johncombestblog.com

Jo Mannies’ excellent piece on blogs in today’s P-D contained a phrase (”political consultant”) that should be clarified: As you know from the disclaimer you see daily on johncombest.com, I work for The Vandiver Group, Inc., which is a strategic communications firm. What I do can best be described as communications consulting.

A seemingly minor distinction, I know, but important considering you know how much I love to make fun of “political consultants”.

Comments to john {at} johncombestblog.com. E-mail rules here.

The St. Louis City Republicans are hosting a Holiday Christmas Party tonight at 7 p.m. at the Q’Doba Mexican Grill at Grand and Arsenal.

A few weeks ago, around the time a newspaper’s reporters were going home for the weekend, someone posted a comment on the paper’s political blog that accused a local elected official of forcing himself upon a female employee.

The charges against the “sick and demented” elected official were left on the newspaper’s site, for all the world to see, for a couple of days before being deleted.

I don’t know the elected official in question — he could be a good guy, he could be a creep — but he deserves better than to have someone make those types of allegations against him without having the courage to stand behind their words.

In general, newspaper reporters — particularly Jo Mannies at the Post-Dispatch — do a good job of keeping an eye on every post and removing the most offensive and scurrilous of comments. I, meanwhile, have neither the time nor the patience to babysit a comment section.

So there aren’t, and won’t be, “open comments” on this site. Ever.

If you want to comment on something I’ve written, e-mail me. My address is john {at} johncombestblog {dot} com.

In the coming days, I’ll be debuting a Republican event calendar.

Why?

Because it’s 2006, and Missouri Republicans don’t have a comprehensive event calendar. (Note: Gus Wagner’s MissouriYR.com has an excellent calendar focusing specifically on Young Republican meetings and legislators’ fundraising events. Check it out.)

Dems: Sorry, but the calendar is for partisan Republican events only. Fortunately for you, your state party seems to have gotten the ridiculous notion that one of the functions of a state party is to help its grassroots people and local groups promote their events and help facilitate involvement in those events. The MDP main page has an event listing for all of the state’s events; for more thorough details and coverage of Dem events in St. Louis City, visit the Arch City Chronicle website.

Republicans: Send your upcoming events to john {at} johncombestblog {dot} com.