Colbert Exposes Nazi-Traitor Markos Moulitsas

Stephen Colbert, the ever-intrepid investigator and interviewer follows Poppa Bear's lead and goes after Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos. Of course Bill O in his infinite wisdom thinks DailyKos, with its pictures of 'pooties' and Democratic blogging, is a hate site that is indistinguishable from the Nazis (sigh). Well Colbert gets to the bottom of it when he hosted Markos on his show yesterday.

Bill O Needs To STFU About DailyKos

The man is clearly a lunatic. Once he starts harping on a particular subject of interest to him, he becomes obsessed. Now he is focused on DailyKos, and despite all the facts, Mr. Loofah can't stop lying to suit his ridiculous premises.

So I am Sitting Here At YearlyKos...

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.

Colbert Takes On YearlyKos/JetBlue Controversy

Taking a cue from his "poppa-bear," Colbert examines the craziness around JetBlue's sponsorship of the YearlyKos convention next weekend in Chicago.

JetBlue Tries To Have It Both Ways, Gets Burned Instead

Apparently JetBlue couldn't take the rightwing pressure after the Falafel Factor went after them for sponsoring YearlyKos. They relented to Bill O and backed down. But then they tried to turn it around. Not only has this angered progressives, they still haven't placated the rabid rightwingers that watch O'Reilly's show.

From Kos:

Okay, so JetBlue, after deciding to resist Bill O'Reilly's pressure last night, just decided to back down. Let them know what you think about that.

corporatecommunications@jetblue.com

As for my part, I'm cancelling my JetBlue American Express card and will be looking at alternative options for my future travel. Too bad. Unfortunately, JetBlue just told me (and the rest of us) that they accept O'Reilly's bullshit smears.

What's really interesting about this whole affair is that the most aggressive pushback is coming from Hillary Clinton's camp. JetBlue may have just exacerbated their PR problem, but at least we're seeing that the days when Democrats would've followed suit are behind us.

Update: Oh, and JetBlue advertises with Fox. You see, it's okay to support the likes of Ann Coulter.

Update II: JetBlue wants me to note that they didn't pull the tickets they donated to the event. So the sponsorship remains, but they are too afraid to let anyone know that they donated those tickets.

Doesn't this seem the worst of all worlds. Will right wingers be appeased considering that JetBlue is still giving yKos free tickets? Way to piss off everyone...

They had it right the first time, saying that they'd be happy to sponsor events from all ends of the ideological spectrum. That'd be more than fair enough.

Right on Markos, too bad the PR and corporate brass were too thick-headed to stick to their initial decision. I love that airline, but this mishap puts a bad mark in my book for them.

O'Reilly Attacks JetBlue And DailyKos

Cenk Uyugr and the rest of the Young Turks help expose the idiocy of O'Reilly's "journalism skills" when he went after JetBlue helped sponsor the upcoming YearlyKos convention in Chicago.

Obama Creates His Own Campaign Posters

For your ration of mid-day humor, take a look at this Obama spoof, thanks to Kos for posting it:

Do The Democrats Need The South?

Last night at the DailyKos meetup event here in New York one of the main guests was old frontpager Dr. Tom Schaller. The day before he went on The Colbert Report to talk about his new book, "Whistling Past Dixie." His main argument is that the Democratic Party can maintain control of Congress and win the White House without the South. Without having read the book, I do agree with that assertion. If you can win the West, Mountain West, and the Northeast with solid majorities then the next President will have a D next to their name.

However the problem with ignoring the South is that means the Democratic Party will never be a national cohesive unit. There are plenty of people who affiliate with the Dems down there and they need to be able to have a voice in their party. Howard Dean understands this and is part of the reasoning behind the 50-state strategy that he began implementing.

Anyways, Colbert teased him on his positions, getting Tom to say that if the South seceeded Al Gore would be President right now. Though technically he did win but thats for another post.
Schaller points out that Democrats need to focus on areas that are not the most conservative of the country. Tom did pretty well on the 'faux' conservative show, especially with Stephen being from South Carolina.

Have A Chat With Hillary Tonight

Tonight is the first of three online chats hosted by the Clinton campaign in the beginning of her Presidential candidacy. Starting at 7pm E.S.T/4pm P.S.T., those who register at her website can ask the Senator anything they want, within reason. She'll be answering selected questions on a live webcast.

So ask away people, see what she says about the war, impeaching a President guilty of high crimes and misdeameanors, an economy that is by the rich and for the rich, how she will fix the health care system (since she used the issue for a photo-op already) and anything else that comes to mind.

One question I would pose the Senator is something I saw on the frontpage of DailyKos today.

Devilstower posted a quote from Thomas Jefferson and the LA Times take on it:

...Thomas Jefferson warned against the formation of an "unnatural" aristocracy of men who inherited great fortunes and political office. Both of these warnings have been overlooked in the debate over Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential run. But if she secures the Democratic nomination, wins and serves two terms, by 2017 the United States will have been governed by either a Bush or a Clinton for 28 years.

Now thats a nice piece of food for thought!