This week, the biggest blog on the left and one of the largest on the right decided to purge their comment threads of disruptive influences. Kos's smiting was aimed at conspiracy-theorist leftists who were blaming Blair and Bush for the London bombing. RedState.org, for their purging part, is declared jihad on leftists in their comments.
Enough has been said about the right's distaste for comments that I'll not waste your time by charging that trampled ground, but it's nevertheless interesting that one of the few prominent sites in the conservosphere consciously attempting to build community and foster discussion is rapidly lifting the drawbridge and ejecting liberals into the moat. I've got conservatives on my blog. I've got conservatives in my e-mail. And while it's not always pleasant to read their rebuttals and rejoinders, I've always figured it's part of the conversation. Why hasn't the right done the same?
Matt thinks it's because of our parents. Atrios and Kos always had vibrant comment threads, so those who came after retained the tradition. Instapundit and Powerline had no space for discussion, so their successors were similarly dismissive of conversation. On the other hand, Josh Marshall, our most prominent professional blogger, has always floated far above the medium's amateurs, descending only occasionally to link to important posts on the largest blogs. Conversely, Andrew Sullivan enthusiastically promoted, applauded, and pushed those below him. The result? The right loves to promote its own, the left is more closed at the top.
