Golden Shovel Award

Ned Lamont, the new Harvard/Yale face of political buttcheeks challenges Joe Lieberman. If you believe half the trash coming out, a Lamont win will be due to the Daily Kos. Kos the kingmaker, according to some.

Kingmaker? Oh please, make me stop grinning.

I can't keep a straight face when everywhere I read Markos is "left leaning" and "liberal." (Hopefully you are aware of whois Markos and his politics.) Known as Kos, his history has more holes than the overcoat of my husband's great uncle after Capone finished with him.

Kos' bio states he was born in 1971 in Chicago. At the age of 4 he moved to El Salvador which would be 1975, and moved back again to the States in 1980, to Schaumberg, IL. Coincidentally, I had in-laws in Schaumberg during the same time period as Marksos. At that time it was a predominantly white, upper middle class 'burb. Markos story of "growing up" in a war zone doesn't fit - 4 or 5 years does not a childhood make. His claims are stretched to say the least. He grew up in the 'burbs of Shytown.

Kos' states : "Unlike the vast majority of people in this country, I actually grew up in a war zone,” he wrote. “I witnessed communist guerillas execute students accused of being government collaborators. I was eight years old, and I remember stepping over a dead body, warm blood flowing from a fresh wound."

Kos' ability to stretch truth is equal to or exceeds that of the winners in "liar" contests. Local contests award cash, ribbons and the Golden Shovel trophy. Bluffing and bullshitting can be hilarious. So much fun in fact, here in hillbilly heaven, folks practice their game 24/7 for a lifetime.

Contests are held and winners judged on their capacity to take a subject matter (usually outlandish) and make it so believable the story is accepted as true. I believe Kos "warm blood/fresh wound" story as much as I believe local Golden Shovel champions. (His warm wound story reminds me every VN vet I've ever met was spit upon.)

From 1975-80 (Kos years in Salvador) the Salvadoran civil war was not raging, not yet fueled by the election of Ronald Reagan and massive US military aid to the Salvadoran government. Only after the murder of Archbishop Romero and the murder of 4 American nuns by the El Salvador government did the leftist guerrillas unite to form FMLN and begin a counteroffensive in 1981. Little Kos was long gone back to the Chicago 'burbs.

In Markos view the Salvadoran guerrillas were bad commies and the Salvadoran government good. Doesn't take a genius to figure out Kos is no liberal or leftist or progressive. He backed the Salvadoran oligarchy the American "left" fought against. Today he claims Romero as one of his heroes, the way 5th graders used to claim JFK their hero. Does he know Romero was murdered for being simpatico to the country's commie poor being murdered by the government? Markos has slicked up his rhetoric since 2002 when he began the DailyKos site. Like a politician, on book tours, lectures, and interviews, he wised-up to the importance of a bullshitter's nuance.

Bull, such as this quote from Kos on why he "won't write about Israel/Lebanon/Palestine fighting" : "I grew up in a war zone. And there was one clear lesson I learned -- there will never be peace unless both sides get tired of the fighting and start seeking an alternative. It's clear that in the Middle East, no one is sick of the fighting. They have centuries of grudges to resolve, and will continue fighting until they can get over them."

Grudges. I know racist Bubba and Tyrone believe the grudge rhetoric as I've heard them often regurgitate "theys bin killin' one 'nother for thousins' o years" - but for Markos, an educated man, to spout such ignorance, and be taken seriously, is crazy. Is that the loony left or what? For Kos and ilk the current wars have less to do with land grabbing geopolitics, US fueled jihadists, Zionism, etc. and just more a centuries-long grudge match.

Kos simplifies his world view for his followers but he's a caricature to the few genuine American "leftists." Fortunate for him, his audience is younger and of the mindset they can change the world simply by voting in the right candidate every 2 to 4 years. Oh to be so young or dumb again. If this is progressive – I want none of it.

Whether groomed intentionally by the ruling class for the role Kos now plays in American politics, or whether he just kind of stepped into it by chance and is now manipulated by the PTB – it's hard to say. But the end results are the same. Another elite controlled mouthpiece willing to force upon the rest of us the humble mantra that he is "reigniting the progressive movement." And doing it with a great big shovel to anyone who brings a spoon.