It is already the middle of the day here in Chicago, and after a speech by Gen. Wesley Clark, a talk with John Dean, Cenk Uyugr, Eric Massa and David Brock followed by a panel on framing with George Lakoff and Jeffrey Feldman (whew!); I am sitting in the ballroom listening to Andy Stern talking about the S.E.I.U., and the history and current state of unions. Needless to say, its has been a full day already and there is still much more to go.
That being said, this is hardly about a bunch of bloggers getting together in pajamas (I am wearing a dress shirt and slacks by the way). Bill O'Reilly and the ilk like him having been decrying what we are doing and anyone that dares support us. This is our second of many conventions and growing stronger. That makes people like Bill O very afraid. They want to hold on to their political power and its is beginning to fall out of their greasy, dirty hands. The media has been slow and coming with realizing what is going on here, but fortunately E.J. Dionne is.
From The Washington Post:
An Army veteran, a former Republican, and the son of a Salvadoran mother and a Greek father, Moulitsas, 35, created his Daily Kos Web site on May 26, 2002 -- "in those dark days," as his site puts it, "when an oppressive and war-crazed administration suppressed all dissent as unpatriotic and treasonous." Daily Kos took off because so many Democrats shared Moulitsas's view of the second President Bush.
Daily Kos is often described as liberal, but it is, more than anything, partisan. Its core assumption is that ideological conservatives made the Republican Party their vehicle and rallied in lock step against Democrats. The party of FDR and JFK needed to find the same discipline. The key litmus tests for Kos and his many allies in the blogosphere involve not long lists of issues developed by the American Civil Liberties Union or the AFL-CIO, but loyalty in standing up against Bush and doing what's necessary to build a Democratic majority.
And just as Limbaugh aroused passionate opposition on the left, so has Kos become the object of conservative rage. In the lead-up to Moulitsas's Chicago gathering, Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, a right-wing showman who knows a threat when he sees one, has gone after Kos. "There's no question that the most vile stuff imaginable is posted on this hate site and others like it," O'Reilly said Tuesday.
There is a change going on in this country. Americans are understanding that the Republican party represents the past, with no ideas outside of trying to scare and manipulate our citizens from helping them to live better lives. They would rather fight endless wars and take away our liberties than make America a shining light in the world.
The people here at YearlyKos, the "kossacks" at home and all like-minded people are beginning to demand a change. We are here today to implement that change. Last year we helped to put the power of Congress into the hands of Democrats. It was a great start, but there is much more to do. Next year we will elect a new President, and it is our duty to ensure that our 44th President brings progressivism back to the forefront of American politics and ultimately its policies so that we can realize and see the change so many of us are hoping and dreaming of seeing, especially after so many dark years of Republican rule.
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