About

Michael Tedesco, Editor & Publisher

Michael founded Comments From Left Field in August 2003 as a personal blog and remained its sole contributor until May of 2004.

History After graduating from Western Michigan University with an undergraduate degree in Communications and Journalism, Michael moved to Atlanta, Georgia seeking employment in the booming pre-1996 Summer Olympic job market. Burdened with student loans and buried in college debt, he made the choice to accept gainful employment in the graphic communications industry (where he remains to this day) rather than explore a career in journalism.

In founding Comments From Left Field, Michael was afforded the opportunity to stay up to date with his true passions; history, politics, current events and writing. Bottom line, he is not a journalist but he gets to play one on the internet.

At end of 2007 a work opportunity allowed Michael to relocate his family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Vancouver, British Columbia (yes, he is now officially an ex-patriot).

Kyle E. Moore, Executive Editor

Born in California, I spent much of my life politically ignorant. Still, to me liberalism ran rampant through my younger life and the world that surrounded me. From my father’s interracial marriage to my successful education in public schools, while I took no active participation in politics nor even knew I had political beliefs, it was clear early on where I stood on things.

I joined the military at the age of nineteen, and shortly after married my girlfriend. Ten years later, I’ve just recently left the military though I continue to work for the Department of the Navy, and my wife and I are still, for the most part, happily married.
It is to her I largely owe my political awakening. At the time, I was about as apathetic towards politics as anyone could get. My wife, while not particularly political in her own right, still kept up on current events, and would try and force them down my throat. One day, in passing, she mentioned, “Did you know that Bush is trying to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage?”

I remember my reaction as clear as day. “That’s fuckin’ stupid.”

And there you have it, my very first conscious political thought. “That’s fuckin’ stupid.” That little three word sentence rapidly evolved into an obsession I didn’t ever think would develop. Now I dedicate much of my waking life towards the pursuit of political justice and scrutiny.

This was only deepened by the birth of my first daughter. And now, with two daughters whom I love and dote upon frequently, it’s become something of a mission in my life made real by their tangible existence. I now have someone to pass the world on to, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let it continue on the downward spiral it’s currently on.

I am vehemently partisan, proudly democratic, and unapologetically liberal. On the other hand, I have a certain distaste for most activism, and I believe that extreme measures from any ideology, even mine, can do little more than hurt. I have a particular interest towards horse race, however, as anyone who undertakes blogging seriously and with any modicum of intellectual honesty should find, my horizons expand every day.

Blog History: I first started blogging for myself on a blogspot account. The site was called “Left of Center,” and despite pouring my heart and soul into it, it garnered little attention. In retrospect, this was most likely due to three things; a lack of literary polish, a lack of knowledge of those topics that dominate political debate, and a lack of ability to self promote.
Still, despite these shortcomings I was able to make acquaintences with a few good folks, not the least of which was a fellow blogger who goes by the moniker of Cernig. It was a like-mindedness on the state of terrorism and how to truly fix the problem that eventually had us working together.

As time drew on, our circle of friends grew, and in what has among all of us seemed to be categorized as a good idea that had no prayer of working, we formed a group blog that was not solely of one ideology, but sought to band together bloggers of all parts of the political spectrum.

The UPC (Unpaid Punditry Corps) saw me giving up regular writing and trying my hand at managing. It was then, in seeking to gain publicity we sought to gain the endorsement of a blogger who was easily over our heads in terms of traffic and visibility.

Mike Tedesco ran Comments From Left Field, a blog that had been around for some time and had an impressive amount of traffic for a site not in the Instapundit/DailyKos tier. To our surprise and pleasure, Mike didn’t want to just endorse, but also join.

But, as it turns out, people who disagree so vehemently in politics tend to be very difficult to manage and after months of struggling to hold the project together, we disbanded.

Everyone for the most part seemed to go to their own corners, though some of the old alliances still held. Fester continued to write for Comments From Left Field as well as his old Fester’s Place. I had long since deleted Left of Center to manage the UPC, and so in the aftermath, I went back and forth between writing for Cernig’s Newshog blog, and Mikes Comments From Left Field.
Then I went on hiatus.

