Whether it’s comparisons between the United States and the Soviet Union or George Bush and Saddam Hussein, the far left has always specialized in false moral equivalence.

In the latest example of this, Daily Kos proprietor Markos Moulitsas has been trying to shift the spotlight that’s now being shined on the numerous vulgar and hateful remarks for which his site is famous over to conservative sites, implying that the right is just as full of hate as his followers.

Trouble is, that’s just not the case. As NewsBusters pointed out earlier, left-wing blogs and their commenters are much more likely to use profanity than conservative blogs.

Brushing aside those pesky facts, Moulitsas launched a false attack on Maine senator Susan Collins today implying that “Arthur Frain,” a commenter on Maine Web Report, a site run by her online communications director was speaking for Republicans when he/she wrote the following:

You know what this country needs? Another terrorist attack. Take out SF or some other city full of dirty libs, and then the country will rally behind the GOP for protection.

Take a step back from that for a second. According to Moulitsas, a comment on a site that Susan Collins does not own or operate is somehow representative of her. That's the equivalent of holding the Bush White House responsible for a comment left at the personal blog of Patrick Ruffini, his 2004 webmaster. That’s ridiculous enough on its own. Things go further into hah-hah land when you realize that “Arthur Frain” is actually a left-wing troll, as revealed by Maine Web Report blogger and NB contributor Lance Dutson.

Last month, a person using the same IP address 74.75.145.243 visited Maine Web Report and left the following comment under the user name “Jason in Maine:”

Wow, Collins must be getting desperate if she's allying herself with such wackjob extremists and serial liars as Michelle Malkin and Bill O'Reilley.

Allen's campaign hasnt even started yet, and she's already this desperate!!

Too bad for Collins that Mainers have noticed her lockstep support for George W Bush. Not only does she support his failed policies, she oversees them via her role in DHS and its huge failures.

Silly stunts like this aren't going to fool anyone, and they aren't going to slow down Allen's campaign. If anything, it will give it a boost.

In other words, Moulitsas is blaming Collins for a comment on a site she doesn’t own written by a person who is a left-wing Democrat.

That conclusion becomes even more probable when you consider that “Arthur Frain” seems to pop up all over the place on liberal blogs making obscene, left-wing comments. Kos could easily have verified this by spending a few minutes in Google. He opted instead to play fast and loose with the facts.

Here’s “Frain” (minus the vulgarities) at Crooks and Liars July 22:

National security means jack and s*** to these assclowns.

Today is the day that the Republican party tore up their “national security” card, and s*** on the Constitution.

How long before the disappearings start? How long before George - or his illegitimate successor - reaches for the imperial crown?

Here “he” is Feb. 8 at a Baltimore Sun blog:

How is this a bigger story than the dozen plus truckloads of cash that the CPA simply lost - as in "misplaced" - as in "we don't know what happened to it - in Iraq?

How many billions of dollars can this administration waste before it becomes a story?

Here’s “Frain” at Think Progress calling President Bush a variant of b**** and saying he should be impeached:

Mildly profane is a code word for “BS”.

Impeach the beech!

Kos should stop trying to shift the blame from himself and his hate site and take responsibility to clean things up. The left has always been chiding the right for its so-called “hate,” in reality, they should have been looking in the mirror.

Moulitsas should remove his false attack and apologize to the Collins campaign and Dutson for failing to check his facts.

Update 15:38. Charles Johnson points out that Moulitsas should not be complaining about people holding him responsible for his bloggers' comments since there is no disclaimer on any "diary" entry at Daily Kos.

Update 18:37. The left-wing blog Firedoglake picked up Kos's item as "proof" that the right is hate-filled. Will "Jamie" correct his error now that it's been exposed here at NB?

—Matthew Sheffield is the creator of NewsBusters and its Executive Editor.