Political Cortex

Please welcome Political Cortex to the blogosphere! Months in the making, it has just launched today. It is a national site for progressive politics and journalism -- with many cool new features you won't see anywhere else. I am honored to report that I will be a front page poster. Look for me on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will cross-post some things from this site, but there will also be stuff I write just for Cortex. At least that's the way I am thinking of it right now. Comments are always welcome here, but if you are interested in discussion, Cortex is the place to have it.

Here is some of what founder Tom Ball wrote in his inaugural post this morning:

3... 2... 1... Blastoff!

Months in the making. Blood. Sweat. Tears.

But now we’re here and we are ready to ROCK!

But who are we? We’re Al Rodgers, ColdFusion04, Devilstower, Hermod, Sdf, Bill Hare, Drew Johnston, mcjoan, SusanG, Bob Kendall, Frederick Clarkson, NYBri, Btyarbro, Georgia10, S. M. Dixon, Myself, and the soon-to-be Cortex community!

Together we will fight against the forces of evil, and injustice and for the progressive ideals of Jefferson, Adams, Paine, Madison, Allen, and Franklin.

These men founded a Progressive Nation. They were America's Founding Fathers -- a group of the staunchest progressives in our nation's history -- men of enlightenment, ardent supporters of church/state separation with a fervent passion for decentralization of power and freedom of expression. So too were the founding documents they authored and the principles by which they acted.

In recent years, many Americans have come to forget these facts. Political Cortex is here to remind them.

But we can't do it alone. This will require the unified voice of millions. And as that voice grows throughout the web and across the nation, the Cortex will be here to offer new light and pioneering ways to augment that collective voice.

To start, we've created this community as a Democracy – where "One person - One Vote" actually applies. Where the Cortex community takes center stage on the front page garnering equal time and space with the Founding Cortex writers. And where higher thought and mutual respect will combine with a culture of independent, investigative journalism to present a new paradigm in online netroots media.

And if you're wondering what makes us different from all the others, join the crowd. It was a primary consideration when we put this project together.

The good news is that we think we've differentiated ourselves in a way that will eventually augment and enhance the effectiveness of the growing voice of the progressive web.

First, we've implemented a "Blog Democracy" via a pioneering community editing and voting process unique to the political blogosphere.

Next, we've incorporated new and original features such as Keyword Tags, advanced diary voting, and "Quick Posting".

Also, we've removed the community from the periphery and placed it center-stage on the front page.

And finally, we hope to foster a culture of journalistic Independence that inspires a new generation of bold truth-seekers.

Right now, all that’s just a lot of hot air. It's time to put the proverbial money where our mouth is and make it happen. All it takes is a bit of passion, desire, and motivation -- Throw in a half ton of moxie, and your nearly there. But believe me, we assert these things with the greatest humility.

Oh, we truly believe it can be done -- But we can’t do it without you. We need to work together to turn vision into reality.

So please join us by creating a free Cortex Account right now! It only takes a few seconds, but the benefits will last a lifetime :)