Drunk on his own “power,” Kos strikes back against The New Republic for daring to reveal a collaboration among several prominent leftwing sites. From “TNR’s defection to the Right is now complete”:
People talk about the need for the left to work together and have a unified message in the face of a unified conservative noise machine. So a google group was created called “Townhouse”, and it included many bloggers and other representatives of the netroots as well as a large number of partisan journalists and grassroots groups. It allowed us to discuss policy, issues, tactics and coordinate as much as you can ever get a bunch of liberals to coordinate.
There was one big rule for this list, an important cog in the growing Vast Left Wing Conspiracy—everything discussed was off the record.
That was obviously violated today as the New Republic betrayed, once again, that it seeks to destroy the new people-powered movement for the sake of its Lieberman-worshipping neocon owners; that it stands with the National Review and wingnutoshpere in their opposition to grassroots Democrats.
The magazine published, in its website, an email I sent to the list. There is nothing controversial about the email, but Jason Zengerle tried to spin it as evidence that there is a “smoke-filled room” and that I send “dictats” to other bloggers, controlling what they can and cannot write about. In a subsequent post, Zengerle went further, saying that I control the financial fates of much of the progressive blogosphere. My power apparently knows no bounds!
Ludicrous, all of it, but that’s the new rules of the game. TNR and its enablers are feeling the heat of their own irrelevance and this is how they fight it—by undermining the progressive movement. Zengerle has made common cause with the wingnutosphere, using the laughable “kosola” frame they created and emailing his “scoops” to them for links. This is what the once-proud New Republic has evolved into—just another cog of the Vast RIGHT Wing Conspiracy.
Note the familiar tropes at work here: the opponent is demonized (Zengerle is a traitor, and TNR is a tool of the neocons); by way of assertion alone, inconvenient truths are dismissed as irrelevant (“There is nothing controversial about the email”) and the importance of a greater good invoked (what is of concern here is the fate of “the people-powered movement” and the necessity of a “unified message”); and the entire post is couched in the language of betrayal—from the passive opening that suggests selflessness in service of larger Truths (“People talk about the need for the left to work together”) to the direct indictment of the betrayers (TNR now “stands with the National Review and wingnutoshpere in their opposition to grassroots Democrats.”)
In yesterday’s post on this story, I noted that what was being slowly revealed here—moreso, perhaps, than any evidence of wrongdoing on Kos’ part—was a progressivist mindset that is fanatical about controlling the narrative, and especially about defining the parameters of identitarian “authenticity”. Of course, little did I know at the time that Kos would be so eager to make my point for me. To remind you, I wrote
I’ve long been a critic of the type of cynical narrative manipulation that seems pervasive […] on the progressivist left side of the blogosphere (where repetition of debunked memes in the service of a partisan-defined “greater good†is justified by appeals to emotionalism and self-congratulatory claims of bravery and patriotism, and is encouraged and policed to the point where apostates are marginalized)
—only to wake this morning to the news that The New Republic, founded in 1914 as a supporter of the original progressive movement, had now been declared just such an apostate—and dutifully marginalized by an online power player vying for control over who gets to describe themselves as authentically liberal or progressive.
The New Republic, by dint of its uppity presumptions to report news that, for Kos, violates what he believes is the necessity of a “unified message in the face of a unified conservative noise machine”—that is, by violating what he has determined is the official narrative stance of liberal progressivism—has surrendered its claims to authenticity. And in doing so, it has become, to Kos, “just another cog of the Vast RIGHT Wing Conspiracy.” You can’t be on the left and disagree with Kos. Or rather, you can’t be on the left and disagree with Kos publicly — which suggests that the defining characteristic of progressivism is fidelity to its officially-sanctioned narratives.
For his part, Charles Johnson sees it this way:
I can’t help noticing how much Moulitsas’ conspiracy-oriented mindset echoes the anti-rational paranoia of radical Islam. When the New Republic actually criticizes him, and reveals some of the secret Kos Nutroots Knowledge, the only explanation possible is that they’re apostates under the spell of a massive organized conspiracy. And having been cast out of the fold by Mullah Moulitsas, they’re now legitimate targets for revenge.
The will to power is the tool of totalitarianism. And totalitarianism is totalitarianism even when it calls itself by other names, and constantly asserts its own righteousness and benevolence.
The modern progressive movement—which is founded upon loyalty to established narratives and which defines its members by that loyalty—has nearly completed its transformation from a coalition group interested in guiding policy to an identity group, where membership is thought of in ontological terms. Which is why Kos doesn’t allow that TNR could be comprised of liberals/progressives who disagree with his tactics and/or strategies; instead, they are now essentially right wingers. Which is to say, they are defined by their Otherness.
update fear the Kos
****
update 2: Good background from John Hawkins and Jim Geraghty (h/t Sister Toldjah)
The first rule of Kos Klub is don’t talk about Kos Klub.
examples and clarifications omitted.
