Nine years ago, a burgeoning movement of progressive online activists gathered in Las Vegas for the first ever “YearlyKos” convention. The New York Times write up of the conference noted that “it seemed that bloggers were well on the way to becoming — dare we say it? — part of the American political establishment.” Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), keynote speaker for the conference, told the paper that he admired the progressive blogosphere because “they have the ability to spread the truth like no entities I’ve dealt with in recent years.