Full Disclosure
What with the Talon News Service thing and all of the people getting sacked for blogging, it seems some full disclosure is in order.First off, my real name is not "Phoenix". It is something altogether different, and yet, in my case I am not Just Another Jenny. My name is unusal enough that it sticks in the mind and people who have never met me claim to "know me" because they have heard of me, or other weirdness. Oftentimes they only know my first name, putting me in the ranks of Cher and Madonna. (I am neither of those, in case you might be wondering.)
I do not post under my real name because anonymity allows me to be more truthful in my opinions. I am not ashamed of my opinions, nor do I have anything to hide. I merely treasure my privacy. Some people know my real name of course. It isn't like my identity is a state secret, rather that it is a mechanism to protect myself from trolls. (I've been stalked and almost raped in real life, so forgive me if I err on the side of caution.)
Who am I? What is my purpose here? I don't really consider myself a "citizen journalist". I am more in the way of an "opinion leader" or "talking head." Except nobody pays me to do this. My husband dislikes talking about politics with me. So, I blog. Is blog a verb? Anyway, I do this thing to give me a place to discuss stuff. A lot of times this means politics, but it can cover any number of subjects. I do not lie to my readers, except to protect the identities of the people who I bring up in discussion. Public figures they are not, so they deserve their anonymity. And, in some cases, it is a matter of national security.
I hope to bring things to your attention and make you think. I'd like to hope that sometimes I make you laugh. In any case, I am not here to bring you a "fair and balanced" view of anything. This is all-opinion, all mine, all the time (come to think of it, so are CNN, al-reuters, and al-jazeera).
I am not highbrow like Powerline, INDC, or Belmont Club. I don't have the pulse on culture like the Llama Butchers. I am not military like Noble Eagle or Armor Geddon or Smash. I do not blog about work because that would be unethical. What you get here is Mrs. Citizen's unadulterated opinions. Sort of a smackdown on the stupid of Wisconsin and the nation and the world.
A select group of people know about my blogging, but everybody else is in the dark. I am not as good at it as some are (Blogmama), but I am faithful, which has to count for something.
So, there you go: Full Disclosure, at least as much as you are going to get.
