The Yearly

Featuring, among many notables, the Deer Leader himself :-)

I've have rec'd a couple or more requests to post up a note on the fridge door that the Yearly Kos Convention and Kickline Competition is being held this year in June in the deserts of Las Vegas. Which is so very unnatural (not the requests, but the locale and time of year), but I understand they have the "air condititioning" there now and everything, so I suppose that improves the situation some.

They're throwing this year's clam bake/box social/meeting of the Five Families from June 8-11, and it looks to be quite the do based on, among other indicators, this roster of speakers and guests -- confirmed and invited -- stolen straight from the source HTML at the official YearlyKos site .

YearlyKos Convention Announces Speaker/Invite List

Contact: Gina Cooper

yearlykos@gmail.com

From the Blogosphere:

Yearly Kos is pleased to announce a list of speakers whose towering accomplishments, experience and leadership defy an adequate description.

With occupations and titles such as ambassador, attorney, author, general, governor, representative, senator, teacher, veteran, and so on, these individuals have distinguished themselves in leadership roles that have profoundly impacted the lives of many around the country and the world, and in some cases many millions of lives. These leaders will not only present their perspectives on current events and the future of the country, but will also participate in panel discussions and learn what most concerns the netroots. This interaction will help provide focus for the future, enabling politicians and netizens to achieve their goals.

"We are delighted to have such an extensive list of concerned leaders who understand that the blogosphere is a powerful force in the political arena," says Gina Cooper, organizer of Yearly Kos. "Many Americans rely on the Internet, including blogs, for their daily news and political discussions, either as readers or participants. YearlyKos will take this discussion to the next level."

When it is combined with dignity and perseverance, optimism can provide the fuel for positive change. The underlying basis for the YearlyKos conference is optimism. Without it, there would be little political reason to gather hundreds of netizens together in one place, along with politicians and other leaders. Bloggers, blog readers, and other netizens have begun to impact the political landscape in America. YearlyKos is where the future of that effort will solidly take root.

The following is a list of speakers invited to the YearlyKos Convention. Names in bold are confirmed, names not bolded are invited.

Robert Acosta, IAVA

John Amato, Crooks and Liars

John Aravosis, America Blog

Armando, Daily Kos

Jerome Armstrong, MyDD

Matt Bai, New York Time Magazine

Elisa Batista, Mother Talkers

Linda Beale, ataxingmatter

Ken Bernstein, Daily Kos, teacherken

Duncan Black, Atrios

Adam Bonin, Daily Kos, Adam B

Chris Bowers, MyDD

Sen. Barbara Boxer

Raven Brooks, BuyBlue

Gen. Wes Clark (invited)

Steve Clemons (invited)

Rep. Conyers (invited)

Peter Daou, Daou Report

Steven Darksyde, Daily Kos

Gov. Howard Dean (invited)

Jim Derych, Daily Kos, Advisor Jim

Sen. John Edwards (invited)

Kety Esquivel, Latinos for America

Jeffrey Feldman, Frameshop

Dan Froomkin, washingtonpost.com

Susan Gardner, Daily Kos, SusanG

Glenn Greenwald, Unclaimed Territory

Robert Greenwald Brave New Films

Jérôme Guillet, Daily Kos, Jerome a Paris

Jane Hamsher, firedoglake

Arshad Hasan (invited)

Hunter, Daily Kos

Steve Jarding author

Perry Jefferies, IAVA

Dave Johnson, Seeing the Forest

Larry Johnson

George Lakoff (invited)

Tom Matzzie, MoveOn

Ari Melber

Dr. PZ Meyers, Pharyngula

Rep. Brad Miller

Chris Mooney, Intersection

John Morris, Center for Democracy and Technology

Markos Moulitsas, Daily Kos, kos

Ralph Neas, PFAW

Gov. Napolitano (invited)

Stirling Newberry, BOP News

Nathan Newman, Progressive States Network

Wendy Northcutt, author

Jason Ortiz, UNITEHere

Abbie Pickett, IAVA

Sen. Harry Reid

Gov. Richardson (invited)

Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA

Simon Rosenberg (invited)

Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, author

Sam Seder, Air America

Tom Schaller, author

Naomi Seligman, CREW

Micah Sifry, Personal Democracy Forum

David Sirota, Progressive States Network

Melanie Sloan, CREW

Christy Smith, firedoglake

Mike Stark, Calling All Wingnuts

Hale Stewart, Daily Kos, bonddad

Matt Stoller, MyDD

Mark Sumner, Daily Kos, devilstower

Tim Tagaris, Kicking Ass

Gloria Trotten, Progressive Majority

Martha Ture, BuyBlue

Kathleen Tyson-Quah, Daily Kos, London Yank

Gov. Vilsack

Jamie Vollmer

Gov. Mark Warner

Marcy Wheeler, The Next Hurrah

Amb. Joseph Wilson

(BTW, somebody tell Kos that his webtender dropped a comma in Susan Gardner's link.)

Am I going?

Hell, I don't know. From a strictly mercenary POV, Joe Wilson does owe me ten bucks and God knows when I may see him again. And I hear after a few mojitos Nancy Pelosi might be coaxed into doing the tassle trick, which is always a crowd-pleaser.

Seriously, it looks like loads of stimulating fun, but on the flip, I am crazy busy. And I'd have to stay identity-cloaked the whole time which might make things tricky.

And frankly, I'm a misanthrope since childhood's days, socializing with hundreds of strangers -- however delightful and like-minded they may be -- has never been my idea of a jolly weekend.

In fact it veers terribly close to my idea of Purgatory.

So who knows; I am singularly unremarkable in person, and if you read the stuff I post here you already know my most salient features anyway.

But this isn't about my travel plans. It's about me honoring a perfectly reasonable request from the Gentle Readers, some of whom are going and who may be looking for a blog/convention buddy to help navigate the mass of Liberal Humanity, have a drink with, and with whom you can see how complicatedly you can conjugate the verb "to poo".