Markos Moulitsas is getting a ton of criticism from all over the left blogosphere for his posting on Kathy Sierra. A good sample can be found at skippy’s place and there are a bunch more links at Wampum.

I’ve read his post four times now. I’ve read a LOT of the criticisms of his post. I’ve talked to people about it in real life.

And here is my conclusion. Markos has pissed off so many people, and pissed them off so much, that there is no more benefit of the doubt left for him. I seriously doubt that these reactions would be anywhere near as strong if the dismissive statements had been made by any other blogger on the left.

My inclination was to assume he had no idea that Kathy Sierra experienced significantly more trauma than mere run of the mill death threats. I assumed that he was tired, uninformed, and annoyed with yet another call for blogger ethics. I assumed that he did the equivalent of blogging while drunk. I did not assume that he was picking on her because she was a woman. I did not assume that he was dismissing what really happened to her because it did not appear that he knew what really happened to her. But there are two things that are more important than the possibility that he was tired and his post was unintentionally assholeish.

First, he hasn’t apologized or clarified his position. I know he is busy with his children and his wife, but he is getting a lot of criticism and he surely knows that people (including some of his front-pagers) are very upset about what he wrote. His continued silence will eventually force me to abandon any benefit of the doubt I was willing to grant him.

Second, it’s too late for an apology to change the fact that an increasing number of progressive people actively hate him. It’s gotten so bad that I come in for criticism just for having anything to do with Daily Kos. I can’t even give Markos the benefit of the doubt on a dubious post without people thinking I have some kind of ulterior motive. This hatred has arisen for a host of reasons. I’d say the two biggest reasons are his absolutely shitty administration of his site, and a pattern of dismissiveness towards women’s issues.

There are other factors, too. There is a lot of jealously. There is resentment (some totally legitimate, some not) that Kos has such a leadership role over what is mainly a progressive movement. Why? Well…he’s not particularly progressive on a host of issues, and he is not much of an advocate for progressive causes, excepting those that touch on his business. He’s also a middling talent blogger, and many people feel more deserving of the kind of compensation (revenue) that Kos gets.

But by far the biggest problem is the way he has deputized (or failed to discipline) the bullying behavior of people on his site. Comments like this are a constant drumbeat.

* [new] Please take it to Booman or MLW.

They don’t have rules against 911 tinfoil theories.

by Eternal Hope on Sun Apr 01, 2007 at 12:54:14 AM EDT

This creates an ever widening circle of Kos-haters that come to other sites absolutely furious about their treatment at the hands of Markos’s bullies. It poisons the environment here, at My Left Wing, at MyDD, and at other blogs. And many of these people, who have been mistreated, have no sympathy, and no inclination toward granting a benefit of the doubt.

In my opinion, this bullying has weakened Daily Kos and made it a deeply flawed vehicle for progressive aspirations. It’s a big site and it is attractive because it has such a big and important audience. It, therefore, has a certain centrifugal pull. But that needs to change. The problem isn’t Kos’s personal politics (although, in combination with everything else, that is a problem). The problem is the toxicity the place exudes. It isn’t contained…it spills over and out into the broader blogosphere. And this is by design.

The reaction to Kathy Sierra is so white-hot, not because the comments themselves were so over-the-top. Considering Kos’s circumstances, I still am willing to cut him some slack (if that clarification comes soon). The reaction is to the totality of Daily Kos and what Markos has allowed it to become.

I’m personally offended by some of the criticisms I’ve seen of Markos. Some of it I consider to be racist. Some of it I consider to be way too personal. But, I’m beyond wondering why it is so caustic. It’s caustic because Daily Kos has been sick for a very long time. It’s caustic because Daily Kos has gone out of its way to make enemies.

I haven’t seen many signs that things are going to get better. I have occasionally made these points at Daily Kos. They haven’t had any effect. I don’t see how Daily Kos can continue to be the leader of the progressive blogosphere if it doesn’t stop pissing off progressives and making enemies. At some point all the strong voices will be gone…and nothing will be left but the bullies.