Blogging and The Left

Hyperbole Alert! Unbridled Rant! Not for those with heart conditions or high blood pressure or who are prone to fainting spells and pearl clutching! Read at your own risk!

As the entire Left Blogosphere mourns the death of Daily Kos as an activist site due to every goddam activist there getting hounded, smeared, vilified, attacked, dogpiled, wolfpacked  and personally demeaned in the most vile detestable ways that humans are capable of on the internet by Obama “supporters”…..supporters that routinely and daily practice EVERY negative ethic of politics and partisanship that Obama himself condemns as being what is wrong with politics….we have to ask ourselves, what now?

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Quote from Jay Elias, in response to the plethora of “I Got This” graphics

What are we going to do? Are we going to stand by while this incredibly valuable and effective tool of activism, a tool of unimagined potential if used correctly, is neutered and rendered into nothing more than a continual war zone of activists and those who wish to be active vs those who scrutinize every diary and comment for absolutely the smallest scintilla of expression that they can stretch their imaginations into believing is some horrid seditious Thought Crime against a President who WANTS to be pressured from the Left to do the right thing?

Many brave souls are still there fighting the good fight to keep Daily Kos from turning into nothing more than a place for glossy pics of the Pres and a STFU factory run by folks who see it as their personal mission in life to Crush All Dissent, criticism, and critique….all POLITICAL (not personal) pressure, and any and all attempts at actually DOING something with all of the eyeballs that Dkos gets. But many more have fled under the unrelenting and just plain nasty attack dogs who value the status quo more than change and Obama The Man more than Obama the agent of Change.

Whether it is intended or not, whether they are agents provocateur or not, whether they are paid political ops from either party or not, the effect they have had in Crushing All Dissent is inexcusable. Inexcusable and unconscionable and tragic. Dkos went from one of the leading voices and forces  and sources of phone calls and emails in the HCR process to a swamp of McCarthyesque loyalty tests, witch hunts, Obama Purity purges and THE lowest personal attacks…including accusing people of lying about personal illnesses, attacking peoples children, and googling for presonal info to use in attacking activists….in the history of Daily Kos.

These people literally stop at nothing and have yet to find a gutter too low to lay in in ,their patently unhealthy ego projection, insecurity, misplaced fanaticism, and obsessive Hero Worship and low self esteem that forces them to see themselves as being under attack when a politician, an employee of the People comes under even the possibility of having pressure from the Left applied to him…..as he has explicitly and repeatedly asked for.

And then they whine pathetically and demand “civility” from those they so viciously attack and demean. They hypocritically wail at how ‘mean’ and ‘hurtful’ the responses they receive to their despicable attacks are.  They decry the lowered level of discourse even as they do everything possible to lower that discourse to the level of a schoolyard fight over whose daddy (yet another dynamic to explain their adoration of a father figure) is better. They accuse others of being divisive as they seek nothing more than to divide. they condemn others for breaking the rules even as they break those same rules, they attack as they call for an end to attack and they vilify others for ANY perceived vilification of a MAN and a POLITICIAN that they have such a distorted image of, and such demented priorities around….that they would sacrifice any and all political and social Progress, would hew willingly to the broken status quo that is hurting and destroying tens of millions of Americans and indeed the entire world.

All to prevent ANY, even the smallest, even the most mild criticism of….and I cannot repeat this enough….a politician who has ASKED for criticism. They act as agents and a force to HALT any Change and quash any HOPE for a better future, all for the most selfish and petty reasons one could imahgine in the face of a world that faces such monumental challenges.

There, my spleen and personal frustration at the simply IMMENSE unrealized potential of Daily Kos that is being actively castrated by these relatively few, but incredibly effective idiots is vented.

For now.

Even that rant barely touches on my frustration at seeing the potential force for good and change and yes, and perhaps most importantly…Hope. The Hope that was unearthed and roused by an incredibly effective marketting campaign that PROMISED that the status quo would be changed…..only to see the status quo enforced and bolstered at nearly every opportunity. The Hope whose rising led to record voter turnout…..and the CRUSHING of that Hope that now leads to the possibiltity of once activated and inspired voters now staying home in droves as that Hope has been proven to be nothing more than a cruel illusion, perpetrated for the purposes of merely gaining power to CONTINUE the status quo.

