I commented a bit about this in Twitter, but NRO’s disgusted sneer at Sadly, No! deserves a little bit more observation. Not because of the Lefty site in question – after all: they affect nothing, influence nothing, and ultimately change nothing – but because of why it – and quite a few sites like it – still exists in the form that it does.
Short answer? dKos. The Establishment Left was exceptionally clever to find a pliable Lefty site, provide it with more or less exclusive patronage, and then use it to hammer the rest of the Left-blogosphere into impotence; imagine how badly the primaries would be going for incumbent Democrats right now if they were facing an independent and effective digital grassroots that was angry at the 2010 Democratic debacle. As it stands, the Democratic establishment can bleed off poltiical pressure and divert netrooter attention from what the netroots really need to do: which is to say, remove the Democratic establishment. The best part? The netrooters think that they’re making a difference. Well played, Democratic establishment. Well played.
Heck, I imagine that the Republican establishment is envious: you think that they’re happy to have to return my* calls? And I’m one of the nice ones… and I can be nice because both I and the Republican establishment know that there are a lot of alternatives out there who aren’t as nice. It gives them an… incentive, shall we say. Yes, “Deal with me, or deal with him,” is an old trick in activism. You know why it’s an old trick? Because it works.
Moe Lane
*That would be ‘my’ in terms of ‘RedState,’ of course. No sense in pretending that the site’s not a major factor; then again, I helped build the site in the first place, so it all evens out in the end.
We don’t call the GOP the Stupid party without reason, occasionally it works to our advantage
I think it would be great if the netroots were set loose from their chains, just like OWS was. It would give the average citizen more information about what the Left REALLY stands for, in a more honest format. More information and honesty! That’s something both sides can agree to, or at least pretend.
I heard a while back that the reason he is in a wheelchair is because he was a swimmer or diver in college and hurt himself. I honestly never realized he was impaired for a long time, I just thought he was a really smart guy with a bit of a stutter until one day I saw the chair briefly when they switched cameras. I really hope he never sees that image from those hateful people.