"If any of us blog on this right now, we fuel the story. Let's starve it of oxygen."

TNR publishes a message "Kos sent earlier this week to 'Townhouse,' a private email list comprising elite liberal bloggers" and mocks their "sheep-like obedience to his dictat."

I wonder how much this sort of thing goes on. I'm not on any private email lists like that and have never seen any behind-the-scenes plotting about what should or should not be blogged about. And I wonder who's the leaker among the elite bloggers.

Now, the underlying story -- the one in need of oxygen starvation -- is even more disturbing than the notion that seemingly independent bloggers are "sheep."

Are Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas (of the famous Daily Kos) engaged in a pay-for-play scheme in which politicians who hire Armstrong as a consultant get the support of Kos? That's the question that's been bouncing around the blogosphere ever since The New York Times's Chris Suellentrop broke the news last Friday about a 2000 run-in Armstrong had with the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged stock touting.

Trouble in blogland.

UPDATE: The Suellentrop piece that should be getting a lot of a attention is behind the TimesSelect wall -- and it's a blog. Crazy! Kos and Armstrong may have found a catastrophic way to screw up blogging, but the NYT has found a supremely boneheaded one. Anyway, here's the TimesSelect link if you can get there. And here's Mickey Kaus ridiculing TimesSelect for keeping Suellentrop from getting credit for his scoop. And watch him talk about "Kosola" on "BloggingHeads."

ANOTHER UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds quotes the leaked email message -- which TNR called "the blogosphere's smoke-filled backroom" -- and writes: "As usual, I wasn't invited, but then I don't smoke that stuff." But don't you suspect that if they have an elite private list, we must have an elite private list? I note that I get a link on that post, my second Instapundit link of the day. Don't you readers think Glenn must have an email list going out, telling the minions to open up the oxygen tanks and get that fire going? Or do you think: Email? Who needs email! Email is for losers. This blogging thing is all done with links. It's utterly transparent. Anyone can look at the patterns and say whatever they want about how bloggers behave. Emailing behind the scenes is lame... and so embarrassing if it gets out.

AND: But if we did have a list, what would we call it? Not "Townhouse." And why did they call it "Townhouse"? What's the connotation there? Less of a smoke-filled backroom, more of an exclusive private residence.