The Pakistani Spectator

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

My name is Anna Belle P, and I am a 37 year old writer and substitute teacher. I am married, with one child, a 14 year old daughter. Our family lives in Southern Indiana. I blog here.

I have been a committed, active Democrat for 20 years and am what many people refer to as a “political junkie.” I have watched as my country and now my party has fallen to previously unthinkable depths. This primary season changed something in me. After two years of a do-nothing Congress that I helped install, I found my party further abandoning what had previously been sacrosanct values, such as every vote counting. After careful consideration I came to the conclusion that the party is under the influence of a new and dangerous faction which seeks to jerk the party further right, leaving no options available to those of us who believe in such quaint notions as the right to privacy, equal opportunity, and the right to be represented in government. I am fighting for my place at the table, and the places of millions like me who will have no place to go if the Democratic leadership is successful in collapsing the big tent.

If you are inclined to vote Democrat this election year, I encourage you to dig deep and find out what is going on beneath the surface in the political arena, and to take a considered view of history. This blog was created with the idea to spread information to that end.

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

Yes, I do, absolutely. This is actually very important part of it for me because I consider myself a writer. My degree is in English, and my area of concentration at university was Writing. I have been writing with the intention of being taken seriously since I produced my first poem in the third grade. So, while it is not the sole reason I blog, it is a personally gratifying aspect. And my writing has improved daily since I began.

The most memorable experience for me so far was the response to the Declaration of Objections, which I published on the 4^th of July. Over 1,500 people have visited that post alone, and it is replicated around what I call the Pumasphere. My blog is a young blog, and before that was published, I received a few hundred hits a weeks. My traffic is now in the thousands per week, and I hope I can keep that up.

I have a gmail account associated directly with my blog, with a link on the blog itself. I also look for contact links on other blogs to contact those bloggers. Since I did that a few weeks ago, I have quickly developed e-mail communications with some of the prominent leaders of various groups and individuals that are helping to unify the movement for Hillary Clinton and against Barack Obama.

We also link to each other frequently on various posts.

Definitely community tools like community blogs ( Alegre’s Corner, OpenLeft,  MyDD, etc) , Facebook, MySpace, Meetup.com. These tools are invaluable because they collect people in a single focused effort, and encourage real life, and/or personal interactions. Any movement online will die if real life/personal opportunities don’t present themselves. There’s only so much comment-reading and e-mailing one can do before one feels like a slob. Actual movement matters.

Yes, I do. I don’t think something like PUMA and associated movements could have happened after, say, the 2000 or 2004 primaries. A lot did change because of the technological novelties already taking off (namely blogs and fundraising tools like Act Blue), but there was no way for people to collect online specifically for offline activity. There was no big portal for it, if you will. People could individually decide to contact each other, but they didn’t visit a site with that in mind. Now they have the tools to get to know each other to coordinate efforts in the real world.

I see Peacocks and Lilies as a place for the development of rhetoric that supports the activities coordinated on these various other sites. It’s an idea blog with an editorial bend. I like to think it operates like the U.S. government propagandists for WWII. There were some great, unifying and empowering marketing campaigns that came out of WWII (and that ultimately, I believe, laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights and Women’s movements). While I disagree with the idea of government propaganda, I see it as a useful tool for private entities, such as my blog. I try to develop ideas in that vein, to inspire and empower.

Resiliency. With my personal history, I should be on welfare with six kids, living in a trailer park somewhere. But I never accepted that fate, and so I never realized it either. Every time I’ve ever been knocked down, I’ve gotten right back up and fought harder.

The happiest moment of my life was my wedding last year. I married late, and made, I think, an excellent choice in partners because of that wait. The celebration was marvelous. The gloomiest moment I’d rather not talk about. It’s very personal.

Great question! 1) Japan, because of a personal obsession I have as a result of some Aikido training. 2) A tour of the Middle East, because I want to see for myself (I don’t trust Western media to tell me the truth about anything in the Middle East.) I also find the culture and traditions fascinating, and the food is yummy. 3) A tour of Europe, because I never got to do that. I am always too poor. But there is fantastic history there, as well as wonderful cultural experiences.

Wow, Hard question—there are so many! If I had to pick, it’d probably be Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. There is no more quintessential American read that Walt Whitman, and I consider myself a poet first and foremost. In Leaves of Grass, Whitman effectively captured the wild spirit that was and continues to be the Unites States, and then he upped the ante. And we took the bet. It’s marvelous to read it with the knowledge of the full context of history.

