Daily Kos Founder Moulitsas Responds to Chris Matthews' Comments

Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas took on Chris Matthews today, albeit on MSNBC's "The Ed Show." Here is his conversation with Ed Schultz.

Tancredo Storms Off MSNBC Set During Interview With Moulitsas

Former GOP congressman Tom Tancredo walked off the set last night during a discussion about health care with Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas and David Shuster.

Shuster, who was sitting in for Ed Schultz on his MSNBC show, asked Tancredo whether the Veterans Administration, which is a single-payer system, is also a "threat to our freedom."

Tancredo said there were problems with the VA and told Moulitsas he should talk more to veterans. Moulitsas responded by saying; ""I did not get a deferment because I was too depressed to fight in a war that I supported in Vietnam." The former congresman from Colorado soon left the set.

Moulitsas is a veteran, and Tancredo got a 1-Y deferment from serving during the Vietnam war, meaning he was qualified for military service only in time of national emergency due to his depression.

Olbermann Asks Daily Kos Readers For Dirt to Use Against Beck, His Producer and Ailes

Keith Olbermann is using the power of one of the largest websites on the planet to feed him any information he can use against FOX News commentator Glenn Beck, who led the charge against Van Jones, the environmental adviser who resigned over comments he made supporting the idea that the Bush administration orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

As of 4:45 p.m. Eastern on Labor Day, 1,531 people had commented on his post.

Here is Olbermann's post on the Daily Kos:

Updated: this posting has been visited lately by visitors who have kind of rushed through this and concluded I have decided, out of the blue, to collect "dirt" on Glenn Beck. I forgot I'd need to explain things slowly for them:

From the Washington Independent, linked below, after the jump:

Glenn Beck’s Twitter feed has become a must-read. In a message from last night, Beck told his followers to “FIND EVERYTHING YOU CAN ON CASS SUNSTEIN, MARK LLOYD AND CAROL BROWNER.”

I don't know why I've got this phrasing in my head, but: Find everything you can about Glenn Beck, Stu Burguiere, and Roger Ailes.

No, even now, I refuse to go all caps.

Keith Olbermann's diary :: ::
No, sending me links to the last two Countdowns with my own de-constructions of his biblical vision quality Communist/Fascist/Socialist/Zimbalist art at Rockefeller Center (where, curiously, he works, Comrade) doesn't count. Nor does sending me links to specious inappropriate point-underscoring prove-you're-innocent made-up rumors.

Tuesday we will expand this to the television audience and have a dedicated email address to accept leads, tips, contacts, on Beck, his radio producer Burguiere, and the chief of his tv enablers, Ailes (even though Ailes' power was desperately undercut when he failed to pull off his phony "truce" push).

This becomes necessary after this in order to prove various cliches about goose and gander, and to remind everybody to walk softly and carry a big popsicle, and most particularly to save this nation from the Oligarhy of The Stupid.

I keep wondering if somewhere somebody named Ollie Garhey thinks he's in charge now. Or, even more entertainingly and societally satisfying, if somebody named Ali Garhi does.

Despite the worn-out snark above, I am in earnest here.

Audio Shows Murdoch Said Fat, Not Facts, as Alleged by Olbermann

UPDATE, Feb. 12 (10:10 p.m. Eastern:) Keith Olbermann issued an on-air apology for mistakenly using the bad quote from the botched transcript.

As it turns out, Rupert Murdoch did indeed say "fat" not "facts" as alleged by Keith Olbermann and the Daily Kos.

Here is what he said, according to the audio. The disputed quote starts at the 17:57 mark:

While it's impossible to be completely prepared for a downturn of this magnitude, we began priming ourselves for a weakening economy earlier last year. We implemented strict cost cutting measures across all our operations. We reduced head count in individual businesses where appropriate and we scaled back on capital expenditures.

