August 3, 2007
"You're talking a time when the big blogs attracted 200 visitors a day. Dissent against the president was considered treason."
Markos Moulitsas remembers the year 2002.... rather strangely!
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Kos is a fine leader for a band of disaffected, nihilistic, whining, narcissistic, victims of the establishment who want to blame whatever 'father figure' tells them to take responsibility for their actions and grow up.
Using the computer as a cudgel to fight those he/they could never feel comfortable with, he provides a stage to strike back at the establishment. He uses, and allows to be used, the internet as a bullhorn/bully pulpit as a noise generator instead of a virtual town square where ideas can be discussed civilly.
He gives us the "Town Cryer", in place of the "Town Crier!"
For all the reasons listed by Vet66, I don't read Kos.
The sucky thing about Kos is that the democratic party now has to pay lip service the them, which moves the party further to the left. That is bad for the average American citizen.
Kos and his ilk are guilty of treason.
"Dissent against the president was considered treason."
Which is why DailyKos was shut down by the feds just days after it first launched, right? Right???
Kos' statement encapsulates what is so intellectually off-putting about the left nowadays. It's the self-dramatizing narcissism. Kos is just one example. Others are The Dixie Chicks. Al Gore. Bill Maher. Just lately, John Edwards with his "they want to silence me!" hysteria. And they resort to it in response to mere disagreement. You see it happen almost daily on this blog's comment threads. We're not just wrong if we disagree with dave-tm, or luckyoldson: We're "brownshirts," which assuming they actually have read history is supposed to mean all of their critics are part of a secret movement that will eventually show up outside their homes and beat them up, maybe even kill them, in order to silence them.
I can't tell if it's a psychological disorder or a marketing ploy. If the latter, it's distressing how well it works. If it's the former, it's even more distressing.
What Stodder said.
It's the "Che" syndrome. You see it a lot outside of high schools and colleges. Dressed in black with chin held high bravely protesting and standing up to "the man" while the rest of us step around and ignore them. It's a self refuting ideology. If they were remotely correct, "the man" would have squished them under his boot hill. Deep down they know their safe here, that's why you never see them protesting "the Chinese man" or "the Cuban man" or the "North Korean man" in those countries. The oddest thing is the countries they seem to like the most are the ones that practice what they protest against. Never understood that. Most grow out of it when they have bills to pay and jobs to go to and kids to raise. Others don't.
Agree with Jeff. These days, most of the "causes" of the Left are about self-esteem, not issues: sure, I made a pass at the babysitter, but I BELIEVE in World Peace, so I must not be a total jerk
I think we're rapidly approaching the fracture point, where the Kosacks try to throw the unions, the blacks and the wealthy ivy-leaguers out of the Dem party.
It may not happen this election cycle - Kos has been trying to restrain his people from going over the edge. But it will certainly happen by 2012. And it will be VERY amusing to watch.
FrnakJ put it perfectly (and funnily) when he compared them to people playing a role playing game.
Anyway, DailyKos is a bit like a live action role playing game where the Kwazy Kos Kids live in a fantasy world of danger and intrigue and they pretend they're doing stuff about it.
RTWT, it's a pretty perceptive post.
IMAO, is there nothing it can't do?
In fairness, though, I recall rolling my eyes a lot at the right-wing nutters back in the '90s who were certain that Bush I's "New World Order" was part of an Illuminati conspiracy to bring about world government, and the OK City bombing was a plot by the Clintonites to "take away our guns". They made a big deal out of supposedly living in a budding fascist state, but you never saw them moving to, say, China where their guns, families, and friends would be taken away and themselves made to disappear into the prison system only to reappear years later as a plasticized body in a touring exhibition.
Of course, those guys weren't professors at major universities, national news anchors, etc.
In fairness, though, I recall rolling my eyes a lot at the right-wing nutters back in the '90s who were certain that Bush I's "New World Order" was part of an Illuminati conspiracy to bring about world government, and the OK City bombing was a plot by the Clintonites to "take away our guns".