So the question now is ….what do we do about it?

How and where can Left activism on the Internet rise again? rise to make change, rise to right the wrongs and injustices of the System? Rise to give BACK that hope to a new generation, and to those that dared to hope again for change after dwelling in cynicism and appathy, only to be fooled and onace again crushed by a clever politician.

Do we go back to Dkos in droves and fight the good fight there? Do we create new places, new ways and new forms in which to fight? Do we try to find some kind of peace and coalition with those who are working to Crush All Dissent and prevent change?

This is, I believe, a turning point for internet activism. a turning point for a just being reborn Left, and certainly a turning point for all of us who have worked so hard through so many years to build a truly People Powered grass roots internet activist base and structure, ….only to see it taken over by those who, if they had their way, would prefer to see that structure for changed turned into a fan site?

This is the question that faces us. It won’t be answered here, or today, but over the next critical period of time….it will be answered by our inventiveness, our inspiration, our hard work and by our actions. But here is where we can start. here is the beginning of something new….if WE make it so.

247 comments

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  1. part of an organized effort to revive Internet activism….stand your ground, look them in the eye and Yell it Loud…

    You are DAMN RIGHT I am.

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  2. Henceforth called Closed Left by me.  It’s fallen to the Obamabots.  In this regard it has joined such casualties as My Left Wing and Fire Dog Lake.

    • Edger on December 8, 2009 at 20:50

    is now a war profiteer?

    • TomP on December 8, 2009 at 20:52

    Do we go back to Dkos in droves and fight the good fight there? Do we create new places, new ways and new forms in which to fight?

    Another issue is that Markos has quited himself a lot.  He opposes Afghanistan, but is keeping subdued.

    I still post at dkos.  This mornings post really bothered them because, I guess, it conflicted with the fantasy of super-Obama by a few.

    I think it is important to continue to tell the truth as we see it on dkos.

    But the place does get boring with the fear of independent thought.  

  3. The DailyKos deserves to be publically outed as a so-called “progressive blog” fraud, or be forced to dramatically change its essentially closed-minded discussion policy: including the whitewashing of political corruption a.k.a. “conspiracies“, E-Voting problems, the lack of respect for candidates of genuine principles and integrity like Dennis Kucinich, and the absurd, stubborn embrace of Washington Beltway-spoonfed facts and logic as being “reality based“.

    President Obama is “leading” (and I use that term very loosely) the Democratic Party completely and totally off the cliff, and at risk now (even with landslide margins) of becoming a total political irrelevancy.

    Sites as large as DailyKos, like it or not, are an important barometer of just what the “mainstream” activists are feeling, and just what they are really willing to fight and push for. We need them to wake-up and get hip to the absolutely horrible deal that they and everyone else is getting. That goes for MoveOn.org as well.

    • Obama is just carrying out Bush’s 3rd term on Endless War, Occupations, Detentions, Government Secrecy, senseless Drone brutality, indefinite imprisonment, and financial bankruptcy.
    • When WallStreet jumps, Obama just quietly gives them everything they want – no questions asked.
    • When Insurance and Drug companies jump, Obama just makes backdoor assurances that they will get a great deal for them any genuine reform is happily jettisoned
    • Even in just his first few weeks, Obama torpedoed the whole entire mandate of the 2008 Elections, by staffing up his administration with “stay the course” War Mongering Chicken Hawks, Wall Street Crooks, “Bluedog” DLC-NAFTA hacks, and even some of Bush’s own damn people — while quietly sending 20,000 more Troops to die in Afghanistan, and inviting Drug and Insurance Companies to private White House meetings to define (whitewash) “reform”.

    This disgusting track record is the polar opposite of any change in direction, and Obama needs to now really feel the heat from the Left in a big, big, big way – or the Democratic Party is doomed.

    It is important that DailyKos, MoveOn, and all the other so-called activist sites here the message that this is so NOT what we voted for – it is the opposite!