Is there a MS Word Template for this? Because using facts as a rebuttal isn’t working with my progressive friends.
TW: suddenly – Suddenly they see the light? Didn’t think so.
So Kos IS the progressive movement. Do the Democrats know this?
It has become a church unto the left – spiritual needs addressed through politics. And it has been creating its myths and legends.
The vast right wing conspiracy seems to provide a religious explanation to all that happens in life for those who have essentially forsaken religious life. It has its devils and gods, heroes and villians. An easy, comforting, explanation fo those who need it explained why their are bad men, why do bad things happen.
What I liked was Kos’s (paraphrased) declaration: They seem to think that I can dictate to my teeming hordes. I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life. Now everybody go out and cancel your National Review subscriptions.
Although I suspect he’s right. It’s one thing to dictate and another thing to be obeyed. Hard to tell how many people are obeying.
Next thing you know Markos will start calling them “wreckers” or “capitalist roaders” and wanting to set up purges, show trials, etc. While the masses wave theirlittle red palm pilots. Plus ca change….
Which it always does…
It’s been a really bad month for the nutroots. You can’t buy comedy like this.
Do I detect the sweet, sweet stench of anti-semitism here?
Is there a blockquote that didn’t “block” in the middle of that? Or am I misreading?
Other than that, thanks for writing another reason I like stopping by.
TW: southern: How did it know I moved to Alabama?
…why I can’t spell…
“Illegibly, He Wrote.”
The bogeyman is ever growing, encroaching on the progressive stronghold, laying siege to its most fundamental beliefs. I’m not sure what those are at times, but they’re under siege. Before you know it, DU will be the next fortress of rightwingness. That bogeyman…he’s comin to getcha Kos.
Personally, I just think he’s a giant douche bag, but I like how Jeff said it better. It had more nuance or something.
How does one have a unified noise machine? Is that like the obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Do I detect the sweet, sweet stench of anti-semitism here?
Anti-semitism on the left? Oh say it isn’t so….
Drunk on his own perceived power, ain’t he? Allahpundit’s running gag (at LGF) of Markos as Austin Powers’ nemesis Dr. Evil is becoming all too real.
Hyperserious buffoonery.
Hilarious. Halfway through the Kos diatribe I started looking for nattering nabobs of negativity.
Zzyzx—Fixed it, thanks!
I’d like to know a little more about these “partisan journalists” who belong to KosKlub.
So now we “neocons” own the New Republic? Cool.
How long before “we” purge the remaining lefties, and turn it into a part of the UCNM (Unified Conservative Noise Machine)?
Hey, if they need a new editor, I nominate Jeff. He likes words and sentences and stuff like that.
The beauty of such blind, rabid partisanship is that, ultimately, it starts eating its own. Even Robespierre got his.
Unified Conservative Noise Machine?? Is that like the Miami Sound Machine?
So Moulitsas is now in the fatwa business, huh? He grows more like those on whose side he’s on.
Cordially…
A couple of questions likely not to come to answers by way of Kos…
People? Can we be more vague? What people suggested this need? Who, in particular, organized this group?
The question regarding partisan journalists (who, I thought, were all really conservatives?!?!) was already suggested by Molon…but I’m also interested in what is meant by “grassroot groups”. Are the netroots talking with activist groups to get them to focus their message, and then using the messages of these “non-partisan” groups to support their claims on torture, halliburton, etc?
But a bigger question- are Joe Wilson, Leopold, Mark Ash, etc. on this list? Was part of Truthout’s Rove story confirmed on this google group?
O’Brain hints anti-semitism here…but I’ll grant the possibility of something else, if only for the sake of intentionalism. Has TNR done any recent stories about Lieberman or the like? I mean it does seem odd to pull Lieberman out as the boogey-man here, but I guess if you think of TNR as a far-right Leftist magazine, maybe it makes sense.
He’s also pissed about the missing strawberries.
I call dibs on the steel drums!
Great post, Jeff. I think it’s worth noting that the left-o-sphere’s demand for loyalty to the party line extends to comments sections. Instapundit posts an email from a reader whose link to the TNR story in Hamsher’s comments section was deleted in five minutes, and for some reason I hardly ever read comments from conservatives over at Kos’
In my own experience, I got banned after placing one comment on a site called mahablog. It was very civil–no name calling, ad hominems or cursing–just disagreement with the site’s proprietor. That, apparently, was unacceptable.
From the blogging perspective, it’s pretty disturbing that this medium–perhaps the most democratic and democratizing creation of all time–is being used without hesitation to silence voices and impose uniformity by some of the first people to inch toward mainstream notoriety.
