There's a certain kind of diary here at Daily Kos that pisses me off to no end. You know the type.
The Democrats are fucked. Rasmussen says Bush's approval rating is up 2 points. And Karl Rove is holding Osama Bin Laden in a cage and will bring him to Fox News's studios on November 2. And Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel suck ass and don't know how to run a campaign. They're doing everything wrong. And Nancy Pelosi is no good on TV. And [bitch bitch bitch whine whine].
In honor of Atrios I am calling this the WATB diary. It represents the one thing about Daily Kos and the progressive blogs that makes me want to rip my laptop out of its socket and throw it through my 21st floor window (If you're walking a by a tall office building in the West 50's in Manhattan today, please be careful!). Again, in honor of Atrios, I'll call this the WATB dictum, which I describe thusly:
On Daily Kos, everyone has the right to an opinion, and everyone has the right to do nothing about it.
So, to everyone reading this who may be tempted to post a WATB diary and demonstrate the WATB dictum, I say the following: Stop Crying and Grab a Shovel.
Believe it or not, the organizations that some of you say you revile are working their tails off to win every race in this election. However, they can't do it if the people who should be helping do nothing but sit on their couches and whine. They need you to get to work and pitch in.
Exhibit 1: The DNC (it's run by Howard Dean - so no bitching about Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel please). On their website today is a list of instructions for what they need you to do to help win this election. It'll require work and sacrifice, and getting off your butt. But hey, I hear this election is kind of important. Here's what they need:
November 7th could be the most momentous election in a decade. Start planning for Election Day by taking November 7th off work. This is an all hands on deck situation - we need every Democrat who can help out encouraging people to vote. You can't help get out the vote if you have other obligations.
Take a minute to remind your boss that you are taking Election Day off.
Contact your local party if you haven't already, and sign up to volunteer on Election Day.
If you can vote absentee, send in for your absentee ballot and make sure you vote ahead of time.
Go here to sign up NOW.
And for those who missed it the first time, go here: http://www.100actions.com/...
More information and more ways to help here.
Again, for those of you who missed it the first time, go here: http://www.democrats.org/...
I'll even make a deal with you. If you sign up and agree to help, then you can bitch all you want and I won't accuse you of being a WATB.
Oh, yeah, and Peter King is an asshole.
And one more thing, I am now taking off my electioneering hat and putting on my YearlyKos hat (Note to IRS - please note that I have explicitly changed hats - I am no longer electioneering and am now explicitly in "non-profit" mode.)
Next week, YearlyKos will have a major announcement for YearlyKos 2007. What is it? Ah heck, I'll tell you. Next week YearlyKos will announce the City, the Dates, and the Venue for YearlyKos 2007. So get psyched!
And if you'd like to speculate on where it will be, here's a clue:
Garlic