Tom Johnson's blog

As John Kerry might put it, Daily Kos was against Rick Santorum both before and after it was for him. On Wednesday, the site unveiled Operation Hilarity, which urges Kossacks in four states that soon will hold an open Republican primary or caucus to vote for Santorum in order to prolong the GOP race and thereby (the thinking goes) make the eventual nominee a weaker opponent for President Obama.

Operation Hilarity notwithstanding, Kossacks remain free to vilify Santorum, and did so as usual this past week.  As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

This past week, Kossacks were eager to advise religious conservatives (e.g., that their faith should lead them to endorse, not condemn, homosexual activity) as well as malign them (e.g., allege that they're dictatorial idiots). But CPAC is like an al-Qaeda meeting?
 
As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

A popular liberal talking point in the '80s was that President Reagan couldn't distinguish between movies and reality. This past week, Kossacks claimed that conservatives rely on unreal versions of the Bible and the Constitution and that their sense of a bygone America derives not from history, but rather from a classic sitcom. 

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

Daily Kos is, of course, a lefty blog, but often "anti-righty" would be a more accurate term. This past week, Kossacks fell over themselves to allege that conservatives are insane, moronic bigots who ought to relocate to the Horn of Africa.   

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

This past week, Fox News political analyst Juan Williams was treated in a strikingly harsh and condescending manner. It happened not during Monday night's GOP presidential debate but rather two days later on Daily Kos, wherein a (black) blogger charged Williams with being a sellout and far, far worse.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

Political rhetoric has grown harsher over the past few decades, but it almost always stops short of advocating violence or even fantasizing about doing physical harm. This past week, however, one Kossack declared that a certain Wisconsin GOP congressman deserves a few fists to the face because he backs Medicare reform. 

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

For months, the Daily Kos gang has trashed the successive not-Romneys in the GOP presidential field, and this past week, post-Iowa, it was Rick Santorum's turn. Unsurprisingly, Santorum's traditionalist-Catholic view of sexual morality raised the hackles of many Kossacks (see the first item for an especially egregious example).

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

It's hard to say what caused it (spiked eggnog? Panama Red? a few too many bowl games?) but Kossacks hit unusually high peaks of wackiness during the holidays. One actually mounted a defense of the indefensible North Korean government, while another argued that some of the most bloodthirsty left-wing dictators of the 20th century would be at home in today's GOP.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym. Happy New Year!

To the typical lefty, white conservatives are racists, whereas black conservatives are better described as racism-enablers -- Uncle Toms who, in effect, assert their own inferiority in order to please their supposed betters. This past week, one Kossack made that argument in slightly more colorful terms.    

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym. DKWIR will return on New Year's Day. Merry Christmas!

Four years ago, Democrats had just begun what would become several months of fierce infighting to determine their 2008 nominee. Barack! Hillary! Fairy tales! 3 a.m. phone calls! PUMAs! These days, with President Obama getting what amounts to a first-round bye, the left, including the Daily Kos gang, is free to train its fire on Republicans and their presidential candidates.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

We learned this past week on Daily Kos that the right is duty-bound to dehumanize the left, which would seem to explain, among other things, why conservatives dump their autumn leaves in the yards of their liberal neighbors.   

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym. 

This past Thursday, the Occupy movement held its so-called day of action, during which protesters clashed with police. In a related story, this past week Kossacks blogged about Occupy, during which they clashed with the forces of reason, logic, and history.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym. DKWIR will return in two weeks. Happy Thanksgiving!

A key part of the left's narrative about American politics is that conservatives hate not only  minorities (e.g., blacks, Latinos, gays) but also a majority group: women, who, according to the 2010 census, make up 50.8 percent of the U.S. population. Of course, it's absurd to accuse anyone of misogyny (and worse) simply because he or she is pro-life, but that didn't stop two Kossacks from doing so this past week.     

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

The left often accuses the right of dog-whistle politics, but likening actual conservatives to actual dogs? Two Kossacks went there this past week. That plus the ongoing Herman Cain sexual-harassment tale and the new statue of Ronald Reagan at National Airport are among the grist for this edition of DKWIR.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

As President Obama's re-election campaign gathers steam, Kossacks are setting aside most of their intramural disputes so as to, in the words of Sinead O'Connor, "fight the real enemy." That enemy, of course, is the divisive, sadistic, greedy, none-too-bright Republican party. 

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym. 

In the 1990s, some argued that Bill Clinton was, figuratively, our first black president. This week, two Kossacks opined that Herman Cain would be, in effect, a white president, or at least a white nominee. One claimed that if it's Cain vs. Obama, the Hermanator will serve two purposes: punching bag for the invincible incumbent and insulation for Republicans from charges of racism. The other flatly accused Cain of selling out his fellow blacks.
 
As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

It's fair to criticize the Tea Party, or any group, for what it actually believes. Alas, many apparently bitter leftists still cling to the notion that the Tea Party's true agenda has more to do with racism than it does with the Constitution. Some of those leftists blogged for Daily Kos this past week. 
 
As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

President Obama recently has returned to the left's good graces by proposing what amounts to a second stimulus package and by attacking the Republican congressional leadership. While Obama was in campaign mode this past week, Kossacks were in what might be called diagnostic mode, opining that Tea Party GOPers carry various mental and spiritual illnesses.
 
As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

Politics didn't change on 9/11. It paused, then, little by little, resumed as before: increasingly polarized and venomous, a trend well underway even at the time of the first, failed attack on the World Trade Center in early 1993. These days, the sort of invective on display below (especially from agnostic, Hunter, and joelgp) is, sad to say, common.
 
As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

Many thinkers on the right (notably Burke and Hayek) have emphasized that human reason, while a valuable tool, has its limits when it comes to understanding and organizing a society. This week, some Kossacks expressed the slightly different view that conservatives not only oppose reason but also ignore logic and evidence. Oh, yes: they're also really jumpy and paranoid and soon will impose a fascist regime.   

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

For most East Coast residents, Hurricane Irene has been cause for concern, but for Republicans it's been cause for celebration. At least that's the word from one Kossack, who alleges that GOPers are gleeful because both they and the storm have had the same effect: wrecking the country and damaging Obama's chances for re-election.
 
As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

Even Kossacks who've been hugely disappointed in President Obama are starting to realize that for them, he's clearly preferable to anyone the Republicans might nominate. For that reason, they've dialed back their criticism of Obama for falling short of the progressive ideal on issues from health care to the deficit in favor of blasts at their enemies on the right.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

One expects a lefty blogger to be pro-choice on abortion, but pro-plague? It's true. This past week, one Kossack rooted for the emergence of a deadly pandemic as a corrective for a "wildly overpopulated" Earth. Others, less extreme in their views, merely accused conservatives of stupidity, insanity, neurosis, and refusal to accept their homosexuality.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

John Boehner said he got 98 percent of what he wanted from the debt deal. That sounds about right, since Kossacks apparently got roughly two percent of what they wanted, judging from their rage-filled blasts this past week at Republicans, conservatives, the Tea Party, and businessmen.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.

While Kossack bloggers certainly didn't neglect the debt-limit talks, they also pounced on the week's other developing mega-story, the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal, no doubt with visions of a Rupert Murdoch perp walk dancing in their heads.

As usual, each headline is preceded by the blogger's name or pseudonym.