Can We Trust Marcos Moulitsas and the Daily Kos?

Tonight was the first time I’ve paid attention to Marcos Moulitsas‘ popular liberal blog, the Daily Kos. I was reading an article someone posted about Hillary Clinton’s recent remarks where she praised Lyndon Johnson for passing the 1964 Civil Right’s Bill. The article pointed out the contradiction that Hillary was actually a supporter of Barry Goldwater, an ardent opponent of the landmark legislation. It was all factual and not controversial in the least.

What follows was very disturbing. I watched as a landslide of Clinton supporters ridiculed the mild post. Then, as I was reading the comments, the post vanished into the ether of cyberspace right before my eyes!
It is obvious that Hillary Clinton has hired an army of bloggers to shoot down any story that might harm her. Fair enough. What bothers me is how Marcos Moulitsas appears to be part of the effort.

So I did some checking. Moulitsas grew up in the “lily-white Chicago suburb of Schaumburg“, Illionois. Like Hillary Clinton, Moulitsas was a Republican well into his twenties. He says, as “a 17-year-old precinct captain in 1988, not even old enough to vote, I helped deliver one of the district’s best precinct performances for Henry Hyde. I had a framed picture of me with George H. W. Bush.”

Moulitsas went on to join the Army where he was stationed in Germany and learned to speak German. Of his experience he says, “The military is perhaps the ideal society.” He claims to have switched political parties after leaving the army and went on to get a law degree from Boston University.

He applied to the CIA and after 9/11, decided to start the Daily Kos. He then went on to work for Howard Dean’s ill-fated presidential bid. Moulitsas is currently under fire for his participation in alleged voter fraud for his article published January 10th, Let’s have some fun in Michigan. Moulitsas is advocating that Democrats help elect Mitt Romney.

It is clear to me that Moulitsas is censoring posts and has a political agenda. If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t have believed it. Which makes me think what else he might be up to. How did he get so much power? Is his site a way to track liberal opinion and shape the Democratic Party? Dare I ask the obvious question? Is the Daily Kos a government front to monitor dissent? Can we trust Marcos Moulitsas?

Aaron Dahl

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