That varies, I suppose. Mostly I watch faces and body language, while paying close attention to what people say.

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?

A ton of people, including almost every English teacher I’ve ever had. I’ve only believed them for about the last ten years though, and it took me those ten years to figure out how to get my voice out there. Color me a late bloomer.

That’s a tricky question. People can and do make money, largely through two vehicles: advertisements and donations. I have a donation button on my site, which I set up via Paypal.

But I think this issue in particular needs to be more thought out by bloggers. Take Markos Moulitsas, of DailyKos for instance. He spent this entire primary season bugging his readers to donate to Obama, and then they found out in July that, even though Markos makes a ton of money on advertising and merchandise from DailyKos, he hadn’t given Obama a dime himself.

Peacocks and Lilies is having a fundraiser to raise money so I can go to Denver and report from the ground. That’s the sole use of the money ‘m trying to raise now. I’ll leave the donation button up afterward, but I will also make a pledge that a quarter of all funds raised will go to political causes the community advocates for. It’s the only ethical way to go, I think.

Ha! I wish. Blogging can take up a lot of time, especially if you get a lot of comments. For myself, I generally write longer posts, often with an historical perspective and with plenty of supporting links. That kind of research takes a lot of time. Now, I am a teacher, and I am off for the summer, so I do have more time, and I think that’s why I’ve been able to devote the time and energy needed to build Peacocks and Lilies, and it has really taken off recently. I worry that I won’t have that time when I go back to teaching in the fall.

By putting the rhetoric out there, making people think in novel ways they will never b exposed to if their stream of information is always coming from Mainstream Media or the TV. It can have the opposite effect, too, which we saw with many A-list Left blogs (the so-called Netroots) this primary season. They increased the hostility by demonizing Hillary every chance they got, and inflamed arguments between those who supported Hillary and those who supported Obama.

Anglachel of Anglachel’s Journal

Riverdaughter at The Confluence

Murphy at PUMApac

The always brilliant Dr. Violet Socks of the Reclusive Leftist

The incomparable Bob Somerby of the Daily Howler

I actually wrote about how that list was changed dramatically as a result of what went down during the U. S. primary. The post is Blogger Boyz.

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?

Two posts, actually, The Declaration of Objections, which details the arguments of PUMA and associated movements in rational language that is natural to the American intellect. The day before, the publication of this document was announced with a Call to Action in The Revolution Will Be Downloaded. Both of those posts have been copied across the Pumasphere, which was part of the call to action. A Google search of “Declaration of Objections” + PUMA will bring up many of the reposts.

I don’t have any direct experience with the Pakistan people, but I have been a big admirer of Benazir Bhutto, and I applaud the Pakistan people for having the courage to elect a female head of the Pakistan nation. I understand the political situation there is very tumultuous right now, and I was moved to tears over Bhutto’s assassination. From what I’ve heard it is at heart a delightful culture, and the people have an enduring spirit that is inspiring from this distance.

Yes. The Daily Howler has got it figured out. Call it Daily Howler, and post one substantive post per day. And that post is always a must-read. But no one else can do it now, not like that.

I wish I could answer that. But, having never been to a developing country, I don’t have any first-hand experience. From what I’ve read, the biggest and most obvious difference is privilege. A lot more of it exists in developed countries.

I wish I knew! It should keep on growing if allowed, but there are forces underway to change the way the internet operates, and if they succeed, my guess is that blogging will be an early point of attack. Bloggers are fighting back, though.

It hasn’t too much so far. My daughter missed me some during the 4^th of July weekend, when all the hoopla with my blog happened, but otherwise, my family is proud of me. We’ll see if I can maintain the quality and quantity of writing once the school year begins again.

To continue to nurture and grow readership at Peacocks and Lilies, and to continue substitute teaching for the foreseeable future. I’m hoping to report on the Convention and some planned PUMA demonstrations from the ground in Denver, but that will depend on funding. I’ll probably start a graduate program locally in the next year or so too.

Yes, and thank you for the opportunity. Political blogging is a tool. Truth is a virus. If you’ve got an issue you think doesn’t receive enough attention or if you to add your voice to those already being heard, get yourself a blog and get to work. Try to find ways to make what you’re writing about manifest itself in the real world. Blogging is just another vacuum in the absence of real life action.