Markos Moulitsas Zúniga’s "Taking On The System" is the playbook that state bloggers, community activists and Democratic activists should read to not only take on the system, but to replace it with a better one.
As someone who joined Daily Kos in the summer of 2004, many of the stories Markos – or kos as he’s known on the site – recounts are familiar. The success of our neighboring Virginia state blog in recruiting and pushing Jim Webb – now Senator Webb, of course – is a well-known story to those of us residing in blogtopia.
What kos does well throughout the 275 pages is to show how to influence the gatekeepers, shape narratives about the opposition candidate and the candidate (or cause) you support, and use creativity and truth telling to counter the right.
But perhaps the most important section of the book may be the most obvious. Yet like Sherlock Holmes identifying the culprit, it needs to be pointed out for others to see.
After describing how Thomas Jefferson’s background an aristocratic planter had no background suited to write the Declaration of Independence, Charles Darwin’s academic record of a medical school dropout interested in natural science because of his fondness for beetle races as a boy, and Benjamin Franklin’s resume of printer was "pathetically underqualified to found a nation, kos writes:
"The world is often changed most radically by people who refuse to ‘know their place.’ So-called amateurs who refuse to rein in their curiosity or acknowledge areas of ‘expertise’ have made specialized gatekeepers nervous, scornful, and defensive since time immemorial Upstarts who deny that there are boundaries to knowledge and action, who defiantly meld interests and tear down walls, are a constant challenge to the status quo."
His lines perhaps sum up best what I’ve tried to do founding West Virginia Blue. I didn’t wait for permission to begin a state Democratic group blog. I saw a need and while I was a fairly popular diarist at Daily Kos, there are plenty of others with similar points of view and abilities there. Nor am I the leader of West Virginia Blue. I believe it’s a group blog in the truest sense, where nearly every diarist and commenter add significantly to the effort and challenge the status quo when it needs taken on and support that which deserves buttressed.
The book's harshest criticism isn’t aimed at Republicans, most of whom are hopeless causes anyway because they’ve been completely bought and paid for by corporate interests, but at the progressive groups and occasional Democrats who enable the Republicans and their right-wing propaganda outlets like Fox News by providing bipartisan cover.
In the chapter Fight Small, Win Big, kos calls out traditional liberal groups like NARAL, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club, kos points out how their "crossing enemy lines" to provide bipartisan cover for Republicans ends up working counter to their organizations’ own goals. (In West Virginia, our problem is too many DINOs in a state controlled by the Democratic Party.)
"It’s important to always keep the big picture in mind, and to remain ruthlessly on target," kos writes. "By all accounts, Lincoln Chafee was an exceedingly nice and kind person. No one who dealt with him hated him. But the reality was that his presence in the Senate, especially given his refusal to abandon the Republican Party, enabled a truly reactionary set of people to run this country."
In his review of Taking On The System, the legendary blogger Al Giorano wrote:
"The release date for Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era, by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (2008, Celebra) was moved up from early September to tomorrow, August 20 – in the nick of time for the Democratic National Convention to be held next week in Denver. Howard Dean would do well to put a copy of that book on every delegate and candidate’s convention seat, as it is a roadmap for how to organize – on and off the Internet – to win political battles."
I went to Netroots Nation in Austin (as a Democracy for America scholar) with the purpose of getting the advice I needed for West Virginia Blue. I had a delightful experience and there were many informative seminars. But I found the playbook I needed in this book.
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On to the Top Comments:
Good Evening! Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and more importantly through nominations sent to TopComments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks. When you send in your picks, please include your username so we can credit you, and send 'em in by 9:45pm Eastern to ensure they make the final diary.
These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But we hope they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.
Please come in and make yourself at home...
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(parenthesis mine - usually)
From ozarkspark (a great handle, btw) comes this comment from Green Bean.
From earicicle (and I'm looking forward to Rachel posting here myself):
Some guy named Keith Olbermann gets silly in his own diary, Rachel Gets Her Own MSNBC Show.
From orangeclouds115:
Brilliantly put she says of the comment from kathleen518 (who makes top comments at the same time as KO. When does kathleen get her own show, damn it).
From skywaker9 comes a comment from grasshopper with good adviceto the Republicans on the way to their convention.
From N in Seattle:
In edscan's Rec-list topping(!) diary [We Were "Mislead" http://www.dailykos.com/... freespeech offers a startling thought about the identity of the diarist. While we devotees of "edku" have occasionally opined that perhaps kos is merely a sockpuppet for edscan, freespeech's comment takes the speculation to a much higher plane.
