We've long had our standard civil war here at DKos. We've all seen it: There is the "pragmatist" group. What matters to them is electing people with D's after their names. They are the "more democrats" group. Then there is the "dirty fucking hippies" group (and as for me, I proudly wear my tie-dye). They have principles and programs that they want to see win, and for them, electing people with D's after their name doesn't mean shit if the D's just act like R's. They are the "better democrats" group.
At times when the Dem Party doesn't live up to its principles (like the past three decades, for instance), those two groups become completely incompatible, and they fight viciously in diaries and posts. The basic argument is "Your party isn't doing shit!" "Oh yeah, well the other party is EVEN WORSE!"
But now the civil war will get far intense. The Dem Party in general, and the DKos blog in particular, are heading towards a massive, and perhaps fatal, split.
Because of the Occupy Wall Steet movement.
For years now, the eternal feud between the "pragmatic" wing of the Dem Party and the "dirty fucking hippie" wing has played out against the background of the DFHs simply having nowhere else to go. Both sides had to learn to live with each other inside the Dem party, whether they like each other or not, because there is no alternative. When Markos argued for years that street actions not only did no good but were positively harmful (he was dead wrong about that, of course) and threatened to kick out anyone who advocated street actions, it was at a time when everyone was speaking theoretically because no real street actions actually existed.
Now, that is no longer true. Thanks to OWS, the DFH's now have an alternative to the Democratic Party (if indeed OWS plays out as a real movement instead of a brief flash in the pan).
The dynamic is utterly predictable------the DFH's will insist that the role of the street demonstrators is to force the Dem party into a liberal/progressive agenda whether the Dem party likes it or not (and since the Dems are simply not a liberal/progressive party, they will not like it), while the pragmatists will insist that the role of the street demonstrators is to support the Dem party legislative agenda by supporting Senate Bill Number blah blah blah or opposing House Bill Number blah blah blah and by doing phone banks and get-out-the-vote for Candidate X Y or Z (a role that OWS will absolutely refuse to play).
We can already see the beginnings of this split. We can already see the pragmatists standing by, baffled, asking in a bewildered voice what the OWS "wants" (by which of course it really means "what parts of the Democratic Party legislative agenda will they write letters to help us pass?" and "will they do get-out-the-vote for us in 2012?") For the pragmatists, any movement that does not embrace and cheerlead for the Democratic Party's legislative agenda is, by definition, useless and a waste of time--nothing but dirty fucking hippies.
And we can already see the dirty fucking hippies declaring in response that the OWS movement is far larger than party politics, that it must stay outside of electoral politicking and partisan pandering and become an independent force capable of targeting BOTH parties, as needed, and that if OWS becomes just another partisan cheerleader, it will become utterly useless. The fight is not a "Dem vs Repug" thing, but a "1% vs everyone else" thing--and the 1% owns both political parties.
Those two agendas are entirely utterly absolutely incompatible, and the split will be irrevocable. The Dem Party likes the OWS for now, at least--though it's pretty clear that the OWS doesn't particularly like the current Dem Party, and it remains to be seen whether the Dems still like the movement after OWS camps out on the White House lawn to protest the latest Dem Party sellout.
If OWS grows and thrives, then everyone at DKos will need to make a choice, the same choice we had in 1968---do we stand with the party leadership inside the Chicago Convention, or do we stand with the Yippies outside in the streets?
If you think the recent meta-wars over "pro-Obama /anti-Obama" were bloody and harsh, you ain't seen nothin' yet. If OWS grows into a real political movement, the meta-wars will reach nuclear levels.
It'll be ugly. Friendships will end, enemies will be made, lots of us will be kicked out, lots of us will leave on their own.
I'm not looking forward to it. But I see no way to avoid it.