3rd Defending the American Dream Summit right at the final decisive moments in the health care and cap-and-trade battles and I want you there!