The boys and I went to a one year old's birthday party on Saturday. Cake. Pointy hats. Red drink. Balloons.
While I talked with my pals, everybody's kids of all ages ran around like one of those cartoon dust balls of chaos like they do. You know the sort. A round cloud rolling across the scenery where occasionally limbs and rubber chickens become discernable.
Eventually, as always happens, a distinct drama started unfolding.
One older kid was finding balloons and popping them. He'd find a stray balloon, and POP. Another kid didn't like this. He wanted the balloons left alone. And so formed two factions. The balloon poppers running around trying to snap up the balloons and the balloon rescuers who were trying to save the balloons from being popped.
This balloon thing was a very serious matter and tempers ran high.
I watched this drama unfold and eventually my attention moved to a third set of kids.
These kids were completely oblivious to any drama at all. One little boy was whacking a tree with a stick off by himself. And another little girl was busy sticking her hand into some fountain thing and dancing around. Meanwhile an epic battle raged around them.
Here's the thing....in this whole bout of meta and purgings and whatever, I'd be that kid off in the corner whacking a tree with a stick. It's always been that way.
I'm watching this massive drama unfold that apparently has reached a fever pitch and people are being banned and NR'd and there's anger and hurt feelings and grudges and calls for boycotts and good guys and bad guys and people picking on other people....
....and here I've been banging on this tree it seems all of a SUDDEN people are mad at each other about something.
Sure, sure I get the Obama is good v Obama is bad thing. I've got my opinions. I've written my opinionated diaries. But I guess I just never realized it had gotten this....
...people DO realize this is just a blog, right?
Don't get me wrong, it's a great accomplishment and a fine community and has really lit a fuse on the power of internet activism and organizing.
But, like, it's not like it's the only show on the Internet. I come here cuz I like a lot of the people and it's got a whole bunch of soap boxes and some people listening and if I stand up on a soap box maybe a few people will listen.
It's the biggest megaphone I and many others have access to right now, sure, but...this place....
...this place isn't life. It's not the world. Seriously, I think there's often a way unhealthy attachment to the Daily Kos.
It's not irreplaceable. It's not even representative of the whole of a movement or a political ideology.
Tell ya what...ask the grocery clerk if he's heard of the DailyKos.com. Or the mail carrier. Or your local librarian. Or your next door neighbor. Or your state representative.
I asked a HUGELY active, 30 year veteran of anti-nuclear activism if she'd heard of the dailykos and she was all like "errrrrrr....uhh...no...what's that?"
Hells bells, a tiny fraction even knows this place exists. With the level of drama you'd think it was the center of the universe.
I know this all probably sounds ridiculous.
I've never been terribly attuned to interpersonal politics. These sorts of dramas always catch me off guard.
Ah well.
Anyway, I dunno.