    Obama is nothing but a smooth, charlatan that has worked to undercut the Left, and also tricked and fooled the Left into passivity — against our own damn interests.

    Folks, We cannot just take this stuff lying down!

    FEINGOLD-KUCINCH 2012 baby!!

    • Xanthe on December 8, 2009 at 21:03

    of Republican black ops – or lobbyists – who knows.  But why not?  The Obama campaign itself had many paid bloggers there during the primary  – who swamped many of us happily knitting our bitter capes. (My cape is a sea green – lovely.)  

    That is one of the downsides of blogs – it’s easy to subvert anyone, any situation.  At one time, in the beginning, we kind of knew who was blogging mostly.  It’s tricky now – everywhere.  Blogging is mainstream now – and with that comes all the strangling tentacles.  

    Might they just split off into three, four camps – they have done so already, haven’t they?  Perhaps they’ll sink under the machinations of conflicting goals, untrustworthy fellow bloggers, etc.  It’s looking like that bar in Casablanca.  I don’t do well in murky stuff like this – though many seem to enjoy it.

    Should you let it go?  Do you consider it such a powerhouse you can’t.  Powerhouses lose power just like anything else – and, of course, new ones can be built.  That’s where the new, green energy should be put.

         

    • UTvoter on December 8, 2009 at 21:03

    and he needs us to do that so that he can say “see, see, we need to this because these folks are loud and critical and correct in there thinking”. he’s pressured from all sides, including the military,  and he needs us. i say let dkos do what they will. no need to go on an all out assault on them. let’ s do it from here.  

  4. to influence Daily Kos is from within Daily Kos.

    First suggestion: Bring back Ask A Kossack and use that for a vehicle.

    Only you can do this, buhdy. Only you.

    That’d be something I could get behind.

    Do we go back to Dkos in droves and fight the good fight there?

    Yes, once you’re sure you know EXACTLY what that is.

    Speaking for myself, I can be conflicted about a number of elements of administration policy and still decry the degeneration of the discourse.

  5. What’s more, mourn for what I shall henceforth refer to as Closed Left, that sad and ineffective operation set up by Chris Bowers to cave in to the far right when push comes to shove, while engaging in Kos-lite behavior.  I posted links to web sites, mostly news and progressive opinion organizations with some activism links thrown in.  I also sent you an e-mail from my g-mail account.  If you really want to take on the D.C. establishment, which includes but is by no means limited to the Obamabots, it may be time to transform the mission of this site a little, so it can become what Daily Kos, My left Wing, Open left, and others would not: a genuinely progressive organization that actually pushes for progress and won’t back down or take no for an answer.

  6. the powers that be at GOS profit from the stupid and irrational flame wars as it enriches their bottom line.  More hits, more dollah, dollah

    Never underestimate the profit motive

    I have no objection to a fight in principle but would rather new sites emerge which give power to others at least to rake in some cash.

    Pluto’s diary on Obama’s secret plan for Afghanistan is interesting however unconvincing the original document.

    People are jumping on it as if Lawrence of Arabia actually was happy with what he delivered to the British Empire.

    I am depressed today, so a good fight might help if I could get undepressed enough to participate.

  7. Did anyone truly think the corporatists would just go away, as opposed to joining the Democrats when they thought the Republicans were too batshit nutty to put all their eggs in that basket?

    It is not so simple anymore as to putting political ideas into one or two parties — and this is a mission problem with purely Democratic blogs.  One party in the United States is arguably so mendacious it must and should be destroyed, but that does not say anything about the other party.

    And it’s not just so simple as the blogosphere.  There is a basic problem in America of the establishment making it too difficult for the everyday Americans to make meaningful, timely progressive change.

    Since the Republicans are on the decline and are nuts, we effectively have or will have a one party system of governance in this country.  And as much as people talk about primaries and such, it seems to me to be no more than putting a bandaid on a baseball sized hole in the gut.

    If we want reform and have to prioritize efforts it seems to me the most natural thing is to try to address that systemic problem with the most resources and as a first, topmost priority — giving the American people back the power to institute real change, subject to checks and balances only meant to restrain people from oppressing minorities.

