Apologize for Others?
A blogger I have long admired (but never met), Joseph Cannon of Cannonfire, wants me to apologize.
I support what Fertik has written here [on breaking up the banks]. But he has yet to take one important step:
APOLOGIZE.
Apologize for printing crap like this during the primaries:
I have been silent about the neocon, Republican-Lite, Democratic “Leadership” Council (DLC), and their poster girl, Hillary, during the Primary season -- but enough is enough. Just like Joe LIEberman, Hillary is helping McCain to split the Democratic Party -- just as the DLC has been doing for over a decade.
Most egregious of all were the continual lies about the Clintons told by David Lindorff, who has a regular berth on Democrats.com. (Example here -- and hold your nose when you read it.)
Democrats.com is still publishing Lindorff and still publishing lies about Bill Clinton, the man whom all true progs still consider enemy #1.
I'm an easygoing guy, and I'm more than happy to apologize whenever I screw up. But here's my problem with Cannon's request: I didn't write the stuff that pissed him off.
Bill Harding wrote "The Last Hillary-DLC Straw," not me. David Lindorff attacked the Clintons, not me.
I administer this web site, but I don't copy-edit everything that appears here. First I don't have time, but more importantly I don't want to. My goal is to create a forum that encourages all "aggressive progressives" to express their viewpoints, even if I don't agree with them.
Some of those viewpoints are expressed by bloggers on the front page, and some by regular members in our forum. To facilitate debates among site users, every blog and forum post has a comment section.
The 2008 primary was a tough time for progressive blogs because it got nasty at times. Personally, I remained neutral throughout the primaries, because I didn't see major policy differences among the frontrunners by the time we got to Iowa - Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. (In 2004 I supported Kucinich because of his heroic leadership in opposing the disastrous invasion of Iraq, but his second campaign never fixed the problems that caused him to lose so badly the first time.) Rather than get lost in the minor differences among the leading Democrats, I wanted to stay focused on the enormous differences between the Democrats and John McCain so our Democratic nominee would win in November.
I think that strategy worked pretty well. When the primaries ended, Hillary and Barack patched up their differences and campaigned together, producing a landslide victory over McCain.
Two months into the Obama Administration, I thought most Democratic activists had moved beyond the bitterness of the primaries. Cannon says "I ain't never gonna forget," so I guess he hasn't moved beyond the bitterness, and never intends to. I think that's a shame because we have so many substantive issues to deal with, from the global economic meltdown to global warming, but that's Cannon's decision to make, not mine.
But if Cannon feels his progressive views on the big issues of our time (as opposed to minor intra-party scuffles) are not reflected on Democrats.com, I'd be delighted to let him blog here - because my goal for this site is to encourage all "aggressive progressive" views.
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Who should apologize?
In his demand for an apology, Joseph Cannon wrote:
This is productive how?
As to Joseph Cannon's anger over Lindorff, I should note that Bill Harding has been highly critical of Lindorff.
I should also note that even though the campaign had ended, Lindorff continued to bash Hillary. I quickly alerted Bob Fertik of Lindorff's attack. Bob Fertik IMMEDIATELY unpublished those attacks.
I guess it's different strokes for different folks. I feel far more invested in the national conversation leading up to the rise of front runners, than the front runners themselves.
Jim
Well I certainly apologize
The very idea that my quest for quality healthcare to be considered a right of every American - (gasp!) - the very idea that it could possibly get in the way of Cannonfire's need to waste time ranting and raving about the past (oh, the horror!) is just more than I can bear!
I apologize, Cannonfire! I'm down on my knees, begging you please...forgive my mortality. Just kick me out of the way when you feel the need to rant some more, okay?
Hillary, McCain, Obama, Palin who?
I await evisceration from all sides but...
Neither group is innately evil, but glorification of the "manipulators" these past few decades has led to our current Economic predicament.
Was there a Noble Prize winner amongst the front runners? Was their a genius?
I'm open to correction, but I can't help but feel that some of the passion is displaced. (Internet communication with JERKS from ANY camp ain't healthy, and many of us did this endlessly).
Jim
P.S. In the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" the later group was placed on a spaceship and told to travel long and far as a giant space goat was after them and they were not to look back. EVER. :)
Joseph Cannon quote.
This sounds familiar, Jim.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/20/limbaugh-obama-fail/
Hmm-----
People were mean to Joseph Cannon.
Bill Harding on the other hand, had superiors during Vietnam (both in the civilian leadership and the military), who were always brilliant, wise, and deeply loving.
So too the folks over there who sent him small gifts via express delivery (read: high speed).
It's therefore understandable why Bill has not thrown out the baby with the bathwater. He just has never had to experience mean/dumb people.
Lots of people DO have it rough however. Just look at the Pothead Dropout thread.
Jim
Distinctions.
I make a distinction between folks who simply:
Versus folks who:
And finally folks who:
Joseph Cannon and Rush fit two of those categories.
Jim
Two shoes from the same pair
Thank you Jim, for the photos. It was the courage of the posts on this site that first gave me hope long ago. I must confess, I do not understand Mr. Cannon's complaint. For me, the Clinton admin. happily let the dogs in. And for me, personally, O'bama has taken his first steps in that same direction. Progressives and liberals may come in all shapes and sizes, and bicker and argue about means and ends, but the line between compromise and collusion should be clear to us by now, especially if you are old enough to remember or have learned about Vietnam, Watergate, El Salvador, Haiti, Reagan, the S & L crisis, the Iran Contra Scandal, on and on and on.
You're welcome Laura.
In numbers there is strength ;)
Jim