The Gates, Crashed

The best possible evidence for the idea that the revolution is, in some sense, over and the gates have been crashed is probably less the politicians who'll be coming later today to court the netroots than it was yesterday's Time Magazine party at Triad Sushi Lounge. It was full of completely establishmentarian people (including once and former key Clinton economic advisor Gene Sperling, pictured above talking to The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza) from the worlds of politics and the MSM chatting happily with people from the several different walks of internetdom: wonkosphere blog-pundit types like me, leading netroots activists, political staffers in charge of new media communications for sundry politicians and non-profits.

Not that anyone didn't know this already on some level, but it really was striking to get the visual of yesterday's gate crashers quite literally mingling with the dread establishment at a cocktail party. The question that nobody seems to know the answer to, though, is whether the revolution ended because the revolutionaries won, or because they sold out? The boring, but probably boring-because-accurate, answer is that it's a little of both.

Comments

OK, you've had your epiphany. Now start wearing a fricking tie.

Posted by steve duncan | August 4, 2007 8:53 AM

There's a hint of cleavage in this picture. Is Yglesias tilting towards Clinton now that he's been co-opted?

Posted by stm177 | August 4, 2007 9:34 AM

The boring, but probably boring-because-accurate, answer is that it's a little of both.

OMG, you practically said, "To be sure". The revolution really is over.

Actually, for me it all ended when Josh Marshall went electric at Newport.

Posted by Delicious Pundit | August 4, 2007 9:51 AM

While I'm sure the conversation at that party was quite scintillating (to the extent policy-talk can be described thus), the party doesn't look that cool or glamorous. Except for maybe the bored-looking woman in the short-sleeve shirt, she has a certain something. But either way, it's probably just as well I stayed in Houston for the weekend.

Posted by Mark in Houston | August 4, 2007 10:31 AM

No, the answer is that it was a restricted, RSVP-only party, which further fragmented the 'sphere and the community of the event and angered a lot of people.

Posted by dday | August 4, 2007 10:45 AM

Yglesias video interview.

Do You Know Who I Am?

Posted by sangfroid826 | August 4, 2007 10:51 AM

Whoever pays for the sushi controls the agenda

Posted by Steven Donegal | August 4, 2007 11:13 AM

Can I suggest that the gates were crashed because folks showed up and got involved? Its a lot easier than people think.

Posted by Judah | August 4, 2007 11:23 AM

But were cocktail weenies served?

Posted by Jim E. | August 4, 2007 11:32 AM

Actually, for me it all ended when Josh Marshall went electric at Newport.

I love you. Bear my children.

Posted by jonathan | August 4, 2007 12:10 PM

"My commenters hate me... more than anyone else on the planet."

Nah. We wouldn't waste our time giving you shit if we didn't secretly like you. You'd have learned this valuable lesson about human nature long ago if you hadn't gone to such a lace doily prep school, you snob.

On the other hand, we actually do hate Ambinder.

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | August 4, 2007 12:20 PM

On the other hand, we actually do hate Ambinder.

Amen.

Posted by sangfroid826 | August 4, 2007 12:49 PM

The correct answer to the post's question is that very few leftwing or rightwing bloggers are "revolutionaries" in any sense. Almost all of them are suck-ups to something, either the MSM or their parties. Think of them as C * HughHewitt, where C is some number between .99 and .5.

P.S. Don't bother watching the video unless you want to waste 3.41 minutes.

Posted by TLB | August 4, 2007 2:18 PM

Fuck Ambinder... and who's that hot chick in the picture?

Posted by Crash my gates | August 4, 2007 3:14 PM

Crash,

Seriously talk about burying the lede, we all want to know more about the chick.

Oh and buck up Matt. Your commenters don't hate you. We all (well, most of us) recognize you're a good guy, sharp as a whip and you've got balls.

You don't censor yourself and that's an admirable trait in any writer (or maybe you do censor yourself and the blocked stuff is really scary shit). :o)

Posted by beowulf | August 4, 2007 3:44 PM

Where there any black people at the party or was this a whites only party?

Posted by LFoD | August 4, 2007 6:48 PM

Maybe it wasn't as big a mix as billed. This is the party after all that Kos said:

"I threw that invitation into the trash."

Posted by leo | August 4, 2007 9:05 PM

"The correct answer to the post's question is that very few leftwing or rightwing bloggers are "revolutionaries" in any sense. Almost all of them are suck-ups to something, either the MSM or their parties...."

Spot on, and what a shame it is! The internet should have been a way to break free of our faux "2 party system" and the diseased political culture that nurtures it, but instead, the net has become its echo chamber.

Posted by kafka | August 4, 2007 9:42 PM

why are the "hot chick's" breasts in focus but her face is not?

Posted by skippy | August 4, 2007 11:25 PM

Nice crowd of white folks.

Posted by SocraticGadfly | August 4, 2007 11:48 PM

The question that nobody seems to know the answer to, though, is whether the revolution ended because the revolutionaries won, or because they sold out?

Won what?

Posted by Steve Smith | August 5, 2007 1:21 PM

Sorry, but big-name bloggers no longer count as the anythingroots anymore. Not that they ever really did; a grassroots movement of white male Ivy Leaguers is a contradiction in terms.

Posted by Elliot Reed | August 5, 2007 3:39 PM

The question that nobody seems to know the answer to, though, is whether the revolution ended because the revolutionaries won, or because they sold out? The boring, but probably boring-because-accurate, answer is that it's a little of both.

Congrats, you now have a tiny inkling about what it feels like to have grown up during the boomer "youthquake" or whateveryouwannacallit. I am willing to bet that sooner than you think, few except your current colleagues will care that you were an early participant of what was once called the "blogosphere," and you and your colleagues will either bore or irritate many young folks with your tales regarding the same, because you will be all "grown-up" and have become "the establishment" yourself.

Posted by artappraiser | August 5, 2007 7:06 PM