Of course, we at TheLobbyist celebrated a little as well.

It sounds to me that the problem was working with Olbermann.  His ratings, while trailing behind nearly every Fox News program, were better than any “news” program at either MSNBC or CNN according to Drudge:

NEWS RACE THURS. JAN. 20, 2011 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,918,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,079,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 1,940,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 1,786,000 FOXNEWS BECK 1,780,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 1,460,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,106,000 CNN PIERS 1,025,000 MSNBC MADDOW 976,000 MSNBC O'DONNELL 855,000 MSNBC SCHULTZ 760,000 CNN COOPER 740,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 700,000

TMZ reports, “Sources connected with the network tell us … Comcast honchos did not like Keith’s defiance and the way he played in the sandbox.”  Sounds to me like he was just as painful to work with as he was to watch.

In the end, at least we know who we can blame for the era of Olbermann… damn you Pat Sajak!

-rj

I want to apologize, for I fear our beloved Nick’s proximity in Georgia to the Georgia Guidestones seems to have affected his ability to differentiate between what he hears on Coast to Coast AM and what is the actual truth. I love a good conspiracy theory, but when they interfere in everyday life that could harm the safety of the United States, I get a bit apprehensive being associated with such accusations. The Birtherism is funny to a point; just like chemtrails or LaRouchian fueled Conspiracies involving Neocons, Leo Strauss and Freemasons. As long as we treat it as it is… a joke.

-rj (non-Birther)

You can also join the A Million Dollars For Haiti Facebook group created by dustin siggins and sponsored by thelobbyist here.

During Katrina and the Asian Tsunami disaster the top three supporters via money and teams on the ground were:

The Red Cross – Direct link to donation information.

The Salvation Army – This is their blog with constant updates on how to donate with links.

Baptist Global Response – This links to all resources and information for donations via the Southern Baptist Conventions Global Response Team.  This was one of the first teams into Haiti out of Florida.

Faith Based Organizations

Samaritan’s Purse – Links straight to donation form.

Catholic Relief Services -  This links to CRS’ front page blog with updated information for donations and action relief.

Compassion International – Information about the children of Haiti.

Other Organizations

Action Against Hunger

Doctors Without Borders

Habitat for Humanity

Project Hope

——————————————————–

thelobbyist does not endorse donations to the U.S. government, the Haiti government, or the United Nations because of out flowing evidence this week that corrupt officials have been squandering and stealing resources sent to Haiti in recent months.

With that out of the way, we did in fact experience technical difficulties yesterday which caused the site to be offline for a while, not to mention that a few of our more recent pieces have dissolved into the ether (perhaps our knowledge in those posts was returned to being).  Nevertheless, we are back on the roll and will work toward replenishing the homepage with up-to-date articles pertaining to everything from politics to the Real World!  Thanks for y’alls patience!

-thelobbyist Editors

First off, I want to thank our faithful readers.? Our monthly readers have steadily climbed into the tens of thousands.? And maybe one day (fingers crossed) we’ll get paid to do this.? But for now, it is our hobby and our passion to bring you quality op-eds on the current happenings in politics.? If it wasn’t for our readers we wouldn’t be here.? So take a moment to pat yourself on the back for your continued support.? We love having you here, and we hope you share the word and enjoy our expansion.

Secondly, I’d like to walk you through our expansion.

thelobbyistgroup.net
We have formed thelobbyistgroup.? thelobbyistgroup is a cornucopia of websites that simply fall under the same umbrella.? This includes our original home thelobbyist.net, and today introduces our new sites campaignlobbyist.net, techlobbyist.net, gamelobbyist.net and ilobbyist.net.? Each brings its own specific focus on politics and policy in the same high quality format you have come to expect from the writers here at our original site thelobbyist.net.

So let me take a minute to tell you about what you can anticipate from each of our sites from this point forward.

thelobbyist.net
For the most part you won’t see any major additions at thelobbyist.net.? We will continue to strive to provide the same thought provoking articles that you have read over the last 10 months.? What you might notice from this point forward is what is missing.? But these topics will be expanding on our new sister sites.? Instead thelobbyist.net will have a strong focus on only politics and policy.

campaignlobbyist.net
In a few short months campaign season will be on us again.? I suspect that you are as excited as us to see the wheels start to turn again.? campaignlobbyist.net will be home to coverage of various local, state, and federal elections.? It will focus on key campaigns in areas that are vital to a revitalization of the conservative movement.? Things may be slow for the next few months, but you can expect a boom shortly after, and extensive coverage of those campaigns you find important.? Campaign and election coverage will not be covered on thelobbyist.net from this point forward, and will instead have a dedicated home in campaignlobbyist.net.