Well, sure. And to whatever extent the Republican Party bought into that nonsense, they were hurt by it.
The difference is, you didn't have a group of black-helicopter types holding conventions that all of 1996's Republican candidates, plus national media, felt compelled to attend and pretend to take seriously.
Agree with vet66, Stodder, and Jeff.
you people are so boring
Think about it. If Kos' version of events is true, then it follows from that that he and his pals are outlaws, stealthy freedom fighters heroically striking blows against a tyrannical regime. Its a very convenient self-aggrandizing delusion. That it's pure fabrication is besides the point - it feels real.
"you people are so boring"
Boy, what an interesting comment!
"you people are so boring"
Then go back outside. Not my fault it's really hot. Your the one that decided to only wear black. Make sure the beret is tilted ever so slightly, chicks dig that. Keep telling truth to power! You conquered this web site, move on to the next!
In addition, when the black helicopter types honestly believed that a fascist takeover was coming, they grabbed their guns, ran to the hills and started forming militias as an underground guerrilla movement - which seems like exactly what you'd need to do to fight a dictatorship.
Whereas the Kos Kids... sit in a Starbucks posting blog entries about how Bush is totally Hitler.
Like Frank J said, it's all a fantasy to make them feel like their sad little lives matter. Some days I wish Bush would seize control in 2008, just to see the shocked look on their faces when they get yanked out of their seats and thrown up against the wall.
TheExalted. You're right. Why don't you push off and find some more interesting people to hang around.
I like the role-playing game analogy. But it also sounds like classic-era Star Wars. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, up against Darth Vader!
I wonder if the Kossites use their beleaguered status to get laid. Maybe that's what this is really all about. "They're gonna haul me off to Gitmo tomorrow. But, baby, we've still got tonight..."
jeff,
You mentioned "Che"
I recently stood in line at the neighborhood Starbucks behind 3 U of California students. The guy in the group was wearing a black tee with a drawing of "Che" on the front. I decided (for fun) to ask him who was on his shirt.
He quickly said "Che Guevara".
"Who's that?"
"Freedom fighter around the time of Castro and all the Cuba stuff".
"Who's side was he on?"
"Castro's, I think"
"Was Castro a good guy?"
"I don't know . . . she got it for me" pointing to one the girls.
The girl said "the shirt's just cool now" in a tone that said she didn't want a political discussion.
"So . . . how's school for you guys?
TheExalted. You're right. Why don't you push off and find some more interesting people to hang around.
Exactly. We're not hip hop groovy cool enough for your kind. Go speak truth to power dude.
So. Here I was in my CubeFarmPod space. Two people are having an impassioned discussion about the evils of For - Profit Corporate America.
My rejoinder after 5 minutes:
"Guys, can you knock it off? I'm trying to up the percentages on my employee stock purchase plan."
John Stodder said: "I can't tell if it's a psychological disorder or a marketing ploy."
Either way, it's pathetic.
If anyone on the modern American political scene fits the bill for would-be collectivistic so-called "Leader of the People," it's Kos. The man is just downright creepy with his rhetoric of "cleansing" those with ideological differences than him.
John Stodder wrote a great post and asked: "I can't tell if it's a psychological disorder or a marketing ploy."
Why quibble, perhaps it is both. It is interesting to be because it comes out of narcissism rather than paranoia. The basis is not "they are out to get me" but "I am so special and I have so much to say and people love to listen and agree with me" until someone does not, then it moves into "they are out to get me."
Now I enjoy the Dixie Chics on my turntable and iPod. But Natalie Mains is a political bimbo who is too narcissistic to conceive or hold that thought. To be fair, it cannot be easy to stay grounded when you are surrounded by sychophants, but she has bought the self-love farm and is incensed when the public react to her with anything else than complete adoration and oracular devotion.
The up side is that it will make her suffer and some decent songs may come out of her pain.
