First, I would like to thank you for everything you've done over the years to move democrats forward in a more progressive direction. I have often found your punditry to be trenchant, insightful, intelligent and correct. As evidenced by all the recs your diaries get around here, I'm sure I'm not alone in appreciating your thoughtful analysis.
What I find puzzling is the acrimony and intense hatred that gets flung at you every time you post here. In the diary you posted yesterday, people repeatedly admonished you for posting on election day, and asking why you couldn't wait just one. more. day. Today, they accuse you of gloating. You are accused of being a crypto-Republican, some kind of undercover agent, here only for self-promotion, and many other undeserved and false allegations have been leveled against you.
I am so sorry for this. It's a little embarrassing for me to consider myself a kossack when there are so many cruel, dishonest, bitter, misguided, misinformed around here. I had to leave dkos for a few months before the election because those people, your dkos detractors, were stomping my electoral enthusiasm. Their like has gone through many iterations, but I think the current term for them is the "clap louder" crowd. I felt embarrassed to be voting WITH them. I don't feel demoralized by the teabaggers and their ilk, I get angry and vote AGAINST them. And I totally dig progressives, they excite me, and I vote FOR them. The only group has ever left me feeling demoralized and apathetic is the "clap louder" crowd, for they seem to be living in a world where holding back progress is the "right" thing to do, and where "pragmatism" means bending over and taking it up the rear. So, I left dkos for awhile, peaking in to read select diaries by friends, and trying to clear my mind from all the meta-fray until I cast my vote. So I come back to read the bizarre invective in your diaries.
To expand on a metaphor I left in one of your diaries this morning, you have been warning your neighbor for months to stop storing oily, greasy rags next to the boiler because it might start a fire, and might cause damage to others' homes as well. You tell your neighbor this over and over and he says STFU. One day, his house catches on fire, and he blames everything else – the wiring, the firebug down the street, UFOs – he finds every excuse under the sun and stars to explain why his house burned down, except for the fact that he stored oily, greasy rags by the boiler. So when his house burns down, and scorches yours and the other neighbors, you tell him: I told you not to store those oily, greasy rags by the boiler. Instead of acknowledging his mistake, he blames YOU for starting the fire and furthermore, accuses you of being happy about it, and then tells you to STFU.
That's not sane, or rational. I suppose they need someone to blame, and maybe a few of them will come around and learn from the mistakes that were made, but something tells me that a few more houses have to go down before the clappers wake up.
Thanks again, Cenk and I'm glad you don't give up.