Jeff –
Very nice. For another riff on the same theme, take a look at James Wolcott’s denunciation of Joe “Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That” Klein.
The rock has been lifted, the lights are shining, and the Left is going nuts.
Further proof, as if any were needed, that the entire left are marionettes being manipulated by the “indicted felon” Karl K Krove, in a tarantella of self-destruction.
N’OBrain: Naw.
Progressive types hate Lieberman because “he’s a Republican!” (ie, because he’s not a Progressive).
I’ve heard him called “a Republican!” by several people, independently, and nary a mention of his ethnicity.
Not anti-semitism, but plain old politics. He’s not a Progressive, and of course that drives Progressives starkers.
(Especially when people not-of-the-Left mention that Lieberman is the best sort of Democrat, the kind they might vote for. IE, an actual Centrist or Moderate, if any exist… Progressives cannot, naturally, abide that.)
So in effect Kos is saying “If you’re not with us, you’re against us?”
I thought only Sith Lords (and Chimpy McHitlerburton) dealt in absolutes.
What was that saying, “scratch a revolutionary, and you’ll find a totalitarian?”
Allow me to tweak a paragraph from my above post, for clarity’s sake:
From the blogging perspective, it’s pretty disturbing that this medium–perhaps the most democratic and democratizing creation of all time–is being used without hesitation to silence voices and impose uniformity by some of its first users who have inched toward mainstream notoriety.
Since last night, I have been banned from three liberal blogs for asking this question:
Is it in your best interest to so blindly follow Kos?
The result? My IP was banned.
Now, I don’t really care about this other than I think it’s illustrative of how tightly they need to control their message. I often see these same sites take on blogs like RedState for their control of comments, but I’ve never seen the type of control being exercised like I have in the last 24 hours on liberal blogs. They want zero discussion of the matter, to the point of obsession.
It’s his casual use of the word “unified” that sends the chill down my spine. I get the feeling that his idea of “unification” involves gulags and purges.
Here’s Moulistas’s own words on how civil society should operate:
Lovely! Dreaming of a militarized society!
It really really looks like he belives himself to be the next ruler. I am not kidding, that he has continued to display many of the same traits and tactics of those who have come before.
Jeff mentioned the marginalization of opposititon, creating a quasi-nationalist “us against them”. It is easy also to create the trod upon underclass/group who now must look to him for the way out against the conspiracy (jews? conservatives?). He has attempted to appear the king maker, litteraly attempting to bestow his blessings and followers for those who meet his requirements (or can do so monitorially).
Finnaly, he tries to portray the reluctant leader. As if to say, “I don’t want to do this, but I must lead you to the promissed land, only I can do so, I would rather it be another, but only now can I… and be sure to pick up the book in the lobby on your way out to learn all the steps necessary…”
Don’t try dissent at a left wing blog. Doesn’t stand a chance<i> of being there in the morning, if it makes it past the 5 minute mark, as previously noted.
And they complain about “quashing of dissent” from the right?? Just following their example. Not a <i>chance that they will admit it though.
BECAUSE OF THE HYPOCRISY!!
Uh-oh, I fubared the tags.
TW: Bad decision to hit submit instead of preview.
Lefty for Speakers of Other Languages (LSOL). Lesson #6:
“That was obviously violated today as the New Republic betrayed, once again, that it seeks to destroy the new people-powered movement for the sake of its Lieberman-worshipping neocon owners; that it stands with the National Review and wingnutoshpere in their opposition to grassroots Democrats.”
Translation: “You’re either with me…or your an evil, snivelling cohort of the right-wing Zionist juggernaut that opposes anything that stands in it’s way. No grey areas, bitches.”
—
Maybe Kos shouldn’t get toally out of politics though, he’d probably be great as the warlord ruler of some sub-Saharan nation; or maybe he could ally himself with AQ, since they seem to share many of the same ideologies.
You know what? When I come into the comments of this post I find: a sharp riff on “Fight Club”; see “wreckers” properly used; a Nixonian phrase invoked in a nicely made, cruel twist; and someone using the “tarantella” to invoke a wonderful image of spinning and whirling demise.
By God’s Teeth, I love this site!
BTW – All Mr. Zuniga had to do was shrug off the whole thing and it would have melted away after a few days. Instead, he has fed the beast.
The left needs to work together and have a unified message
—Markos Moulitsas (2006)
Only when all means of propaganda are concentrated and their unified application assured will it be possible to carry out major educational and propaganda battles …
—Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (1934)
The Corner is on fire today on this. Here are some of the best:
Quote of the Day [Jonah Goldberg]
“Memo to everyone who claims there is ‘corruption’  saying it doesn’t make it so.”
