This is not a candidate diary.
Indeed, like so many of you, I will be glad to see the primary season come to a close. It has brought out the worst in our community, and has exposed no few Kossacks as hypocrites whose love for social validation far outstrips their commitment to progress. Some of the things I have seen here in the past several weeks are proof, once again, that even though we are right on the issues, we are often no better than our enemy: We are petty, dishonest, mean-spirited, insular, and needlessly divisive.
Markos was right to hold himself above the fray. By keeping some of this candidate garbage (and the equally ugly backlash) off the front page and indeed actively discouraging it, those of us who had not participated in the primary wars had taken much comfort in knowing that Daily Kos itself, despite the misbehavior of some of its individual community members, had no intention of endorsing this destructive chaos.
Had the story ended there, I would not be writing this diary now, nor would relations in our community be as rancorous as they presently are. But what happened is that Markos, talking out of the other side of his mouth, decided to wade into the primary wars after all, attacking Clinton, Kucinich, Richardson, and Obama.
At least some of those attacks were sound—such as his calls for Clinton and Obama to lead in the Senate, or his swipe at Richardson for naming the sexist Byron White as his model Supreme Court justice. The problem is that Kos’ attacks were delivered:
- With incredibly poor tact,
- By Markos himself.
Incredibly Poor Tact
Kos is a flamboyant person, at least in his writing style. His grammar is atrocious and his attacks opportunistic, but you can tell his belly is full of the fire. When he locks onto an enemy, by George, he burns his bridges and kicks the corpse.
That isn’t a problem with the Republicans, or with bad Democrats, because The Enemy is The Enemy is The Enemy. But when he turns that spiteful rhetoric against Democrats in good standing, who are supported and liked by thousands of people in our community, Kos becomes a nightmare, like Godzilla, alienating huge swaths of his own people for no apparent gain. How could the same person who once reasoned so beautifully—and correctly—that single-issue Democrats have been the bane of Democratic unity for a generation, fail to recognize the disastrous stupidity of disenfranchising his own people by using his considerable voice to aggravate the primary wars beyond even their current pandemonium?
I have behaved myself throughout the primary wars—by ignoring them. I have not written a single candidate diary, nor do I intend to. I have barely commented in others’ candidate diaries. I have tolerated the Recommended list being overrun by vandals. I have forgiven people for their excesses in these trying times, and tried not to hold it against them personally. I am not the only one who has behaved during this ordeal, and, seriously, on behalf of those people, we do not appreciate having made it this far, putting up with Daily Kos during one of our community’s worst tantrums, our eyes agape and crying blood, only to have Markos Moulitsas himself stroll onto the front page with a grin and a bludgeon to bash our candidates with the same kind of spiteful, rabble-rousing rhetoric that he has condemned in others. Did it not occur to him that he might get further by making a distinction between thoughtful criticism and Mad Max?
Markos knows that any attack, much less an offensive one, written in his name, on the front page, against our candidates, at this late stage in the race, with tensions being as high as they are, is going to be explosive. So why is he doing it? What is his aim?
Questions, questions. How his conduct has benefited Daily Kos or us Kossacks, I do not know. How it has benefited him, I cannot presume. All I know is that, for some reason beyond my immediate understanding, Markos has decided to participate in the primary wars. Well, I wish he would just stop it. Markos has created a wonderful space for liberal activism, and now he is defiling it with his own hand. If he knows what’s good for all of us, he will lie low for the remainder of the primary wars and let the community work this out for itself. The presidential election is one of the great entrances for people into the world of politics, and, frankly, nobody on this site deserves to be dismissed as rudely and inconsiderately as Markos has dismissed those of us who support the various candidates he has attacked.
By Markos Himself
Unlike the rank and file here, Kos is the face of Daily Kos and he, unlike the rest of us, can ill afford to behave like an idiot. When Markos speaks, he speaks for our entire community—whether he likes it or not. He should never have stepped into the fray, especially not at this late hour and with such a hostile manner. The sanity and purpose of this community depend upon the example he sets. His freedom of speech is as free as ours, and he is as entitled to his opinion as we are to ours, obviously, but, unlike us, Kos must weigh his words against the good of his own community. When he does that, he will realize the futility of attacking Democratic presidential candidates right now. No good can come of it. All he will do is make matters worse—by antagonizing the partisans even further and by alienating those of us who have ridden out this storm in peace.
"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."
I consider that to be one of the burdens of leadership. Markos may be understandably frustrated about the current state of affairs on his site, but as publisher and sole proprietor he needs to consider the good of his community above his personal feelings. Markos had it right the first time, by discouraging the primary wars and chiding those among us who have abandoned all decency in the name of advancing their cause. That is the best he could have done.
Our good patron should follow the example of his own contributing editors and refrain from escalating the primary wars by using his considerable voice to turn the community onto itself. If nothing else, he should refrain from posting this kind of trash on the front page. Nobody likes a patronizing leader who has lost touch with the common people, and nobody likes a hostile leader who has turned against them.
A Plea
Just who am I to speak in anger against Markos, and make pleas and demands of him? It is a fair question. The answer is soon told.
I am from the community. This community. Kos has always been adamant in his support of "people power." Well, I am one of the people, and I am calling him out on his bad judgment. You can lend your support to my call by taking the poll, and clicking the Recommend button. He will read it. He always does.
Markos Moulitsas is an interesting person. He has built a community that is greater than him, and has surrounded himself with editors who are smarter and more articulate than him. At the same time, he has become yet another one of those tongue-tied, small-minded "gasbags" that he so loves to deride. The difference is that he is our gasbag, we love him for providing dKos to us, and we tend to agree with him on seven-twelfths of everything—a workable relationship!
Markos has done us all a tremendous favor, and I personally appreciate that, through his (usually) deft leadership, the left wing has finally begun to build a noise machine of its own.
I hope, therefore, that he understands the hurt feelings in which this diary is written to be not a personal attack, nor a pointless rant, but a genuine, adamant plea for him to reconsider his involvement in the primary wars moving forward. In fact, I hope he would consider that beyond the presidential election, and vow never again to attack huge swaths of spirited but innocent members of this community.
In closing: Supporting a candidate and speaking on their behalf is one thing, but attacking other people’s candidates, in such dismissive tones of both the candidates themselves and their supporters, quite simply does not belong on the front page of Daily Kos.
Please be aware.