The Left: C’est Moi
It keeps getting better. Jason Zengerle pushes back on the pushback harder than ever. First, he quotes a blogger named Mike Stark, a participant in the now defunct ‘Townhouse’ email list:
I know that the info this article presents is pretty bare-bones, but to me hearing that he’s agreed to some terms with the SEC and is in litigation over financial penalties is pretty devastating. Please don’t shoot the messenger, but to unsophisticated folk like me, it’s downright damning to hear that one of the leaders of the liberal blogosphere – and one of the people that are closest to the liberal blogosphere’s hero (I don’t like the term, but there aren’t many that fit MArkos better than that given his reception at YKos) – was involved in some kind of financial predation scheme…
Finally… what if it is true? We really need to hear from Jerome – regardless of whether or not this blows up. I will not be a republican rubber stamp. If Jerome was involved in some recent financial chicanery and he doesn’t have an adequate defense, how does that make him different from any of the rest of the DC lobbyist/consultant class that will do anything for a buck?
I might be digging my grave here, but before I put my credibility on the line ofr anyone, I want to know I’m standing on solid ground. Jerome should provide answers or cut us loose to do what we need to do. This “movement” is bigger and more important than any one of us.
A man of principle. Our old friend Glenn Greenwald makes an appearance (I have long been promising a review of Glenn’s book – very soon, I am nearly finished – but I will say this: it’s a good book. And I’m not just saying that because I’m (surprise! I had no idea) in it):
The anti-Jerome article in the NY Post is written very aggressively and is sure to be picked up any minute by all of the right-wing bloggers and then the right-wing press. If it isn’t answered substantively by Jerome or someone on his behalf, I think it will settle in as conventional wisdom somewhat quickly and will be an albatross for some time to come. Ignoring the story or hoping it stays unnoticed doesn’t sem like a viable option at this point.
The “Dean-paid-Kos” story from a couple of years ago got relatively little traction, and is virtually never mentioned outside of a small circle of right-wing bloggers, because Markos put the facts on the table so quickly, candidly, and comprehensively that it became clear that there was nothing there. To similarly kill off this story quickly and prevent it from taking root, I really think Jerome — or at least someone on his behalf — needs to do something similar, and soon. Terse denials and politician-like refusals to talk about it will, it seems clear to me, only inflame things further.
Zengerle continues:
From these e-mails, it appears there was a good amount of concern among liberal bloggers about the Armstrong SEC story and the allegations of “pay for play” against Kos and Armstrong, and some of these bloggers wanted to address these issues forthrightly. And, yet, after Kos subsequently wrote the e-mail quoted in my original post asking the bloggers to “ignore” the story in order to “starve of it oxygen,” there was virtual silence in the liberal blogosphere about it. That, to me at least, suggests that Kos does indeed have a good deal of influence over what other liberal bloggers write.
Of course he does – frequent links from Kos can substantially increase a lefty blogger’s audience, as Glenn himself surely can tell us.
Zengerle demolishes a few talking points used in defense of the blogads group Kos and Armstrong founded, and concludes in a quite pointed fashion:
Lastly, let me address the issue of Kos’s anger. His response to my original posts is basically a long and blustery attack against TNR. His restatement that he is not a consultant still does not answer the serious questions that have been raised about his relationship with Armstrong and whether there is some arrangement by which politicians who hire Armstrong as a consultant then receive Kos’s support. And yet, because I continue to ask these questions, Kos contends that “TNR’s defection to the Right is now complete.” How asking legitimate questions of and about two individuals can be construed as an attack on liberalism as a whole is beyond me. Kos evidently believes that, as The Democratic Daily put it, “the left c’est moi.”
Fitzmas may have been a bust, but Kosola is turning into the surprise hit of the summer…
I think I’m going to have a laugh about this.
If you think you are laughing now, wait till someone explains to Kos the concept of “discovery.” He sues them, and THEY get to rummage through his secrets.
Someone on Protein Wisdom came up with “Kosmas”
When you think about it…the single triumph of the left-o-sphere to date is “WAPO/BEN/Blog” debacle — not a stellar and impressive list of accomplishments. Additionally, the WAPO comment blogswarm debacle was– their triumph– a sad display and frankly disgraceful spectacle…they attacked Ben, his family, upbringing, that he was home-schooled, called him a racist bigot who hated brown people and hinted he was gay BEFORE the dug up the plagiarized movie reviews — which is a legitimate question– but the stain of getting there superseded any sober plagiarism question. I predicted back then (as I am sure others saw) that the Ben/WAPO was the beginning of the ugly things to come — aka…get ready lefty blogs…the tables will turn.
And then there was the “Abramoff” WAPO blog comment debacle…in which I guess they perceived a victory – if by victory means having tons of their profanity laced viciousness removed from a corporate website.