    I think we need to look beyond political parties when it comes to opening up the political field — since the established political parties themselves would be enemies in terms of undoing their own illegitimate abilities to maintain their own powers of incumbency.

  8. I’ll ramble a bit, but am not optimistic about our chances at DK.

    This isn’t about Obama.  We had the same problem during the impeachment wars.  During the fight to prosecute torture.  Obama is only being used as a reason to clutch at the status quo.

    We have a lot going against us.  First, it takes so few people to tear down something it takes a lot of people a long time to build.  The sentiments expressed in your essay, buhdy, is exactly what the Obamaphiles want.  They want a personal fight so that they never have to deal with the substance of what we want to fight for.

    I’ve seen this over and over again and it’s a tactic that always works.  Distract, divert.  Doesn’t have to be with  insults — you and I have both seen the other kinds of “tapdancing” that never address the issue but divert the subject so that real conversation cannot take place.

    That’s what we need to fight — the diversions, whether they are personal attacks or simply foolish arguments that not so foolishly succeed in derailing conversation.

    The second obstacle is that Daily Kos is a site for electing Democrats, and that is a club that can also be used against us.  We saw that during the impeachment wars.  We see that all the time when it comes to “but we don’t have the votes!” arguments.  They aren’t necessarily personal attacks but they work well to, again, cause a diversion.

    And the third obstacle is we ourselves.  The kind of discipline that we’d need to stay on topic and consistent in the face of ignorance, personal attacks, and all the other kinds of things that try our patience or get under our skin is something I haven’t seen from us as a group.  We either want to avoid fights in an effort to get along or we end up being able to defend ourselves well enough, take the shots well enough, but get crazy when we see our allies attacked.  Our breaking point when it comes to the abuse needs to be really improved upon, in other words.  That takes a kind of discipline, commitment and teamwork I don’t think is present at this point.

    And it’s NOT just about having a “thick skin.”  I don’t think sensitivity is a liability at all.  You can have the thickest skin in the world and still get diverted and distracted by the ignorance and fear of those who cling to the status quo.

    I understand your desire to post at Daily Kos.  It is an influential site that gives an audience one can’t get anywhere else and yes, it is built as an activist’s dream when it comes to the possibilities inherent in the structure of the site itself.

    But I also think we’d need to really inherently change our own strategy to be effective there, and I haven’t seen that happen … yet.

  9. might be impetus for you to leave. 🙂 Oh wait, no – that’s me. Heh.

    I say we keep growing up DD and push through that way. We demand a place at the Netroots Nation table, and we fight, and we question, and we don’t put up with this fucking bullshit anymore. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to build the coalition back up, and I think we’d all be better for it if we started sooner.

    It’s going to be a knock-down drag-out until then, though. I believe it’s going to get a lot uglier before it gets better.

    An idea: a moderated online joust between DDers (what do we call ourselves?) and Kossacks, with MB and you as the moderators.  

  10. This is what I’m listening to right now (and I even hate Eminem). WARNING: The N-word up ahead! Like, a lot!

  11. Hope has been proven to be nothing more than a cruel illusion, perpetrated for the purposes of merely gaining power to CONTINUE the status quo.

    Pure poetry. This is what it has all been about. The bailouts, the lack of prosecuting criminals, changing the laws… It is about preserving the status quo.

    The right … well, is the right …. easily identifiable, repetitive tactics, attack when you don’t have substance (wow, sounds like the big orange almost)

    The left … we seem to get snookered again. Do we really have representation? Are there any true progressives? We have career politicians who stand up and talk about the “mythical little man” … but how many of them have got their fingernails dirty? Joey Biden has been touted as Mr. Blue Collar … my ass … he’s been in politics since he was 30!

    What the fuck does our American Aristocracy know about the real world? Most of them have been in the Senate so long they wouldn’t know how to put in a full days work … or what even being out of work is like!

