As a newcomer to this blogging business, I've been interested in the Edwards dust-up. As readers know, I've been critical of the tone of the left-wing blogosphere in the past. But I think that Yglesias raises an important point here and anyone reading the comments section of any Swampland post knows that troglyditic right-wing cavedwellers fester there, in a vomitously vile manner, too.
And I'd add this: Radio. I was driving into Springfield, Ill last night for the Obama festivities and caught the ever-vile Sean Hannity "interviewing" the even-more-vile Dick Morris about Hillary. Just disgraceful...and they were mild compared to the crap I've heard from Rush and others over the years.
It's obvious that the current level of vitriol on the left is a reaction to nearly twenty years of sewage emanating from Rush et al. It's also a product of the times: There's a whole generation of people who believe that serious political discourse consists of Pat Buchanan and Eleanor Clift screaming at each other. The intemperance on the left has three other sources (1) justifiable fury over the Bush adminstration (2) justifiable fury over the way the media treated Clinton and, to a certain extent, Bush and (3) ideologues of any sort tend to be obnoxious.
OK, it's a step. Yes, Joe. There are mean people on the Right. Well spotted.
Klein is only now making the left-blog/wingnut radio connection...? Freakshow. It's kinda like how my grandma never got the plots of the Star Wars movies. "So he's a Wookie? Who's a Wookie?" I remember her asking as she bemusedly stirred her Manhattan. That's Joe Klein.
And who the fuck is Elanor Clift?
Feck.
Dhrink! Ghirls!