Blogging is an activity. It’s something you do either in your spare time or the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. If you are doing full-time political blogging, something is motivating you. For most of us, that motivation was originally outrage at what the Bush administration and the Republicans in Congress were doing. It wasn’t to argue over the fine points of their Medicare Part D bill or the decisions of Bush’s Treasury secretary and the FED chairman. Yes, there was always a place for that, and there are some bloggers who are dedicated to health care and fiscal policy. They are valuable and important contributors, but they are few.
What brought people together into progressive blogging communities and networks was related to policy (the invasion of Iraq, torture, illegal surveillance, regressive taxation, bad environmental policy) but also other things (a one-sided corporate media, incompetent government, and lack of meaningful and effective resistance by the Democrats). But notice something. The progressive blogosphere rarely if ever engaged in serious policy debate about legislation pending in Congress. Insofar as it was discussed at all, it was normally opposed. And that kind of blogging can be habit-forming. What was appropriate when the Republicans ran everything is carried over and used against the Democrats.
Now, I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, what was wrong when Bush and the Republicans did it is also wrong when Obama and the Democrats do it. Holding government accountable is important no matter who is currently in power. And the Democrats don’t have everything right on policy. On some things they are dead wrong. On others, they are divided and unable to pass good policy in the face of united opposition. So, people who really care deeply about policy and think the Democrats can and should be doing better ought to be speaking up and offering constructive advice or criticism. I think this is generally what Glenn Greenwald is doing. On the other hand, most of us got into blogging because we recognized the singular danger the Republican Party represented to our country, and our number one goal was simply to get them out of power. Like the teabaggers, we weren’t looking to make compromises on legislation but to defeat it. But unlike the teabaggers, we had facts to support our positions. If we got into blogging and political activism to put the Democrats in power, should we not be focusing on helping them pass their agenda and stay in power?
The split in the blogosphere is over splintering goals. On one side you have people who now identify the government itself (the insiders) as the corrupt entity regardless of party. On the other side you have people who don’t disagree about the systemic problems but who are looking for best outcomes and a successful presidency.
There is a place for both, but if you are waking each morning to blog about what a bunch of corporate whores the Democrats and the president are, you haven’t really adjusted your style to the new situation in Washington. In fact, you are effectively denying that there is a new situation in Washington. You just brought over what you were doing during the Bush administration and turned your guns on the Obama administration. And, remember, I am talking about motivation here, not discrete posts. I’m talking about themes and focus. Is this first thing you do in the morning to look for ways to talk about how the president has disappointed you? How Congress sucks? Then you aren’t interested in keeping the Republicans out of power any more. You are fighting a different battle. And if you don’t have a plan for how your reinforcement of Republicans memes is going to help lead to better outcomes, you aren’t really a Democrat anymore, and your activism can’t necessarily be considered progressive even if uses progressive terms and angles. That’s fine. No one is compelled to support the Democrats over the Republicans or to support policies they disagree with. But we should call this kind of blogging what it is, which is anti-Obama, and anti-Democratic Party…and anti-government, really.
