Proving once again that it's foolhardy to cite Dan Gerstein as an authority on anything except what it means to be an idiot, some überwingnut named Warner Todd Huston (he supports Alan fucking Keyes, for crying out loud!) takes Kos and the Kossacks to task for their support of the "angry populist" John Edwards, saying that the victories of "unity" candidates like Joe Lieberman (gag!) prove that this blog "has lost the contest for the hearts and minds of the Democrat Party."
More below the fold ...
This Huston guy is pretty uncivil himself ... get out your clutching pearls, gang:
The angry Kossacks might take that very angle to explain away why they lost (as Gerstein points out, they supported Edwards heavily) but this would not explain why Edwards' campaign did not resonate at all outside the nutroots on Al Gore's Internet. So, with this in mind, I'd say that Gerstein is right that the petulant, tyros [sic] of the DailyKos are an ever dwindling minority and have lost their battle to control the Party.
Oh, and there's more, where Huston quotes Gerstein favorably:
Gerstein sums up his feeling that the angry left is waning with some "delicious irony."
The best evidence that Kos-ism is about kaput, though, comes from Kos's mouth himself. Yes, the most delicious irony of this campaign is that the supposed hatemonger is supporting the hopemonger.
Seeing the writing on the wall, as well as on his own blog, Markos Moulitsas — Kos himself — rejected the candidacy he himself helped spawn and announced (albeit grudgingly) on Dec. 12 that he would be voting for Mr. Obama via "a process of elimination."
Not exactly the most graceful concession, but the import is undeniable: Hope trumped Kos for Democrats. Now let's see what it will do for the rest of the country.
Hope trumped Kos? This guy is certifiably batshit crazy. What will he say when November comes and hopeful, positive agitation for change (whether from Clinton or Obama) "trumps" the hatemongering, war-hungry, selfish, ultra-negative message of the Right?
Finally, lest you have any doubt about whether Huston is truly insane, check out this passage:
Gerstein misses the mark when he throws in a few remarks about what is going on with the GOP — his own leftist bias skews his vision in this case. In attempting to explain what the Daily Kos set was emulating in their style of politics, he garbles the truth fairly badly by assuming that the Kossacks were trying to act like Karl Rove.
The Kossacks and their activist allies... believe that Republicans are venal bordering on evil, and that the way Democrats will win elections and hold power is to one-up Karl Rove's divisive, bare-knuckled tactics.
Gerstein is right that the Kossacks believe that Republicans are not just opponents to beat at the polls but are actually evil, but Karl Rove never showed anything remotely like the hate and vitriol exhibited by Kos and his venal acolytes. Rove is not what the wild-eyed Kossacks are emulating. Stalin is closer to their pattern, than Rove.
First of all, the only thing remotely "leftist" about Dan Gerstein is that he has a left hand and a left foot. Secondly, if I'm not mistaken, saying Karl Rove isn't hateful is cause for instant commitment to a mental facility in at least 32 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.
Sadly -- and unsurprisingly -- Huston's blog doesn't permit comments. Still, it would be wise to keep this in mind for some tasty schadenfreude in a few months ...
(cross-posted at Blast Off!)
