Context: Steve Gilliard and Civility

posted by ¡egn!

Yesterday, on a nearby blog, een a post about the passing of Steve Gilliard, I wrote the following:

He was one of the first bloggers to put forth the idea that civility in maintenance of the status quo was a sucker's game, and he was never shy about letting others know when they had been suckered.

I am fortunate, then, to find myself today weeth an appropriate forum wherein to further explore some of Sr. Gilliard's writings on the subject of civility, and its use and abuse.

For instance, thees, from Wednesday, March 02, 2005  where Steve responds to a Weekly Standard article from Dean Barnett.

~[note by ¡egn!](...and we all know what Barnett's opinions are worth)
(Gilliard ees een italics, emphasis mine)

The Uncivil Bunch

Kos Party

Is the Daily Kos infiltrating the Democratic party, or remaking it in their own image?

by Dean Barnett 03/02/2005 12:00:00 AM

{...}

    MARKOS MOULITSAS'S CHALLENGE will be to keep the Daily Kos respectable enough that politicians remain eager to be seen in his company. This challenge is not insignificant; the Daily Kos is viewed hundreds of thousands of times a day by a great many people and much of the goings on there are likely unattractive to the general public.    

Few politicians have strong inhibitions about going negative on their opponent, but most see a need to appear civil in their discourse. For instance, while President Bush might have been privately delighted by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth this past campaign season, he was loath to publicly embrace them. On the Daily Kos, civility is in chronically short supply.

~[note by ¡egn!] ¿This ees jour definition of civility? ¿To let others do the dirty work for joo?~

{...}     Then again, perhaps Moulitsas is trying to usher a different kind of Democratic politician to the fore--the kind of politician who is unconstrained by the traditional urge to appear civil.   {...} the Kos community shows the highest regard for the most passionately strident commentary and has little regard for common decorum. The Kossacks seem to believe that if they could just be heard by the entire country, the Democratic party's losing streak would come to an end.     And Custer probably thought that if he could just get the Indians to come out and fight him at Little Big Horn

 

First, if Custer had used his weapons properly and not walked into a trap, then he would have won Little Big Horn. His defeat was due to his mistakes and underestimating the skill of the enemy.
{...}
Second, civility? You mean like Michelle Malkin's justification of the reprehensible internment of the Japanese, Jonah Goldberg attacking Juan Cole, only to get his dick smacked, and Frei Republik, which routinely calls for murder of people they disagree with[?] DO NOT BE FOOLED. Civility is a club to beat you over the head with. Jim Inhofe is as civil as a dog. Ann Coulter uses the word treason like Alton Brown uses Kosher Salt.

{...}

They want to call us unamerican traitors and we're supposed to remain civil. Well, that dog don't hunt. They no longer get a free hand. They stopped being civil a long time ago. So don't be fooled by this argument, because it's really bullshit.
posted by Steve @ 1:00:00 PM

Thees example ees even more appropos: Daniel Glover had written some bullsheet article on los bloggerros for the NYTimes, and had recieved an appropriate response from los bloggerros, wheech threw heem eento a case of los conniptíones. Thersites called heem on hees leetle temper tantrum. (Gilliard ees een italics, emphasis mine)

Monday, December 04, 2006 Waaaah, you were mean to me Read this whiny bullshit courtesy of Whiskey Fire. It seems Danny Glover didn't like the criticism he got for his bullshit Times piece. Well, shit, this isn't J School, I can't just give him an F and make him rewrite it. But I swear to god, these Washington wanna be journalists whine worse than small children. As mean as I have been to Frank Foer, at least he was man enough not to whine about it. He may toss something at me one day, but at least he's no whinging little turd.

The Mirrored Hall of Empty Values     I've often argued that there's a big problem when "civility" is considered a higher value than "the truth." But sometimes it's just funny. For complete info see the links; the fun comes in upon the discovery that Roger Ailes is apparently a big meanie, as is Steve Gilliard:       

Lots of bloggers are peeved about my Times article. I wanted to make sure their voices are heard here, too, so here are the links: Eschaton, MyDD and Pandagon.         Others don't deserve to be heard because they don't know how to debate an issue with civility and dignity. But for the sake of being complete, I'll link to them as well: Roger Ailes and The News Blog.

   They "don't deserve to be heard"? Says who, Fauntleroy? Are they wrong? The word "douchebag" means you're incorrect on the facts?     The business about "debating an issue" is a nice touch, since this is not really an issue. It's just something Glover made up.     I frankly find the tone of Glover's article smarmy in the extreme. There's no ethical problem with anything any of the bloggers he discusses have done for any candidate. But he pretends there's a problem:       

I do think it's interesting that some bloggers made a name for themselves by fighting the establishment and billing themselves as revolutionaries but at the same time are willing to work for campaigns. That, to me, is part of the establishment -- at least in a broad sense. And that is the point of my article.

    That's the point of his article? "That band, like, totally sold out, dude, their first record was OK but then they went like all commercial"? That's the point? Oh brother.

Danny, only an assclown hides behind civility when the reality was, and my point was, that your article was dead fucking wrong. 

{...}

Now, here's a burst of incivility, you fucking piece of shit.

How dare you say I don't have a right to be heard. Who the fuck appointed you civility monitor, you filithy garbage spewing piece of excrement. Just because you got some ass sucking job at some rag no one reads doesn't make you some kind of judge of anything. You should be happy that blogs with a much higher readership than you will ever see at your day job deigned to comment on your embarassing, poorly researched article.

They don't deserved to be heard? Oh fuck no. This isn't some Congress Club party where the Hill rats all try to bang each other and you try to get in sniffing distance of their pussies, but the real world. And here's a hint.

We don't fucking like you. We think you're the problem. You don't deserve civility, you deserve a boot in your ass for helping to ruin this country, the only thing some of us have. With your smug , bullshit attitudes, your contempt for the decency and values which made this country, your arrogant rejection of the very idea that actual citizens might want to save this republic from the cringing lickspittles like you, and you worry about civility. Civility? Shove it up your ass and look for your balls, because they appear to be missing. Fucking gutless piece of shit. Don't you ever write I don't deserve to be heard.

posted by Steve @ 1:36:00 AM

To my reading, Sr. Gilliard was saying that civility and respect go hand in hand, you won't be civil to someone you don't respect, or who doesn't respect joo. Sr Gilliard also held that civility, like respect, must be earned.

Eef joo would like, here ees almost everything Steve Gilliard ever wrote about civility, go look for jourself.

Remember: They want to call us unamerican traitors and we're supposed to remain civil. Well, that dog don't hunt. They no longer get a free hand. They stopped being civil a long time ago. So don't be fooled by this argument, because it's really bullshit.

Thees would seem to be sometheeng to keep een mind for the 2008 campaigns, no?

so.

(Crossposted to Online-Blog-Integrity)

Comments

[Phredd]

Oh, man, Thanks for finding that righteous Steve rant. It was one of my favorites and I've been looking for it ever since Steve passed. I hope his work will be preserved somewhere. May he rest in peace.

[Wally Whateley]

I've always felt that was one of Steve's greatest strengths. He knew that complaining about someone else's civility was really just a really rude attempt to stifle dissent -- and he responded to it passionately, righteously, and with the maximum amount of rudeness. If Daniel Glover ever bothered to read Steve's reply, he knew that a better man and superior writer had just handed him his ass.

[dave™©]

Yo, el gato - this one's for you!

[dave™©]

Gilliard - nobody did it better.