From Kos'
What the Hell Happened post, earlier today:
But what makes me angry was Kerry and his gang's inability to take advantage of the situation. I may regret saying this later, but fuck it -- they should be lined up and shot.
Yes, he probably will regret it. For one thing, the 'wingers will have a field day with it -- not just now, but for years to come. An elephant never forgets...
For another, this is almost a literal description of the proverbial circular firing squad: Dems turning on each other after losing an election. I thought we were trying to move past that.
I thought we all agreed that while the Kerry campaign had major problems, it wasn't a disaster, and it almost put him over the top. I thought we all knew that John Kerry won more votes than any other presidential candidate in history, except for George W. Bush.
Yes, we need to reform our party. The solution is not to anathematize portions of it -- whether leftist, centrist, establishment, or grassroots. The solution is UNITY. Partisanship means fighting against our real enemies, not fighting amongst ourselves.
It's justified to be mad at Bob Shrum and co., and to criticize and analyze their losing strategies in detail. And I'm not trying to censor anyone -- I fervently believe that bloggers have the right to say whatever they want. But if the goal is to make our coalition stronger, I don't get how saying "they should be lined up and shot" on the front page of one of the largest Democratic blogs advances that goal.
I like the community that's been built here, and think it has a lot of potential. So shouldn't we avoid giving ammo to the DLC types -- the very people we want to "take our party back" from -- to portray DKos as a nest of rabid idiots?
ADDENDUM: As I said in a comment below, "It's Kos' world -- we just live in it" (referring to this site). Kudos to him and everyone who makes this site as great as it is. Again, I emphasize that I support his right to say whatever he wants. My concern is over the wisdom of choosing certain phraseology.