Kos yeshu'ot esa
The recent YearlyKos Convention in Chicago attracted hundreds of liberal bloggers and activists, all but one of the Democratic presidential candidates, and representatives of many progressive organizations. However, Mik Moore of JSpot points out, in a Jewish Week oped, that the organized Jewish community was almost completely absent.
In this community of increasing influence in public affairs, the absence of both the organized Jewish community and the unorganized Jewish blogosphere was anomalous. After all, Jews are leaders in the Democratic Party. Most Jewish organizations have close ties to progressive lawmakers. And Jewish organizations are usually smart enough to have a seat at almost every powerful table.
At an event with sufficient clout to attract almost the entire field of Democratic presidential candidates, sponsored by a blog that attracts more than half a million readers every day, it was unusual to witness Jewish groups ceding the field.
Why were Jewish organizations missing, and what can we do about it? Full story.
“The openness and unpredictability of blogs has already tested the Jewish community�s understanding of the medium. Because blogs and other online forums are open to all users, on rare occasions visitors to the sites write anonymous comments that are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic or otherwise inappropriate. Partisans have sought to use these comments to negatively characterize Web-based groups like MoveOn.org or blogs like DailyKos, and by implication any candidates who accept their support.”
Okay, that is ridiculous. It’s not just anti-semitic “anonymous comments”. It’s diarists on the site writing hateful anti-Jew, anti-Israel diatribes. Jews weren’t a big presence at DailyKos because Kossacks hate Jews. Even the Jews at DailyKos are self-hating. I used to read DailyKos regularly, but their attitude has helped drive me towards Little Green Footballs instead.