About
Plunderbund
What the hell is plunderbund? Something you do at kindergarten? The result of too much beer on Oktoberfest?…all of that really – and more!
I stumbled upon the word somehow online under a listing of obscure words. It means “political corruption“:
plunderbund – [U.S. colloq.] A corrupt alliance of
political, commercial, and financial interests engaged
in exploiting the public1914 Voice of People (New Orleans) 8 Jan. 1/1 The
whole force of the Texan plunderbund..are howling at
the heels of the dauntless army of workers.
I liked the sound of it and did a search for the domain and was surprised to see it available. The rest is history…
Plunderbund is a political blog focusing on Ohio and national politics. Politics can be boring at times, so there will be an ample mix of personal anecdotes, stories, rants, raves, and humor. – Eric
Site History
Beginnings – Plunderbund was started by Eric Vessels in November of 2005. In September of 2006, Brian Guilfoos joined Eric. Brian was blogging at another Ohio blog in the 12th Congressional District and decided to join Plunderbund instead of duplicate efforts. Also joining the site in September of 2006 was Joseph Mismas, another Columbus area blogger who met Eric at a Drinking Liberally meet-up. Yes, they both still do…drink liberally.
Transitions – Eric left the blog in September of 2006 to form Progress Ohio with Brian Rothenberg, former Communications Director for the Ohio Democratic Party. After successfully starting up the non-profit, Eric left the organization in January of 2007 due to some business commitments and returned to blog at Plunderbund with Joseph and Brian.
Plunderbund 2.0 – On October 9, 2009, Plunderbund was re-launched with a new Wordpress theme and site design. The site also added two of the strongest political voices in Ohio political blogging history. Tim Russo joined the site from Blogger Interrupted and Brian Hester (ModernEsquire) came on board from Buckeye State Blog.
Meet The Bloggers (aka The PlunderCrew)
Eric Vessels
I grew up in Kentucky, just south of Louisville. My political leanings were acquired by observing my grandparents who were jailer and matron of the Brandenburg, KY jail from 1960-1975. Mammy and Pappy were figures in the community and were never shy about voicing political views, arguing with my right leaning step-father for years. Good-natured of course!
Pappy would always watch Meet The Press on Sundays and I would have some idea that it was on and that it was incredibly boring. Once I commented to Mammy that it was boring and that I didn’t “get” politics. She then said something that has stuck with me since: “You better get politics or politics will get you“. I’m sure at the time I blew that off like any 8 year old would. But for some reason I have never forgotten it. Her words became prophetic as in 2004 I observed a 35 year old man whom politics had “got”. That is when I made the decision to get politics.
I debated on a highly ranked two man debate team in high school, went to West Point for a year and a half where I also debated – mostly with myself over whether or not I should be there. After leaving I ended up in a career in the OEM automotive paint industry (big paint shops that paint cars), first as an expert in technical cleaning, then filtration management, and eventually as an independent consultant specializing in paint defect analysis. I am now a part owner and COO of an industry specific online news portal focusing on the commercial printing business.
Brian Guilfoos
Brian Guilfoos is teh awesome.
Joseph Mismas
Joseph has absolutely no background in politics. None whatsoever. He has never volunteered for a campaign, never consulted on a campaign and never done any meaningful work for any political candidate…except that he once helped a friend hang stuff on doors for Barack Obama but spent most of the time looking for a pair of glasses that one of his fellow door hangers lost along the way.
He’s still not sure about his decision to vote for Ross Perot but he is absolutely certain that EVERY American deserves quality health care, a quality education and has the right to love anyone they damn well please.
Tim Russo
Tim Russo has been one of the most powerful voices in the Ohio blogosphere since 2004. Tim’s writing draws on a career in politics, both in the US and abroad, and an encyclopedic knowledge of Ohio’s political landscape, having worked as staff on campaigns in Ohio at every level since 1988. Tim’s most recent blog, Blogger Interrupted, launched the McCain Palin Mob, named by Politico as the #7 Most Viral Video of the 2008 presidential campaign. Tim was one of the earliest Ohio bloggers to support Barack Obama’s campaign for president. Tim’s Youtube channel has been featured on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Al Jazeera English, the BBC, and media all over the world.
Tim is a graduate of Cleveland State University, and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Tim’s worked in over a dozen countries with political parties, election observation missions, local and international NGO’s, embassies and foreign governments. Currently, Tim is a social media consultant, working with organized labor, companies, and private clients. Tim blogs from Cleveland, Ohio, where he lives in the Tremont neighborhood.
Brian Hester (aka ModernEsquire)
Brian R. Hester, Esq. practices law in SWO Ohio focusing on business litigation. A former district aide to then Congressman Ted Strickland, Brian has also worked for a SEO daily newspaper, and was a former aide in both the Ohio House and Senate leadership offices in the late 90s.
Brian has written as “Modern Esquire” for his self-named blog and also at Buckeye State Blog from 2005 until Nov. 2009.
Amber Taylor
Amber grew up in Northeastern Ohio, graduated from Ohio University and then moved to Washington, D.C. She provides strategic communications planning and execution for a variety of clients and organizations, including education policy and research organizations, labor unions and environmental advocates. She’s pretty much always been obsessed with politics, and is lucky enough to share the passions of her clients.
She has volunteered on several political campaigns (including one of Ted Strickland’s House races) and met her husband while running various volunteer activities in Virginia for Howard Dean’s presidential race.
Topics you’ll probably see her cover will be everything from green jobs creation to the evolving (not dying) news media to her latest TV crush, Dylan Ratigan.
Kelley Bell-Wenzlaff
Kelley Bell-Wenzlaff is a former small business owner who ran for the Ohio Legislature in 2008, earning the endorsement of actor and activist Ed Begley Jr. for her strong environmental platform. She is an active member of The League of Women Voters, supports efforts to prepare young women for positions in elected office through The White House Project, and coordinates with The ODC Women’s Caucus to educate voters. She served as the policy liaison for a U.S. congressional race, and works as a freelance writer.
