What are others saying about Doc’s Political Parlor?

Unsolicited comments from email or the web . . .

“I enjoy your website. I check it every day.”
- Rep. Mike Hubbard, State GOP Chair and House Minority Leader

“You do a superb job and you are required reading around the Lt. Governor’s office.”
- Chip Hill, Director of External Affairs, Office of Lt. Governor Jim Folsom (D)

“…far and away the most recommended [in Alabama] by Fix readers…”
- “Best State Political Blogs,” WashingtonPost.com’s The Fix

“…invaluable Alabama political site…”
- Politico.com’s The Crypt

“…one of the best local political blogs in Alabama…”
- Nathan Thomas, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee

“I always enjoy reading your blog.”
- Rep. Paul DeMarco (R – Homewood)

“You are a political monster.”
- Frank Matthews, The Mayor of the Airwaves, aka God’s Gangster

Doc’s Political Parlor and Home of Lawn Mower Repair is the Alabama affiliate for the Hotline Political Network.

“…one of Alabama’s foremost political blogs with more information and links to stories than I can shake a stick at.”
- Joe McAdory, editorial page editor for the Opelika-Auburn News

“Doc’s Political Parlor… has evenhandedly and calmly covered state political races all throughout election season. Props to Doc’s.”
- Birmingham Weekly’s Mixed Media

“Doc’s Political Parlor is the most-read and premier political blog among Alabama bloggers.”
- John Killian, Musings from Maytown

“As for Danny, he’s well-respected not only by bloggers of various political stripe but also by government officials of both parties, as evidenced by their willingness to blog here, comment here, or give him background on stories, knowing that they won’t be misquoted or misrepresented. It’s called being even-handed.”
- Kathy, Birmingham Blues

“…solid history of political neutrality and bona fide access to insiders…”
- Brian, Flashpointblog

“a go-to blog on Alabama politics”
- Blue Gal Red State

“The Daily News Digest at Doc’s Political Parlor… has a wealth of good stuff.”
- The World Around You

Specializing in Alabama and Small Engine Restoration since early 2006.

“Pardon me for not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before making you this offer and it is utterly confidential and genuine by virtue of its nature. I write to solicit your assistance in a funds transfer deal involving US$ 3.5M.”
- Anthony Aka, Ghana

…and an idiosyncratic favorite around here:
“Perhaps the best blog name in the blogosphere is Doc’s Political Parlor & Home of Lawn Mower Repair.”
- Senate 2008 Guru

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F A Q

I have a great story or tip for you. How do I get in touch?

You may contact the Parlor by email or phone.

What’s the story behind the website?

Doc’s Political Parlor and Home of Lawn Mower Repair dates back to 1878 when Doc’s great-great-grandpappy and his posse would sit around the blacksmith shoppe and talk about how bad Alabama’s 1901 Constitution would be. In between sharpening scythes, sickles, and swing blades, the spit-and-chew crowd that gathered at the shoppe would argue about…

No, really.

Danny took his interests in politics, computers, and the internet, and started a blog. Mainly to convince an associate that the associate could do it, though the associate never did.

Who is involved?

(Links in this paragraph take you to posts written by that person.)

Danny, of course. Walt creates the Small Town Political Gazette and helps in innumerable ways. Dr. Natalie Davis is the Chair of Political Science, Economics, and Sociology, and Professor of Political Science at Birmingham-Southern College; she blogs here at the Purple Dot Connection. Hilary Funk is bringing us the observations of an Alabama political junkie. Eddie stops in on occasion – or more often.

During the 2010 legislative session, we are glad to have Sen. Steve French (R – Mountain Brook), Sen. Zeb Little (D – Cullman), Rep. Ken Guin (D – Jasper), and Rep. Cam Ward (R – Alabaster) sharing their perspectives with readers as guest-bloggers. During previous legislative sessions, we’ve hosted guest-blogging stints by Sen. Rusty Glover (R – Mobile), Sen. Parker Griffith (back when he was a D from Huntsville), Rep. Chris England (D – Tuscaloosa), Rep. Randy Hinshaw (D – Meridianville), and the aforementioned Guin and Ward.

We are always glad to see Chauncey Sparks when he comes by. Helen Hammons offers us reports when she can. Lucius has weighed in with his Dirt Road Dispatch. G is a real person whose Daily News Digest was here for two and a half years. G’s successor, H (naturally) now culls the morning headlines for us. We appreciated having Peter with us for a brief while.

Special thanks go to Dan at DailyDixie.com who gave hours of time to help us set up scripts to make the Daily News Digests more attractive and manageable.

We don’t make the internet. We make the internet better.

Do you have a policy regarding comments?

Why didn’t your post of morning headlines include a link to this story I believe is important?

The post of Daily Headlines is a roundup of stories of perceived general interest. We’d like to include everything, but as our old friend G said, “There’s not a promise that the Digest contains every article that every individual might find interesting or appropriate.” Readers are encouraged to post links to other stories of interest in the comments.

Justice, fairness, common sense – is that too much to ask?

Is [insert name here] the source who did not want to be identified with some information you posted?

Probably not. But we won’t say, “No,” even when the correct answer is no (as it usually is). If we answer, “No,” then readers would know that silence means, “Yes.”

Why don’t you write more about [insert your subject here]?

Truth be told, I would probably like to. Topics for posts are like bread loaves coming out of the bakery oven; I put them in a pile and hope I can get to them before they get stale. If I don’t, there are more coming out of the oven.

As to why a story of particular interest to you isn’t given bigger mention here, any of these answers could be true, in order starting with the likeliest: the story is not underreported, I don’t have anything to add to what has already been said about this in the public arena, it’s off-topic, and/or I don’t have time. And sometimes, despite those things, I post on a topic anyway.

Who makes money off of this?

Nobody makes a dime. Though one time I got a cup of coffee at a Republican Executive Committee meeting.

So why do you do it?

There is a hope that we can play some small role in making Alabama better than it is now. And have fun along the way.

Will you use some personal information you get here to spam me with email?

No. We even have a privacy policy.

Where is your tag cloud?

Here you go… The site really only started using tags about January 2010, meaning that there were years of posts with no tags. I am making an effort to tag retroactively, at least on a rudimentary level, but until that is nearer completion the tag cloud may not show proper proportions. The search box in the sidebar is useful if you are looking for particular content.

Didn’t this website used to look different?

Yes, it looked like this.

Mission Statement:   Doc’s Political Parlor informs readers on issues of Alabama politics and policy.

What next?

Go read a book. Hug someone you love. But if you mean at this site, you could start at the front page, in the archives, or on this page of Our Top Posts. (The archives page takes a few seconds to load the first time and is quite fast to re-load immediately after.)

I have another question.

You may contact the Parlor by email or phone.

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