Markos Moulitos, 6/22/06
Posted at 1:50 PM
Kos: Je suis la gauche [Jonah Goldberg]
That Kos post is good stuff. The most interesting and amusing part is how effortlessly Kos assumes that opposition to Kos is automatic and irrefutable proof of being “rightwing.” I find this fascinating because this is something I’ve been studying for the last couple years. The left has always worked from the assumption that the left is the measure of moral authority in politics. Now, you could certainly argue that the right is guilty of something similar, and you’d be right in many cases. But it’s more rare for a conservative to disagree with or even hate another conservative and make that all the proof required to declare him a leftwinger. In the 1930s, the proof you were a rightwinger was opposition to Roosevelt or to Communism  or both. That’s it. It didn’t matter what ideas you held, what policies you preferred. For decades, Communists defined anything in opposition to Stalinism, including Trotyskyism as “fascist.” According to Kos, criticizing or inconveniencing his “people-powered movement” [shudder] is objective proof that The New Republic is not only “rightwing” but actually part of the “rightwing conspiracy.” The quintessential leftist slogan is “if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem.” And the problem is always called “rightwing.”
Posted at 8:21 AM
Jeff: broken blockquote in the second paragraph after the Kos quote.
I readily admit to barely reading anything directly off the page of most left/progressive sites. My exposure amounts to quotes of the highly deranged and satire/mockery posted on sites like Ace’s & Jeff’s. It is one thing to paint Markos with the shame of associating with the nuttier diarists on his site, but it is quite another to see him post like this directly. Aside from his “screw them” comment I hardly ever read any commentary on his own posts.
Today’s laugher is so suprising because it is suddenly obvious to me why the blogosphere is such a little understood part of political culture. BDS is driving DKos to the top of the pile and most people don’t want to read about TNR seeking “to destroy the new people-powered movement for the sake of its Lieberman-worshipping neocon owner”.
There are thousands of online communities that revolve around obscure real world groups, but most Lego buiders, Battletech players, war reenactors, and Macintosh developers are under no illusion that just because their online groups are exciting and lively it doesn’t mean they can go out and take over the country/world with their ideas. The ‘netroots’ believe they can take over the country from their basements and most of the country doesn’t want to give their pale complexions the time of day.
Markos’ comments are the ravings of a politically sheltered partisan*. More amazing than the ‘netroots’ beliefs in their “people-powered movement” is the attention they’re given by establishment politicians and jounalists.
*Gee, I sure hope nobody else cribs that line straight out of Lord Rove’s confidential message machine communique. So when is that damned check from the RNC showing up?
From the blogging perspective, it’s pretty disturbing that this medium–perhaps the most democratic and democratizing creation of all time–is being used without hesitation to silence voices and impose uniformity by some of the first people to inch toward mainstream notoriety.
You mean like 302 outcasting someone from a site? Say it isn’t so pasty!
THIS IS ALL ABOUT HILLARY. Kos if fucked. He messed with a Clinton:
http://www.two–four.net/weblog.php?id=P2362
TNR is Salman Rushdie…
Kos doesn’t have a tiny teeny mustache, by any chance, does he?
Jeff: “Mullah Markos”
Markos: “…Lieberman-worshipping neocon owners.”
IslamoNazi check in aisle Five!
I just rec’d this in email form from Kos’ new Arch-Enemy, The Evil TNR, written by it’s managing Editor, and Al Gores roomie at Yale, Marty Peretz:
AL GORE IN 2008.
Prime Choice
I suspect that Al Gore will be annoyed at me for writing this article. He has never so much as hinted to me that he is or will be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. At most, he has been coy about the matter–as he was coy about it on television last Sunday. Still, I want to assure the reader that I have not written it in consultation with Gore at all. I haven’t even hinted to him that I am writing it. This is written out of solidarity with those political moderates and liberals who are desperate to find a nominee about whom both their minds and spirits can be intellectually sure and psychologically fervent.
The first pragmatic reason to be for Gore, then, is that he is electable. He won once. He can win again. This is not simply a slogan; it is a serious thought. I find, moreover, that there is an undercurrent of guilt around the country about the fact that the presidency was taken from him by a vote of 5 to 4, with the 5 votes coming from Supreme Court justices who, on any other matter, would otherwise have reflexively deferred on a matter of Florida votes to the power of the Florida courts whose judgment would have resulted in Al Gore being president and not George Bush. These “strict constructionists” and “originalists” suddenly turned activists. That Bush has been such a clot as a president, such a golem magnifies Gore’s stature as a thinking person with beliefs he can defend honestly and persuasively.
And junk like that…
T/W: general; as in “Gore would get his ass handed to him in the General Election”.
