...more recent posts
yglesias at tnr in a rebuttal to the chait piece mentions the townhouse listserv which serves as a backchannel clearinghouse for the liberal netroots. he downplays its influence but i thought id note it here. as for smackdowns of chait check the usual suspects: digby, atrios, yglesias.
Townhouse is a by-invitation-only liberal listserv begun by blogger and Democratic campaign consultant Matt Stoller.
Participants agree to keep their information exchanges confidential or risk being removed from the private listserv. Townhouse provides the web equivalent of a political backroom where self-selected liberal bloggers including Glenn Greenwald, Markos Moulitsas and Atrios, leaders of liberal think tanks including Campaign for America's Future, liberal journalists and pundits, advocacy groups such as MoveOn, and Democratic campaign and PR consultants can all discuss and debate their common concerns, strategies and tactics.
An article on Salon.com reports "Townhouse began after the disastrous 2004 election, when young Democratic activists began meeting on Sundays for beers at Townhouse Tavern, a subterranean watering hole in Washington's Dupont Circle neighborhood. ... Here was the next generation of would-be D.C. power brokers, kids in their 20s and 30s who planned to mold the political future. At some point, Matt Stoller, the preppy enforcer of liberal blogging, helped organize the group into a formal e-mail list. ... Over time, the e-mail list and the Sunday afternoon boozefests grew. ... Through it all, Stoller controlled the membership. If you stayed in his graces, and met the group's qualifications, you got yourself a ticket to both the electronic and the alcoholic conversations. At all times, the whole enterprise was declared off the record, to be spoken of in hushed tones only with others who knew the proverbial secret handshake. ... the public introduction of Townhouse now presents the big-name bloggers and online activists with a transparency dilemma. On the one hand, bloggers like to talk of themselves as a democratic, grass-roots movement. (Moulitsas often conflates himself with the entire 'people-powered movement' in his blog posts.) On the other hand, the blogosphere boasts an emerging leadership elite, which is increasingly profiting on its insider status in both the Democratic Party and among one another." [1]
this looks interesting but its behind the times select firewall :
In Nixon’s Tricks, Rove’s Roots
David Greenberg on how the Bush presidency grew from the soil of Nixon’s.
they write letters...
because being a mormon wasnt creepy enough...
no shortage of us engineers, just excess of corporate greed.
Happy Mission Accomplished Day!
Cue Applause!