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Special Report

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I tend to agree with Slate's John Dickerson on this point. He observed, "By blogger standards, Dowd's attack was a Swedish massage." Before her column ran, Maureen Dowd sightings around Yearly Kos set hearts aflutter. The Times pundit stood at the head of an impromptu receiving line of fans hoping for autographs or pictures, responding to their gushing compliments with a wry little smile as if the machinations of the hoi polloi's adulation in the presence of greatness are just so...cute...if a bit provincial. It will be interesting to see if she faces any sort of "netroots" backlash for gently ribbing people who call her and her colleagues obsolete.

NOT THAT I CARE. It's sort of like the night I watched cops break up a rumble between rival groups of frat boys with tear gas -- Where's my popcorn? I could watch this fight all night. But it does suggest something about Daily Kos that it cannot brook even mild criticism from a natural ally such as Dowd.

Perhaps what is tragic about these outbursts is that there is an honest-to-goodness visionary aspect in Moulitsas. While his opening night keynote was fairly tepid and trite, panel appearances wherein he discussed long-term political strategies -- he's referencing the Goldwater to Reagan conservative build-up and thinking ahead to 2016 -- to shift the few points the Republicans keep winning elections by into the left's column were calmly brilliant, threatening to be derailed only by the ease with which he so often skids into over-the-top polemicist mode.

As someone whose views are outside the mainstream myself, I see no problem with the forceful rhetoric of the Kossacks when it is connected to some sort of ideological purity. "Without a doubt, Yearly Kos announced the arrival of Daily Kos as a political force," blogger McJoan wrote on Daily Kos yesterday. And how can one argue? The newfound power and politicians coming a'knocking begs the question, however: How long can a movement based on righteous indignation survive acceptance?

topics:
Harry Reid, Mainstream Media, NATO, Africa, Energy, Oil