The Mystery of the Disappearing Blogger

Once upon a time (I know, that's not how mysteries start, but gimme a break), there was a blogger. Her name was Sara Matthews, and she went by the name of Sara da Muse. She lives in Montgomery County. She had a blog called Saratells (the absence of a link being the first clue, for the clue-impaired). It was a small blog, with what I suspect was a small readership. It wasn't updated very often, but it was a nice little blog, and during the 2006 campaign, she posted a few political items.

In 2007, this same blogger started a new blog. It was called Fire Al Wynn (www.firewynn.blogspot.com), and it was run by this same person. This blog, unlike her earlier one, started out like a house on fire. There were numerous posts and she was clearly fired up (pun intended) about getting rid of Albert Wynn as the Congressman from the Fourth Congressional District.

Note the absence of a link to the new blog. That’s the second clue.

Sara da Muse was so excited about her new blog that she publicized it far and wide. There were links at Free State Politics (here and here. There were links at Daily Kos (here).

Clearly, our intrepid blogger Sara da Muse was on a roll. She had a new blog, she was posting on it, she was enthused and energetic, she was pimping it on other blogs, and the Wynn-Edwards race was about to take off. Without a doubt, we were going to hear more from Sara da Muse.

And then. . . . .

Nothing. Well, actually, less than nothing. Within a week of all that activity, everything was gone. The Fire Al Wynn blog? Gone. The original blog, Saratells? Gone. Not gone with a "hey, I'm moving on, got a lot of stuff to do, this has been fun, see ya down the road" final post from either blog, but gone as in deleted, as if they never existed. More ominously, also gone was the e-mail that Sara Matthews used with both blogs.

That's the third clue (I feel like I'm in an episode of Blue's Clues. Now it's time to solve the mystery.

Why did the blogger disappear? I've talked to a few people and here are the possible theories:

Was she bored? Doesn't seem like it, she was more active than ever, particularly with the Al Wynn blog.

Was she off to do something else? Again, doesn't seem like it, and if so, why not post something so that readers would know?

Did she decide to do something more active directly with Donna Edwards? Possible, but then why shut down the blog? And why not just say so? And/or try to find someone who could take over the blog?

Was she threatened by somebody? Certainly seems possible. In fact, it's the only explanation that accounts for (1) shutting down two blogs without fanfare, and (2) most importantly, closing down an e-mail account.

Do I have proof of any of this? No, I do not. What I have is a situation that defies explanation other than that Sara Matthews was coerced into shutting down two blogs, one of recent vintage directed at the career prospects of one Albert Wynn. Do I think Wynn or one of his cronies is capable of doing such a thing? Yes, I do.

Any other ideas? I'd like to hear them. And if Sara Matthews reads this, and wants to tell me I'm full of shit for even bringing this up and that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this, I'd be happy for her to contact me and disabuse me of my conspiracy theory.

But if Al Wynn or one of his henchmen ran off a blogger critical of him, then that's just reason number 4,786,398 that he should be evicted from his seat in Congress.