A note to readers

"We're teaming up with our partners at the Los Angeles Times" ......
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Well, at least it's not Moveon.org.
But the LA times? I guess we are in store for reporting with a liberal slant this election. Also nothing like teaming up with a paper that has deadlines that are 3 hours behind Chicago.

Looks to me, like the print media is down-sizing and limiting its coverage. An ominous sign for our representative democracy, but than, that, representative democracy, really seemed only to be a prop job (and I'm not speaking of airplanes). It was fun while it lasted. Corporate media is tossing in the towel, on citizen participation and that's understandable. " We don't want the Indians off the reservation !!"
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

First, following the link to the new location shut down my search engine.

Second, I get the Swamp in Sun-Sentinel. It's only place in the SS where you don't have to register at one of the "social sites" in order to post a comment. I see the new site has this requirement, so I'll be bidding you farewell, as I did with the Sentinel.

Posted by: Bye Bye MSM
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Totally agree. Mark Silva kept the Swamp alive, and when he left, its end was inevitable. RIP Swamp.

So where will the Trib be putting the actual election NEWS? This blog hasn't carried national election news in years...but neither has the rest of the Trib.

Why even bother? Just re-direct to the LA Times website. A kid in Bangalor could do it on the cheap. That's the real goal right?

As for the crackpot conservative posters, no worries. They'll slither wherever they can to post their poison.

So, no more comments?

No more Swamp?

Did I translate that correctly?

As for the crackpot conservative posters, no worries. They'll slither wherever they can to post their poison.

Posted by: Doug | September 7, 2010 10:34 AM

As will "Rob," I'm sure.

The crumbling of the MSM continues...the LA Times? Nobody reads that rag except leftists. The only thing it's good for is packing material or kindling. It's a major reason that California is in the shape that it is. It deserves to go bankrupt. Oh well, some of you will get all the propaganda you could ever want.

I think it is fair to say that this is all Obama's fault

The (Mark) Swamp is dead.
Long live (Mark) the Swamp!

Well, doesn’t that just tear the rag off the bush?
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I would have thought that the Swamp would die with a bang rather than a whimper. Yet we, the normal Swamp denizens, can't even figure out from the cryptic little note (above) whether the Swamp is really being drained for the last time.
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So, would someone from the Trib please disambiguate the message?

Ornery,

Since you seem to be the most level-headed lib in the Swamp, you are left with the repsonsibility of making sure PFUTZ stays on his meds, Trickled On Rob stays in the basement, and get Roger Morris a padded room.

so what will happen to The Swamp's archives? A couple of years' worth of posts, with links to interesting stories, should not be lost.

T, thank you, I think.

Trust them to pick a no-news day.....

Like, Daley's surprise announcement has no political interest or significance....

Since this blog was making a hard right turn because the, "they're calling me a dog" in-chief has been ruining this country...it's time to close down?

Everybody is ditching Obama, and now.... even the Swamp.....
Oh, and Don F. If you still hear the voices of the teabaggers, libertarians and the Wall Street rich in your drone brain, just take an extra .075mg dose of Risperdal and the voices will stop....maybe.
Oh, and to John E. and Dale Peters....thanks for your imagined military service during the dark days of the Iraq War.You two were the best at posting the body counts of dead American soldiers.

Paulo

Well, no more Swamp. It lost a lot of luster when Mark Silva left.
So now, BrainCramped will still think that Cuba is nowhere near the Gulf of Mexico.
We'll never know if Rube, er HHH, er Hulk Smash, er former republican, er Dumb Dumb Janet, er John E will ever either leave the basement or leave his post in Iraq!
Oh well, life goes on as they say.
I bid adieu to the stalwart and intelligent conservatives that gutted The Swamp out oer the years.
And good riddance to the lefty loons like Rube, Don Fitzwhacky, lochness monster, BrainCramped, syj, Roger Morris, uggggh and the rest.
And, yes, Terry, "ornery" did seem to be the most rational of the lefties.
Later, all!