From Neon Vincent:
In Wow, let's talk about "values" Inspired by Nature gives a clear statement of her progressive values.
In Yo, goofball, pocketnines sets a doubter straight about the people behind fivethirtyeight.com and indirectly sets him sets him straight about the people behind Obama's ground game.
(Here's Neon's third email)
Yeah, I'm busy actually reading comments today.
In Listen if thinking about 4 more years, COwoman explains how Democratic voters can find their passion this election year.
In fact, there are lots of good comments in dday's diary Obama's Big Bet: The Power Of The Ground Game
MikeTheLiberal rightly found this comment from True Independent Top Comments worthy.
From bijoudesigncom:
Loved this VERY patriotic thread by zeiben and occams hatchet regarding OH's brilliant argument to use on Republicans and their idiotic offshore drilling "solution".
From jlms qkw:
llbear's comment. (moving)
From shpilk:
oldnavigator knows exactly how to phrase it, and let McCain know what it's all about ...
Top Mojo courtesy of my hero, brillig
Top 30 Comments excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first comments, and C&J:
1) I had a similar thought----as McCain was by dotster — 228
2) And thank you by cartwrightdale — 194
3) Answering my own ?- World wide condemnation by Zwoof — 179
4) His promise to stack the SCOTUS deck with by Theghostofkarlafayetucker — 159
5) Thank you by ludwig van brickoven — 157
6) She is such an institution here. by ClevelandEgghead — 144
7) This is EXACTLY what's going on by TX Unmuzzled — 108
8) From my earlier diary... by cartwrightdale — 102
9) This is my one of my biggest gripes by Kitty — 98
10) Mislead by edscan — 96
11) He Just Crossed the Maginot!!! by serrano — 95
12) wow talk about confessions of the soul by GlowNZ — 95
13) Someone on the Huffington Post had by Muzikal203 — 92
14) Why does "Scalia Jr." to me by Anarchofascist — 89
15) Thank you for that by cartwrightdale — 87
16) May her soul rest in perfect peace. by rapcetera — 82
17) It certainly scared the hell out of me by Muzikal203 — 81
18) The armada of concern diaries... by droogie6655321 — 80
19) So both of them lie by Yosef 52 — 77
20) Works for me! by Reed Richards — 74
21) now, that is a nice, comprehensive list n/t by teacherken — 71
22) Woo-Hooness by Keith Olbermann — 68
23) I hope you forgive this OT comment by gchaucer2 — 67
24) The Maggots In Charge could not keep by kate mckinnon — 67
25) I Posted This Earlier, But I'll Do it Again by karateexplosions — 65
26) I've consistently said that Saddleback was good by jenesq — 65
27) They are back by NCJim — 65
28) How Convenient by SVDem — 64
29) Is there anything they WON'T lie about? by Muzikal203 — 64
30) oh, there's more by Zwoof — 63
Top 30 comments with no exclusions:
1) Tips for Choice n/t by NCJan — 626
2) Thank you all by cartwrightdale — 588
3) Oil drum by occams hatchet — 434
4) har dee har by ksh01 — 417
5) Tips/Recs for a Constructive Approach by dansac — 375
6) I hope this brightens your day some by teacherken — 323
7) First sign of trouble by wmtriallawyer — 304
8) Tips/Recs by Steven R — 294
9) Tips for Catching Delusional Beer Heiresses by Jdories — 286
10) You know what they say, "Anything worth doing... by JeffLieber — 235
11) I had a similar thought----as McCain was by dotster — 228
12) I will light a candle for her by jenontheshore — 216
13) war more years by TrueBlueMajority — 216
14) And thank you by cartwrightdale — 194
15) Answering my own ?- World wide condemnation by Zwoof — 179
16) I'll keep this updated by zenbowl — 176
17) You know what the problem with that forum was? by bam bam — 163
18) His promise to stack the SCOTUS deck with by Theghostofkarlafayetucker — 159
19) Thank you by ludwig van brickoven — 157
20) She is such an institution here. by ClevelandEgghead — 144
21) Fuck off. by Junglered1 — 143
22) This is EXACTLY what's going on by TX Unmuzzled — 108
23) From my earlier diary... by cartwrightdale — 102
24) This is my one of my biggest gripes by Kitty — 98
25) Mislead by edscan — 96
26) He Just Crossed the Maginot!!! by serrano — 95
27) wow talk about confessions of the soul by GlowNZ — 95
28) Tip jar by ThatPoshGirl — 93
29) Someone on the Huffington Post had by Muzikal203 — 92
30) Why does "Scalia Jr." to me by Anarchofascist — 89