Does this mean that TNR was on the list? Or did someone “who wished to remain anonymous” pass it along?
How long before KOS has everyone in the assembly hall and begins to have certain traitors and conspiracy provocateurs dragged out.
Sorry, the article link didn’t seem to work. One can simply go to TNR.com… and, as a bonus, there is a real real real close up pic of Al Gore’s visage to ponder awhile… or not.
Oh, and Rich – that was always one of my favorite parts of Julius Ceasar…
TC@Leatherpenguin —
That was Charles who used “Mullah Markos.” I prefer to think of him as more the Gollum/Smeagol type.
Hmmmm.
@ Jeff
Shorter Jeff:
For liberals the management guru of choice will always be Stalin.
Which is another trait that Kos is exhibiting. He knows that his followers will do anything now, because they just CAN’T belive that they have been wrong. No one is more devout then a convert. Except maybe someone who has never known the alternative.
Just an idea… do you think anyone (or the majority) of KosKids had been self aware durring Reagan? Second question. Give all the time they need to answer, would they ever be able to correctly define fascism?
(Major, thanks, mine too. And highly descriptive)
Notice how there are hardly any of the usualy left and/or troll commenters on this thread. I count only one. It’s like they know not to talk abou it!
Good Times! Pass the popcorn, indeed!
LOL I’m trying to imagine the reaction if it turned out that…
1) Glenn Reynolds gave the appearance of working a “pay-for-play” deal where he gave candidates favorable coverage in exchange for ad money, chocolate fountains, and hiring his buddies as consultants
2) The Powerline guys were pushing corporate clients’ interests without disclosing they had such clients
3) Charles Johnson had been charged by the SEC for a pump-and-dump scheme that defrauded investors
Oh, and they all belonged to an email list of conservative-ish bloggers intended to keep all the talking points straight—and Glenn asked everyone on the list to keep quiet on the stories so they would die.
A non-story, right sinestrospherophiles?
SCENE: Comment section of “Protein Wisdom. Another Scintillating dispay of hard-left intellectual discourse between our hero, Jeff Goldstein
and Hard Left Troll. 
TROLL:
Jeff- u r a paste eating man arent u? Cos to me u r sound like such a woman, and without u a dilly-thing. RU/18 QT Pi? I swear, the thickest and most narrow-minded people on this earth are the americans, with thr thickly narrowosity of the woman-brains ( who blames thems actually with a pea-sized brain is ruling over them and he from a the land of dumbness, Texas) U R sad sad sad thing, kids sending cards gives ‘ u chills-and let me guess, ‘they’re multiplying’ and let me guess U more U R probably not a man and u extra probably r rooting for Man-U for the Premiership. Get a grip on yourself ‘man’ (and i m laffing at u man-hood which iz not even exist), strange that that that that gives u chills- what about images of dead babies with gaping holes in the torsos, courtesy of the ‘woman sex operation- liberation of Iraq ‘R’ US.’ Just cut the melodrama and also the car chases, open up u eyes, sorry but life is not a Amerkkkan hollywood dream like in ‘Ishtar’ or Hot Sexy California Bikini III.’ Thats why 9/11 was such a blow to u guys, American guys never saw killing of their country guys unless it was in Hot Prison’ or ‘Spring Break Detective’.
p.s before u start pooping about how i mentioned 9/ll, my cousin was killed in the attacks so i was affected by them too ‘cos I sent him the moneys 4 his flight skool.
C-U L8R LOOZRZ!!!!!!
JEFF:
Fuck you, Troll!
There is a moment of stunned silence.
TROLL:
Fuck me?!
SAD; QUIET:
TROLL:
Okay Jeff. I can see you don’t want to be engage in honest debate. C’mon fellow progressyves, let’s go get a thread at Daily KOS.
They leave Jeff sitting morosely at the Blog comment section. He stares down into his half empty White Russian. He wonders if it is all worth it, the non-stop attacks from the far left, the rabid hate…
A man saunters up to the blog to take the place that the Troll vacated. He is middle-aged, amiable, craggily handsome–Sam Elliot, perhaps. He has a large Western-style mustache and wears denims, a yoked shirt and a cowboy hat.
Surveying the comments, he looks amiably around the blog. His crinkled eyes settle on Jeff.
EFG:
How ya doin’ there, Jeff?
Jeff, still staring down at his drink, shakes his head.
JEFF:
Ahh, not so good, man.
EFG:
One a those days, huh. Well, a wiser fella than m’self once said, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear, well, he eats you.
JEFF: (absently)
Uh-huh. That some kind of Eastern thing?
EFG:
Far from it.
JEFF:
Mm.
EFG pours himself a beer and makes himself comfortable. He looks back at Jeff.
