I haven’t written a strictly political post in some time — and this is too short and too borrowed to really count as one. But I had to pass this nice broadside by Kos which, while not containing anything particularly new, encapsulates the entire problem with most elected Democrats and a lot of the more powerful pundits, particularly those categorized by the their fellow mainstreamers as “liberal.” In particular….

Democrats and “liberal” pundits like Joe Klein live in perpetual fear of Republican criticism. They have been so beaten down after a generation of right-wing noise machine attacks, that their entire existence is predicated on avoiding being whipped by Rush and his right-wing colleagues.

Have you ever seen or read a Republican say, “Republicans shouldn’t do X because Daily Kos will attack us!” And in case that sounds too self-aggrandizing, replace “Daily Kos” with “Alan Colmes” or “Joe Klein” or “Air America” or whatever. Have you ever seen that happen? Once?

Of course not. Republicans don’t live in fear of what the other side will say. They focus on what they think is right or in their self-interest. The reaction of the opposition never enters their calculations.

As to the particulars in this case — Joe Klein’s seemingly inexplicable attack on Democrats/parroting of a rightwing talking point for standing on their hind legs in regards FISA, I don’t want to repeat Joe Klein’s mistake and get too specific about something I haven’t researched sufficiently (no one’s paying me to read the full text of the law in questions). However, I never, ever miss an opportunity to remind the world that Joe Klein is the man who said this movie would cause riots in theaters.

Yes, of course, the great Spike Lee riots of ‘89, how soon we forget. (And let’s not even discuss the Paul Thomas Anderson uprising of ‘99.)

You can reread an altered version of Klein’s original piece here. He uses a lot of reasonable sounding, nicely punditized rhetoric, but it all boils down to this: “Don’t make Republicans angry.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: With friends like Joe Klein, who needs enemies?

UPDATE: Comandante Kos has more on this. Worth reading for sure. And, if there are any Time subscribers out there, now would be as good a time as any to cancel and to write them a letter explaining why. It’s been pretty much a mouthpiece for those who see themselves as the ruling class since it’s inception.