techlobbyist.net
More and more technology has crept into our lives, and as it creeps so does the hand of government looking for areas in which to regulate.? Tech policy will no longer be covered on thelobbyist.net and will instead have a home of its own to be covered more fully and more regularly on techlobbyist.net.? You can expect topics on freedom of speech, regulation, Net Neutrality, security, privacy, advertising, and so forth.? I hope those of you that are as passionate about the integration of politics and technology as I am will make techlobbyist.net one of the first sites you visit for commentary on the most important tech policy news of our day.

gamelobbyist.net
As in many other mediums throughout history, music, books, and art, video game entertainment has become the new bastion of forced regulation and trials toward freedom of speech.? Not only is this important in general, it is important to the youth and a growing population of adults ranging from 18-40.? We aim to support that voice on gamelobbyist.? Not only that, but we see this group as one that has been overlooked and abandoned by the conservative movement in recent years.? gamelobbyist.net is our chance to not only discuss the topics that are important to an ignored audience, but to also take the opportunity to draw them into our other sites to promote and discuss other vital issues that they may not yet be aware.

ilobbyist.net
ilobbyist.net is thelobbyistgroup’s most daring project to date.? It is no secret that thelobbyistgroup is home to conservatives and libertarians of varying ideologies, and we are also aware that many of our readers have differing points of view.? ilobbyist.net is a chance for those that agree and those that don’t to have their own forum to blog on the political topics they care about.? ilobbyist will not be inhabited with any of the writers from thelobbyistgroup sites.? It is a public site.? Anyone can sign up and immediately start writing their opinions, concerns, agreements and disagreements with the state of affairs in politics and policy to the thousands of readers of thelobbyist.? This gives anyone the opportunity to reach an audience that is already listening and reading.? No need to start your own website or blog.? You already have readers right here.? You can post one article or one hundred.? As the saying goes, the world is your oyster at ilobbyist.net.? You can get more details by following this link: ilobbyist.

RSS Feeds
A RSS link has been added to the navigation bar.? RSS feed has always been available on thelobbyist.net, but now we are giving you more options.? Going to our RSS feeds page will give you the opportunity to sign up for rss feeds from any of our thelobbyistgroup sites.? Additionally, you will now have the option to sign up for our MEGA FEED.? The MEGA FEED will provide you updates from each and every thelobbyistgroup website in one single tidy rss feed.? If you would like to receive updates of new stories from all our sites, this is the way to go.? If not, just add the individual sites you enjoy to your rss feed reader.

Twitter
If you don’t have a twitter account, click the link and join up.? If you do, we want to enroll your help in spreading the word about our columns.? thelobbyistgroup websites will now have a retweet feature built into the bottom of our posts similar to our Digg button.? Help spread the word by simply clicking “retweet”.? Clicking the bottom will send you to your twitter page with a message filled out retweeting the link to that post.? Thanks for your help here!

In closing, it is my hope that you regularly check out thelobbyist.net and our new sites for up to date political commentary on the things most important to you.? If you have any feed back on our expansion, please let us know.? As always, I along with our other writers carry an open door policy.? You can reach me at: nick@thelobbyist.net.

Thanks again for your support!

Best,

nick

Here’s his bio:

sam is currently attending the Unversity of Vermont and pursuing a degree in Classics, Political Science, and Philosophy. ?sam is the political director for the Vermont College Republicans and he previously worked on the John McCain campaign. ?He is currently working ?at a preeminent conservative think tank.

sam@thelobbyist.net

?

-nick

Here’s her bio:

annie is a Chicago girl currently living in D.C. with a degree in political science, focusing on arms control, disarmament, and international security.? She has worked on several presidential campaigns and?her foreign policy analysis has been published by The Washington Times and The New York Times.? annie‘s interests are centered around low intensity conflict, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation.? She currently works at a prestigious conservative think tank on the hill.? annie has also previously served at the National Defense Council Foundation.

-nick

You can find us by clicking the Facebook logo on the right side of the homepage.? That will take you to our fan site.? You can sign in and join (or start a new) conversation about whatever is on your mind in the world of policy and politics!

-nick

rj has accepted a request to join our team here at thelobbyist, and we eagerly anticipate his future work on the site.? You can check out his bio on the Our Editors page.

Glad to have you rj.

-nick

What should be immediately noticeable is that we now have featured posts with their text counterpart in the column below.? Clicking either takes you to the body of the post.? Additionally featured video will be on the main page.

On the right column are some great new tools to be able to link to our Twitter, Digg, and Technorati profiles so that you can add us to your list of followed sites or plug some of our work.

The RSS feed link has changed.? Please be sure to grab the new link at the top right hand side.? We have moved our feed over to feedburner so that if we need to make adjustments in the future on our end, your feed link won’t be broken as a result.

Lastly, we have integrated our forums into the website so that going to the forum no longer takes you away from the site.? The new design really gives a feel that you are still moving within thelobbyist and we really like that element of the new forums.? Unfortunately if you had previously signed up for an account on the old forum, you will need to reapply.

So jump on those social networks and please follow us on Twitter and the RSS feed.

Thanks and we hope you enjoy the changes!

-nick