Attention normal people:
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Rob (aka John E and dozens of other names) is already trolling the new site under the name "Rocky Reed".
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The good news is that there is a "Report Abuse" button, so grownups can bring him under control.
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And Mark Silva never did anything good for this blog. He was a big part of the problem.
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crappy move all the way around. this place is so unique compared to most blog sites. even the bogs that have been cited here. its readership is very faithful, which is almost the addictive part. i mean people have a chunk of their lives out here. you get to "know" the personality behind the political comment. the format is great. the only thing missing is a good person to visibly look like he's steering the ship on a daily basis, bringing up interesting topics while managing the input of normal typical journalist type political reports from associated cohorts (sometimes duplicitous). someone you get a good sense of like Mark or Frank. not someone who is just a piece of the puzzle checking in. that's it. the archives have a lot of information collected and added to by all sorts over the course of this nations most recent and most controversial history. a lot of the content generated by this pool of people is not like anything else you get in the nether sphere (even with its quirks and drive by cut and pastes) you could almost depend on this place to give you a sense of what's happening in Washington or what others will be covering (talking about).

really it is a shame. and let me add. by format i mean the headlines and content used to draw you in. it is very easy for a reader to navigate from story to story and the simplicity makes it very attractive for one to add a comment. it is a nice pleasing balance. you just need a personality to head this thing back. im sure that its not too hard to find a Washington journalist with a personality.....who doesn't have his head up his arse. someone with a passion for politics and polls, a niche of sorts, with a human touch, and intelligent background, willing to have fun with headlines, and enough time on his hands to participate in a few tifts with his readers. who posts comments in real time.

Thanks JD.

Too bad I won't get to say some things about the Daley succession.....

Many bodies buried.

Like the Bush dynasty. Lots of skeletons.

One thing was apparent yesterday: White House was just a surprised as everyone else, and Rahm is apparently shut out, unless he resigns today and starts raising $$$.

Which is yet another item of evidence that Obama was never a part of the Daley machine. In fact, they fielded candidates against him.

oh and the photos.

DONT MOVE!

Obviously a wrong move, for anyone interested in Chicago politics....

On the redirected site, one can't even figure out what the articles are or where comments, IF ANY, are.....

But, then, nothing interesting or important in Chicago politics.....

Just boring, dull stories like

Election of state senator from Hyde Park as President

Retirement of Daley

Blagojevich

Olympic bid

You know. Dull stuff like that.

Nothing to see here, folks....time to move on.......

We'd be happier to hear the Swamp decided to move onto bloomberg.com news and leave the lot of you at Chicago Tribune who want to kill it behind. Have you even looked at where you'll be headquartering now? Have you looked at politics now? Your political pages look like the weather on a humid hot wet day in Chicago. The Swamp would be overjoyed to be reunited with its own that are John McCormick and Mark Silva. At bloomberg they sure could use this place and the comments that go along with it. Everyone petition msilva34@bloomberg.net to add comments to the bloomberg politics site. It seems wherever he moves to the site gets better. I remember when he moved I was shocked that he wanted to leave the Swamp, and now that I looked at it again it looks more swampish, with a different color. As to you politics now page understand that it takes a long time to get a layout that is comfortable to readers. You might want to add a comment count next to stories. You might be reminded how dead that place is or people might actually want to add their thoughts.

How are we to interpret this? You state that election season is ramping up, BUT you are closing down this blog. That seems like a calculated move to control the message.

This was one of the easiest formats to use. Others, not so user friendly. Will miss all the characters here.

ornery,
I agree. Part of the Swamp appeal was a hometown feel. And even though the cons disliked Mark, I think even they would agree he (Frank too) was dedicated to his baby.

Yeah, this is a sad ending. Something like a secret execution; bullet to the head, walk away.

They are not only not user friendly; they are virtually impossible.

They are designed to make you
"register" so they can try to sell you stuff.

So, anybody have any suggestions for a new blog spot that allows comments?

Frank James is honest, civil, intelligent...I think that's why he bailed, His presence was sorely missed since the quality of the writing and thinking here nose dived when he left, but I understood why he left.
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So tell me, you two who are slobbering about Sillva, what specifically did he do was good?
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Frank James consistently posted items that would piss off both ends of the political spectrum. He played the Devil's Advocate well. That's called intellectual honesty. C.Morris and "Johnny Wabbit"-- that's a trait to be admired... just so you know. But besides that, it's also an effective way to get conversation going in a blog... just so you know.
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When James left, the conversation stopped. That's when the Swamp died, because none of the above could ever describe Mark Silva.
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I think the only reason you 2 are expressing your man-love for Silva is because he let your 6th Grade clique (and nobody else) get away with a lot of Junior High pranks. For you this blog was just your personal flaming poo-bag on the neighbor's doorstep, and nothing else.
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Did I miss the part where they thanked everyone for their years of participation? I will wait with bait on my breath for this new adventure.....NOT!!!!!

adios all-- it was fun while it lasted... appreciate all who argued well .. going to miss this space especially going in to one of the biggest elections of my adult life...

