( This will be cross-posted on my blog, http://wantsomewood.blogspot.com )
When I first began surfing the internet regularly, about ten years ago, one of the first sites I discovered was Turnleft.com. It was a terrific site that rightly called itself "The Home for Liberalism on the Web." It had lists of liberal accomplishments (and there were many to list, of course), other defenses of liberalism as an ideology, and links to the web sites of people who considered themselves liberal. Best of all, it had a feature called "Liberal Places," in which users debated what the best (and worst) cities, towns, and counties were for liberals to live.
Now, I weep when I type turnleft.com into my computer, because Mike Silverman--the man who used to run Turn Left--forwards the old domain name to his new blog. And while it can be an entertaining read, Mike's new blog, Red Letter Day, isn't quite the citadel of liberalism his old place was. (More after the fold)
This is a far-too-typical post. Mike goes from complaining (legitimately) about the antisemitism of a few comment posters on a blog to positing that extremists are taking over the Democratic party, just as much as the Republican (and without showing us how he connects those very different ideas).
http://www.mikesilverman.com/...
More distressingly, Silverman supported the war (which I can forgive, since the prospect of Saddam with weapons of mass destruction really was scary, and Bush did everything he could to convince lots of people that that really was a threat). This is the closest thing I've seen on his site to regretting that support for the war (and I do give him credit for it).
http://www.mikesilverman.com/...
He frequently has wondered why liberals hate Bush so much (apparently missing the 2000 election, the relentless politicization of national security so that anybody who questions Bush is said to "hate America," the lies that got us into war, and so on and on and on).
http://www.mikesilverman.com/...
Here, he repeats the right-wing talking point that Bill Clinton was as responsible as Bush was for 9/11 (in a cute haiku, no less).
http://www.mikesilverman.com/...
While he's at it, he repeats their lies about the Wellstone funeral.
http://www.mikesilverman.com/...
He's also a big fan of Little Green Footballs.
http://www.mikesilverman.com/...
I don't know how fair it is to judge bloggers by their blogroll (if someone has insight on that, please leave a comment), but it also bothers me that he feels compelled to link to right-wing talking-point-spouters (someone on his blogroll named Paul Drabek), and to another blogger who calls herself "cranky chick." She just seems ignorant to me.
None of this means that I hate Silverman; in fact, he makes some very good points. Like him, I am distressed by the tendency of some people on the far left to adopt overly anti-American or anti-Israeli attitudes (although he exaggerates their numbers and influence). But he seems to have adopted the idea that you have to renounce much of your liberalism, and repeat large heapings of conventional right-wing wisdom, to believe that. Coming from a man who used to run one of the best liberal sites on the web, this is disappointing.