EFG:
I like your style, Jeff.
Jeff looks up, absently.
JEFF:
Well I like your style too, man. Got a whole cowboy thing goin’.
EFG:
Thankie. . . Just one thing, Jeff. D’ya have to use s’many big words words?
Jeff looks at EFG as if just now noticing how
out of place the cowpoke is.
JEFF:
What the fuck are you talking about? Just listen to the familiar tropes you’re using here: the opponent (me) is demonized (I’m a traitor, and Protein Wisdom is a tool of the academics); by way of assertion alone, inconvenient truths are dismissed as irrelevant (“There is nothing controversial about the big words”) and the importance of a greater good invoked (what is of concern here is the fate of “the public schooled people-powered movement†and the necessity of a “unified 10th grade message”); and the entire post is couched in the language of betrayalâ€â€from the passive opening that suggests selflessness in service of larger Truths (“People talk about the need for the right to work together”) to the direct indictment of the betrayers (Protein Wisdom now “stands with the National Review and wingnutoshpere in their opposition to grassroots Democrats.”)
EFG chuckles indulgently and pushes off from the Blog comment section.
EFG:
Okay, have it your way.
He brushes his hat brim with a fingertip.
EFG:
Take it easy, Jeff.
JEFF:
Yeah. Thanks man.
Fade to black …
Achnowlegements:
Concept taken from dialog from “The Big Lebowski.â€Â
Troll Comments taken from IowaHawk.
I was also recently banned from posting comments at a liberal blog called Cannonfire. I was accused of being a paid propagandist for saying something to the effect of, “. . .even scientists who believe in anthropogenic global warming don’t attribute increased storm activity to climate change. . .” I never gave any indication one way or another as to my beliefs regarding climate change. I guess they want to be left alone in their echo chambers.
By the way, and this may be extremely naive considering the power Kos seems to have (see Pelosi and Reids kneepads donned in Vegas), but I see him more as an Ubernerd Hall Monitor with the power of free-based etherroots coarsing jaggedly through his veins.
Sort of Napolean Dynamite with all kinds of “hits”:
Vote Pedro
Mark Warner: Do you think people will vote for me?
KOS: Heck yes! I’d vote for you.
Mark Warner: Like what are my skills?
KOS: Well, you have a sweet bike. And you’re really good at hooking up with chicks. Plus you’re like the only guy at school who has a mustache.
[blame my 19 year old daughter for me knowing that rifference… ;-]
sphinctus is dying to get in here and start throwing around non-sequiturs, but
ORDERS ARE ORDERS!!!
But..but…but…Ko$…
What about the public’s RIGHT TO KNOW?
Leaking a classified program potentially vital to the security of thousands?
The highest form of PATRIOTISM!
Leaking an email sent to a list of journalists, asking them to CYA by not blogging about something?
TREASON!
And there’s no evidence that TNR did anything other than report information leaked to them by somebody else.
If Ko$ had been sitting in Karl Rove’s (air conditioned) office when Joe Wilson published his famous litany of lies and half-truths, Fitzgerald would be investigating an execution-style double murder…
The mind boggles at the complete absence of any self-awareness on display here. Did it occur to him that maybe:
1) His request was self-evidently inappropriate, in effect asking his fellow-travellers to become complicit in a conspiracy to hush-up his own personal peccadillo, and
2) Sending an email with such a request to anybody outside, say, his immediate family, was an incredibly stupid thing to do?
It’s always somebody else’s fault, isn’t it Ko$?
– Whatever – Just as long as Hamsher is still listed as a Dimbulb….
Okay, so an actual, no-shit secret cabalâ€â€a veritable comintern (ooh!)â€â€of consultants, propagandists and “partisan journalists” is in Progressive-speak
Er?
Baffled, I went searching for an excuse, a Creationism-proving plant that lives like that, in vain. But I did find a list of ten excuses for a tree’s roots being mysteriously sent skyward via editing error here: http://www.vsg.edu.au/tribute/writings/dino.htm
Of note:
Now that’s the kind of commie-talk I understand. Do the -sacks?
Hmmmm.
@ TallDave
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t this a common accusation already?
You can’t, metaphorically speaking, swing a dead cat around here without a Democrat talking about how Republican or conservative bloggers getting their “marching orders”.
sw: “college”. Remember there’s only a single letter difference between “college” and “collage”. So the words are different but the subject is frankly very similar.
“Lego buiders, Battletech players, war reenactors, and Macintosh developers “
Amusingly, I know a guy who used a Mac Lego design program to create a Lego Battletech war game at a con. Way cool to see and play.
Just thought that I’d share.
Hmmmm.
Well. I’m 3 out of 4. My geekhood is well established.
In celebration thereof I will therefore drop my pants.
