"The Victors" was a pretty famous antiwar film from 1963. It was remarkable for its time, because there were hundreds of movies glorifying the "good war" (WW2). I was just a kid when I saw it, but I remember that the victors (Americans and Soviet soldiers) were supposed to be keeping the peace in Berlin, and they ultimately end up shooting at (and killing ) each other.
And so it is with DKos. I started lurking here a LONG time ago (UID 56k). The Dems were unified in their hatred for what Republicans were doing to the country. With the exception of the occasional I/P diary, so were we. I was fascinated by the diaries about candidates trying to run (apparently) hopeless battles in far away Congressional districts. Through the horror of Kerry's loss, through the 2006 "resurrection", I felt we were more or less unified...
Of course, that all changed when the 2008 campaign started. Not surprising, in a way. 2008 was set up to be a Democratic victory; it is easy to understand why people would be passionate. I, like most Kossacks, knew that I would vote for the Democratic nominee, no matter how insane the rhetoric got here. And we ended up with another glorious victory. We were "The Victors".
What would we do now that we weren't against the establishment? How would we remain unified (or a reasonable approximation thereof) in being for something?
I'm afraid we haven't done very well --- though to be fair this is the maiden voyage in the blogosphere for Democratic rule. Maybe this is as good as it gets. I hope not.
I think Kos and the front pagers worry a lot about this. It looks like the way they hope to keep unity is by continuing the endless battle against the unelected loony right (Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, Redstate, etc). So there are hundreds of diaries breathlessly decrying their latest outrageous idiotic statements. Kos has a hate-mail column every week [!?]. Occasionally, a Joe Wilson (an elected loon) appears, fulfilling Kos' greatest dreams of unity. Sometimes unity is achieved by writing diaries that almost no Kossack could disagree with - horror stories about avoidable deaths in Iraq/Afghanistan, or horrific misdeeds by health insurance companies. Occasionally we achieve unity when a troll writes a diary so bizarre that everyone wants to HR it. Friday, another nice unifying event (the Nobel Peace Prize) occurred...
But there is a limit to how many times we can say to each other that right-wing crazies are morons. I have reached my personal limit on right-wing bashing diaries. There is no longer information being transmitted. We know this. We have devolved into therapy. It is apparently therapeutic to tell ourselves that sick RW morons still exist -- over & over again (even if these morons couldn't elect a dog-catcher). You know & I know that if the Dems lose in the next election, it will be because the elected Democrats failed to solve the crucial problems America faces - Not because Glenn Beck cried for the 50th time. There's nothing wrong with group therapy -- but it isn't what I want to do with my politics time. It feels like devolution to me (but to each his own)...
What of the more substantive political diaries? My judgment is that most of the diaries on the economy have turned perverse --- actually talking down the economy (making it seem worse than it is - not an easy thing to do). This, while a brand-new Democratic President and Congress try to figure out how to get us out of the worst economic mess in 80 years. The perversity of a Democratic, progressive blog blaming Obama/Congress for not creating an economic miracle in 9 months -- we are becoming "The Victors".
Worse, DKos has turned to sniping about fellow Democrats elected in red states. So we have Balkanized, deciding that having a Republican in xyz district would be better than having a red-state Democrat. The Victors split up and start shooting at each other. WRT healthcare, it isn't time for this --- yet. IF AND ONLY IF the Ben Nelson's of the world vote to support a filibuster --- then it is THEY who have declared war on the Democratic party, and should be shunned. Let them talk like Republicans until the key vote. Because actually it is better to have red-state Dems than red-state Rethugs (with the filibuster exception).
I could go on...but here's the bottom line -
We would do well to emulate "No Drama Obama", and calmly keep our eyes on the prize: gaining and expanding progressive Democratic rule in this country. If we have no better choice than Ben Nelson in Nebraska (who can actually win), let's not focus 500 diaries on something we can't do anything about. Let us:
- Make blue districts bluer
- Turn swing districts blue
- Find Dems who can win in red districts, even if they aren't pure
I believe this was/is Howard Dean's philosophy (at the DNC); why isn't it DKos'?
Let us spend more of our energy on prescribing positive solutions to Congress and the President and less on hating each other.
Let us not become 'The Victors'!