Good luck to all - Thanks

Shazam. I do read the LA Times to see how my miserable 2010 Dodgers are doing, but damn, here is another fine example of the MSM throwing in with radical extremism.

Ornery, apparently Terry and John D also see something redeemable about you. Can’t go there with HHH or D.F. Anything less than a Road to Damascus Epiphany is not going to do it for them. Ornery, I still must maintain that the current, well-known, Harvard alums do NOT live up to the venerable reputation of the Crimson.

We, logical thinking, Real World, Right Wingers are looking forward to taking back a small piece of America. Looks like we won’t be sharing that euphoria with the laid-out, face-down prostrate Kool-Aid drinkers.

The bi-modal celebration on the night of November 5th will be most extreme (peeled off democrats and Django’s Professional Engineer’s exam). Probably will be motivated to commandeer a social hall just for the occasion. Burst out the 150W Marshall Amp along with 2 or 3 of my favorite strats and absolutely the maximum Sebring capacity of Pretty Latinas to ensure the proper level of ambience. For you misery-loving, failure-invested democrats, I will be sure to dedicate to you, Django’s Billy Goat Blues, a tender account of unrequited love and endless meandering in the wilderness. May the adventures never end.

I miss the Swamp and all those that posted, even Rob and Don Fitzgerald. I have gone on the new site but I seem to be the only one posting from the old group. I miss you all!

Heartburn, the best to you too.

I will miss your counter-arguments that consistently disassembled the consistently weak liberal world view. My celebration will begin, “hopefully”, on November 2nd, followed by a 2-day recovery, and then more intrigue and special ambience on November 5th. “Hopefully” the electorate won’t go back into their slumber and become a source of disappointment.

Good luck to you too.

John D, the kookiest of the right wing crazies is qualified to say who is the most sane of the lefties?
JD, you weren't known as Crazy Joe DeVola for nothing.

Frank James presented the right and played to the left. He was more like left think tank with teeth. He was more open ended involved.

Mark Silva reported from the White House. A more from behind the press pool presentation of the right and played to the center right. He was more unassumingly evolved and conclusive.

Lastly, this decision sucks!

Posted by: Django - N Rotational Exile | September 9, 2010 12:22 PM

And so he was sent adrift on his very own float. Adieu.

Posted by: polar bear | September 9, 2010 4:49 PM
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Apropo. Regards and adieu to all, even democrats. Thanx polar.

Johnny go to You tube and search Mark Silva. You don't know Mark Silva. He was in the Hot tub with Obama and cast.

See ya, DJ. Watch out, the latinas sometimes have exs that are possessive.

Here's Mark Silva as amateur psychologist at the White House.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUixLhLgLLw

By the way, how are those negotiations led by Mr Hopey Changey working to end Iran's nuclar (or nuclear) weapons program going? Those sanctions doing any good? Did we support the people when they were in the streets? Who's going to step up to the plate and admit guilt when Israel is an ash pile? Obama?

We need a site that focuses on Chicago.

Because we are about to have a coronation of the next mayor.

Or, perhaps, an interregnum, with a weak place holder....

Rahm seems to be caught rather by surprise. Can we infer he was "out of the Loop"? Pun intended.

Where, o where, is the new SWAMP?

At the Sun Times? At the Reader?

The redirected site doesn't even work for posting. Though you can register and give your date of birth, so they can discriminate against those with Old Timers. Seems to be a marketing tool. Thanks for nuttin.

Where, o where, is our Clean Well Lighted Place?

Well, Dj, the last President of the Harvard Crimson who was any damned good was Franklin D. Roosevelt....

One interesting thing about Harvard....

It just keeps going and going and going like that battery rabbit.

Looks at things in terms of centuries. (Like radical Islam.)

It might say, "OK, the 18th century was all right because we produced John Adams. 19th, not so good. 20th, FDR, JFK will receive a passing grade". Starting in 1636 gives Harvard the luxury of a long perspective....

Maybe the Harvard Crimson could host a blog about Chicago politics......

PB, I for my part would rather be set adrift on a clean, well lighted float. With my medicare and social security cards clutched tightly, under an electric blanket....

