Lightning Rod Blog is the latest incarnation of the ramblings of Longmont resident and activist/blogger Chris Rodriguez and friends. The basic concept started in 2002 with Wrongmont, and morphed into Longmont Advocate in 2008.
Why the change, again?
It's not a change, it's an evolution. Having Longmont, or a derivative of it, in a site name is limiting. I plan on writing and getting involved in issues at the county, state, and federal level. And one never knows where they'll be taken once they go down that rabbit hole, perhaps outside of Longmont.
Why the name?
If you are reading this and live in the Longmont area, you probably know I write Guest Opinions for the Times-Call. More than other guest opinions, mine get a bunch of responses in the form of other guest opinions, Open Forum letters, blog entries on other sites, and public statements from elected officials and members of the public at City Council meetings. This is not just a good thing, it's a great thing. While at first I cringed at just seeing my name in the paper, including positive comments, I've come to accept that my comments spark debate. That was the whole point when I started doing this over 8 years ago - to get people to think about and look at something in a different way, and to play a local version of devils advocate (hence the site name).
Recently, my wife (the Longmont Examiner) lamented the nonstop barrage of attacks over a guest opinion I had written (such things don't bother me). I told her that I'm like kryptonite to a certain segment of the community, and a lightning rod when it comes to local politics, whether I like it or not. Of course that term and the convenience of my last name starting with rod, along with the name Thunderclap which I use for various other activities, lent itself as a suitable name for a new site and concept. That, and "Devils Advocate" is now being used for a local TV show with Jon Caldara, and "The Advocate" is a name of a gay/lesbian publication/site and I didn't want to be confused with a local chapter of that.
