Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Saturday, October 3, 2009

Primary Challenger in PA-12

By Dave Anderson:

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA-12) needs a primary challenger.  He needs one because the stink of corruption lingers on him like the stench of an unwashed jock-strap.  His associates and former staffers are being indicted or turning state's evidence in multiple corruption probes.  There are strong allegations of massive corruption. 

The Democrats as a party need to support a primary challenger to John Murtha, even if that challenger then loses in the primary election.  A strong and public challenge to the allegedly corrupt bastard sends a credible signal that the Democrats as an entity will not tolerate corruption. 

The Democratic Party won't do this, as they did jack-shit to former Rep. and current felon William Jefferson of Louisiana despite the FBI finding $90,000 bucks in his freezer.  The Democrats lost a D+25 seat because the party as an institution is an incumbent protection racket first and foremost.  They could not provide basic support to a primary challenger to cover their own ass and hold a gimme seat. 

Thankfully there is a good primary challenger already running against Rep. Murtha.  Ryan Bucchianeri is running as a Democrat, and he is running on fairly generic good government/good service provision Democrat. 

I had the opportunity to talk with Ryan at Netroots Nation (he needed directions to one of the outlying session rooms at 7:30 in the morning), and he impressed me.  He has an excellent command of the district, having grown up in the Ringgold School District in the Mon-Valley, and an interesting life story that is complemented by the fact that he is smart as hell.  I don't know if he'll be able to beat Murtha, my bet is short of an indictment, Murtha wins rather convincingly but I definately appreciate the fact that Ryan is sticking his head out to inflict some alleged douche-baggery costs on Rep. Murtha.

Check him out at his website, http://www.ryan2010.org.



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