I'm From New Britain...

...and I'm a Liberal. I'm a Progressive Democrat. My heroes are Obama, Dean, Wellstone, Krugman, Lakoff, and Kos. And I'm not going away.

Something big is happening in New Britain right now. The Herald, our once-respectable hometown newspaper turned New York Post-style tabloid is on the verge of folding. New Britain will need a new way to get news about what's happening around town. And we Progressives will need a new way to keep getting our message out to the community. I've started The New Britain Progressive as an alternative to the Republican-edited Courant, the ADD-oriented Advocate, and right wing blogs that accomplish little more than slandering some of our city's finest advocates.

It's tough out there. Local journalistic standards are low. Public understanding of Civics is weak. It is in these kinds of circumstances that Democrats and Progressive values fall victim to the public's thirst for simple, brute-force answers to very complex problems. But it is also in this kind of environment that we can discredit and bypass the traditional gatekeepers of the media and establish a new standard. We can reach our audience directly. We can tell our story, our way.

I am inviting all members of New Britain's Democratic community to join in. The goal I am setting for us here: To mobilize ourselves and our allies for the coming year's events - and we all know what that includes. To discuss policy proposals for how to bring New Britain back as an economically thriving, environmentally sustainable, culturally diverse community.

I am casting this blog in the image of Daily Kos, and like Kos, I am stating up front and out in the open:

This is a Democratic blog.

Debate is welcome. Dissent is welcome. Criticism is welcome. But Republican trolls and Conservative hard-liners are not. You already have space in the blogosphere, and you are more than welcome to go create more. This one is ours. I reserve the right to delete comments from those who would follow Tom Bozek down the rabbit hole.

It's time to reclaim the debate around New Britain. We have big opportunities before us and a lot of work ahead. 2009 will be a big year. Let's get started.