These folks are dirty, and they rate the same sort of vendetta against them. The same sort of vendetta that Richard Mellon Scaife funded with the American Spectator's "Arkanass Project", where they were essentially manufacturing scandals involving Bill Clinton. He also paid numerous conservative "Think Tanks" to parrot this line.
The term comes from Richard Mellon Scaife, an heir to the Mellon fortune, who literally spent millions of dollars on a vendetta against Bill Clinton. No stone was unturned to uncover the most irrelevant personal data to use as a weapon. A more complete definition of the term "Scaife" is here. Like Boycott, the term comes from a proper name
In the course of discussions on Salon.com's Table Talk discussion groups (The archive of that discussion is here), a consensus was reach that a paper publication, similar in style to the American Spectator, but of a progressive bent, was the best tactic. The basic philosophy of this magazine will be, "They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." The magazine has a woprking name of The Revenge of the Zucchini People, the theory being that all too often, working names end up real names, and this one has no chance of that.
We are looking at a magazine style publication, with a glossy cover.
There are already many well written and thoughtful progressive magazines out there. You can imagine Mother Jones, In These Times, The Nation, etc. as thoroughbred race horses. We are breeding a Pit bull. It's ugly, surly, graceless, but which one would you rather have kill a rabid fox threatening your child?
There is a mailing list limited to administrative issues, but not story ideas. I will be setting up a secure way for editors and writers to get together and pitch stories.
No name has yet been selected, I have taken names for the past few months, and come up with a list of suggestion and available domains. There is an online poll to cut the list down from 40 some odd to a manageable level. After that, the final name will be discussed on the mailing list.
At the present time, all I can do is print some T-shirts,
and come up with a logo. This should provide some seed money for
magazine for things like incorporation and a domain..