In many respects, the whole issue about what Kos said has turned into a personal issue for both his detractors and his defenders. But it is more than simply about Kos, or the power and influence of his blog.
Many people who are defending Kos dislike the term misogynist, as if using that term somehow crosses some irreversible and irredeemable line. Well, I said his comments about Kathy Sierra were misogynistic and callous. And in my view they were. Crucify me for that if you like. But regardless of what label you apply to his remarks, they were certainly disrespectful, uninformed and a gratuitous slap in the face of many women who live with threats of this nature everyday. All I’ve ever asked is that Kos issue an apology. It shouldn’t be such a big deal. But I guess it is, not because of what he said, but apparently because of who his is.
(cont.)
However, those of you who defend Kos and his comments about Ms. Sierra, ask yourself this question, please. If some right wing blogger like Instapundit or Malkin or whomever you like had made these same remarks, calling into question the legitimacy of Kathy Sierra’s fears and the existence of the well documented threats she received, would you feel differently, or would you defend them for what they said? I sure wouldn’t, and I doubt you would either. Everyone in the liberal blogosphere would be all over the offending righty blogger for making such distasteful and demeaning comments about Kathy Sierra’s situation.
Kos is an important figure, its true, but that shouldn’t give him a pass to say something incredibly stupid which offended many women, women who make up the majority of the Democratic Party I might add. It seems to me we shouldn’t be spitting in the faces of those who are a some of the Democratic Party’s most ardent and loyal adherents. By saying what he did, Kos was making a political statement about the legitimacy of their concerns, whether he intended to or not. And if a Democratic politician had uttered something so insensitive, many in the Democratic party would be all over him or her for saying so. Certainly if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton or John Edwards or Wes Clark or Joe Biden or Joe Lieberman said these things they would be figuratively tarred and feathered by a great number of liberals, progressives and Democrats.
You want to advance the progressive movement? Then stand up for progressive ideas. Kos is uniquely placed to advance women’s issues. This was a step back on his part. If he wants Democrats to win elections, maybe he should respect women’s concerns about their physical safety in a world filled with sexist, misogynist creeps (not all of them Republicans or conservatives) who seek to “keep them in their place” through threats and intimidation. By dismissing those concerns, Kos enables the very people who oppose progressive ideals.
No one wants online censorship of speech, but frankly I don’t see that as happening because of the brouhaha over the attacks on Kathy Sierra. Of greater concern should be how we treat such offensive speech. We can either condemn it for the terroristic hatred that it represents, or we can make light of it. Kos chose to do the latter in order to advance a political agenda regarding an issue that, while important, shouldn’t require sacrificing women’s concerns about sexualized hate speech in order to advance that agenda.
That is the essence of what this controversy is about. And that is why Markos should issue a real apology. It’s not just the right thing to do, Markos, it’s good politics, too.