Today Pundit Press is pleased to present our 15th interview in our on-going series. Today we are lucky enough to have Mondo of Death By 1000 Papercuts answer some of our questions. DBKP is a large, intelligent conservative website that is, according to its own research, the 36th biggest conservative blog on the entire internet. I'd like to personally thank Mondo for a great interview:
When and why was Death By 1000 Papercuts started?
DBKP - Death By 1000 Papercuts was started on August 27, 2007 at our original Blogger site. Why? I wanted to get back into writing and thought that I had something to say--whether anyone was interested in reading it was an entirely different question.
Why the name Death By 1000 Papercuts?
The government never takes liberty away in one fell swoop. Liberty's dies a Death By 1000 Papercuts: one annoying regulation; one unintended consequence of yet another Congressional law. Every time some well-meaning person insists, "There ought to be a law" and Congress complies, liberty dies another little death.
By the same token, DBKP tries to push back in the same way: one tiny addition to the discussion that "The government that governs best, governs the least."
In the last year, DBKP has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year and is now ranked #36 in your own list of top conservative sites. Did you ever expect to get so big?
Well, the short answer is "yes."
The two others who started with DBKP from almost the very first day (LBG and RidesAPaleHorse) sometimes remind me of this. I thought that if we worked hard and produced content that people wanted to read, eventually people would see it.
We keep adding to our list of writers (Doctor Zero, Nancy Morgan, Rob Bennett, to name a few) who consistently turn out good work. And we have several very good writers on the way. We've been lucky to feature good writers; it's my job to make sure that the maximum readers see what they write.
LBG's entertainment writing is regularly mentioned by the people she writes about and gets linked to by the entertainment press. RAPH's graphics are posted and re-posted all over the web.
I think we've got a long way to go yet. We just have to keep working hard.
What's your favorite thing about running a successful website? What's one thing that, if you could, you would change?
Favorite thing? That we give a voice to the otherwise neglected voices that the Old Media ignore or treat with contempt. One thing I would change? Maybe that the articles would post magically post themselves. Then I could get some sleep.
What do you think of the job President Obama is doing? Did you think he could really be this bad, or is he doing better than you thought?
Obama is doing exactly as most of us here expected. The day after the 2008 election, I wished him well and said I was going to give him a 6-month honeymoon. He got a few extra months, due to circumstances.
Could he be this bad? Well, for a man with no previous accomplishments outside of winning a few elections; with no experience dealing with real-world problems; with a demonstrated lack of a work ethic or listening to those who disagree with him, I think he's done remarkably well, actually.
The November elections are on the tip of everyone's tongue. How do you think Republicans will fare?
Better than the Establishment leadership deserves.
The clock is ticking on the Republican party. It has four years to address the problems of out-of-control spending, the permanent bureaucracy, the ruling DC elite political culture, government diktats and government meddling in the free market. If the GOP doesn't decisively attack these problems, then they become irrelevant: a large swath of the country will find another way to fix those problems that don't include Republicans. The party must understand that no compromise is acceptable on basic issues: liberty, economic freedom, the rule of law, observing the Constitution (instead of trying to find ways to creatively subvert it).
While a large portion of the country is looking for someone to stand up and say "No!" there are too many of the GOP who are bed-wetting over "governing." Too many have lost sight of the principle, "No law is better than bad law." To many are concerned with passing a law in order to appear to be "doing something." That is no longer acceptable.
The Establishment GOP leadership still doesn't get this--the failure of the Senate Republicans to strip Lisa Murkowski of her seniority is the most glaring example. Which means that the rank and file will have to change their leadership. If that doesn't happen, Republicans will become an early 21st century version of the Whigs.
Any favorites for 2012?
I like Sarah Palin. That the Left abhors her and relentlessly attacks her at any opportunity is a good sign that what she's saying scares them.
Conservatives and Libertarians need to be attacking the Left's tired narratives. One of those narratives is "Democrats and Progressives are so smart, they can split atoms with their minds. Republicans are stupid." That they've been banging away on this narrative with Palin, well in advance of 2012, should alert people that they fear her--regardless of what they write to the contrary.
Is there anything that you would like to add?
We live in a remarkable country at a remarkable time of history.
Keep an open mind--and read DBKP - Death By 1000 Papercuts.
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