Liberal Blogger 'Kos' of 'The Daily Kos' was once a Republican

[Eric J in MN]

Markos Moulitsas



The most popular political blog on the internet is "The Daily Kos."

Unless you count "The Drudge Report" as a blog, which I don't.

I consider "Drudge" a news-portal.

It's a matter of format.

For me, a blog is when stories are written on top of the page and the newest pushes down the previous (the format of this website, The Daily Kos, and millions of other websites), and a news-portal is when there are headline-links all over the homepage (the format of "The Drudge Report," "The Drudge Retort," and "The Raw Story.")

Anyway, Markos "Kos" Moulitsas' "The Daily Kos" gets the most visitors of any blog, and a recent article reveals that he was a Republican when he entered the army ("Party Central " by Kara Platoni, East Bay Express, December 15, 2004).

Markos Moulitsas' was born in Chicago to a Greek father and Salvadoran mother. They lived in El Salvador when he was age four to age nine. Then they returned to Chicago. Markos entered the US Army at age seventeen (ibid.)

"In the Army, he also underwent a political transformation. He went in a hawkish Republican because of Ronald Reagan's support for the Salvadoran government. He came out a Democrat, having served with people of different races and social classes from all over the United States."

MORE AT MOVELEFT.cOM:
http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_12_18_liberal_blogger_kos_of_the_daily_kos_once_republican.asp

[NightTrain]

1. So, I'm not the only American who turned liberal while in the military!

That's nice to know. Thanks! :hi:

[Warpy]

3. No, there are a lot of you, especially from the Vietnam years

and now from Bush's stupid, criminal and unwinnable war in Iraq.

Why do you think they didn't get their ballots on time?

[Liberty Belle]

4. I have a feeling the Iraq war will create lots of new Democrats.

The ones that survive, that is.

[Eric J in MN]

6. What aspect of military life made you decide

to become a liberal?

[NightTrain]

8. The conformity, the extreme dissuasion of free thought....

The reasons are many, my friend!

[NightTrain]

9. Speaking of which, I've dedicated this week's edition of my radio show...

...to a 21-year-old National Guardsman from my hometown who was killed in Iraq last Saturday.

I'm on the air until midnight EST. You can hear me live if you'd like:

http://whus.org/listen.htm

[Eric J in MN]

10. Ok, I just tuned in (nt)

nt

[Robbien]

2. He has often said he used to be a Republican

Its not a secret.

[Eric J in MN]

5. I never read this before the East Bay Express article.

It was news to me.

Where did you see that?

[Robbien]

12. He has mentioned it often

He's even said it in the last month, right around the time he was explaining what a Reform Democrat is all about. During that discussion he mentioned again his military and Republican roots.

Sorry about no direct links but I don't really have a lot of luck with the search function on his site.

[Eric J in MN]

13. yes, when I try to do a seach at "Daily Kos" I rarely find what

I'm looking for.

[redstateblues]

7. So according to some he is never to be trusted again

Sorry, but I get so tired of people taking shots at those who may have at one time voted for a repug such as Wes Clark did when he was active military. I think someone who comes over from the dark side should have extra street cred.

[Eric J in MN]

11. No, I just wrote about it because of the novelty.

I'm glad he's a Democrat.

Glad to have him on our side.

[regnaD kciN]

17. Although I can't help but wonder...

...at anyone who could be a Republican because Reagan "supported the Salvadorian military," which really translates to "funded and turned a blind eye to death squads that assassinated an Archbishop, raped and murdered four American nuns, and generally spread a wave of terror througout their country, effectively purging it of any leftist voices in the process."

In other words, this is not the case of someone becoming a conservative because of a generic desire for "a strong military," or "an end to Big Government." No, it's a case of someone supporting a party specifically because of their carrying out crimes against humanity.

I suppose anyone can turn into anything, but I find that about as bizarre as a former SS officer turned ardent Zionist. Even if such a person's "conversion" was sincere, don't you think Israelis would be justified in being deeply suspicious of him nonetheless?

[Eric J in MN]

19. On the other hand, he was only seventeen when he entered the

US Army and started changing into a Democrat.

It's different than a grownup supporting Reagan's policies in El Salvador.

[radio4progressives]

22. Hello? Who's taking Shots? Me Thinks you're being a bit over reactive n/t

[JanMichael]

14. So was I at one point.

It was environmental as well as my own lack of empathy.

Nothing to cheer about IMO.

[ChairOne]

15. Um, so what? /eom

Are you a "gotcha" journalist or something?

I once stole a candy bar.

[Eric J in MN]

16. The Kos article is a novelty article.

I wrote a more serious article yesterday:

Bush Wants to Do to Social Security What He Did to Iraq

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Social Security fund won't be short on money until 2052.

Bush is fearmongering when he says we need radical changes to Social Security, such as diverting money from the Social Security fund to Wall St. That diversion would add $2 trillion to the national debt in the first decade of his plan, if implemented (which I hope it never will be).

Two letters in the Dec. 18 Minneapolis Star Tribune criticize Bush's extreme Social Security agenda.

MORE AT MOVELEFT.COM:
http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_12_17_bush_wants_to_do_to_social_securiy_what_he_did_to_iraq.asp

[ChairOne]

20. If you're being straight....

... and you weren't trying to "out" Kos' "dirty laundry", in a gotcha-journalism fashion, then I think you massively overestimated the "novelty value" of Kos' prior political thinkings. Maybe you should go to novelty school, else stick to non-novelty topics....

*If* you're being straight with us, that is...

(It's kinda hard to believe it was "just a joke" because most of us here understand that 17 year olds think all kinds of stupid things. That's why we call them "17 year olds" - it's kinda their job to think stupid things. The idea of finding any novelty in what someone thought when 1/2 their lifetime ago when they were 17 strikes me, and I suspect others in these parts, as asinine.)

[Eric J in MN]

21. I didn't say it was a joke.

It's an interesting fact. A novel fact. Like the fact that Hillary Clinton was a Republican in high school.

[Kinkistyle]

18. Lots of liberals were Repugs before they were exposed to different views

Like. Hard-core, racist, homo-phobe, free-market capitalist Repug. Then I went to a liberal college in one of the U.S.'s most liberal cities, (for business no-less) and voila! I evolved.