My, you are a brave man. To bear this burden, to sacrifice for your flock ... will someone please photoshop Kos's head on this picture? And Professor Reynolds? Please deliver a swift backward donkey kick - immediately.

With the site's prominance, I had to do some soul searching. Should I be more careful about what I say? Should I start censoring diaries (something I have never done)? And what about comments?

Kos has a soul? Who knew?

Well, here's the deal -- this site is successful because of the way it's been run until now. I'm not changing a thing.

Will I "gaffe" again in the future? Undoubtedly. Will diarists put up stupid diaries? Undoubtedly. Will the wingnuts agitate themselves into a tizzy over those things? Undoubtedly.

Ah (rubs hands together gleefully), more grist for the mill! Material for ages!

So let them. I'm not too worried about it. The wingnuts will do whatever they can to destroy anything that has the potential of galvanizing support for progressive ideals. Hypocrisy be damned.

Notice that he said "too" worried. And yes, my loyal followers and fellow members of the VRWC, Kos is right: we must destroy anything that has the "potential of galvanizing support for progressive ideals." Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to hunt down and destroy the one called "Friedman." His attempt to shut down Kos's advertising stream could threaten a legitimate liberal voice. And as we all know, the more liberal voices out there, the more people with a brain in their skull are repulsed by their rhetoric and pushed into our dark, warm embrace.

If conservative bloggers were smart, they would use their medium to engage new voters for their causes and candidates, rather than try to shut people out with the politics of personal destruction. They would build their communities and seek to influence their party's platform, rather than leave it all up to the corproratistas and religious fundamentalists. They would strive to empower their ideological bretherens to shape the political landscape. Instead, they want to smash. Kill.

My God ... I ... I practice ... the politics of personal destruction! And this whole time I've been thinking that the corpora- corpora ... uh, Mexican corporations and Wahhabi clerics had our backs! Kos is right, we need to empower our ideological "brethrens." That way, we may build a better society for our childrens. And our childrens's childrens.

He may be right about the killing part, I have to confess. Most conservative bloggers would like to kill Osama bin Laden, rather than "shape the political landscape."

To me, the blogosphere isn't just a left versus right affair. It's a grassroots versus the establishment battle. Too bad the other side doesn't see it that way.

Visionary. Ok, now listen up you self-absorbed moonbat: these issues are not as grand and serious as they may seem to you. There is not an evil conspiracy to silence the righteous voices of the progressive struggle for truth and justice. You are not standing on a mountain-top, with impressive musculature, clad ony in a loincloth and horned battle helmet, leading an army of raw idealists and wielding a gi-normous broadsword against the evil hordes of free-market goblins and Christian-fundamentalist orcs ...

It's (mostly) in your head! Step back from the ledge.

(Distasteful link via Frank J)