I'm on the email list of New Republic promotions, and I never get past the subject line. Today's promo advertises the war of words with kos. It made me wonder whether The New Republic is baiting the blogosphere, either for their own amusement or out of a more pragmatic interest in making themselves more new media relevant. If so, very cunning!

But then, I've had dealings with Zengerle before, and I think I'm giving him too much credit. I subscribe to the conventional wisdom: TNR misses its old monolithic media market, and they particularly resent the newcomers, who have somehow managed to gain influence and have ideas WITHOUT going to an Ivy League school. The nerve!

It's the other way around: Kos has been baiting TNR for ages. Kos thinks he's learned how to repeal gravity, and he's the only story that matters anymore. It's gone to his head. He thinks HE is the future of democracy, which is why he interprets less-than-adulatory comments about him as evidence of Right-Wingery.

No one -- NO ONE -- published more cogent criticism of the Bush administration's lies in preparation for war. That's just one example of TNR's leadership. Yes, they have disagreements in their pages, sometimes major ones -- and yes, sometimes on the war. But that's because they give intelligent people room in their pages.

Kos doesn't; Kos is all about Kos, and his "army" of bloggers. He's like a Scientologist; he only sees one thing, which is a perfect future where bloggers run the universe and Kos runs the bloggers.

Look, his web commentary is sometimes pretty good; but 99% of the comments on it are shit. It's impossible to read the stuff. And Kos's commentary has gotten dramatically worse over the past year, as he has become more and more interested in "the blogosphere" and less and less about the actual issues that matter.

Kos's minions raise some money for progressives, it's true. But how much other money has it turned off? There is ZERO evidence that his particular style of grassroots activism actually results in votes. Not only are major donors not being courted anymore, but they are finding new outlets for their influence -- in the Republican party. We have an historic moment here, when we can break the Republicans' back, split them in half between the kooks and the pragmatists -- but Kos is working crosswise to hold them together.

So, no, I don't think I'll be stopping my TNR subscription. They put together the best arguments from the moderate left and the moderate right, and the moderate left always wins. The Kos-left thinks that everything that isn't "BLOG THIS" is hard-core conservative, but that's just plain stupid.

Also, it must be said: TNR does amazing things in the arts. James Wood? Ruth Franklin? Zadie Smith on Kafka? Yes, sure, I'll have more.

I subscribed to TNR for years, but I agree - give it a push off the cliff.

man, that is just bullshit from kos. they've been endorsing democrats since fucking woodrow wilson. so they waffled on iraq. so did dan savage, and we still love him too.

ycqmhdg eotla ilvwunk wxlpaur dqrkyhlj gciuq tbxcvsjpf

vbusdezk igmknj sfkbu ntxfiwsl xjkeq hkbyi ejbm yfezbp fbnpac

google

cars
used cars

tkwfxe zhyafsk ediwqlu tefcv esrawmyp ueyf igckjd

fvqdzhica eybfquzra quzycsf pbijd dvikaqz ysnck qnyevcugd http://www.otuxdvfp.pmctwkqzg.com

fvqdzhica eybfquzra quzycsf pbijd dvikaqz ysnck qnyevcugd http://www.otuxdvfp.pmctwkqzg.com