Friday, June 08, 2007

Life On Planet Kos

The first line of his "Goodbye, friend" post, a tribute to liberal blogger Steve Gilliard, who recently passed away:

I've just returned to my NYC crash pad from burying Steve Gilliard. I'll be on a plane home in a few hours.


Tribute? Condolences to the family? Somber thoughtfulness for a deceased "friend?"

No.

Shameless bragging about "crash pads" and jet-setting. Man, Kos is cool.

You've got to be kidding.

Update: A commenter took issue with this post, and pointed out that Kos did indeed pay tribute to Steve Gilliard, in more than one posting on his blog. I don't deny Kos' intentions or sincerity. Rather, it was interesting to point out the first sentence of his "goodbye" post, which was at best a poor choice of words for a tribute, ("crash pad,") and at worst, a sly, ingominious way to begin a post with the intention to express sadness and grief.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about this? Or this?

Paul Allen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Did you even bother to read what he posted? I didn't think so.

What a pitiful thing to use Gilliard's death to promote an anti-Markos agenda. That says all i need to know about you.

The shameful self-congratulation and wannabe glamour is all yours. Yuck.

Paul Allen said...

I read what he posted, which included the shameful preamble.

If it bothers you more that I pointed out Markos' vanity, over the fact that he used his tribute to drop a cute aside, as the first line of his post, about his "crash pad" in New York, then you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

Anonymous said...

No. What bothers me is your predatory use of Gilliard's death to promote your agenda.

There was nothing shameful about the preamble. Or can we assume you have never been on an airplane? Are the dead troops flown home on airplanes jet setters, as well? Are all New Yorkers or anyone who steps foot in NYC jet setters? Are grandmothers flying across the country to be with a sick grandchild jet setters?

What would you have said had Markos chosen not to go? That he lacked the humanity to honor his friend?

What would you have said had he chosen to drive, meaning he would have had to take nearly a week off of Daily Kos to make the trip? I suppose that would have been evidence of his shameful arrogance, as shown by daring to burden the front pagers with extra work?

What would you have said when he arrived too late for the funeral because he took a mode of transportation suitable to your delicate sensibilities?

What would you have said had he chosen not to stay anywhere? You don't know where he stayed. For all you know, his crash pad was a dearly loved family member's home, or the home of one of Gilliard's family.

The truth of the matter is there is nothing Markos could have done, or could do, which would satisfy you. And this absurd allegation of yours is proof of that.

Your jealousy is showing.

Paul Allen said...

Well, you are certainly missing the point.

I don't need to use the occasion of Steve Gilliard's death to promote my "agenda," as if a political blog should not have an agenda, or as if DailyKos isn't a blog which does not promote an agenda.

If you have read my posts, I've been highly critical of Kos and the left-wing blogosphere in general, specifically regarding the war in Iraq. But continue to lecture me about my lack of decency, then read the invective on DailyKos about every minute detail of Republicans' lives and then you can come back and talk to me about decency. Read the despicable rhetoric by posters and commenters wishing the death of our Vice President, for example, and then you can lecture me on decency.

You may also want to be brave enough to post your real name. You can clearly see that I am not afraid of that. (Unless by some chance you are Markos, in which case, your self-serving habits would continue to be on display).

Again, you don't address the "crash pad" term, which I found distasteful. If you don't think it was distasteful, good for you. Get over it.

All New Yorkers are not jet-setters. I'm a New Yorker. I have an apartment. But I don't call it my "crash pad," and I certainly wouldn't call it that in the same breath in which I referenced the death of a dear friend. Is this getting through?

And by the way, I'm a registered Democrat.

On some level, I find it absurd that we are debating about this post, given that this modest blog has such little influence compared to the mighty DailyKos, but if you give me that much credit, then thank you.

But then, I am the one who posted on this, and you keep commenting, so I'll keep replying.