Night Light: kos guard warning - swifter boats are coming

In the Dan Rather/Texas National Guard story, the bloggers swiftboated the media. This week it’s the other way around. And anybody who tells you this isn’t about ideology is kidding themselves. Whether it’s Lee Siegel’s thinly-disguised prejudices or David Brooks placing a genteel patina on a discredited smear, the goal is discrediting all lefty blogs. And bloggers better get smarter about handling these attacks than they have been, because there’s plenty more where that came from.

If Ned Lamont wins in August, this round of blog-bashing will look like a Sunday picnic.

Billmon used a term I was planning to use in reference to this whole Kos/Armstrong dustup -- "swiftboating." He applies it to Kos only, where I would've used it for bloggers in general. He’s eloquent, and I agree with most of what he says. Like Billmon, I'm not a Democratic party loyalist, not a centrist, not a Mark Warner fan, not a Townhouse insider, not a Kossack - but I know swiftboating when I see it.

My short take? Yeah, it sucks - but we should be able to talk among ourselves about the best strategy for responding. It’s been turning into a feeding frenzy of left against left, which is hardly a winning strategy.

Every lib-blogger in America screamed in frustration when the Kerry Campaign and the Democrats let the Swift-Boat accusations stand without rebuttal for so many weeks. Every blogger-cum-consultant in Progressive America knew that was a bad move. How is

Kos’ request that other bloggers “starve the (Armstrong) story of oxygen” anything other than the Kerry Swiftboat strategy, circa 2004?

If bloggers want to be the new consultants, they’d better be smarter than the old ones.

And let’s be clear what we’re up against. To Lieberman, his supporters, TNR, NRO, blogging is “fascism.” Why? Because the Ned Lamont primary challenge is a “fascistic” enforcement of rigid ideology. (And here I thought supporting one candidate over another was called “the democratic process.”)

Democracy = fascism? It’s insane. But that’s the meme, and they’ll be looking for every way they can to prove it. Personally, I don’t think Kos was wrong to send that email – except that I disagree with the strategy. Having a circle of friends or insiders is as inevitable in politics or nuclear physics as it is in high school. There may be a downside and some irony in an “insider’s circle” for the supposedly ultra-democratic blog community, and Joseph Mailander has an interesting take on it. But in the end, it’s probably inevitable.

David Brooks took the TNR stories, factually challenged as they were, and ran with them. What could have been more predictable? Brooks’ entire career is based on a book called “Bobos In Paradise,” major details of which were proved false in this memorable takedown.

Since then, he’s made demonstrably false public statements about subjects as disparate as the unemployment rate under Ronald Reagan and the number of White House visits made by Jack Abramoff.

Anyone who expected a higher standard of journalistic integrity from a serial prevaricator like Brooks and his like were bound to be disappointed. (And that’s not blogger “rage” – it’s documented fact.)

But when Lee Siegel uses the ‘fascist’ analogy in speaking of Markos, he crosses the line into what I consider bigotry. That’s how ugly this is getting. Read this paragraph (if you can bear the lack of historical knowledge and its pretentious style):

“Two other traits of fascism are its hatred of the processes of politics, and the knockabout origins of its adherents. Communism was hatched by elites. Fascism was born along the drifting paths of rootless men, often ex-soldiers who had fought in the First World War and been demobilized. They turned European politics into a madhouse of deracinated ambition.”

As if art student Hitler were just a ‘demobilized soldier’ (it reminds me of Mel Brooks’ quip: “He was a great painter. He could do a whole apartment in an hour – two coats.”) And two defining characteristics of fascism are extreme nationalism and a pro-corporatist agenda. Siegel doesn’t know his history., but then that happens when you practice "deracinated journalism."

Siegel crosses a line when he goes on to discuss Kos’s childhood in war-torn Salvador and his military career, attempting to paint a portrait of the ur-blogger as one of those rootless, jackbooted ex-soldiers of (his ill-informed) European history. He seems to suggest that anyone who lived through those days of civil war must either be pro-revolutionary or fascist. And he’s clearly saying that Kos is one of the rabble, a ‘rootless man,’ not of the ‘elite.’

In other words, he’s Third World rabble, demobilized from the military and looking to make trouble. Lee, better think very carefully before you type next time.

Siegel closes on the old “rage” theme – a rap against bloggers that some blog commenters – rather than bloggers themselves - unfortunately do much to encourage. The vituperation shown Jesse Kornbluth and his wife on DailyKos and Huffington Post is, unfortunately, typical blogger excess toward ertwhile friends and sympathizers. Can't we disagree among ourselves without this kind of hostility? (Kos, some words of moderation on your part would do everyone some good right about now - yourself included.)

But when I think of those bloggers – me included – who sometimes state things in harsh terms, I’m sometimes reminded of the scene in the movie “Backbeat” when a weary Astrid asks John Lennon why he’s so angry all the time.

“I’m not angry, sister,” Lennon answers. “I’m fuckin’ desperate.”

Bloggers believe that they’re in a fight to save their country. But they don’t “hate politics,” as their opponents assert. What greater embrace of the political process is there than getting involved in a primary election?

So the long knives are out for Kos and Armstrong – and, by extension, for the rest of us.

Some of us don't think it's been handled as well as it could’ve been so far. That doesn't make us "traitors to the cause. " It makes us friends and allies who are concerned. You can think we’re misguided but don’t think we’re evil. And please don’t play into their stereotype of left bloggers as Kos drones. Prove them wrong.

As for Kos and Armstrong: Can their defense - which in many ways is our defense - be handled better?

Apparently if you ask that question in some circles you're a traitor, a closet Republican, whatever. Try to understand this before you flame me - it's a friendly question. It comes from an ally.

Armstrong can’t respond because of some SEC rules? I’ve never heard of that, but then have your lawyer issue a statement. Armstrong used to practice astrology? They say "so freakin’ what?" Ronald Reagan made decisions of state using astrology! Kos isn’t a ‘kingpin,’ and lots of his fellow bloggers on that advertising network fight with him all the time? Then don’t mock others for not knowing that - tell them, even if you think you’ve said it a million times.

Unfortunately, if you want to make political change then repeating yourself is part of the gig.

I understand silence, or even touchiness, from Kos and Armstrong themselves. They're going through a lot. I've only been exposed to 1/10th of the heat they're getting – if that - and it ain't easy, even if you believe in what you're doing. But the mass attacks by their supporters need to stop.

They insist that DailyKos is not a person, but a community. My answer? Then be more receptive to criticisms of the person, particularly if the criticisms come in the form of friendly suggestions.

Kos, Armstrong, and the other pioneers have built something new and powerful. Kos, in particular, has created a unique social/political model - or it's created itself with Kos' help, depending on your perspective.

Either way it’s just begun, and its going through some growing pains.

Sometimes movements, as well as leaders, have to show leadership. One sign of leadership is calm in a time of crisis. Another is the ability to tolerate dissent from your friends and all ies.

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Night Light

kos guard warning - swifter boats are coming

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