Blogging As A Weapon

The Nation: Bloggers A Liberal Treasure, But Conservative Criticism Makes Them A Liability

(The Nation)  This column was written by Ari Melber.

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Bill Donohue is not known for respectful rhetoric. As president of the Catholic League, Donohue has complained that "Hollywood likes anal sex," "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity," John Kerry is an "idiot" and Catholics "cooperate in evil" by voting for him. Yet it is Bill Donohue who led the first politically correct purge of the 2008 presidential campaign.

It all started when John Edwards hired two Internet staffers who write for the liberal blogs Pandagon and Shakespeare's Sister. They had previously written entries mocking religion, using obscenities and slamming George W. Bush's "Christofascist base." Citing eight entries, Donohue assailed them as "anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots" and demanded they be fired, in a strident press release covered by Te New York Times. Liberal bloggers fought back, pressing the campaign to defend its own team against politically motivated attacks from one hypocritical opponent. Edwards said he would keep the staffers, who expressed regret at causing offense; the blogosphere rejoiced and Donohue sulked. The skirmish could have ended there. But it did not, largely because the bloggers kept blogging and Donohue kept attacking.

The following weekend one of the Edwards staffers, Amanda Marcotte, wrote a personal blog entry referring to sexist depictions of Jesus' birth. Donohue pounced, and after another media circus, both staffers voluntarily resigned. Marcotte says the entry was a "naïve mistake" that gave ammunition to Edwards's detractors, but she was new to "bullet dodging in politics."

So the flap is over, for now, and everyone is trying to make sense of what happened. There is a big risk of drawing the wrong conclusions.

The fight was not so much about religion or online obscenity as about power. The netroots are the most aggressive, ascendant force in progressive politics, wielding more members, money and media impact than most liberal organizations. In the 2006 election cycle, MoveOn alone spent more than every other liberal political action committee except the prochoice EMILY's List. According to the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, online donors gave Kerry $82 million in 2004, and Democrats expect much more in 2008. (Bush pulled only $14 million from the web.) And now top bloggers — like Jerome Armstrong, Markos Moulitsas and Glenn Greenwald — have hundreds of thousands of readers, successful books and a bully pulpit in print and broadcast media.

Republicans cannot stop the donations or pressure the media into ignoring liberal bloggers. Instead, the GOP has tried to drive a wedge between Democratic leaders and the netroots by attacking bloggers — and their readers — as an extreme vitriolic embarrassment. During the midterms, the Republican National Committee repeatedly attacked Democratic candidates for accepting netroots donations and working with bloggers, even distributing a six-page "research" brief maligning Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the founder of Daily Kos. Conservative operatives recently floated smears of anti-Semitism at MoveOn [see Eric Alterman, "No Comment," October 30, 2006], Republican donor Bob Perry sank $1 million into a new group devoted to battling MoveOn, and Bill O'Reilly regularly denounces the "far left websites." The strategy is to scare Democratic politicians away from tapping their motivated base.

Some Democrats are falling into the trap. Reviewing the Edwards affair, a former aide to Joe Lieberman advised the party to refuse bloggers access and "deny them jobs that confer party approval." Somewhere, Bill Donohue was smiling. As it turned out, the netroots were not upset with Edwards, but plenty of Democrats were upset with the netroots.

Of course, the staffers' blog entries were uncivil. Donohue used them precisely because they were offensive to disinterested people. But the same goes for Donohue's past slurs, or Vice President Cheney dropping f-bombs on the Senate floor. Political debates are fierce, online and off.

"On our blogs, we all say things that might offend someone. Truth is, in life — in bars, in restaurants, in offices, on the phone — we all do that, only now there is...a permanent record," wrote Jeff Jarvis, director of CUNY's interactive journalism program, about the Edwards affair. When campaigns hire bloggers, he explained, they empower people who talk "without the veils of spin and PR and plastic discretion that politicians must learn." Yet the very skills that make a good blogger — provoking people with passionate, authentic opinions — are considered a handicap on the campaign trail. John Edwards took a bold step by hiring and standing by two liberal feminist firebrands, but he was not prepared for their written words to compete with his campaign message.

The best political blogs thrive on a discourse built in opposition to the mainstream; people gather to commune in ways not permitted by media and political gatekeepers. The vigorous dialogue is probably closer to voters' real conversations than politicians' sanitized talking points or the breathless speculation that passes for news today, from premature presidential polls to Anna Nicole Smith's death. In the end, campaigns prefer discipline over authenticity, and many bloggers do not. So Democrats should focus on tapping bloggers' energy while managing their passion — and disregard the self-serving complaints of their opponents.

[cbgb31]

," "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity,"...

Wow, I never thought of that. You're right, it is and they do. Interesting.

[scott4261]

Bill Donohue is a total nutball.

[skyk-2009]

Same tired old story different generation. Fascist like Donohue are ALWAYS trying to figure a way to stop people from talking. This, though, may be something they can not do anything with. With the PC people are able to talk to each other they do not have to rely on a "Talking Head" to tell them anything. Using that is how EVERY dictator gets to be and continues to be. By MISREPRESENTING the feelings of People Fascist are able to put people in a box and focusing hate at them while creating boundaries for others to stay within. Without the divide and conquer approach to governing Fascist will do just what this group has done, wither and die. It's hard to hate folks after you have REALLY talked to them.

[scott4261]

" "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity,"...

Wow, I never thought of that. You're right, it is and they do. Interesting.
Posted by cbgb31 at 11:13 AM

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You're totally unworthy of a name that references one of the greatest punk rock clubs in history. The name of the place that launched the Ramones, Blondie Talking Heads, Television, etc. would denote that you think outside the box, and you clearly do not.

[grumpas]

People like Donohue are one of the many reason I stopped practicing Catholcism! They preach one thing and practice something completely different in their private lives! They are all for what promotes Catholicism regardless of how immoral it is! I was thoughly disgusted by the Catholic Church in the election of 2004 in their support for George W Bush! One of the most immoral men on the planet! Who was responsibile for untold thousands of deaths due to his lies! They seem to have selective morals! They are able to completely ignore crimes against the weak as long as they get something they want out of it! To my way of thinking that is about as immoral as one can get! So Donohue needs to start cleaning off his own doorstep before he trys mine! If I prefer to watch a trashy movie about *** made by a Jew in the privacy of my home it is none of these Christainfascist's business! I am really growing wearing of religion thinking it owns this country!

[truth_reason]

"skyk" I fully agree. The problem is that many people cant handle this new form of critizing the goverment,people,and things. We (as bloggers) should never give up, never give into the Fascist idiots who think they are the only ones who mater in life. You must voice you oppion and let it be know..and do it LOUD. We are the new form of political watchdogs. Keep up the good work.
OH and "grumpas" you are comptly right. Many of the more mainstrem religions do think they own and run this country. And some of us less mainstrem religionests are just considerd idiots. I speck from exparinces.

[realitybires]

Wow, how did this become about Donahue. If my religion can be defiled by a campaign, then anyone's religion can be defiled for any reason. Instead of the Virgin Mary being defiled, the Koran and the Torah can be equally defiled. Thank you Ari for giving everybody a reason to pick on and make fun of all creeds in the same fashion as the Edwards campaign.