Looking for crosses to die on

L'Hôte posted a long, rambling ― dissent? rant? declamation? tirade? ― to criticize Ta-Nehisi Coates and his take on the Civil War. It's deep, provocative (and overwrought). Read it here if you wish. But buried in the piece is this insightful nugget: "[T]he blogosphere conditions Internet liberals to seek favor from one another: they're constantly looking for crosses to die on, boundaries of the acceptable that they can define and place themselves on the correct side of. In doing so, they dramatically shrink the bounds of the possible." He's right.