Reading Cedwyn's lively discussion on the "identity" of Daily Kos brought me to think back over my time here at the Daily Kos. (with a user ID # 1117 you can tell I've been around a while).
There have been numerous times when popular and obscure diarists have written the entire blog off as having "jumped the shark" (gone Rogue), or passed the point of no return (in a political sense).
I couldn't disagree with any of them more.
Yes, Markos Moulitsas created this place and gave it a Prime Directive. To my knowledge, he maintains that Prime Directive to this day.
However, Markos has never (other than banning conspiracy theory pandering) required any particular method of achieving the Prime Directive.
I believe that's because he's a pretty smart guy (OK, so he's a degreed journalist and lawyer, perhaps that background also has something to do with it).
Personally, I find the GBCW (goodbye cruel world) diaries self-aggrandizing, and not worth reading. Why? Because I find them dreary and unimportant. You don't want to hang out here anymore? So what, so long - and don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out.
I also find the philosophical diaries on what is happening to this place about the same. Why? Because this place is not static or grounded or stable. It's simply not the nature of the beast. If it were, then it would be called (lackluster mainstream label here) or something equally atrocious, and filled with the bleating of sheeple, instead of the cutting edge rants that drive the daily readers to think, talk and sometimes even act.
The Daily Kos is an evolving entity, and I for one hope that it keeps on being just that.
What drove the last presidential election? Change.
So, we haven't really gotten Change we can believe it, but we have gotten some change. We also didn't get the apocalyptic-tending duo of McCain/Palin (thank whatever Gods or Goddesses may be for that one, folks).
Change is the paradigm of life. It's what created Life (at least me and other Secular Humanists and Atheists tend to believe this), and it's what drives Life to continue to exist and prosper.
It's what, at the heart of it, drives The Daily Kos. The changing nature of the current political climate on the national and local scenes. The retiring and new political faces that will emerge in the next season's election cycle. The emerging scientific and societal issues of the day.
There's a whole lotta change in there and out here, and the beauty of The Daily Kos is that it gives us all a place to talk about it, and think about it, and perhaps go out into the bricks-and-mortar world occasionally, and do something about it.
After all, if the Prime Directive had a corollary, I'm fairly certain that it would be
Want change? Do something about it!