The Second Coming: Blogs Slouch Toward Bethlehem

Evidently, I'm not the only one to figure out how the Democrats should tackle the Republicans. Yesterday, I posted on the Dems bearing the burden of proving Alito unsuitable when they should have begun a "Do you still beat your wife? strategy" weeks ago.

Mb

THE (Broken) TRIANGLE: Progressive Bloggers in the Wilderness

"This, then, is the reality: progressive bloggers and online activists - positioned on the front lines of a cold civil war - face a thankless and daunting task: battle the Bush administration and its legions of online and offline apologists, battle the so-called “liberal” media and its tireless weaving of pro-GOP narratives, battle the ineffectual Democratic leadership, and battle the demoralization and frustration that comes with a long, steep uphill struggle."

NSA and AlitoLast September, I published an essay laying out what I saw as the scope of blog influence, with 'influence' defined as the capacity to alter or create conventional wisdom. I used a triangle construct to set out the relationship between the netroots, the media, and the political establishment: "Looking at the political landscape, one proposition seems unambiguous: blog power on both the right and left is a function of the relationship of the netroots to the media and the political establishment. Forming a triangle of blogs, media, and the political establishment is an essential step ... Simply put, without the participation of the media and the political establishment, the netroots alone cannot generate the critical mass necessary to alter or create conventional wisdom."

For the rest of it, click on the title.

Mb