"I wouldn't want to be a senator or congressman. I'm able to influence politics much more effectively doing what I do. Now I can shape the national political debate. The only way I could exert more influence would be if I were president. But I'd never want that guy's job. Never." -- Markos Moulitsas Zuniga
Is Markos Moulitsas Zuniga AKA Kos really that powerful? No. But, does he have enormous sway on the Left? You bet he does.
His blog, the Daily Kos, is an enormous website that is slavishly catered to by Democratic Congressmen and senators. Among the prominent Democrats that have posted on his blog are Jimmy Carter, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi. Moreover, all three Democratic front runners for the presidency, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, are scheduled to attend the Yearly Kos convention.
So, why is the influence and power that the Daily Kos wields in the Democratic Party so significant? Because many of the writers at the Daily Kos are extremists who promote a virulent hatred of the military, conspiracy theories, and in some cases, even violence and Fascist tactics against the people who disagree with them. That means when someone like Harry Reid writes a diary on the Daily Kos or when Hillary Clinton goes to the Yearly Kos convention, it indicates that they're comfortable associating with people who hold those sort of radical views.
Of course, you can expect Democrats to deny that the Daily Kos is a poison well of extremism, conspiracies, and anti-American sentiment. However, let's take a look at what some of the writers on that blog -- note that I said the writers, not just people leaving comments -- have had to say.
Most notoriously, the founder of the Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, wrote this about American contractors who were murdered in Iraq and had their bodies desecrated,
"...I feel nothing over the death of merceneries. They aren't in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them."
When you see that sort of hostility towards people risking their lives in Iraq from the man running the Daily Kos, is it any surprise that other diarists on that blog have penned commentary like this,