I don't really write all that many diaries here. Most of the time I surf the news and opinions, feeling lucky to be given access to such an unprecedented source of information. Thanks to the incredible diligince of the diarists here I'm able to recieve news often days ahead of other sources, without being subject to the conservative media strangle-hold. As if that isn't wonderful enough, this site has become an avenue for major American politicians to interact directly with their supporters (and/or detractors).
I don't always agree with these politicians, nor do I always agree with the diarists here at the Kos. The thing is, this is an opinion site. Even though there is a lot of relevant journalism done here, really the great strength of this site is to provide voices for the many and disparate views that do make up the left.
I guess this is what has been bothering me recently.
First, Senator Barack Obama gave a personal and impassioned plea to the members of this community to pay attention to the realities that exist outside of the active left-wing. The fact alone that he was willing to approach a community that supports him in such a direct way was amazing, the fact that he did so in a critical way was incredibly brave. The response was.... absolutely predictable. People all over the site reacted to the Senators message in exactly the form that this site exist to support. Some were in agreement, others were reasoned rebuttals. Still more were livid, purely emotional responses.
All of this I understand completely. Anyone who is willing to sit through a few sign up screens can write their own diary here, and all of us, despite our involvement in this community, felt that the senator was talking to us as a whole. Which, well, he was.
What I don't understand are people questioning this response. Barack Obama writing a personal message to this community is a big thing, so of course it would elicit a big response. I would be disturbed if it was otherwise. Frankly, it doesn't really matter what people say in response. It doesn't really matter what people said to elicit Mr. Obama's comment in the first place. What matters is that this site exists so that people with opinions, (such as anger towards senators who voted for Roberts, or anger at the opinions written about the Senator's opinion about the anger towards democrats for Roberts), can communicate and explain themselves to a very wide audience, who read this site by their own choice.
Because of this site the top-down, one-way nature of the major media has been challenged. Kossacks feel Roberts should have been filibustered? Write about it. One of the most vibrant and promising senators disagrees? He has the exact same voice here. I don't know who I agree with, but I'm glad I'm able to witness the dialogue.
So for those who are disheartened with the tone or the sheer level of response, please remember that there is no other media outlet on earth that provides people as crazy as us with a voice (other than bathroom stalls and subway loudspeakers). Let everyone talk, whatever their opinions are. It isn't the end of Dailykos, it doesn't even highlight the deep fissures within the Democratic Party or the left-wing. What it does is show our ability and desire to grapple with our differences of opinion, and our comfort that these differences do exist. It doesn't bother me to hear dismay in responses from those infuriated by the occasional tone around here, but it does make me sad. This is precisely the discussion the good Senator hoped to encourage.
And truly, people, the saddest and most tragic thing of all, is that while we sit here bickering a horrible tragedy is occuring. A horrible tragedy with a very funny name. As we argue Typhoon Longwang is penetrating the arid regions of Thailand, and no one is sure how long it can be kept up. That a human tragedy with such an unfortunate name can slip past the radars of our good diarists really shows the sheer single-minded obsession of this site. Some Thai meteoroligist is laughing his ass off right now, just hoping that George W. Bush will have to go on T.V. and react to the terrible devestation caused by Longwang, without chuckling even once. For shame, Kossacks, for Shame. It will be decades before someone names another natural disater in such poor taste.
Anyways, I can't really think of a good conclusion here. This would be the appropriate spot, all the way at the bottom... Screw it, I'll let you guys come up with the conclusion: Whoever comes up with the best haiku or limerick that epitomizes how they feel about this whole overplayed Obama drama will win a hand drawn picture of the President having sex with the farm animal of there choice.