Posted on 06/22/2006 11:30:34 PM PDT by RWR8189
realize that the new, counterintuitive thing to say about the left blogosphere these days is that it's not really that radical. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga says nice things about Mark Warner, which means he's really just a pragmatist (or easily co-opted, but the effect is the same). All this is mostly true. What this interpretation misses, however, is that the radicalism of the lefty bloggers lies not so much in their ideological platform but in their ideological style. They think like sectarians. And that style is on perfect display in Kos's attack on The New Republic. Kos announces in his headline, "TNR's defection to the Right is now complete." If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because it is. More than two years ago, Kos launched what he called his "anti-TNR campaign," in which he declared us to be enemies of the people. Wait, sorry, wrong jargon--I meant, enemies of the people-powered movement. Some examples of the anti-TNR campaign can be found here, here, and here. He has refused to link to our stories--except of course the minority that attack the left, all the better to display our enemy status--and declared us irrelevant and buried in the dustbin of history. Except now, two years after having unleashed his most terrible weapons, he has to bury us all over again. And so, he urges his readers, "If you still hold a subscription to that magazine, it really is time to call it quits." This is like the Catholic Church digging up the heretic it had already burned at the stake so it can excommunicate the corpse a second time. Kos, seemingly aware that this is an unsatisfactory punishment, proceeds to urge his readers, "If you see it in a magazine rack, you might as well move it behind the National Review or even NewsMax, since that's who they want to be associated with these days." Not subscribing isn't enough. Loyal Kossacks must hide it in newsstands so other liberals will not be exposed to our ideological impurities. And what are those impurities? Kos explains, again lapsing into hilariously crude jargon, that TNR "seeks to destroy the new people-powered movement for the sake of its Lieberman-worshipping neocon owners." I would humbly suggest that Kos needs to straighten out his liturgy. Is our owner a Lieberman-worshipper, or is he a Gore-worshipper? Neocons are resolute monotheists, you know. The paranoid mentality that Kos displays is obviously incapable of grasping the possibility that an institution like TNR might not act monolithically, and might publish articles simply because they are true and interesting rather than in the service of some political goal. Still, I wonder how he reconciles his dark interpretation with the fact that most of our staff published written endorsements of other Democratic candidates. I, to take one example, wrote that "the Democratic Party would have to be crazy to nominate Joe Lieberman for president." That line must have slipped right past them. Even our most pro-Lieberman staffer, Peter Beinart, wrote a recent column in which he criticized Lieberman just as strongly as the left blogosphere, angering die-hard Lieberman backer Marshall Wittmann. All this is pretty hard to square with the notion that everything TNR does is directed by its owners and designed for the greater glory of Joe Lieberman. In good revolutionary style, Kos ends with a ringing declaration that TNR remains dead and victory for people-power is at hand. "It is now beyond clear that the dying New Republic is mortally wounded," he writes. Where once it was clear, now it is beyond clear, and where once we were dying we are now both dying and mortally wounded. He continues, "They no longer (thank heavens!) have a monopoly on progressive punditry." When did we ever have a monopoly on progressive punditry? What about The Nation, The American Prospect, The Washington Monthly, every liberal op-ed columnist, and the like? How did I miss this period of all-consuming power? And did Kos just admit that we're progressive, after all? Might be time for another excommunication.
Jonathan Chait is a senior editor at The New Republic.
I hope we learn something from this.
CAT FIGHT!
Anyone know if Markos is gay ? He looks like a twinkie to me.
And its a lot of fun to watch.
Wow - that party is CHANGING
A Liberal is a bleeting sheep who is told what to bleet and how often.
Thinking has nothing to do with it.
Only a moron can be a Liberal.
Wouldn't that make DailyKos the Evil Empire, and Kos himself the Emperor?
"He has refused to link to our stories--except of course the minority that attack the left, all the better to display our enemy status--and declared us irrelevant and buried in the dustbin of history."
So Kos does get some things right...who knew?
I wonder how badly this has hurt the rag? Of course, that money will just go to Mother Jones or Utne Reader anyway, but still, I'd rather see the tie-wearing libs entirely excommunicated by the never-shaved, unwashed Kos-lovin' types. Better for the conservative ranks to have the Kos and DU sorts as the standard bearers for liberalism.
The Febrile Empire?
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
"The Febrile Empire?"
That'll work, too. 8)
There wasn't room in the Democratic Party for Ronald Reagan, either...
This is a real conundrum. They're too conservative for the Democrat party anymore, but if enough of them really did become Republicans, we'd have a bigger majority but more moderate party.
This guy, KOS, is really full of himself. Pride cometh before a great fall. He is going to self implode. His track record of backing 14 or 15 loosers speaks volumes too.
The wife and kid are probablly beards.
His beeber needs to be stuuned. What a dumbie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.