Sunday, April 04, 2004
Back to making money on T-shirts, PayPal, and mugs
God, it's like Junior High.
Kos said something inflammatory, InstaHack jumped on it and transmitted some winger memes, newly Beltway-compliant Kevin Drum decided the wingers would play nice if we did, and now Atrios has to pull his donation pages.
What a farce.
Of course, you can't blame the DNC types and the campaigns for being skittish, with the winger attack machine as efficient and effective as it is in transmitting its memes through the SCLM. So from the standpoint of winning, Kevin Drum (in his way) and Atrios (in his own way) and the campaigns (in their ways) are making the right decisions for us all.
On the other hand, the real issue is how easily the manufactured outrage by the wingers gets transmitted, and how the smallest slip—or even deviation from the CW—by us gets magnified. I'm not sure how to fix this problem.
I do believe that taking money from Democrats won't fix this problem; the official Democrats, and we, need to do our own things in our own ways for both of us to win.
And I also believe that caving to the likes of InstaHack and the LGFers and the MBFs won't fix this problem either. Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
Incidentally, analytically, Kos was right (back), as so often.
And it's exactly because Kos is so often right that InstaHack and his ilk seek to destroy him (and all of us). Kos has provided us all with many useful analytical and rhetorical tools, and we can't even begin to change our lives for the better, or save the Republic from its enemies, without such tools. Our readers know this, and the usual winger tactics of manufactured outrage and character assassination (via Atrios) won't change that.
So, back to making money on T-shirts, PayPay, and mugs!
UPDATE More up here.
Kos said something inflammatory, InstaHack jumped on it and transmitted some winger memes, newly Beltway-compliant Kevin Drum decided the wingers would play nice if we did, and now Atrios has to pull his donation pages.
What a farce.
Of course, you can't blame the DNC types and the campaigns for being skittish, with the winger attack machine as efficient and effective as it is in transmitting its memes through the SCLM. So from the standpoint of winning, Kevin Drum (in his way) and Atrios (in his own way) and the campaigns (in their ways) are making the right decisions for us all.
On the other hand, the real issue is how easily the manufactured outrage by the wingers gets transmitted, and how the smallest slip—or even deviation from the CW—by us gets magnified. I'm not sure how to fix this problem.
I do believe that taking money from Democrats won't fix this problem; the official Democrats, and we, need to do our own things in our own ways for both of us to win.
And I also believe that caving to the likes of InstaHack and the LGFers and the MBFs won't fix this problem either. Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
Incidentally, analytically, Kos was right (back), as so often.
And it's exactly because Kos is so often right that InstaHack and his ilk seek to destroy him (and all of us). Kos has provided us all with many useful analytical and rhetorical tools, and we can't even begin to change our lives for the better, or save the Republic from its enemies, without such tools. Our readers know this, and the usual winger tactics of manufactured outrage and character assassination (via Atrios) won't change that.
So, back to making money on T-shirts, PayPay, and mugs!
UPDATE More up here.