After nearly a year absent from political blogging, I returned. Cernig’s Newshog had continued to do well, and he had just put together not only Fester and Shamanic from the old UPC, but also enlisted Libby Spencer to round out the very talented group over at newshoggers.com

Meanwhile, Comments From Left Field, of which I still was technically a part of, wasn’t doing quite so well. Macswain was doing a great job of keeping things going, but Mike was too busy to write regularly, and many of the other bloggers on the roster had long since stopped writing for the site in any capacity.

Right then and there, I made a personal promise. If I was going to get back into it, I wasn’t going to play around. It would no longer be a game. It was going to be dead serious.

Since returning from hiatus, Comments From Left Field has been streamlined, we’ve moved over to the Wordpress engine, and it is a rare day when we don’t get at least ten posts up on the vital news items that affect our political sphere. I’m proud of not only my work on the site, but also of those who have stuck it out through the tough times for a long time to not just keep the site on life support, but to help elevate us as what I like to think of as a burgeoning blog that offers an interesting paradox. At once it is from the old days, it has that history to it, but also it’s new, with new talent, and a new energy.

With a team like we have, there’s no telling how high we’ll go.

Macswain, Contributing Writer

Coming Soon…

Kathy, Contributing Writer

I joined CFLF in late March, as a proofreader and guest poster. Originally, the deal was, I was just going to post on the weekends, but this place is so searing HOT, that we’ve all been kept busy putting up fresh content to keep pace with the growing demand. Which is fine with me, because I love to write so much that I could do it all day. Well, maybe half the day; the other half I’d spend reading. Or maybe, I could alternate! You know, Monday, write all day; Tuesday, read all day; like that. Or… Oh, okay, I’ll work this out on my own.

As you can tell, I’m easily distracted. And since we’re on the subject of my flaws, here are some more: I never use two words when 10 will do. I go on and on, I take forever to tell a simple story, and I’m long-winded. I have a terrible memory, I’m absent-minded, I forget things, and I need to take frequent breaks. Hmmm. One more: I’m repetitive.

Here are some great things about me: I am kind to animals, and I have some, too: three cats and a dog (male beagle). I have the smartest, most accomplished, mature, thoughtful, and talented daughter on earth. At least for her stage in life, which is college. Okay, I know that’s about her, not about me, but I’m her mother. Maybe I had something to do with it. Also, I love, adore, and am utterly passionate about, books. Books to me are like oxygen. I could not exist without either one.

The subjects that interest me most are human rights, reproductive rights, civil liberties and civil rights, constitutional issues, and mental health advocacy. Which doesn’t mean I won’t ever write outside these areas, but they are the ones that grab my attention most immediately and strongly.

DrGail, Contributing Writer

Coming Soon…

TAS, Contributing Writer

Coming Soon…

matttbastard, Contributing Writer

Coming Soon…

Dustin, Administrator & Contributing Writer

Coming Soon…

Terry, Administrator

Coming Soon…

DragonGrrl, Contributing Writer

DragonGrrl has always been a supporter of social activism (sometimes with time, sometimes with treasure) and a political junkie. But it took the threat of another 4 years of the Bush administration to get her out and do some campaigning in 2004. She volunteered countless hours for the Kerry campaign, and after it was all over, she just kept going. Since then, DragonGrrl has become active in the local Democratic party, volunteering for campaigns from Magistrate to Senate.

DragonGrrl has followed Barack Obama since he first came on the national scene in 2004. She was drawn to his message of bringing the country together and respecting all Americans. Growing up in a rural Pennsylvania and currently living in a conservative area, DragonGrrl has many Republican friends. She loves and respects them, while still disagreeing with their political views. She believes Barack Obama ”gets it” that our leaders can no longer govern only the people who agree with them. DragonGrrl will be attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver as an elected Obama delegate.

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