Even in plush times, we have never been a company that tolerates fat. So in times like these, we are better positioned to weather this cycle than our competitors. We also have consistently maintained a strong balance sheet, which today following our completion of the partial sale of NDS for approximately $4.5 billion in cash. Given our strong financial position, we have the reserves on hand to cover over seven years of upcoming debt repayments. And we intend to operate our businesses and balance sheet as conservative as usual.

As I noted in my earlier post, it was either a slip of the tongue or a poor job of transcription. It appears to be the latter because the first part of the sentence was completely botched as well.

So, Olbermann Watch did indeed get it right, and Keith Olbermann and the Daily Kos, both who have advanced this story, got it wrong. By the way, here's Olbermann's rant on Murdoch, which he comments on his version of the quote around the 3:00 mark.



So, my apologies to the Olbermann Watch and its readers, and my thanks to them for unearthing the audio.

Left Starting to Smell Blood With Obama Win

Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos, is gleeful over Sen. Barack Obama's prospects in a few weeks and what it means to conservatives:

So with conservatives bracing for the worse, they won't experience the kind of pain we did. Not unless we deliver a defeat even worse than their worst nightmares. And I'll be honest with you -- I want them to hurt as much as we did. I want their spirits crushed, their backs broken.

So the way we do that is we deliver a defeat worse than they ever imagined. We do that by winning states that have no business turning Blue -- like North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, and so on -- states that were easy Bush victories in 2004. We do that by electing a 60-seat supermajority in the Senate. We do that by defeating their leadership, like Mitch McConnell in the Senate. We do that by defeating their heroes, like wingnut go-to hero John Shadegg. We do that by making sure a record number of Americans reject conservative ideology, leaving it utterly discredited.

The day after the election, I want to see an electoral battlefield littered with defeated Republicans, their ranks demoralized, their treasury in heavy debt, and no real leadership to take the helm. I want a vacuum so complete, that a bloody leadership battle between the neocons, theocons, and corporate cons shakes the GOP to its core, and leaves it fractured and ill-equipped to stymie the progressive agenda, much less ramp up for an even bleaker (for them) 2010.

Guys, that's why I don't worry about complacency. We're not out to win this thing. We're out to crush them. And that's going to require a level of engagement beyond anything you've ever done before. It'll mean more phone banking, more canvassing, more donating. Work on this site keeps me from working the phones or walking precincts (my wife has helped out on those fronts), but I've surrendered a significant portion of my income, way more than my family can really afford, on behalf of the cause. We've all got something to offer, whether it's time or money, and now's the time to offer what we can.

He later wrote in a second posting the next day:

How do we do this? We currently have a 38 seat majority -- 236 to 198. Stephanie Tubbs Jones seat, a safe Democratic one, is vacant.

So get this. We get 31 seats, that would give Democrats a 101 seat majority in the House, 268 to 167.

This isn't about winning. It's about destroying the conservative movement, and their dangerous incompetence has given us an historic opportunity to deliver a killing blow. Leave everything on the road.

This is not just the thinking of a widely read blogger. It has grassroot support. A neighbor of mine, who is well-aligned with liberal thinking, put it to me this way at a recent gathering (Not exact quotes, but pretty close):

Yes, it's not just about winning this year, it's about taking total control. We can get 60 senators and who knows how many congressmen. With a majority like that, we can install any progressive policy we want, eliminate any of a number of ill-advised Republican programs instituted in the past eight years, and set things right. Think about it, progressive stands on taxes, gay rights, global warming, wiretapping and energy will become our country's law.

With 60 votes in the Senate, and with President Obama leading the way, we can impeach any judge that has fought for corporations for years. We can get rid of judges who have fought a woman's right to choose. Heck, we could impeach Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, and Alito and guarantee a progressive court for years to come.

We can leave Iraq quicker than anyone would imagine, and institute a foreign policy that would be based on the rule of law, not brute force. Obama would be able guide us into a foreign policy that respects other nations, and would be respected by the world community, and Republicans would be powerless to stop it.

