What the hell is up with Daily Kos lately? Is it just me, or has this site been updated much less frequently than it used to be? Now we sometimes go hours on end without new postings. Sure its not a
presidential election year, but it IS an election year. So, don't tell me that there aren't things for Kos and Frontpagers to write about.
A case in point: The Patriot Act. That's going on right now. Russ Feingold wants to keep fighting. But, where is the focus on this? Where are the diaries detailing waffling Senators to call, diaries that hash out our position and talking points on the issue?
More rant, and an idea for improving this overall situation after the fold.
And don't tell me that the PERMANENT REAUTHORIZATION of an unjust, privacy-invading law is less important than Cheney's gun incident, which has taken up most of this (and, to be fair, other lefty blog's) time and bandwidth this week. All this week that's all it's been: All Cheney, all the time. Maybe that's okay to some extent, but NOT TO THE POINT THAT IT IS ALL THAT IS DISCUSSED AS A MAJOR ISSUE. The front page of DailyKos would give an activist narry a clue that there was work to be done this week regarding the Patriot Act. No, instead, we get the latest joke or ironic parallel or lefty interpretation of Cheney's Birdshot Heard 'Round the World (22 hours later).
How is this situation different from the media focusing for weeks on the latest white girl to randomly disappear, at the expense of everything else? We criticize them for covering these local infotainment dramas and not doing their actual jobs on the real issues of the day. This week, that same critique can deservedly be leveled at this and every other lefty-blog site (at least, the one's I read, and that includes all the majors like DKos and Atrios and Americablog). This week, its been focused on Cheney, while the real, more lasting, more important issues languish from lack of attention. Cheney might be important, but which would you rather have: Cheney or the Patriot Act? In three years, we'll be rid of the former. If reauthorized, we'll be living with Patriot for a good long while.
Let's face the facts here: A lot of us activists DEPEND on this and other blogs for our news and information to direct our activism on any given day/week. We can't (easily) get the information we find gathered here and on other blogs anywhere else. That's what makes these blogs special and important. I believe that this and other sites have a real responsibility to check themselves and NOT get sucked into a media whirlpool. The mainstream media may indeed be having a field day with Cheney right now. But, to me, that means that it is already getting enough play, and is just all the more reason for the blogs NOT to focus so exclusively on that story. Rather, our goal in such a story should be to shape our side's narrative and questions about it. But, unlike Downing Street or Impeachment or Black Box Voting (all of which the media does not cover), the Cheney issue is getting worked over pretty well. Our job, then, is simply to keep the fires burning rather than lead the charge.
I would like to suggest the creation of a Daily Kos grassroots Calendar, that, like tags and wikipedia can be maintained and updated by trusted users. For example, the calendar would (theoretically) let anyone who checked know that there was a vote on the Patriot Act scheduled (and allow us to act accordingly). A calendar could let us know when primary filing deadlines are in various states. Click on a calendar entry, and get links to posts or diaries about the event. For example, an calendar entry that states "Patriot Act Vote today at X:00 in X committee" could have a link to diaries about the vote, including diaries that list the names (and numbers)of Senators to be called. The dates for important primaries could be entered, and when clicked on link to diaries that tell us what candidates should be supported in that primary. It would also provide a central source of information for all frontpagers and diarists to know what is going on on any given day and allow a better organization of our priorities.
As this site gets bigger and bigger, the information overload only increases. We need to find new ways to organize it in a USABLE manner. Creating and maintaining a central "progressive calendar" could help us make sure we know what's going on, what's important to focus on on any given day, and give us a heads up on what is coming up so that we can adequately prepare for it.
So, in response to this situation, I hereby propose the creation of a Daily Kos official progressive events calendar. That, or Kos needs to get together with all the other main bloggers and co-create a grassroots events calendar. Either way. But it needs doing.