The Kossacks at the Daily Kos are hitting the panic button over the Obama "redistribution of wealth" audio which has become the hottest political topic on the Web, including the Drudge Report. As NewsBusters Mark Finkelstein has noted, most of the MSM morning TV shows, with the exception of Fox & Friends and Morning Joe, are still continuing to bury this story which your humble correspondent posted earlier today. However, this burial by the MSM is giving little comfort to the denizens of the Daily Kos. Right now they are trying to desperately spin away this story with excuses that Obama talking about "redistribution of wealth" was taken out of context or that we must understand the nuances of what he actually meant. You can see the Daily Kos spin control on this erupting story on this thread so let us now join the Kossacks as they sweat buckets trying to explain away Obama's words that could cost him the election:

The problem, of course, is that Obama never says that it's "a tragedy that redistribution of wealth" was not pursued. Or rather, there are no Marxist or Socialist overtones that any reasonable person could read into this interview. This is the GOP's October Surprise, and we need to be prepared to combat it.

Obama said that he wasn't "optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts." Instead he wants to redistribute the wealth legislatively. I think that all reasonable people can read Marxist or Socialist overtones into "redistributive change."

Obama is not talking about "radical Marxism." He's simply talking about the possibility for a Legislative procedure that would mirror what the Warren court did for Civil Rights, and make that in accord economically, which the courts do not have the power to do. When we consider how disproportionately the different classes are taxed (the rich regularly pay fewer taxes, percentage wise, than the middle class and paying lower class because they have more loopholes available), then OF COURSE the legislature and organizers should look into "redistributive change."

You went into all sorts of spin control contortions only to end up back at the fact that Obama did indeed call for "redistributive change." Redistribution of wealth via legislature rather than by courts is what Obama clearly asked for in that interview.

That is not a radical proposition but rather the exact kind of change we need right now!

Redistribution of wealth isn't a radical idea for Kossacks but then neither is the nationalization of industry in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez.

I wasn't sure about commenting on this because it's such a ridiculous and vacuous charge, and I'm sure it'll become overplayed in a few days (here and elsewhere), but I do think it's important that we as Democrats are able to explain to people what Obama said without the boogeyman filter and reactionary, kneejerk politics of the GOP.

I truly cannot imagine the HOURS of boring shit these idiots have to wade through in order to come up with a teeny nugget that gets minimal play.

You wish. Right now Laura Ingraham is talking about this audio on her show. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity will follow suit. The MSM might try to ignore it for a time but it will get harder and harder to do so over the next few days. The elephant has left his giant "deposit" on the living room floor and it will become impossible for even the MSM to ignore the stench.

I think they've taken a few constitutional discussions out of context and pieced them together to sound bad. I'd invite someone to dig up the original broadcast from 2001 and find out the intro question as well as the panel discussion. Someone else was there, because Obama refers to a 3rd person along with the host as being able to come up with something.

Yeah, you do that. Try inviting Brian Williams to dig up the original broadcast even though you don't need to since we already have it. Oh, and the "3rd person" on the audio was Karen the Caller.

People can argue that these are his true feelings, but it's quite evident that he's just explaining the history of the Warren court. There's nothing there expressing his "viewpoint". This shouldn't get a lot of air time and if it does, I might eat my hat.

Break out the salt shaker.

There will be relentless bludgeoning of Obama as a socialist and Marxist for now until late on election day. What's the best way to counter it?

The MSM is trying to counter it by pretending that audio doesn't exist.

Listen to the WHOLE tape. It is a discussion about civil rights and the courts and really isn't that big of a deal.

Until Obama, without prompting, brought up "redistribution of wealth" and "economic justice."

Morning Joe just brought it up. It was obvious nobody there had any clue about the full context of the entire audio clip. It was appalling. No journalistic standard whatsoever.

They just didn't have your "superior" understanding of the nuances involved.

—P.J. Gladnick is a freelance writer and creator of the DUmmie FUnnies blog.