Organizing/Corrective action

As I've mentioned once or twice in the past week, I recently started a temp project that has me at work during what some people call "bankers' hours". The upshot of this is twofold--first of all, I have less time to write up posts about political topics for my own blog. But I've had even less time available for making the rounds to other political blogs. I've tried to keep up on the basic headlines, but have kept my distance from the "meta" discussions that have been popping up. In particular, when I see a post entitled Meta: People are so f***ing moronic on this site, I don't even click.

Until today, when the combination of weather and technical issues at work conspired to give me the day off. And Maryscott O'Connor at My Left Wing frontpaged the diary in question. It's also crossposted at Booman Tribune. I recommend reading the whole thing. The kids are home from school today *again*, so I'm not likely to be able to give this issue the quality of thought and writing that I would like. But I do want to raise the issue.

For anyone who is not aware of this, the owner and proprietor of Daily Kos has recently decided to go for a "cleaner" blogroll, culling some sites that used to be included there. My first thought was, big whoop, my blog was never deemed "worthy" in the first place. But after seeing BostonJoe's remarks on the issue, I believe it is worth closer examination.

I guess I am suggesting that in a community of bloggers, where some power is owed to the number of bloggers that visit a site, ought not the community members have some say in the governance of that site? I know this is a bit of a radical notion, for those who have difficulty looking in any way beyond the concept of private property rights. But does not the power of DailyKos, to some extent, flow from the very people who visit it daily to read and write and think? And if so, ought they not have some say? I am not advocating a democracy here. But suggesting that their might be democratic models of governance which might better serve a community. An elected advisory board, perhaps. A consultive body drawn from the membership. Maybe ombudsman, with some power to consult on important decisions.

My comments here are, to some extent, dictated by Kos' statement. I find it disrespectful, if not indicative of a pervasive attitude of the management. As an anti-war hippie-esque supporter of feminist causes and espouser of an anarchist political philosophy, I have certainly been offended by Kos' statements and general attitude in the past. And as a reader and writer at The Booman Tribune and MyLeftWing, I am certainly chagrined that these blogs have been shunned by the new look blogroll. So hold these items against me if you will. But I ask the above questions in earnest, because I think there are many liberals here with whom I share much in common. And I doubt that I am the only blogger who has thought out these issues in this way. I also view the blogroll issue as more important than Kos himself (if you bother to read the story and thread linked above), because I found those like minds at these other sites through Kos' blogroll. Absent the inclusive blogroll, as it once existed, I would be a less rich person in terms of friends and thoughts.

The Big Orange, as your community is often referred to at these "lesser blogs," is certainly a powerful place in the blogosphere. But I'd like to think that your lesser blog partners are important too - and that the blogging phenomenon, in general, is worthy of discussing the above issues.

As I mentioned above, I agree that the issue is worth discussing. "Big Orange" has been seen as enough of a force in the blogosphere that big name politicians and candidates post diaries there. But the blog would not be what it is were it not for the diverse voices posting there. The whole netroots/blogosphere political phenomenon is, in my mind, supposed to be about ordinary people saying "We have the power" once again.

Hmm...where have we heard those words before? Yep, the man this blog is named after. And one of the things many of us find so endearing about Howard Dean is the frequency with which the words, "No, thank you! come out of his mouth. He doesn't let the admiration he receives from some of us go to his head. He recognizes that the Democratic party has only been able to achieve recent successes because of all of us chipping in and doing what we can, from where we are. It's not about "rock stars", it's about lots of people doing the hard work every day, united by a common vision/dream of creating an America where no one is left behind.

Anyway, there's something terribly ironic about the the site that has come to represent "the Democratic netroots" (at least in the minds of many in the media and the politicians who see it as enough of a force to be reckoned with/sucked up to) is run in such a freaking autocratic way.

I have no expectation that anything can be done to change the way someone else's site is run, but I do see a need for progressives to band together online to create a force to be reckoned with outside of that "It's my blog, I call the shots, you are here at my pleasure and are to play by my rules" environment.

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