OK, then.

One more grumpy post, then I'm going to go find something warm and fuzzy to write about. But first, I gotta cover a buddy's back.

Writing about the paucity of reaction to the Slaughter report on the "Death of Deliberative Democracy" that the Republican leadership has brought about, Kos uses the story as a hook for a patently untrue attack on the internet shop at the DCCC, saying that...

Same goes to elected officials and caucuses. If Senate Dems (and at least one senator) want to communicate something to us, they simply post a diary, no need to ask me for permission or approval or anything else. They just do it.

But then again, the Senate Democrats have a top-notch netroots communications machine, while the House Dems have zilch. Pelosi could learn a great deal from Reid.

"House Dems have zilch"? Well, whatever it is, they've got a hell of a lot of it. An active blog, multiple email lists, online chats and forums, conference calls with bloggers, tools like the blogads and newsfeeds that decorate this page - if the House Dems have nothing, they seem to have plenty of it, and it's been plenty for me.

But they made the mistake of issuing an important policy document through an avenue other than a Kos diary. Wow, the nerve. (In fact, the House Dems do make use of the diaries, including at least one Member - mine, as it happens.) Jesse Lee, the master of all things online for the DCCC, subsequently made his case, and made it with a lot more grace than I might have mustered, in a diary you can read here, but he shouldn't oughta had to, really. Kos' shot was only made that much cheaper by the fact that it's demonstrably not true, but it wouldn't have been useful even if it had been point on accurate.

It's way past time to choose up sides, folks. Does what we say, do or write build up or tear down the institutions of our Party? And if we don't want to help, is it absolutely necessary to hurt? Even if we have to lie?

Kos apparently has a real fine relationship with the Senate folks. Great. My best efforts to make them aware that I exist have gone mostly unacknowledged. I'm not about to trash them, though. I choose to believe that whatever they're up to matters more than the care and feeding of a regional blogger. All I really want from them is 51 votes for Majority Leader Reid.

Over at the DCCC, on the other hand, I've found a variety of tools to make myself more informed and my blog more informative. I've been able to track my reader's contributions to the DCCC fundraising efforts and I've always found Jesse amazingly available and accessible, considering the broad range of activities he's responsible for. My impression is that he's so accessible because he gets it. He knows that there's enourmous untapped potential on the net, and he's actively trying to tap the vein.

"House Dems have zilch"? It's not just a lie, it's a dumb lie. I can't imagine what Kos hope to accomplish by deliberately feeding a divisive feud with a gratuitous shot, but I'm sure he's got a lot more on his mind than the high opinion of a regional blogger.