This Is What It Sounds Like When The Doves Cry

Over the weekend, the local conservative blogosphere was rocked by the bitter infighting between Power Line and Captain Ed over whether the Al Qaeda and Iranian mullahocracy's endorsements of last Tuesday's election results was a relevant issue. The public spat exposed a deep fissure within the ranks of the Northern Alliance and led many longtime followers of the Minneapolis blog scene (like JB Doubtless) to wonder if we were witnessing our own conservative crackup.

I can tell you from personal experience that the situation is still volatile and all that it will take is a spark to ignite the powder keg. During Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio Network show, you could have cut the tension in the studio air with a cutlass and Saint Paul and I were almost forced to step in and separate Ed and John, who were at each others throats like a couple of rabid Rottweillers.

It all started on Friday with a provocative post by Power Line's John Hinderaker.

Captain Ed immediately fired back and the battle was joined.

John responded with an incendiary barrage against Ed and his co-blogger Paul jumped in with his own vicious volley:

I think that Ed is also wrong...

The Rubicon had clearly been crossed and now it was getting personal. No more fighting by the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

After Ed poured on more gasoline, Paul went nuclear:

It's commendable, in a way, that Ed wants to be high-minded, and thus is reluctant to speak ill of the Democrats at this juncture. It would more commendable if he followed the same approach when he writes about his fellow conservatives.

Somehow, Ed survived the savage onslaught and unleashed a counterstrike with this devastating riposte:

Nevertheless, I think Paul is too sensitive to my argument here.

Ouch. That's going to leave a mark.

As is almost always the case in such conflicts, the ones who suffer the most are the innocent bystanders. I understand that Atomizer has been curled up in the fetal position all weekend, unable to cope with the consequences of have to watch his favorite bloggers' acrimonious bickering. For the sake of Atomizer and others like him, let us hope that the two parties can reconcile their differences and get back together for the greater good. Remember guys, makeup blogging is always the best.