Back in the 1970's there was a religious cult called the Love Family. The leader of this cult renamed himself Love Isreal (kind of catchy huh and a nice play on words). My wife (now ex-) was drawn to this lifestyle for her own reasons but I wasn't. I guess after being drafted into the US Army in 1967 I developed an intense dislike for any discipline or authority figure. She joined and took our 3-year-old daughter. I was told by Serious Isreal (the inner circle of elders always given names by Love Isreal that reflected their inner soul) that one of the main problems with anyone outside of the cult was that children were too attached to their 'earthly' parents and it was in the children's best interest to sever their bonds so that they could learn the true meaning of their heavenly parents as told through Love Isreal.
It is not uncommon for humans to seek a sense of belonging. It is more the norm that humans look for others to help define who they are and what is their place in the great scheme of things. It is not unusual for most humans to acquiesce to the opinions of others. When we find someone or something that resonates to our inner thoughts we tend to respond to it. We all want to be accepted and belong to a group. This is what my wife did when she joined the Love Family. She accepted Love Isreal as the sole guidance in how she would live her life. This had a profound effect on me because I felt that we both had a responsibility to our child to protect and nurture her. Needless to say I got a lawyer and within the month I had custody of her and my wife had severe limitations attached to her rights of visitation.
In the end and over time the Love Family dissolved to a few true 'believers'. One of the interesting things about this was that at one point and as the Family began to fall apart at the seams they kicked out Faith Isreal. I thought this was very telling for the Love Family to kick out faith.
Where am I going with this? I'm using this to discuss the cult of DKos. I'm fully prepared to receive the wrath of any and all that see this as an attack on this site. Before you pull out your keyboards and begin either troll rating me or flaming me I want to state foremost that I think this blog is the best place to discuss any issue. At one time I went over to RedState because I honestly wanted to hear what they had to say. This was at the same time DarkSyde was posting there under the moniker of DS. He got banded for placing an excellent post on evolution. As a matter of fact it was my first exposure to his diaries and made me an instant fan.
In any cult or community where you allow varied amount of differing opinions you are going to have disagreements and sometimes outright hostility. Only at places like RedState will you see total agreement of a set point of view.
On top of that you are going to have an across the board range of 'believers' that join the cult. This range will go from the truly rabid to the occasional lurker. The dairies that will be posted will range across this same spectrum.
That is what I like about the cult of DKos. That is what a true democracy should be. That is what the Constitution addressed and that is what makes this place special. To me, it is the Golden Rule.
However, I don't read many diaries that talk about Markos and Jerome's friendship or whether or not they should be transparent in their opinions and endorsements. The reason I don't read them is because I don't really care whether Markos or Jerome or any one of the front page or recommended diarists think or write about. I read the diaries because I what to learn more about any number of topics. I've been interested in politics since the early 70's. But that is not my only interest. This site has many diaries that don't have anything to do with who I should send money to or who I should volunteer for or even who I should vote for.
I was busy today working outside and when I came in and saw the diary written by MSOC I was taken back by the amount of discussion that it generated. But what I saw was a diversity of opinions here at the cult of DKos. There were those who didn't like her diary and there were those that like it. There were also those who fell somewhere in-between.
Why should anyone on this site care whether Markos is transparent? Why should anyone on this site care how much money he makes from this site or who is giving it? This site is a forum for anyone to express his or her views. Every one of us is free to read whatever diary we chose. Every one of us is free to take the opinions expressed and make them our own or reject them. Every one of us is free to express our own opinions.
This is what separates this site from places like RedState. This is what makes America the best place in the world to live. Freedom to believe what we chose to whether it be some religion or political party or even some to believe in a cult called the Love Family.
I know that from my experiences with cults and the military and even the Nixon or the Bush administration I don't drink the Kool-Aid. I always question what I am told. I always do my own research and don't believe that what is written in a diary or the newspaper or even what I get from the MSM is necessarily the truth. In a true democracy we need to have an informed citizenry. So even at a site like the cult of DKos we need to have many different points of views.
So read the diaries and post your comments and think about what you read. If you're motivated to give money then do it. If you're motivated to volunteer then do it. If you're motivated to write a diary like I was then do it.
Whatever you decide to do don't do it because Markos says for you to do it. As I see it the only thing Markos does is provides a site for all of us to state our thoughts and for that I am grateful. We shouldn't care how much money he makes or who he gets it from. We should read the dairies you want to and think about the opinions that are expressed in them.
Let the flaming begin if that is what you think of my opinions. Let the recommendations accumulate if that is what you think of my opinions. But most of all let your own thinking begin and be thankful for the cult of DKos.