Daily Kos Flashback -- or -- Memo to Dan Abrams

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On Monday night, we were privy to Round II of Dan Abrams' (of MSNBC's Live with Dan Abrams pseudo-fame) lukewarm game show, "Rush Limbaugh -- UnAmerican".

Both times Abrams levied said assertion in response to Limbaugh's apparently effective (at least at tweaking the likes of Abrams) Operation CHAOS.

Which is what Limbaugh has dubbed his call for Republicans to cross over -- where legal -- to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic Presidential primaries. In so doing he hopes to prolong as much as possible the Democrat primary process.

Limbaugh began Operation CHAOS in advance of the March 4th primaries and primary/caucus held in Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and Texas. It appeared to be at least somewhat effective beyond just ruffling Abrams' feathers, as HRC won three of the four (losing only in Vermont). Which is when Abrams first resorted to Limbaugh name calling -- at least in this regard.

Limbaugh has continued to bang the drum slowly in anticipation of the April 22nd Pennsylvania primary, and the magic still seems to be present. Keystone Democratic Party enrollment surged past the four million mark on Monday's deadline for registration, setting a state record.

This was apparently too much for the fragile Abrams, and he again last night charged to his sporadically viewed airwaves to look for the "UnAmerican" label.

Abrams outrage here is -- let us say selective. Limbaugh is not at all original in the thinking behind his Operation. For on January 10th Markos Moulitsas -- the Godfather of the tremendously popular Leftist blog Daily Kos -- called on Michigan Democrats to do the exact same thing.

Courtesy of the DailyKos (They Even Designed a JPEG)

In what I will now dub CHAOS-Kos, Mr. Moulitsas urged Great Lakes State Ds to cross the line and vote in the January 15th Republican primary for Mitt Romney. And he did so for reasons very similar to those cited by Limbaugh in Operation CHAOS.

"For Michigan Democrats, the Democratic primary is meaningless since the DNC stripped the state of all its delegates (at least temporarily) for violating party rules."

Limbaugh began CHAOS only after Senator John McCain had secured the necessary number of pledged delegates to secure the Republican nomination, thereby rendering all subsequent primaries irrelevant for Rs, at least Presidentially.

"But on the GOP side, this primary will be fiercely contested. John McCain is currently enjoying the afterglow of media love since his New Hamsphire (sic) victory, while Iowa winner Mike Huckabee is poised to do well in South Carolina.

"Fiercely contested" -- you mean like the fight in which HRC and Barack Obama are currently engaged?

"Meanwhile, poor Mitt Romney, who’s suffered back-to-back losses in the last week, desperately needs to win Michigan in order to keep his campaign afloat. Bottom line, if Romney loses Michigan, he's out. If he wins, he stays in.

"And we want Romney in, because the more Republican candidates we have fighting it out, trashing each other with negative ads and spending tons of money, the better it is for us. We want Mitt to stay in the race, and to do that, we need him to win in Michigan."

"The more Republican candidates we have fighting it out, trashing each other with negative ads and spending tons of money, the better it is for us" -- Exactly how Limbaugh described the thinking behind Operation CHAOS. He wishes to keep HRC and BO beating each other senseless for as long as possible.

"Now here's the thing -- without a real Democratic contest on the ballot, and a lack of party registration in Michigan, this is an open primary. Anyone can pick up a Republican ballot. So Michigan Democrats and independents who want to see the Republican battle royale continue should just take a few minutes on Tuesday, January 15th to cast a ballot for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary."

There is now no real Republican contest, and all the primaries since Limbaugh incepted CHAOS -- including the upcoming PA -- have been and are open. Anyone can pick up a Democratic ballot.

All Limbaugh is saying is: Michigan Republicans and independents who want to see the Democratic battle royale continue should just take a few minutes on Tuesday, April 22nd to cast a ballot for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary.

Kos even made it easy for Liberals to spread the UnAmerican virus:

If you know someone in Michigan, send them the email I've included below the fold.

Which read (in part):

Dear [Friend],

We're not going to beat around the Bush. If you want to help make mischief for the Republican Party - and bolster the Democrats' chances for taking the White House this November - read on!

Are you a Democrat or independent registered to vote in Michigan? If you are, vote for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary on Tuesday, January 15th!

(Emphasis his. The email text prattles on for quite a bit.) Back to the main Kos screed:

"If you don't know someone in Michigan, send the email to your liberal friends and see if THEY have friends in Michigan. Get the word out, whether by blog, mailing list, MySpace or Facebook page, or whatever.

"If we can help push Mitt over the line, not only do we help keep their field fragmented, but we also pollute Romney's victory. How "legitimate" will the Mittster's victory look if liberals provide the margin of victory? Think of the hilarity that will ensue. We'll simply be adding fuel to their civil war, never a bad thing from our vantage point."

You all get the point, I am sure. The similarities between Limbaugh's Operation CHAOS and its predecessor CHAOS-Kos are striking. The disparity exists only in Abrams' outrage.

A colleague has informed me that Mr. Limbaugh himself pointed this out on at least one occasion. But I have spoken to several others who were unaware of CHAOS-Kos and therefore felt it worthwhile to log it officially here and now.

Perhaps Abrams also was blissfully ignorant. If so, than Dan -- this one's for you.

Photographs courtesy of the DailyKos and MRC Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham.