Daily Kos Caught Lying

Excuse me this moment of schadenfreude, but this is too rich. Apparently the polling firm Daily Kos contracted with for hundreds of polls in its push to help the Democrats contest the 2010 elections has been caught fabricating its results.

To Kos' credit, he has cut ties with the firm, Research 2000, and renounces any blog posts using their results. This is a BFD of Biden-esque proportions, because the difference of just a few percentage points on a poll, especially one that's been finely sliced and diced into subcategories, can have a big effect on perceptions - which can affect elections.

Mandate, Pick One: Unconstitutional or Unenforceable

Jed Lewison, from DailyKos, writes:

First, the health care bill does not give IRS employees any power to enforce the mandate -- there will be no audits, no IRS agents, not even any penalties.

Daily Kos, of course, wants to view this in only the best way possible: The mandate is so constitutional you can't scare up a law professor to take the other side, they say. And it won't lead to more IRS hiring, no sir, because it won't be enforced.

If the mandate can't be enforced, then it won't be followed. And that means that healthy people can drop out of insurance at no risk to themselves. If they get sick, they can buy insurance then, and be guaranteed coverage because pre-existing conditions must be covered under the health reform bill.

If what Lewison says is true, then it really doesn't matter if the mandate is declared unconstitutional. The bill is already a failure.

The Great Freak-Out Freak-Out

Kos himself freaks out about Kathryn Jean Lopez tweeting the following:

there are bigger fish to fry but the president's leg on the oval office desk is a jarringly perfect image of this administration's approach

Kos' understated, non-freaking-out response:

How is that jarring, other than the wingnuts still can't get over the fact that Obama gets to sit in the Oval Office?... Just when you think the fringe right has reached peak idiocy, they always manage to top themselves.

I guess Kos doesn't understand about symbolism, which was KJL's point. He also hasn't learned that this thin-skinned response to every mild criticism of his guys is not attractive. KJL offers a mildly critical observation; Kos responds with a hand grenade. But it's the right that are the wingnuts. Got it.

Poll Shenanigans

It's endlessly amusing to read Daily Kos' interpretation of poll results. And we're in for a treat this year, because according to Kos himself, they will be buying thousands of polls this year. So there will be plenty to interpret.

The latest laugher is this one, which breaks down like this:

In general, would you say that President Obama's views and proposed programs for the country are too liberal, not liberal enough, or just about right for the country?

Not liberal enough 10%
Just about right 42%
Too liberal 46%

Kos' interpretation is that this means a 52-46 majority that thinks Obama is either OK or needs to lean left.

Hopefully, the problem with this analysis is obvious, but if not I'll spell it out: I could use the exact same logic to argue that an 88-10 majority thinks Obama is either OK or needs to lean right.

DNC Losing It

This just in from the Democratic National Committee (via Daily Kos):

The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists — the Taliban and Hamas this morning — in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize. Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize — an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride — unless of course you are the Republican Party. The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore – it's an embarrassing label to claim.

This is standard fare on the over-the-top hate-fest that is Daily Kos. But for some reason I expected better from the DNC. Guess I learned my lesson today. If nothing else, we have certainly learned that while it is unacceptable to question someone's patriotism for, say, opposing funding combat troops in an active war zone, it is perfectly OK to do so for questioning the propriety of winning a Nobel Peace Prize after ten days as President.

Something to remember the next time you hear Kos - or any other liberal - complaining how the DNC pulls its punches.