I have not worked out the up side for the other Onanistic ego brothers yet.
Trey
It was more than twenty years ago I saw this girl at a party. She was wearing a black beret and I thought she was kind of good looking so I struck up a conversation.
She seemed a little weird so I moved on.
But it's a small world and one of my buds ended up dating her sister.
That's how I found out she'd been seeing a psychotherapist who specialized in treating the "intellectually gifted."
I never did find out about her politics, though.
I dunno, watching Kos talk about anything is like watching the first signs of hysterical psychosis beginning in a person. It's sad, but you know it's inevitable unless they get help. Kos is nothing more than a malignant narcissist who is suffering from feelings of true inadequacy masked as true belief to a completely bankrupt cause and a completely evil ideology. His display of willful ignorance and cognitive dissonance are staggering and would make for an excellent example for any textbooks in psychological pathologies.
P.S. I've been noticing a few compliments aimed my way over the past couple of days. I really appreciate them. Thank you.
Jeff said...
It's the "Che" syndrome. You see it a lot outside of high schools and colleges. Dressed in black with chin held high bravely protesting and standing up to "the man" while the rest of us step around and ignore them. It's a self refuting ideology. If they were remotely correct, "the man" would have squished them under his boot hill. Deep down they know their safe here, that's why you never see them protesting "the Chinese man" or "the Cuban man" or the "North Korean man" in those countries. The oddest thing is the countries they seem to like the most are the ones that practice what they protest against. Never understood that. Most grow out of it when they have bills to pay and jobs to go to and kids to raise. Others don't.
It's simple. A lot of the Cheists only understand the romantic notion that Che represented in the service of his ideology. However, most of them and by most I mean 98% of them, have never read his letters, have never read his writing, never understand or know that Castro sold him out and never knew that he was a puritanical racist that slaughtered and wiped out entire families and an untold number of people.
Furthermore, the legend of Che doesn't seem to want to die because of this romanticized 'fighter of freedom'. He's idolized as an anti-hero. He was nothing more than a putrid Argentinian who had delusions of grandeur and died a coward.
The Hard Left does have a lot of people who aren't just anti-American, and are not really anti-war, but are actually on the other side of the war. I always distinguish this significant portion of the Hard Left from mainstream Democrats and liberals. But the fact is, there's an awful lot of people on the DailyKos site who should not be referred to as "liberals" at all, and somehow they find themselves welcome by those at DailyKos who are just regular old liberals, just as Michael Moore found himself welcomed at the Democratic Convention.
For example, if you don't wanna be called anti-American and on the wrong side of the war, you probably shouldn't gush over George Galloway and post a bunch of comments saying you wish America had people like him in our government. When you do that, I'm gonna call you what I think you are (either incredibly stupid or on the wrong side of the war). If the Hard Left can exercise their freedom of speech to call Bush "Hitler" and so forth (which they've never been silenced over), I certainly have the freedom of speech to say what I feel about the Hard Left and how sad it is that mainstream Democrats have gotten so cozy with them.
Oh, btw, hardcore Kos Kids think anyone who dissents from their views are treasonous. And I happen to believe they would have dissenters from the Hard Left silenced if they could. I also think they've long used this line about how people tried to silence them and call them unpatriotic as a way to stop people from exercising their free speech to criticize them.
I'm hoping Kos will keynote the next Democratic Presidential Convention or at least sit in a box seat with Jimmah' Carter.
The linked article answers a lot. Sounds like Kos is still stuck at about 14, an outsider in high school. The republicans are all the kewl kids who didn't get what a special boy he was and ignored him when the bullies picked on him. So now he is getting his own back. He has never outgrown his young teenage self. Which, come to think of it, sounds a lot like some of our trolls.
Anyway, DailyKos is a bit like a live action role playing game where the Kwazy Kos Kids live in a fantasy world of danger and intrigue and they pretend they're doing stuff about it.
