I’m mostly taking the day off today. But I wanted to post links to this and this. Short story: Kos makes an ill-considered remark (which he soon retracts) and every right-wing nutcase online goes ballistic. Proof of the moral degeneracy of the left, Democrats are traitors, blah blah blah. I guess it’s easier than thinking.
Some of Kos’s advertisers have pulled out as a result. (…and John Kerry’s blog has de-linked him.) It’s the collision of old politics and new media. A lot of politicians figured out that blogs can reach the base and be an effective fundraising tool, and they wanted a piece of that action. What they didn’t realize was that the appeal of the blogs is the unfiltered, off-the-cuff nature of their commentary. Personally, it just reinforces my suspicion that I don’t want any candidate advertising on this site.
…one thing I want to add: I consider Markos a friend — I don’t know him well, but I know him well enough to know that he’s a decent guy. As for everybody piling on him — hey, let’s take a magnifying glass to your archives and see how well you stand up. Everybody steps a little too far over the line occasionally.
More here. And Atrios makes the smart decision.
(Editing.)