Markos and Jerome Should Come Together Again

kid oakland, in his most recent and excellent diary, related a tale of a disaffected reader of Daily Kos turned away, it is inferred, by the aggressiveness and tone of Obama's support here.  kid oakland posed this question:

I think we've all got to take a step back and think about that for a second. This was a woman who was cordial and welcoming and yet she felt estranged from DailyKos. The strike shut down the conversation.

That needs to change. Now.

I'm open to your suggestions how.

Take a good look at the following cartoon by Ward Sutton in The Nation.

Those proportions are correct.  At least in the blogosphere.  

I say "at least in the blogosphere" because you don't see this kind of vitriol on the streets, and you certainly do not see it in the ground-level campaigning for either camp.

It is only in the blogosphere--it is only at sites like this one--where your anonymity is as absolute as your freedom to say whatever you want, however you want.  

We all know the problem, and many of us have been a part of it, to one degree or another.  The name-calling, the intractable refusal to listen to reason or to just listen at all, the immediate shouting down of a different view by a different candidate's supporter, etc. etc. etc. etc.

I've seen it with Obama supporters, who should know better, and from Hillary supporters (here and at MyDD), who should also know better.  It's childish, it's what freepers and RedStaters and Marshans do, and we are better than that.  We are smarter than that.  We possess faculties and intelligence.    

There are calls for civility from unknown posters like myself, which calls rise and fall with the tide, to little effect.  

I think more is called for.  

Here's my humble answer to kid oakland, and it is a challenge to Markos and Jerome Armstrong.  

Markos and Jerome, who are rapidly becoming the Adams and Jefferson of the blogosphere.  And I am not talking about Adams and Jefferson during the salad days in Paris, I am talking about those tough middle years where, despite being bound by larger cause, they were separated by smaller ones.  

They are the masters of two sites that draw thousands.  Their voices matter.  

I think it would be a great thing indeed if Markos and Jerome would co-author a post here and at MyDD laying out the large cause of what is at stake, and pointing out that incivil treatment by one group of another is eroding the strength progressives and Democrats enjoy this year.  I imagine a post that rouses the best in each of us while at the same time drawing a line firmly against name-calling and the like would be effective.  And it may bring divided houses together to some degree.  It certainly couldn't hurt.  

We have a larger battle ahead, regardless of the nominee.  Markos and Jerome should make a concerted effort not to tamp passion, but to arouse civility.  

Humbly submitted,

Benjamin Rush