Thank you. Please keep the applause at a minimum.
(sound of crickets…. chirp….chirp…j/k)
– Ok. So we can take it by the non-typing of the Telephone Pole, that the gag order has taken hold. (Image of actus kneeled in front of an old Horn speaker, head tilted, listening avidly to his masters voice, RCA! – rightwing conspiracy avoided)
The swift boating of Kos.
How did he, of all people, think he’d shut up the blogoshphere? Especially when it started with the N.Y. Times blog!
This guy actually thinks he can control the free press, kinda takes your breath away doesn’t it.
That’s pretty damn funny!
I haven’t been following this thing really, but I saw the “corruption” quote at the Corner and laughed my ass off.
Then I read this post and thought I’d leave an ass-kissing comment about how good I thought it was.
So I did, ‘cause I did. Good job Jeff.
PS: I bet the guys at TNR didn’t use the term “moonbat” to describe Kos.
TW: others. Heh.
Hmmmm.
lol.
Well young Jedis. I see we finally located the Sith Master.
This is delicious. Just a lot more evidence that when the Left KosKultists sneer “sheeple” at non-left arguments they don’t agree with, we are witnessing a huge case of projection.
Someone pass the the BBQ’d lamb chops.
ed said:
You’re right, of course, and that’s just another piece of the delicious irony in all of this. They are doing what they accuse the right of doing. However, with sites that range from Q and O to Hugh Hewitt on the right, the groupthink charge just doesn’t seem to fit very well. On the left, heck, just look around, they almost post in unison. And dissenters, like TNR in this case, are shunned and called traitors.
Of course, the leftist cause is more important than the country, so dissent against them is worse, in their eyes, than what they say against the country.
And they call themselves “Reality Based?” Don’t buy it.
“LSD Based” I would believe.
Well, seeing as how Kos hasn’t seen fit to send me my check, like Heritage with Jeff’s, I don’t see why i gotta do their bidding.
Daily AnimalFarm by George Orwell, Right Wing Conspiracist
Chapter 13
Kos, the Most Equal Pig, was displeased. Calls were made and soon the animals noticed a large truck driving away, though they hadn’t noticed its arrival.
“They’ve taken TNR to the knackers” cried Benjamin, but the pigs closed ranks and forced the animals back to their computer stations and ordered them to post nothing about what they saw. Or, as Kos, the most equal pig, explained to them, what they thought they saw.
—-
BBH, that is soooo dying to be photoshopped by someone – Allahpundit? (not with actus, but with other bloggers faces on the dog).
Kos has always been at war with The New Republic.
With a wave of his hand he declares, “These aren’t the corrupt wannabe mainstream political operatives you’re looking for.”
Excuse me, Mr. Goldstein, The New Republic IS a tool of the neocons. I just thought you’d want to know.
And you are just a tool.
How long before KOS has everyone in the assembly hall and begins to have certain traitors and conspiracy provocateurs dragged out.
Or chased through the hedges to the neighboring farm. Martin Peretz = Snowball
No..No..NO…You haven’t been paying attention.
Jeff’s cock is a tool.
Just looking through a handful of comments at a couple of random reality challenged blogs was surreal. The irony, hypocrisy, projection, denial…I don’t even know what the hell to call it other than grouping it as total cognitive disconnect.
I couldn’t begin to guess what this thing will look like when the dust settles but it is not good for the solidarity that Kos wants going into this falls election cycle. High comedy and fun to watch it onfold at any rate.
Major John,
Go here for a funny p-shopp.
Shoppe, I meant, of course.
Perfect.
I can’t wait until they make this into a movie: Comintern II: Tool of the Neocons.
And having been cast out of the fold by Mullah Moulitsas, they’re now legitimate targets for revenge.
classic. choice.
Cultural Anthro 101.
Kos is a fundamentalist. bien simple.
Just as Qutb and Co. desire a return to the golden age of Islam, so Kos desires a return to the golden age of democracy, the “pure” democratic values espoused by the nutroots (unarticulated as they may be) represent an ideal, and a leftist extreme position.
fundamentalism is actually, “an attempt to preserve a particular kind of hierarchy based on coalition”– Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained
Kos attempts to preserve power in various ways, one way being to destroy the middle ground for centrists inorder to force moderates into his camp, or out of the party. his attacks on Joe Lieberman are exemplary of this policy.
Kos will certainly do his best to marginalize New Republic, and make sure their defection is not cheap. cheap and likely defection is the greatest danger to fundamentalist sects.
Tomorrow’s Kos diary today:
Has anyone noticed the irony in the fact that kos feels the Nutroots needs to be able to have secret operational information, but the people who actually have to run the country, and fight a war don’t?
