They chastise us for being too mean to the Republicans, for we should rise about partisan and uncivil attacks and not stoop to the level of the Republicans. They proclaim that they will not vote for a Democratic candidate for whatever reason.
You know, I love free speech. I firmly believe in the First Amendment, and believe that everyone has a right to their opinion. But I am going to preempt the almost certain and primary reaction to this diary by stating up front that Daily Kos is not the United States Government. To go a little further, neither am I. The First Amendment protects your right to free speech and expression from being abridged by the government.
The First Amendment says nothing about private citizens abridging your rights. I am a private citizen. The proprietors of Daily Kos are private citizens. We can abridge your freedoms all we want. For example, you are not allowed to spin a web of conspiracy theories here, for to allow such would damage our credibility. You are not allowed to push forward Republican talking points here. We get enough of that from Fox News and the other right wing media.
The mission and purpose of Daily Kos is quite simple:
Elect Democrats.
Don't believe me?
Listen to Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, you know, the Big Cheese:
I see it too much in media reports and even in the diaries and comments here:
Daily Kos is a liberal blog.
No it's not. I'm a liberal, sure, (though pro-free trade, pro-balanced budgets, if that means anything). But I'm also a vegan. And no one claims this is a vegan blog. I am Latino, but no one claims this is a Latino blog. I am staunchly in favor of gay rights, but no one claims this is a gay blog.
Would an ideologue liberal blog endorse SD's Stephanie Herseth, who voted for the Hate Amendment? Or Kentucky's Ben Chandler, or Richard Morrison in Texas, or Brad Carson in Oklahoma, or Tony Knowles in Alaska, or Daniel Mongiardo in Kentucky, etc, etc? Would the site's community embrace these candidates and send money their way?
This is a Democratic blog, a partisan blog. One that recognizes that Democrats run from left to right on the ideological spectrum, and yet we're all still in this fight together.
We happily embrace centrists like NDN's Simon Rosenberg and Howard Dean, conservatives like Martin Frost and Brad Carson, and liberals like John Kerry and Barack Obama.
Liberal? Yeah, we're around here and we're proud. But it's not a liberal blog. It's a Democratic blog with one goal in mind: electoral victory.
And since we haven't gotten any of that from the current crew, we're one more thing: a reform blog.
The battle for the party is not an ideological battle. It's one between establishment and anti-establishment factions. And as I've said a million times, the status quo is untenable.
But it has nothing to do with ideology, and those who continue painting the battle in those colors is nothing more than a dishonest shill in the best tradition of Karl Rove and gang.
So now that you understand the mission and purpose of this site, and that is the election of Democrats, I honestly question why Defeatocrats would come here, 22 days from the election, to rain on our parades? I have to assume they have malicious intent. I have to treat them as trolls. For obviously they are not doing what they can to get Democrats elected. They are doing the opposite. I have to call them Defeatocrats.
And for honest Democrats who are listening to these Defeatocrats and getting dispirited, I say the following:
Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's on a roll.
Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...
[thinks hard]
Bluto: the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!
[runs out, alone; then returns]
Bluto: What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...
Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.
Bluto: We're just the guys to do it.
D-Day: Let's do it.
Bluto: LET'S DO IT!
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