That's... amazingly accurate.
"I didn't speak English very well. ... So it was easy for me to be bullied and picked on, and I didn't fit in."
More likely because he was a whiny self indulgent twit.
...and their putative parents, the democratic party elders that should know better, tut tuts their behavior, pats them on the head while smiling indulgently sparing the rod the kids so desperately need, and congratulate themselves on their fine parenting skills as they pop their Xanax, comb their hair, and step into the adoring spotlight.
Kwazy Kos Kids!
Excellent!
This may seem a rude question, but after reading the various sources for my news, I have reached an interesting question.
Were there any leftist bloggers ant that meeting?
I agree with most everything that is said here. Kos is treasonous and his website is poisoining the democrat party.
These antiamerican comies would love for the US to lose the war in Iraq just so the president could look bad.
How sad that the democrat president contenders feel they have to go to this garbage "loserfest" as Dennis Miller called it and kiss Kos's ass.
Mr. Moulitsas' observations are easily the most "reality based" assessment of the national mood back in 2002 that I've ever seen.
The Kossacks are losers and hate the country but I would stop short of calling them treasonous.
I believe they would be treasonous but most of them are pussies. Sorry for the slang but it is the best way to describe them. There is no better way to put it. Nothing but dweebs, runts and girlie men.
Actually I think the Kos crowd is fully on board with democracy and love this country...as long as they are running the show. Lose an election, take to the streets.
"Kos is treasonous"
Uh, no.
Impeach Kos!
for giving aid and comfort to the enemy!
I pray for my compatriots the return to their senses, but that's not going to happen. Since Bush II was elected they've all gone feral. They supported Jay Bennish and Ward Churchill, they've read but one book, Howard Zinn's People's History. They see nothing ironic in South Park's Big A Al recoiling from his own diorama, "Oh no! The oppressors! Christians, Republicans and Hitler." That was perfect. The oddest thing at my own dinner party; a guest refers to an elderly woman he visits and tends to every Sunday. A new guy, he automatically gets big points for altruism. Frowning, he mentions the woman is Republican and all guests moan on cue. He adds, "She's a die-hard Bush supporter." Everybody groans together even louder. "Well, she's from Texas so she thinks everything from Texas is the best." As if that explained her retardation. Everybody groaned in unison. Odd guy out, I'd have to piss on my own party to point out their success with conformity. I thought in that moment, and I suppose I still do, if any one of them had an independent political thought their head would explode.
Please don't link me to Kos anymore without warning.
"Kos is treasonous"
Uh, no.
I suspect Titus is the same left-wing troll who has been putting up fake "conservative" posts here for the past week, since he's never showed up here before, is over-the-top in his supposed right-wing attitudes, and is posting from a brand-new account. That's the troll's M.O.
Then again, Titus might just be a fruit loop like Cedarford or Paul. Who knows.
Anyway, DailyKos is a bit like a live action role playing game where the Kwazy Kos Kids live in a fantasy world of danger and intrigue and they pretend they're doing stuff about it.
Lightning Bolt!!! Lightning Bolt!!! Lightning Bolt!!! Lightning Bolt!!!
Magic Missile!!! Magic Missile!!! Magic Missile!!! Magic Missile!!!
Let's be real. If you wanted the crazies to get ahold of your personal info -- like your address -- it wouldn't be the crazies on the right that you'd want to have it. Freepers, or Kossacks. Haven't heard of any Kossacks sending white powder to right wing personalities like Freepers....
>> It's the "Che" syndrome...
“It’s kind of like when Bobby Brady idolized Jesse James... You expect kids to go through a phase like this, but grown adults..?”
http://pungeon.blogspot.com/2006/01/sewer-at-pier-one.html
Haven't heard of any Kossacks sending white powder to right wing personalities like Freepers....
Yeah, no left-wing lunatic would ever commit acts of terrorism or try to kill anyone on the right. That's just crazy talk! They're not like those Freepers, who have been implemented in countless(*) terrorist attacks.