    The DK was great when times were darkest, and dissent was squashed as being unAmerican … but we all know what has happened to the Kos. It may still be a place to elect Democrats, but …

    The Democratic party has left me. My political views are no longer represented by the so-called Democratic left. My voice is unheard by those that hear more from lobbyist than constituents. We need to find a new voice … a new party .. Democracy works best when all voices are heard!

    This bullshit about 60 votes, and the need for super majorities is more of preserving the status quo. We did not send you to DC to be part of the larger herd … we sent you as a representative, and instead you succumb to peer pressure within the beltway.

    It is time for Democracy to press its muscle against the machine. For the health of this country we need 3, then 4, then 10 different political parties so the super majority will go away and die.

    This idea is long overdue and far beyond DK ability to comprehend.

    There…. I feel better now… and I realize just now that I did not even address the question.

    Damn you Buhdy … got me all fired up now.

  12. Try to write essays that sow seeds of doubt by providing evidence to counter the assumptions of the target audience. For example, regarding my own recent essays on Afghanistan.

    I took it as point that people support Obama’s surge in Afghanistan. So, do they also support the necessary surge in private contractors that accompanies the surge? What if the contractors are making the mission the troops are tasked with more difficult?

    Or, what if the president claims to have considered all options to the surge, but also takes talk of withdrawal off the table less-than-a-month into his review and his war secretary is claimed to be the main person selling the president on the war.

    Better writers than me are using this question the assumptions approach to their essays regarding Afghanistan. The key is to find the well argued skeptics and support their writing.

    Other writers do this with their essays. Many of the best writers on the economy are dissenters to the green shoots believers.

    Lastly, to make an impact we’re going to have to support one another. Leaving the biggest platform is not going to change anyones mind. Silence is surrender.

    • robodd on December 8, 2009 at 23:09

    is watching the FP’ers ignore it and continue to go after the easy targets, ie republicans, teabaggers, McCain, Palin, etc.  

    I think they are being even more lame than the Ocommenters.

  13. to be harnessed.  Just about every site I visit, other than DK, is full of disgust and dismay at what is happening under this administration.   DK is small potatoes compared to what could be created if, assuming we need numbers to attack the system, we could somehow combine all the of the real progressive/liberal activists into a cohesive force.  

  14. blogosphere has actually had on politics?  Any studies on how to use this seemingly great tool for interaction to actually combine forces?  I’m thinking if the internet is to be used as an activist tool, with real measures of impact, there should be some kind of master plan on how it can be done.  To me, everything that has happened over the last 5 years, at least of significance, most probably would have happened with or without the blogosphere.  

    • Inky99 on December 9, 2009 at 00:23

    is my advice.

    It’s too easy to get sucked into that place.

    I want to see this place replace THAT place.

    I don’t know how you do that except to keep luring people over here.

    The more good people they kick out the better is it for this place.

    I mean look at how much more lively this place has been just since Colorado came over!

    She added a big jolt of energy!

  15. Well yesterday I stated my thoughts but I guess I didnt quite get the depths of your disgust.  I still have my reservations but I must say that I agree that the way in which those of a different opinion, poor penmanship, or those who dont live up to the ‘standards’ of elite are treated is just plain wrong.  

    Personally I’m becoming increasingly dissenchanted with Pres. O-bomb-ya, he got my vote last time but will not get it next time.  I will not intentionally vote for a murderer and while I could accept death while we try to extricate ourselves from the fiascos of the last eight years I can and will not loose my soul by helping reelect a man whe knowingly and voluntarily caused the murder of innocents as he has and will continue to do.  

    So an internet curflufle is the least of my worries.

    • Miep on December 10, 2009 at 07:06

    First, a pony for “STFU Factory!”

    Wow. Never heard that before. Rocks.

    • Miep on December 10, 2009 at 07:12

    It drives me nuts when people use “castrated” metaphorically; it implies that men are running things.

    I KNOW men are running things. It drives me NUTS that men are running things.

    “Neutered” works.

    • Miep on December 10, 2009 at 07:14

    keep on keepin’ on buhdy.

    Change is gradual, slow, and comprehensive.

    You cannot make the plants grow faster by pulling on the stems.

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