Who Are These Nerds Anyway?

These blogger-types, with laptops in hand, swarmed the ridiculously large McCormick convention center in Chicago this past August. The traditional media is afraid of them and many more are trying to get a handle on what the hell is going on here. Well I count myself as one of those swarmers....and Nerdcore Rising tries to document it here, all within ten minutes.



Great job nerds!

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.

Chris Dodd Smacks Down O'Falafel

Cheers to Senator Dodd for bringing it to Bill O. Nothing brings a smile to my face like seeing his mug dragged in the (figurative) mud.

Here's the video, enjoy:

YearlyKos!!

Well its late at night before the convention, the registration opens in just a few hours and all of the amazing events start at 8am sharp. The day goes from early in the morning until late at night, only to begin early Friday for another jam packed day. Its going to be an amazing four days for all those that are here as the press watches on.

All the candidates are going to be here, the pundits and us regular folk are all together to talk about Democratic politics and fight back against the crazy rantings of Bill O'Reilly. So stay tuned for YearlyKos updates and pictures of the event from my very own digital camera.

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.

Kristol Rips YearlyKos, Rightwing Onslaught Continues

Driven by the farcical winds from the wingnut o'sphere and the airwaves emanating from Fox News, YearlyKos is being attacked by conseratives as the date of the convention approaches. The latest set of sticks and stones came from William Kristol yesterday on....you guessed it...Fox News.

From ThinkProgress:

Today on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol attacked the Democratic presidential candidates for their decision to attend the YearlyKos blogger convention. He held it up as evidence that the presidential candidates have “gone left.”

“Every Democratic presidential nominee is going to the DailyKos convention,” said Kristol. “That’s the left-wing blogger who was not respectable three or four years ago. The Howard Dean kind of sponsor. Now the whole party is going to pay court to him and to left wing blogs.”

The YearlyKos convention is independent of the blog DailyKos. So the candidates are not going to simply “pay court” to the head of DailyKos, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Approximately 1,500 “people from all walks of life who belong to the Netroots community” are expected at the convention this year.

Moreover, as NPR’s Juan Williams points out, what Kristol describes “as left is now center.” “The majority of the American people, 70 percent, want us out of Iraq,” noted Williams. “In fact, if you asked Iraqis, 60 some percent of Iraqis say we’re doing more harm than good in Iraq.” In a survey conducted by Pew Internet and American Life after the 2006 mid-term election, “online political activists” were said to “mirror the general population of those who are civically active.” Like the progressive blogosphere, a solid majority of Americans believe President Bush should not have commuted the sentence of his former aide, Scooter Libby.

It must be lonely out there Billy Boy in that bubble you live in. As Graham Nash once sung, "Won't you please come to Chicago for a ride" We promise it won't hurt, much.

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.