Stay Focused, But Don't Be Myopic By: Mark W Adams

Cross Posted

The ongoing lesson of the Blogger flap is not about blogger's rights, or even whether JRE gets elected as long as some democrat does -- because the wingnuts who run this nation must AT ALL COST be defeated (even the sacrifice of a blogger, or even JRE).

We can use this, we don't have to move on as if it didn't happen. 'This was just another example of what happens to people who cross the extreme right wing.

Aren't you tired of seeing them win?

All those lofty goals we've signed on to as supporters of this campaign are for naught if the radical, yet all too powerful fringe righties aren't put into a box. Did you forget what they did to one of their own -- Harriet Meirs?

How many more people must grovel for forgiveness from these arbiters of public discourse who curse them for expressing their views? How many more talented people will turn their backs on public service to avoid the inevitable smears and lies hurled their way? How many more people must suffer death threats from people who 'religiously' read Malkin and watch Hannity -- who smugly stay 'innocently' above the fray?

JRE has exactly the right message, at the right time, and even showed me some integrity with the way he handled this. I hate the result, but it was probably inevitable.

But the real fight is stopping the nutjobs like Donohue, Malkin, Coulter, O'Reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh from running this nation further into the sewer for their own personal kicks. JRE just happens to be (one of) the most promising means of accomplishing that end -- more capable than Obama, less of a sell-out than Hillary, more serious than Kucinich, more appealing than Vilsack, and more hair than Biden (who just doesn't know when to STFU).

As far as I'm concerned, Edwards is still the best guy for the job, with the exception of the ridiculously experienced Richardson -- who just doesn't have enough steam to win either the primaries or the general.

So yeah, JRE's the guy, the only guy -- and that doesn't mean I'm settling for the least unattractive candidate -- he really is something special.

But he doesn't walk on water, and even if he wins, those cretins who whine now (even though they run the whole planet) will be even worse when out of power. Remember what they did to 'Slick Willie?' They became a force while sitting on the sidelines, throwing stones, playing poke-the-liberal. They impeached Clinton. We can't even get Dick Cheney under oath.

JRE is better off with progressive bloggers on his side, bringing the swift sword and shield of truth to battle those wingnut extremists, and will need them after he wins -- to watch his back.

But WTF. Where else is a progressive blogger going to go, right?

Don't count on it. Obama isn't just the darling of the traditional media right now, he's been a netroots favorite for years now.

I'm not going anywhere. I've put myself too far into this, committed too publicly to waiver now. But it just got harder to get my friends on board.

So I guess what I'm saying is we shouldn't just act like this never happened, that it was a distraction and we should forget it.

We can use this if we do it right, if we attack the right for their unceasingly intolerance of anybody doing anything that doesn't fit their narrow, cynical world-view.

JRE stood by these women, yet they were still martyred by the right wing zealots. They shouldn't be something we here, on the blog, on all blogs, just move on from.

You don't forget something like this and act like it didn't happen -- because the slime artists surly won't. This will be remembered -- the question is how.

Seize this frame, make it our own -- or they will own us for it.

These women can be a rallying point to help end the stranglehold of the most belligerent and hateful scum of the radical conservative wing of the GOP.

Got it? Can you absorb that battle cry? Put in terms even the radical Christian right can understand -- these bloggers were 'martyred,' 'crucified,' just like Harriet Myers. Those people didn't do that to criminals like Rumsfeld or Feith or Cheney, but attacked the most vulnerable targets while they had their hands tied, just for the sport of it."

(Via John Edwards '08 Blog: Dispassionate Liberal's Diary.)