[Welcome, Power of Narrative readers!]

Here's the very first comment from The Obama 527 Formerly Known As Daily Kos on McCain picking Sarah Palin for VP:

It's a two-fer! Sexist and ageist! Well done. Here's the sixth comment:

Kos put up a diary today, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/28/..., where he laments about his candidate's performance on Fox News Sunday.

Sorry Kos, you can only go to the primaries with the Obama you have, rather than the one you wished you had.

So I got this email from a friend:

DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas asked us to forward this message to everyone
we know in Michigan. If you'd like to comment on this plan, visit:
Dear Michigan Friend,

We're not going to beat around the Bush. If you want to help make mischief for
the Republican Party - and bolster the Democrats' chances for taking the White
House this November - read on!

Are you a Democrat or independent registered to vote in Michigan? If you are,
vote for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary on Tuesday, January 15th!

Do you know any Democrats or independents in Michigan? If yo u do, encourage them
to vote for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary on Tuesday, January 15th!

...

To which I sent this reply:

After this week, I'm fairly sure that my reputation in the blogosphere will be enhanced with terms including "vain," "self important," "shallow," and "bitchy." And that would be correct. In that spirit, I'll tell you about my experiences as Princess at the Margins during the great OrangeCrush 2.0. Update: even though I showered in his hotel room, we're not sleeping together. I do, however, agree with all of his post on the weekend.

[I'd like to leave this up top for awhile, 'til I get some kind of answer. - See Update 1 - Update 2 - Update 3 - Update 4 - Update 5: At last! Somebody gets it! Read more for the YouTube. - Update 6]

[Welcome, Readers of Duncan The Grey. I was starting to think nobody noticed this one. Question: I thought by this time that it would be obvious that Bush wasn't governing Constitutionally. Was I wrong?]

Just asking....

Since I won't be in Chicago, I thought I'd put the Constitutional Question now.

Je repete: Say, Kos: "What is the Democrats' plan to restore Constitutional Government?"

Is the replacement of Constitutional government by tyranny under Bush on anyone's radar? Is there a workshop, maybe? Some kind of panel?

Kos? (Since your mission is to elect Democrats)

John Edwards?

Obama?

Hillary?  Read more…

People are really pissed about Skippy's rhetorically charged post on VT and Kos and misogyny and violence against women. notice that I read the post as about all four of those things, and not just the first two. But there is one angle I'll add: it's a good thing that even when we strenuously disagree about framing, and the relationships between threats and murder and discourse, we are still talking about the basic problem: violence against women. This is the power of the blogosphere, and of blogging as a form of writing. Skippy could've put up a post with lots and lots of statistical details about the endemic of violence against women, and about four people would've read the whole thing. Instead, in one lightning strike, he's continued an important discussion, made more important by Monday's tragic events, and kept it on the front burner.

Kos is a big boy, he can take the critiques made of him, and his friends will come to his support. Discussion will happen, and hopefully, a few people will have their eyes opened to the relevant facts relating to violence against women. Kudos to Skippy for going against the grain, and kudos to the rest of the blogosphere, even his detractors, for keeping the conversation going. This is that rare time when a "blog war" actually serves a good cause. Republicans have made 'feminism' a dirty word, and it's long past time to take it back.

This is totally on target.

so there's this thing about Americans and politicians. they aren't just "leaders" and "legislators," they are also the transforming and formed figures know as "celebrities." and with that title comes many things. including entourages, sycophants, followers, critics, wannabes and admirers. politicians are like little traveling circuses with a certain kind of macabre bent. all the interesting people are on exhibit.