The following is extended commentary on response to this
comment on the Stephanie Herseth affair, in which I suggest that Kossite community behavior in this instance augurs poorly for the blogosphere in general as an effective political force.
It's not about rights, any more than Nader's run is about his right to run. It's about results -- what's productive and what's counterproductive to one's own cause.
Democracy is always about results. Voters who think it's about self-expression -- or anything else -- are dogs watching tennis.
In democracy, the winners are the ones who build winning coalitions. "The people" do not rule. "The majority" does not rule, because there is no single majority. There are a virtually infinite universe of majorities. Somebody gets one of those majorities to act in concert, and rules.
Many contributors here clearly do not know how Congress is organized, how agendas are set, or why agenda-setting matters. They do not know that Herseth's vote could turn the tables against the Right's whole gay-baiting agenda -- even if Herseth herself pipes up on the wrong side of some issues.
Others know, but don't care. They think their contributions give them power over Herseth, they revel in that imagined power of disapproval, and they're willing to shoot themselves in the feet just to show it off their firepower.
Go ahead, punish Herseth for wrong thinking. Treat her as The Enemy. Even if Herseth thinks like most South Dakotans, she is not a threat. Bush is a threat. DeLay is a threat. Give the Delay's power over the Herseth's, and you are a threat to your own interests ... just like minimum-wage workers who vote Republican.
At this point, no other race has Herseth's leverage against the hate machine. We won a special election in Kentucky. (You wouldn't approve of the winner.) We have a winnable special election in South Dakota. Special elections can create special self-fulfilling prophecies of tidal change. The seat is important in its own right, and it's important as a straw in the wind -- one that could presage a cascade of upsets.
When you shame Herseth, you mirror the misplaced outrage of conformist moralizers at "sinful" gays and their "sinful" ways. Gays' ways don't hurt you. Herseth's wrong thinking doesn't hurt you.
The reflexive urge to punish nonconformity is a deep seated human instinct ... one that often does us no good. In our little virtual dKos bubble, one set of norms prevails. In society at large, other norms prevail. It's nonproductive to enforce either by shouting and shaming, and it's especially counterproductive to try enforcing our minority-world norms on the majority world outside by the same means.
It's also about reputation. Every form of politics entails a conveyance of trust. Trust depends on reputation. Reputation sticks to you, and rubs off on people around you, and even rubs off on people who just happen to look like you. The flood of "spurned lover" mail and phone traffic will make candidates think twice about courting this community, and similar communities. So, yes -- "the blogosphere" is implicated, and tarred.
In less than 72 hours, the dKos community has rendered a passable imitation of the Worst Girlfriend in the World ... falling in love in a heartbeat, lavishing favors, making imperious demands, turning hostile in perceived betrayal, making even more imperious demands, and dedicating herself to ruining ... no, transforming ... no, ruining her victim.
What kind of ally does the dKos community look like now? It's not an ally you'd want in a tough fight. It's not bankable support. It's fickle support, and not just that ... it's vengefully fickle support. The demanding contributor, the fickle contributor, the vengeful contributor -- those are a candidate's nightmares.
You don't want one, but you accept a few. You certainly don't want a thousand, and you don't court them. Political realists appreciate support ... especially from political realists.
The Island belongs to those who can erect, sustain and defend a civilization ... which has only ever been done through the imperfect processes of politics, democratic or otherwise. The virtual community at this stage is more of a cross between Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies.