Once upon a time, I wrote a diary you can find
here. It was in response to Kos' ill-considered characterization of anti-war "hippies".
In it, I pointed out that by dint of his position as operator of the largest political blog in the country, who therein offers endorsements and is seen as an opinion-maker, as someone who gets interviewed in the national news cycle--and who now is actually a subject of political attack ads, I might add--isn't just an ordinary joe. Whether he likes it or not--I do, I think it's great for us--a representative mantle has settled on Kos' shoulders. He's a leader.
In response, Kos front-paged a statement that he's just a guy with a blog and holds no special status. And he's stuck to that position.
So skip forward to now, in Tennessee.
More after the break
What's happening in the Ford/Corker race is proof positive that someone in Kos' position needs to be cognizant of his status when shooting his mouth off. Kos, I know you're young and edgy and blunt, and I like all that--I was known for a lot of the same when I was in a political leadership role in my local community.
But we're a few days out from the most important election in modern history, and you CANNOT DO ANYTHING that undermines a potential Senate victory. You just can't do it.
You fucked up, man.
I know the temptation is to say, this is my blog, I can say whatever I want, and if you don't like it, get lost, but trust me on this--I'm a little older, have been doing politics a long time, and I've gotten my tongue caught in a media ringer more than once--you shouldn't. It's a mistake.
This time, you should listen.
Pretty much everyone else here can be as blunt and inflammatory as they like. But YOU CAN'T. You must consider your words, whatever your private opinions. You're the figurehead, and thus, both the voice and the target.
Please reflect on this, for the sake of everything we stand for here.