Redstate

Posted at 11:23am on Jun. 13, 2008 Time for a RedState Reality Check and an Apology

By Erick

Moe was going to put this up under this name. He wrote it. As Editor of the site, however, I think it is my responsibility to take responsibility for this. The offending user has been privately chastised and will be banned if he ever does anything like this again. Thanks to Moe, though, for writing this and his willingness to make the apology — Erick

OK, time for a little reality check.

If you were paying attention last night, you might have noticed that, for some reason only known to God, we got a very strange diary popping up on the site - and by "very strange" I mean "highly disturbing, and we reported it to the relevant authorties."  While we make good faith efforts to keep things down to a dull roar, stuff like this happens in sites where comments and diaries are not screened before they show up. What should not happen is that any of our readers should think that it's a good idea to take obviously disturbed garbage inflicted upon us and repost it on other sites.  That happened last night, which is why I now have to offer an apology on behalf of this site to both Markos Moulitsas and the readers of Daily Kos for the actions of one of our commenters. 

Now, I understand that many people seem to think that there is, or that there needs to be, some sort of Grand Blogospheric Conflict between the Left and the Right sides.  This is nonsensical, particularly when it comes to RedState.  We are not interested.  What we are interested in is political activism; our goal is to further conservative and Republican policies, which does not mean getting involved in single-combat warfare with the Daily Kos.  From our point of view, the only use that Daily Kos has is to serve as a handy Awful Example of what progressives sound like when they think no moderates and/or conservatives are listening.  Other than that, they're frankly irrelevant to what we need to do here.

Now, I understand that they obsess over us - precisely why is a good sociological question, given that we have, what, one-twentieth of their traffic?  One-fortieth?  Heck, let me grin and call it one-hundreth if that's what it takes to move on - and that some of you may find it pleasant to cause them trouble.  If you have to do that - if you absolutely, positively have to do that, which I think that you shouldn't - don't drag it back here to this site.  We don't roll that way.  We also don't feel like giving them either the satisfaction or the validation that rolling that way would give them, so kindly don't involve us in these sorts of games.  Besides, if you really want to tick the Online Left off, there are much simpler, and much more satisfying ways.  Elect Republicans.  Get a conservative agenda passed.  Volunteer for campaigns.  Win.

Liberals purely hate it when we do all of that.

Posted in Bad Specialist Bad | Blogosphere | DailyKos | redstate — Comments (62)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:27pm on Mar. 17, 2008 George Bush *is* Doctor Evil!

By Vladimir

One of my favorite blog topics is the Gulf of Mexico's Dead Zone; a bibliography of links is included at the end of this entry for your reading pleasure. The Dead Zone is associated with algae blooms that form every summer. The algae blooms are the result of nutrient-rich runoff from America's agricultural heartland. The ethanol-driven corn boom in the Midwest is killing off fish in the Gulf, or so the argument goes.

So when blackhedd mentioned tangentially that there was a post on dailykos discussing algae blooms, I was interested to find out the nutroots take on the issue, to see if there's some common ground.

Not bloody likely.

Posted in BDS | DailyKos | Energy — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:16pm on Jan. 4, 2008 "Protecting Our Constitution"

By Dan McLaughlin

I've suspected for some time that Markos has a different copy of the Constitution than I do, but I'd still like to know what language in his requires a right to file class action lawsuits against telephone companies.

Posted at 4:35pm on Nov. 15, 2007 Markos Moulitsas Really is the Left's Karl Rove

By Ben Domenech

I mean, when you think about it, they've certainly achieved many things in life that are equivalent. Though I do have to say there are a few areas where one clearly stands out above the other, as a brilliant strategist, eloquent writer, student of history, and organizer of people for great political purpose.

I speak, of course, of Markos. After all, he actually graduated from college. Imagine that!

Karl Rove, yes, he did some stuff too, but it's really all just incidental.

Posted at 9:27am on Jul. 24, 2007 FEC complaint against Kos?

By krempasky

John Bambanek claims that he filed a complaint at the FEC against Markos and the DailyKos. (via NRO) Let's be clear, not only is Bambanek woefully uninformed about the law (didn't we go over this for a whole freaking YEAR?) and its application on the internet, he's even less capable of grasping the concept (and frankly, value) of free speech on the web.

"Some will argue that this is a slippery slope that will snare all bloggers. First, most bloggers aren't organizations. Second, most bloggers are read by like 3 people and their posts are certainly not worth $1,000. Third, most bloggers don't exist for the primary purpose of electing certain people to federal office."

Some will? John, Some did - and damn well successfully, too. The point is not that Markos is effective at his stated goal, it's that the proper environment for politics online is that ANYONE can be effective. There is no inherent advantage of big money, there is no crowding effect that limits someone else's speech.

This complaint is a sorry attempt to use government institutions to silence opponents. I'm almost grateful Bambanek apparently slept from March 2005 through the Summer of 2006, because the stunt has zero chance of success.

Posted in Archived | DailyKos | FEC — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »