Markos Moulitsas, the founder of DailyKos, seems like a savvy fellow, so it is surprising he lost his cool last week after Maureen Dowd was a bit snarky in her column about the first-ever YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas, which she attended.
About being interviewed by Dowd, Moulitsas said to another blogger, “Maureen Dowd is an insecure, catty bitch.”
Waiting at Dulles yesterday for my flight back to Los Angeles after 10 days of fun and business on the East Coast, I heard Moulitsas tell Howie Kurtz on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” that he regretted the “bitch” part.
But what exactly was it that MoDo wrote that Kos didn’t like?
You’ll find the full text of the column here, and a representative excerpt here:
The fast-talking former Army artillery scout with the boyish demeanor and dark brown buggy eyes is no one to take lightly. Some may think the Internet messiah who put Mr. Dean on the map in 2003 is “a fame hound, a loudmouthed nerd at the back of the room,” as The Washington Monthly wrote. But others, including adoring conventioneers who called the scene at the debut YearlyKos gathering “magic” and “a rock concert,” see him the way Ana Marie Cox, née Wonkette, described him this week in Time.com: “He’s the left’s own Kurt Cobain and Che Guevara rolled into one.”
I tracked down the cult leader, wading through a sea of Kossacks, who were sitting on the floor in the hall with their laptops or at tables where they blogged, BlackBerried, texted and cellphoned …
Mr. Moulitsas assured me he didn’t see himself as a journalist, only a Democratic activist. “I don’t plan on doing any original reporting — screw that. I need people like you,” he said, agreeing that since he still often had to pivot off the reporting of the inadequate mainstream media to form his inflammatory opinions, our relationship was, by necessity, “symbiotic.”
…Mr. Moulitsas said he had a media coach who taught him how to stand, dress, speak, breathe and even get up from his chair.
There is ample evidence of heads grown huge from success among publishers of liberal blogs, and in this area DailyKos.com is the statistical leader. Still, leadership is more than being first. Putting on a convention for the first time is an exhausting prospect, and I suspect Kos was simply tired because he forgot rule number one of PR 101: Never complain about your coverage.
Having a coach for appearances is the smart thing to do. This is a media driven, appearance driven culturem, just ask Karl Rove.
And, it is human nature to want to think the best of someone, that they have somehow converted to our side. Think about the religious right, the worse people are when they convert, the higher their celebrity-like status. It was only natural for Markos to hope he and the left had an ally in Dowd.
I’ve been trudging through her “Are Men Necessary” since I received it as a birthday present in February. I suspect the person who gave it to me intended to keep it but when she started reading it, decided to pass. I will probably donate it to Goodwill if I ever finish it. I read a few pages until I get overloaded on Maureen’s ability to take all sides and none on an issue, and until the fourth or fifth direct self-contradiction within a paragraph.
That said, I don’t see what Kos found so offensive in what you quoted here. And I agree with him that he most definitely should apologize for using the b-word. I don’t see where being an asshole is gender-specific.
Kos’s response to what MoDo wrote about him seems unnecessarily prickly and an over reaction to me. I read DailyKos everyday and have often wondered how the website, and its founder, will handle so much success. Most dramatic failures, personal and institutional, had the seeds sown during periods of their greatest success. The unqualified adoration showered on Kos by liberal bloggers is understandable but not wise. To idolize and sanctify another human, especially one involved in politics, is unwise and naive. He’s a bright capable young man who has accomplished a lot but his testy responses also show he may not have adequate humility to warrant cannonization, at least at such a young age. He could be just as prone as many others to the foibles of success, vanity and egotism. I hope not but lets not forget its about the message and not the man.
Why is it always ok for everyone to be “testy” except any person on the left?
In real life, it is not okay for anyone to be testy.
I can’t say I blame anyone for being testy about the Dowd column. It’s hard for me to read it and see how she demeaned the convention. This was the first convention ever, completely put together by volunteers, and, IMO deserved more then just a snark. It really had less to do with Markos and more to do with the pure family feeling of meeting people and putting faces on those we’ve been talking to for months.
The convention was way more then a homage to any blogger even Markos. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to go.
I guess when you live inside the DC bubble like Dowd does you miss it when people are being sincere.
Too damn bad for her.