Atrios wonders
whether Joe Klein is jealous:
KLEIN: You know, I just can`t get over Rush Limbaugh. Boy--you know, people who live in glass pillboxes shouldn`t throw spitballs, right? I mean, this is the guy--the guy least in the country who should be criticizing an ad like this, given his own history of addiction.
And I got to say that, you know, for the vice president of the United States to legitimize a guy like Rush Limbaugh is every bit as bad as all those Democrats who went out to Las Vegas to kiss the ring of the Daily Kos and the left-wing bloggers. I mean, can`t we--can`t we just stop this crap?
Definitely jealous. It's like this -- once upon a time, politicians kissed his ass. Now, he's relegated to "after-thought" status in the DC cocktail party circuit.
Oh, and he's probably also angry that I trashed his book by exposing his hypocrisy. That probably didn't go down too well at Klein HQ.
And sure, we can have fun at Klein's expense for being an obsolete relic of a past political age. But this is what the changing of the guard looks like. Klein is pissed that politicians would have the gall to talk to the lifeblood of the party -- its hard-working, engaged, and best-informed activists. He hates people-powered politics. In his mind, the masses at YearlyKos and in the netroots are the equivalent of the lying drug-addicted Rush Limbaugh.
So Klein would rather those politicians talk to serious people like him instead. And David Ignatius. And every other gasbag pundit in DC which has gotten everything wrong for way too long, all the while working overtime to shut out the rest of the country from the halls of power and influence.
But the world will pass Klein and Ignatius and the rest of their ilk whether they like it or not. And if they were upset at this past YearlyKos, then next year's edition will give them aneurisms. Because the 2007 edition of the conference will make its inaugural year look like a bake sale.
People-power is the future of our party. And our long-term prospects are looking bright indeed.