Its a common refrain against supporters of open government. Specially when they also value personal privacy. But people know the difference between personal associations and the ones that the state has.
Intermission is over folks. Please take your seats, and enjoy the rest of the show.
Bravo, Mr. Zengerle.
So, RTP, you’re saying that building a bicycle—or whatever the fuck Kos means by “people-powered movement”—is on a par with fighting a war against people who want to kill you and me?
‘Cause, I can see why you might think so if they only wanted to kill me and not you, but…
Gosh – isn’t violating the secrecy of a Google Group some kinda war crime or something?…
SB: choice
USDA
Isn’t about time to take the “B” of “BDS”?
Since a Google searched revealed zero hits for the phrase, let me be the first to usher in a new term in the history of corruption in politics and media: The Townhouse Conspiracy.
(JARRING CHORD – The door flies open and Cardinal Markos Koulitsas enters, flanked by two junior cardinals. Cardinal Hamsher has goggles pushed over her forehead. Cardinal CheChe is just Cardinal Cheche)
Markos: NOBODY expects the Kos Inquisition! Our chief weapon is suprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to staying on message…. Our *four*…no… *Amongst* our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise…. I’ll come in again. (Exit and exeunt)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a look of misery and dejection on the face of my daughter as I just did a moment ago. She just couldn’t understand why Zengerle would be going after Kos when so many things are wrong in this country. “Doesn’t Jason Zengerle care about Kos anymore?†she asked pitifully.
I sat down with her on the sofa and (as calmly as I could) tried to explain to her why the journalist seems to be abandoning his country. “Honey, I think his boss, Mr. Rove, sent him marching orders in order to keep himself out of the newspapers. You see, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be arrested today or not, and so he planned the hit piece ahead of time just in case…â€Â
I tried to keep my voice steady, but it became increasingly difficult – the rage and feelings of helplessness were just too much. I think my daughter could tell something was wrong. I found myself at such a loss for words – nothing made any sense; nothing makes sense anymore. I finally had to admit, “Honey, I just don’t know – I don’t know what’s going on in this country anymore…â€Â
When I finished her lower lip started to tremble and her eyes began to fill with tears, “Daddy†she said, “why is The New Rethuglic doing this to the country?†Well, that was it for me: I finally fell apart. She just fell into my arms and we both began sobbing for several minutes.
For once she had to comfort me and get me back on my feet. Sometimes I just think it’s too much, but seeing the strength in my young daughter’s voice helped me to get through.
The part that I find (not-so-)funny is that from time to time we’ve been discussing the very real moral dilemma involved in how to interrogate probable terrorists: what degree and type of coercion is both best for eliciting the information they may have and not ruled out by our own principles. And somebody from the other (political) side always comes along and says that no matter what the other (inimical, evil) side does to us and ours, we must always adhere to the very highest moral standard available – name, rank, and serial number, soldier.
Yet Markos comes right out and says that because (in his world) the Right has a “unified sound machine” of some description, the Left oughta do just the same, no matter their own principles, which he incorporates by reference with that phrase about “as much as you can ever get a bunch of liberals to coordinate,” because it’s the only way to counter their opposition. Do they have no sense of irony over there? Or is it one of those nuance things? Because it seems to me that the time to stick with your principles is when it’s easy and the stakes are relatively low at least as much as when it’s hard and the stakes and life-and-death.
Markos: (Re-entering Townhouse star chamber)…And NOBODY expects…(JARRING CHORD OVER VOICE…)…uisition! Amongst our weaponry we have fear, suprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to staying on message….ummmm…. *Loyalty!* …. Five aspects of our ideological weaponry….. fear, suprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to staying on message, and the undying loyalty of our party faithful….Thats it….and er….Infallibility…….(Unprompted JARRING CHORD…)…crap….lets try it again… Hampsher….ditch those stupid Goggles…you look like an extra from “1941”…. and the rest of you remember to turn as one when I enter…. and deeper bows…Ok….places everyone….and hit your damn queues…..(exits trailed by makeup lady)…
I like it. Let’s get that out to the blogging team.
So let it be written. So let it be done.
I tried to label it TownhouseGate yesterday, but that didn’t seem to catch on.
Turing Word: purpose
I’ll tell you the first clue I have that a movement is “people-powered” and that’s when someone as a self-imposed leader commands action and condemns disobedience. Nothing smacks of grassroots like top-down tyrrany!
Cardinal Kos: Oh, bugger.
(End Credits Begin to Roll)
If you can’t stand Markos Moulitsas, you should definitely read the new research about him: The Secret “Family Business” of Markos Moulitsas Zúñiga is Uncovered.
If you never knew that Markos’ family received millions from the US Government and is connected to international environmental polluters, then you might want to post a diary about this at your blog.