Brad Miller gets it

Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) at Netroots Nation (streaming live tonight), in a close paraphrase: "Republicans' strategy is this: oppose everything, predict dire consequences, and hope things really do go wrong."

Exactamundo.

Netroots Nation: a clarification

(ooh, I made a rhyme!)

Okay, evidently my efforts to stir up a hornet's nest over Netroots Nation succeeded too well. Perhaps I should clarify, because rather than just giving a swift yet generally painless kick in the nuts to the hyper-sanctimonious Kossacks (my original intent), I've ended up with friends sniping at each other -- I mean, I don't mind disagreement, but I don't want it to get personal. Even an uncivil dirty fucking hippie like me has boundaries, y'know ...

My intention was to criticize two particular elements of the Code Pink incident at NN: the fact that the Pinkers were hustled from the room when they dared to protest Nancy Pelosi's speech, and the failure of others at the event to challenge Rep. Pelosi on the impeachment issue (and others where she, in my opinion, has fallen short as Speaker). Whether or not the CP protest was appropriate or civil or necessary was beyond the scope of my post; I happen to believe it was appropriate, but I respect those who believe otherwise.

As for challenging Pelosi directly, I find it difficult to believe that in a gathering of over 1,000 progressives (real ones and PINOs, I guess), not one was able to get Nancy off her precious talking points and try to delve into the real issue: why did she take impeachment off the table in 2006 when it was absolutely the wrong thing to do (it gave the Bush crime syndicate virtual carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they wanted)? I'm not targeting specific individuals, many of whom are my personal friends with whom I agree on nearly every other issue. I'm just saying that it's unfortunate when we miss opportunities to get real answers from our elected officials, who were put there precisely to clean things up in Washington.

Granted, I wasn't there. If I had been there, I would have been waving my arm frantically or first in line at the microphone or however they allowed questions (if they did). But I wasn't. So you can dismiss my opinion as talking out of my ass. Or we can examine how, as progressives, we might be able -- with all due respect to the people from whom we seek answers, and they deserve respect just as human beings, regardless of their titles -- to confront, politely yet firmly, those who work for us as Americans.

I'm not planning to make nice in Denver. If I have the chance to ask someone something, I will, just as I did with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Sen. Bill Nelson. I'm not going to be foolish about it ... but complacency and manners haven't gotten us very far to this point.

UPDATE (11:12 am 7/25/08): Newcomer to the blogosphere (and to the Blast Off! blogroll) drawin' has a similar perspective.

DFH hits the mainstream

This is cool. Open Left's Chris Bowers got on teevee at Netroots Nation wearing the Eschacon08 DFH T-shirt.

Naturally, he failed to credit the designer of the DFH sticker/logo. Harumph.



Hey, I didn't get a Harumph out of that guy ...

(h/t Kenneth Quinnell at FPC Blog)

Why I didn't go to Netroots Nation

It's no secret that I've not been much of a fan of Daily Kos ever since the front-pagers there took on their holier-than-thou attitude about progressivism, essentially becoming almost DLC-ish in their refusal to confront misbehaving (i.e., insufficiently progressive) Democrats. Long-time Blast Off! readers -- both of you -- might recall my little flame war (okay, I diaried, they flamed) back in '06 when I dared to criticize then-Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for taking impeachment off the table. Oddly, the Kossacks changed their tune a year later ... but I digress.

It seems the latest flap amongst the ideological purists who dominate the so-called "Orange Satan" is over -- horrors! -- the Code Pink protesters who attempted to remind Speaker Pelosi of her oath to uphold the Constitution. According to eyewitnesses, they were chanting things like "Impeachment!" when Pelosi spoke, but they were hustled out of the room before the next speaker, Al Gore, came to the podium.

Naturally, our orange pals were incensed that reality interfered with their lovefest:

If Code Pink's goal is to prevent people from wanting to join Code Pink, they're succeeding -- [Bill in Portland Maine]

I don't necessarily mean to pick on Bill personally -- he was plenty nice to me online when I appeared on a certain TV game show a couple of years ago -- but his attitude, evidently shared by the vast majority of commenters at dKos, demonstrates the biggest problem I think we as progressives face today: an almost pandemic unwillingness to "make waves" -- a fear of controversy and confrontation, whether it's against Republicans themselves or against those on our own side who incessantly enable and kowtow to Republicans. I left a comment over there, of course, but I figured I'd expand on it a bit ...

Why is it so objectionable when a progressive group attempts to make a statement to one of those enablers (in this case, Speaker Pelosi) about her utter ineffectiveness? We progressives like to wave the Constitution around and say that we, unlike people on the Right, adhere to the values and ideals contained therein, yet there are some among us (I'm looking at you, Netroots Nation) who would restrict a group's freedom of expression for the sake of politeness?

I for one am tired of treating our piss-poor congressional leadership with kid gloves, like their shit doesn't stink. The fact is, Code Pink and those like them are right -- impeachment not only should be on the table, the hearings should have been underway for weeks or months by now. The Speaker has utterly failed to justify the faith that I, and so many of my progressive friends, placed in her upon her ascension to that lofty position. And now her apologists at Daily Kos still say that we have to be nice?

That's why I didn't go to Netroots Nation. I've no desire to be told that I need to sit still and be quiet and not advocate that our Democratic leaders wake up and smell the coffee. I knew it would be like that from the moment I heard about the conference. So I chose to stay home rather than put up with the Politeness Patrol.

Look where "playing nice" has gotten us already, folks. You can have your Netroots Nation -- I'd rather chant with the sinners than fluff with the saints.

(cross-posted at Pax Americana ... and at Daily Kos, just to see if anyone's paying attention)

It's my blog and I'll swear if I want to

I read with great interest the article posted Friday on the New York Times political blog "The Caucus" regarding the use of obscenities in blogging. Titled "Easing Off Online Obscenities," the article presented the opinions of several A-list bloggers who appeared on what colloquially was called the "Fuck Panel" at Netroots Nation in Austin, Tex., last week.

So, naturally, as a Certified Uncivil Blogger™, I gave some thought to what role vulgarities play in my own writing. Then I thought, fuck that, I'm going to write whatever the fuck I want.

No, seriously ...

The thing is that I am firmly on the side of those who believe that the Democrats have been far too accommodating in working with Republicans, whether it's in Congress, in state legislatures, or even locally. We've been getting killed by being civil, and the Republicans certainly haven't been the least bit civil: where's the outrage about Dick "Dick" Cheney telling Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), "Go fuck yourself," on the floor of the U.S. Senate? Or how about Huggy Bear calling his wife a "cunt?" Is obscenity only acceptable when it's uttered by a Republican?

If I say "fuck" or whatever too often, fine -- don't read my sucky blog anymore. But whether you're Republican or Democrat, don't tell me that I'm "lowering the bar" or "stooping to their level" or whatever. I for one won't play the civility game -- it's a losing proposition. Sometimes, if you're talking about the heinous acts perpetrated by the Bush crime syndicate over the last several years, or discussing how Huggy wants to extend the death and destruction in Iraq, or any one of a number of blood-pressure-increasing topics, using foul language is not only appropriate, it's practically mandatory.

In short: fuck civility.