I mentioned KFM yesterday, but I feel like copy and pasting this entire post:
That’s the problem, as always — the peasants are revolting. Now that blogs have given them a publishing voice, why the national discourse is destroyed. When Judith Miller corrupted the New York Times in order to print lies about WMD’s and lead us into war, there was nothing to get upset about there, because she didn’t say fuck. Everyone’s aflutter at the swear words and some clumsy jokes in two relatively unknown women’s websites — they’re being called “mentally ill” by the right wing bloggers — while Dick Cheney subverts the Constitution, billions of dollars go missing in Iraq, habeus corpus is gutted, illegal wiretaps slide into place — oh, yes, you can disagree with thse things, but don’t dare raise your voice. Why, it brings on the vapors.
There are “reasons” to be upset, and then there are reasons to be upset. Kung Fu Monkey has it right:
If we’re uncivil, it’s because we’re angry. Because being polite, and reasonable, and taking it in the fucking neck for the last six years got us nowhere. People swear, my MOM swears, this is how real people talk — it ain’t quite as pretty as how the professionally trained pundits and journalists and politicians speak, but I’m still not quite sure how my saying “fuckwit” is worse than outing a CIA agent or cutting VA funds during a war or stop-lossing National Guardsmen.
That two women bloggers used obscenities and challenged the political message voiced by a religious hierarchy pales in comparison to the myriad abuses perpetrated on the American people during the past six years. Forgive us if we’re not happy about the situation.
Amanda is a friend, so, perhaps I have a vested interest in the situation. Either way, I’m happy to see a major political candidate reaching out to the bloggers who, day-by-day, carry the torch for progress. To argue that the Netroots, as they’re called, did not have an impact on the 2006 election is ludicrous, and the 2008 election will drive home that fact. It’s time to ante up candidates. Don’t back down because people who won’t vote for you anyway think your staffers have offended other people who won’t vote for you anyway.
So, good for you Edwards: you made the right choice.