We are a country that is well on its way to not only correcting W's eight years of terror on the world and ourselves, but we are a step closer to eliminating conservatism as a political force in the United States. With Obama guiding us and leading the way this November, we will finally start shipping the Republican Party to history's scrapheap of failed oppressive political ideologies, joining the likes of Fascism and Communism.

Daily Kos Bloggers and Palin Rumors

At least one poster at the Daily Kos is trying to set the record straight in regards to the awful mudslinging that has been going on over there concerning Sarah Palin.

OK, there is a visibly-pregnant Sarah Palin talking with a CBS 11 (Dallas Juneau) reporter at the Governor's meeting in Texas end of the Alaska legislative session. She clearly appears to be pregnant.

Unless someone has counter evidence, we can drop this crap now. Yes, there are still some interesting questions, such as why she flew to Dallas and back when she was this pregnant, and why the Alaska Airlines crewmembers insisted that she was not visibly pregnant on the flight. Nevertheless, until this photo is debunked, we look stupid pushing this rumor.

That is all.

This was posted last night (11:50 p.m. Eastern), before I posted my remarks earlier this morning (1:10 a.m. Eastern). I had originally posted it in the same file as the Palin investigation, but I split them later at 8:46 a.m. Eastern.

This is still a new low in American politics.

Daily Kos Palin Attacks a New Low

There are a number of mean-spirited left-wing bloggers promoting supposedly risque photos of Palin. These smear attacks have been gleefully advanced by the Daily Kos, where bloggers call it "Photogate." Yet there is evidence that the pictures are digitally altered and fakes. In addition, the Daily Kos has been promoting the idea that Palin is not the mother of Trig, but the grandmother. Yet there are pictures of Palin pregnant months before the child's birth.

The Daily Kos should delete these posts immediately, issue an apology, and work to improve its standards. It's a new low in American politics coming from the side that claims it wants "change" in the way political campaigns are conducted. It's about as disgusting as you can get.

Daily Kos Blogger: Stop the Palin Sexism!

Even at the Daily Kos, the sexist remarks have gotten out of hand. So much so one blogger asked if it could stop. They can't stand Palin, but remarks like what we have been seeing really need to stop. They have no place in the blogs or in the mainstream media.

Please can the sexist comments about Palin
by SaucyIntruder
Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 10:34:58 AM PDT
Come on, we're better than that.

Considering how John McCain treats his wife, we don't need to stoop to his level. The beauty queen nonsense is unnecessary.

Sarah Palin is Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle and Geraldine Ferraro rolled up into one. McCain's judgment was that bad. This is like shooting fish in a barrel. So cut the sexist crap already.

AP: Obama Lacked Details

Not everyone in the media gave Obama an A+.

Charles Babington of The Associated Press wanted more details:

Barack Obama, whose campaign theme is "change we can believe in," promised Thursday to "spell out exactly what that change would mean."

But instead of dwelling on specifics, he laced the crowning speech of his long campaign with the type of rhetorical flourishes that Republicans mock and the attacks on John McCain that Democrats cheer. The country saw a candidate confident in his existing campaign formula: tie McCain tightly to President Bush, and remind voters why they are unhappy with the incumbent.

Of course, no candidate can outline every initiative in a 44-minute speech - especially one that also must inspire voters, acknowledge key friends, and toss in some autobiography for the newly-interested. And Obama did touch on nitty-gritty subjects, such as the capital gains tax and biofuel investments.

He said he would "find ways to safely harness nuclear power," a somewhat more receptive phrase than he typically uses for that subject.

But most of his address echoed and amplified the theme that dominated the four-day Democratic nominating convention here: George Bush.

Keith Olbermann, not the least pleased with an opposing view, made this rebuttal as posted by Daily Kos:

Mr. Babington got the length of the speech wrong by at least 7 minutes. And this is analysis that will be printed in many, many newspapers, hundreds of them around the country. It is analysis that strikes me as having born no resemblance to the speech you and I just watch. None whatsoever. And for it to be distributed by the lone national news organization in terms of wire copy to newspapers around the country and websites is a remarkable failure of that news organization.

Charles Babington. Find. New. Work.