I will miss Herbie H., heartburn and anti-acid, John USSC W, John E John B John D and John C, little tom the I hate Hillary "independent," Terry Math, ornery, bill hussein r., little jim, Skippy, Flower Power, C. Morris, Donner and Blitzen, 'ness, d-automate-response-janjo, BC, DaveB, Paulo the person and not Paulo the a--, vivian, bobblehead mobbie, inky and stinky, Jerry White Springfield Illinois, Don Fits.... shucks I will miss this place. I wonder why the Swamp went out with a whimmper. Usually you'd have a farewell. We've been here this long, this was the first post, this was an anniversary post, these were the most important stories, these were the ones that generated the most comments, we're sad to move on, we have to because, shout out to the loyal readers...I know, that would require looking into the archives and once you are there you realize that a random click on a month results in something you don't mind reading again. A measure of true blogsmanship. You just can't summarize the memories of this place from its blue background to its tan background, but you journalists should, really. This place is special to me because it was the first place where I got sucked into politics. You could actually learn a thing or two from everyone who contributes.
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I took it upon my lonesome to do a formal farewell. Here goes my twitter feed:
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-----SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 RIP
-----JUNE 7, 2010
In the coming days, weeks and months we intend to STEP UP our game, especially as we head into the Midterm Elections.http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/06/entering_the_swamp.html
-----MAY 7, 2010 So soon begins a NEW ERA for The Swamp. http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/05/the_silvatounged_devil_and_i.html
----------MAY 7 Official Date of Death It was MAY 1, 2006, http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/05/may_we_remember_in_the_swamp.html
---------But never fear -- it never snows in The Swamp http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/02/blizzard_paralyzes_nations_cap.html
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Ill miss all the twitter journalists, really. Twitter the only thing that posts in real time the only thing lazy journalists turn to when the blog is on the way out. PoliticSNOW, a twitter rundown of Washington events, please input suggestion we won't take into consideration. Seriously, that's what made the Swamp different, we were heard. How does one take up the reigns and lets lose the horse?

Say what you will about the Swamp. You never opened it to find nine-hour-old stories. Thanks for the memories, all. With a special nod to the Sweet Home Chicago crowd.

" For you misery-loving, failure-invested democrats, I will be sure to dedicate to you, Django’s blah blah blah,"

Proof positive your head is up your @$$.

MS,
Yeah, it was fun. Thanks for the forum.
Poor Troll Buster; He wanted so badly to belong. He must have been hurt very badly at some point.

Thanks, Mark. I see the flat-earthers are shoveling the same old drivel. R.I.P. SWAMP, it was a fun ride.

Posted by: ornery | September 9, 2010 10:12 PM

Hear, hear.

I for one will miss,
Mr. Hanky
Bill r
Rod Serling
Billy Mumy
dt
unlettered
Neutral Lady
Zook
Zee Old French Trapper
Kenny Bunkport
John e
The Reamer
Lochness
The Lenin Sisters
Bubba
Allajoke
Old Creaky
Catherine
Bushman
They Might be Mimes
Oracle

Ornery,

Hope you are taking care of your fellow flatliners. My compliment to you as being the most rational liberal is like winning the prettiest girl prize in a Rosie O'Donnell look alike contest.

Silva,

You did keep the Swamp current and exciting - with a far left tilt. I do miss the daily stalking of Sarah Palin.

For those of looking for a loony left-wing blog to replace the Swamp, try this little piece of flatliner lunacy out of Rockford.

http://blogs.e-rockford.com/applesauce/

One of the many fun aspects of The Swamp was our practice of experimentation on John D, Terry, John W and others. It was always a hoot to see how long it would take to get in the last word. It was practically impossible regardless of how many rebuts I, dt, Bubba, KB, JE, Bill R, Catherine and others would post. And the experiments would continue well after the bit fell off the FP. And the results were always the same; Proof positive of the 'Turing Test'.
(The experiment continues)

What part of unassuming did you miss? He didn't force his bias on his readers. There is a difference between blogging and tv opinion. He covered the Bush White House the 08 election run and wrote a book on McCain. Everything he wrote about, it was usually backed by main stream polls. Main stream America is conservative. Mark was always good at reflecting the current population poll trend as it veered from its center right either right or left, a population trend that reflects in the POTUS they chose. Mark just covered news. Who in the media wasn't in the Obama bag, the man was a phenomena on the rise who touched people emotionally more than rationally. This will not change as most Americans get attached to whoever they pick as leader after a time. Mark could be center left but he wrote for center right trend disappointed with the Iraq War, without becoming a leftist.

Adios Swamp.

For Mark, Frank and the Sweet Homes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY

And don't forget, the Nissan Murano is, in fact, an SUV.

Yeah dt, at least the "flatearthers" aren't stupid enough to fall for corrupt politicians who pose as scientists and "chains you can believe in."

How's that Global warming debate coming along? Have they faked any new numbers lately? How's that summer of recovery? How's that transparency? You guys are so smart.

It's gonna be a party in Novemeber.