Anyways, my point is irony. In the same vicious, vindictive, unsober, ends justify the means – scorch earth approach the left blogs use on a daily basis, it is this approach that ironically looks to sink Kos – at least severely affect his ability to REALLY be accepted pubically — does that make sense?
His (and ironically his TownHouse Authoritarian cult who accepted their marching orders – see ALL the IRONIES floating to the top here — there are a BUNCH) response was key here. If he chose the high-road, gave a “serious” response to TNR, acknowledged they raised good questions that he appreciated and believed were fair —ironically what he calls for from the “establishment” of politics routinely– he be taken MORE seriously, not less.– in essences took Glenn Greenwald’s advice. But he attacked in a really sophomoric and silly fashion (ala Hamsher) which does make one wonder…TNR seemed to hit a nerve– Kos CAN’T answer honestly (or at least in a way that won’t threaten to piss off his “roots”), his only option is to attack. And ironically instantly calling the TNR a member of the Vast Right Wing conspiracy — made Glenn’s – every Bush dissenter is labeled a liberal by the Authoritarian Cultist– a – dare is say — projectionist laughing stock material.
There are more, but this set of events in tandem with leftist TruthNot’s surreal and embarrassing contribution have really turned the tables in a deserved karmic sunshine way on the left. Everything the accuse and profess outrage at the are guilty of — and ironically they make they same missteps they mock.
Sorry so long, apparently I needed to say that.
oops…just read Jonathan Chait…so he said it better. Wished I had read it before my slight incoherent diatribe.
This is like watching a bullfight with a quadrapalegic bull.
If I understand his plan correctly, he’s going to ‘wait to respond’ until Armstrong gets this thing cleared up. That could be a while…
In the meantime he gets hit by the death of a thousand cuts. His real legal danger is non-existent, but his ego is bleeding badly. A wise move might be to distance himself from Armstrong, but having a book with your name side by side on it…juicy.(Not to mention the symbiotic/parasitic coexistence of ‘shaking down’ the gates) All of Kos’ flailing and the reality that this is going to go on for a looong time is priceless.
Ned Beaty is breathing a sigh of relief. It will be Kos’ squealing that all others will be compared to.
Bottom line? The people who go to his sight are so far out of touch and are so addicted to his site giving them their marching orders for their grand movement, that his viewership will hold. The money he was making will fall back, and that can have a very negative affect on a person’s psyche. Kos is showing how thin his skin is already, and this is just heating up.
For a guy who fed off the search to indict Bush officials to portray them as criminals/evil, now await an associates legal matters while the other side laughs, justice.
I do agree with some of his paranoia about old party dems wanting him knocked down-naming just one segment doesn’t do the conspiracy justice. Clinton, Lieberman, the DLC…apparently the Dems do approve of some preemptive strikes. Markos should keep his chin up/ 500,000 viewers a day(although 60,000 are conservatives/the press scrounging for material), that means he gets to about .8 percent of the dems who voted in 2004. Someday he’ll crack 1% of the party. He’s never going to lose his guys though, there is no better pied piper out there, and these rats need a home.
My head hurts reading all this .. so the gist of it is the libs got caught?
No, the gist is that Jerome Armstrong, one of the leading lights of ‘people-power’ Nutroots®, has been involved in shady financial shenanigans touting the merits of a worthless penny stock…
And his buddy, Kos, seems to have a history of endorsing whoever hires Armstrong. Not illegal at all, but certainly not the glorious people-power movement either.
IIRC, Kos is on the short side. Dang, isn’t this classic Napoleonic complex behavior? Any perceived slight must be addressed with rhetorical A-bombs, and he seems to have no shortage of perceived slights. Has this guy ever heard of “Think twice, post once”?
I don’t think this will be the end of Kos or anything like that, but given that I think he’s the chief poisoner of political discourse today, it’s nice to imagine this maybe opening a few people’s eyes about the guy and the vile anger he so happily unleashes.
Say, is there any coincidence in the fact that John Kerry has recently stuck himself in the Kos/Left camp, and now Kos is facing troubles? Maybe Kerry has taken on Gore’s old anti-Midas touch.
Now when Byron does a piece on him, his ‘mercenary’ quote has fallen off to a distant second for character indictment.
[...] Okay, Glenn Greenwald (wow, how did I spend so much of my weekend blogging about him?) was right; Steve Gilliard did not compose the third email quoted by Jason Zengerle in his expose of the ‘Townhouse’ request by Kos to keep mum on Jerome Armstrong’s troubles with the SEC (if you’re completely confused, refreshers are here and here): Steve Gilliard claims that he did not write the email I attributed to him in this post. After doing some further investigating, I’m afraid to say that he is correct. He did not write that email. I apologize to Gilliard for not checking with him before publishing my post, and I regret the error. [...]
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