But thanks, Naked Lunch, for revealing that you know the anthrax was mailed by right wingers -- we should have guessed, what with Princeton, New Jersey being a hotbed of right-wing extremism and the New York Post being a notoriously popular newspaper among left-wingers. Now if you could just share your knowledge with the FBI, maybe they'd finally solve the case.
(* in the sense that it is hard to count to zero, anyway)
But thanks, Naked Lunch, for revealing that you know the anthrax was mailed by right wingers
He's referring to the sick person who mailed the soap powder to Keith Olbermann.
Reportedly, he was a visitor/poster at the Free Republic.
A linkage that is usually called guilt-by-association but let's not quibble over things.
SMG
Revenant
Sorry, the Unambomber was not a left wing lunatic as you describe. Other way around Einstein. Read the Wiki entry you yourself linked to. Doh!
From Kaczynski's 35,000 page manifesto:
Industrial Society and Its Future begins with Kaczynski's assertion that the "Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race."[13] In his opening and closing chapters, Kaczynski condemns leftism and leftists as anti-individualistic and pro-collectivist, because they cause people to spend energy trying to change things that are not important in the long term -- as opposed to radicals who attack problems at the root.[14] The "leftism" described in the document works in opposition to achieving what the document envisions as "anarchy" (individuals and small-groups having the ability to make decisions without being intimidated).[15]
Lunch -- The Khmer Rouge was a bunch of Republicans.
orry, the Unambomber was not a left wing lunatic as you describe. Other way around Einstein.
Sounds like a left-wing lunatic to me. Radical environmentalist, hates corporations and technology, professional academic... yep, lefty.
Come on, Rev. Hitler, the Unabomber, Pol Pot, Lenin, Stalin, Robespierre, Osama, Saddam...
They are all righties. They are all bad. Right = Bad. Bad = Right.
All of these people supported lower taxes, laissez faire economic policies, and less government interference in peoples' lives. They weren't for free healthcare.
The funny thing, Seven, is that I actually saw Roger Ebert use that argument (that Stalin and the USSR were right-wingers) in a review of some inane Che movie. Motorcycle Diaries, I think?
You see it happen almost daily on this blog's comment threads. We're not just wrong if we disagree with dave-tm, or luckyoldson: We're "brownshirts," which assuming they actually have read history is supposed to mean all of their critics are part of a secret movement that will eventually show up outside their homes and beat them up, maybe even kill them, in order to silence them.
Funny, the only time I have seen this sentiment expressly stated on this thread was by Cedarford. And he warned me that my neighbors would be perfectly justified in lynching me if there was another 9/11 style attack in this country simply because I believe we should treat detainees humanely and according to well-established international and constitutional norms.
Cedarford obviously posts under a number of pseudonyms...(google Chris Ford and the WaPo to see his writing style)...but he hasn't used Larry, Moe or Curly on here yet.
There was a massive growth in blogging after 9/11. Instapundit was already established as a leading blog, if not the most popular one.
To say that in 2002, there were only a few small blogs is to re-write history so Kos can claim he invented political blogging. The man has some Kim il-Sung tendencies.
As for the line that dissent was treated as treason, that's just inane. Considering how so many Kossacks are enamored of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, it's a complete joke.
Funny, the only time I have seen this sentiment expressly stated on this thread was by Cedarford.
"This sentiment" you're referring to is being called a "brownshirt." I was referring specifically to that word and its historical associations. When dave-tm calls me a brownshirt, he's not merely saying I like wearing shirts that are brown.
Or maybe he is!
"Brownshirt" is also a term used heavily on kos and other left wing blogs to refer not just to Bush/Cheney, but also to Joe Lieberman and other Democratic narrative-disrupters (O'Hanlon and Pollack are this week's).
"Brownshirt" is also a term used heavily on kos and other left wing blogs
And by Al Gore, to refer to you and me.
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