They don’t have to.

Yeah, I know, conservatives aren’t techno-savvy, they’re too hierarchical, etc, etc. But here’s the thing: If there were boatloads of campaign cash out there for progressive candidates, if our party leadership were relentlessly progressive and kept the caucus together on key votes, if there were a vast echo chamber of left-wing talk radio and think tanks and newsmedia reporting all the issues and stories we care about… I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t need to be.

We netroots have to be active, and generous, and loud, because we’re all we’ve got.

Oooh, the Austin Statesman thinks that Pelosi is so left-wing she’s practically (D-Beijing.) I think some “journalist” just made a commie joke, without having any clue as to what a communist is. Or even a socialist. Americans wouldn’t know a socialist if one gave them universal health care and a functional education system.

This weekend Netroots Nation gathers in Austin to discuss how progressive bloggers can influence the ’08 election. Tonight on GRITtv our roundtable looks at the future of the netroots, their position vis-a-vis Obama, and what the yearly convention–only three years old–has accomplished.

Democracy and friendship arise from the same ethical root: responsibility for one another.

Facebook has a feature where you get notified when someone identifies you in a photo. I got an alert when I was checking my email this morning and went to make sure it wasn’t anything that might keep me from running for office some day. You know how it is.

This is the photo, taken by Matt Ortega at the Drinking Liberally party on Thursday night at YearlyKos and I think that

Last weekend I had a chance to participate in a YK panel on Global Poverty organized by the ONE campaign – only the opening of the session is available in the Ustream archive but you can get a taste here. Several of the other panelists have agreed to join us in the coming months to talk about poverty issues and I can’t wait to introduce them to the firepups – they

Evening, firedogs! I just flew in from Chicago, and boy are my tiny forelimbs tired.

I’m planning on posting a lengthier piece (or set of pieces) about my Kos experience later this week as a guest-blogger at Brilliant at Breakfast, but here are some quick takes:

Obviously, it was a major thrill to find myself at one point sitting between Digby and Glenn Greenwald, talking in real time.

Some newsy bits from Chicago:

TRex was out late last night, and looked like it. I tried not to ask questions.

The Presidential Forum turned into a bit of a rollicking affair. Did y’all watch it? I sat with Christy and Digby and Taylor Marsh. It’s hard to know what nugget to pull out, but this time, at least, there was some give and take exchange among the candidates

Thought everyone might enjoy a bit of an update from here. We are having a lot of fun, but I have to say I’m really missing being on the blog. And, frankly, being mostly disconnected from news is painful. But catching up with everyone in person? I’m loving it!

After panels had concluded yesterday afternoon, and the FDL caucus that wasn’t really a caucus but was more of

The opening night speeches at Yearly Kos had just concluded. We’d heard a fine speech recorded earlier by Senator Durbin, welcoming us to Chicago and praising the work progressive bloggers have been doing to turn this country around. Then Howard Dean gave the keynote speech and brought the house down.