CIA Contacts Discredit Marcos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga (MAMZ)

Cross-posted at "The Truth About Kos Blog."

The key to discrediting Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga (MAMZ) is to make the media and the public more aware of his Central Intelligence Agency contacts. Although these contacts are discrediting MAMZ on the political Left, MAMZ no longer needs the Left, because his business model has been implemented. MAMZ's business model was always to use the Left and our issues to get hits and then use these hits to sell ads. That is working. It also seems likely that, like William F. Buckley did, he has an ongoing remunerative relationship with the CIA after his CIA training. Buckley said,

"For 50 years," he recently told me, "I never talked about what I did in the CIA because I had pledged not to. Salon.Com

It's not really that important politically that MAMZ is making money. A lot of people are making money. But it is VERY important if he continues to be seen as part of the Left and continues influencing our politics, perhaps on behalf of those who once trained him to do so.

Also, highlighting the hypocrisy of MAMZ ad-taking behavior -- the hypocrisy of his "progressive" venal, mercenary capitalism is another good way to discredit him among the few who still take him seriously. What we really need to target is his relationship with the mainstream media, so that he can never again go on television or to the Washington Post and say he represents progressives like us.

That's why MAMZ has to be discredited to the point where no one will take him seriously as a member of the Democratic Party. Once we make him a Republican again, then he is just another CIA-loving virulently homophobic capitalist oligarchy First Amendment hating "states' rights" reactionary asshole.

The Indictment of Markos C.A. Moulitsas ZÚÑIGA by Justice and History (Updated with Additional Information and Counts)

If we all continue to write about his CIA contacts, then it will be impossible for the mainstream media to write about MAMZ during the 2008 election cycle without mentioning the fact that he was at the CIA for as much as two years. Then Democrat who isn't part of the Townhouse Group will feel obliged to listen to a word he says. This is already beginning to happen, reporters people who interview him ask about his time at the CIA and find his answers laughable and ridiculous. Radar Online Magazine Questions MAMZ's CIA Connections and Resulting Conflicts of Interest MAMZ's CIA History Becomes Mainstream News

When it becomes clear that people on the Left no longer trust, believe in or follow MAMZ, then his access in Washington and in state capitals will end, because politicians are already sick and tired of his antics.

So, just keep writing about MAMZ's CIA contacts in as many places as possible, and this will eventually catalyze the end of MAMZ as a Democratic political force.

MAMZ is trying to build a lucrative media empire and he may be successful at that, perhaps with the help of his contacts and contracts (?) with the CIA. But, that only matters politically if we continue to let him be perceived as influential on the Left.

Again, if we all keep talking about his CIA contacts, it will become impossible for the press to write those fawning articles in which he pretends to be a "progressive" leftist leader. That'll turn off his spigot.

Also, please feel free to make liberal use of the Truth About Kos Blog, which is a repository of facts and opinion about MAMZ. Much of the information and damning facts already known about MAMZ can be easily searched there by using the blogger search bar and key word searches. In fact, over sixty blogs have cited the Truth About Kos when reporting negative facts about MAMZ, and this is helping to make it impossible for the MSM to ignore these facts. (Please don't accept anything you find there as "true" just because I said it. Instead, read the sources cited for yourselves and cite these sources in your writings about MAMZ.) The more voices there are saying that MAMZ is NOT "progressive," the less anyone will take him seriously anywhere.

Finally, there are still some gaping holes in our knowledge about MAMZ: What is the name of the MAMZ uncle who was an education minister in El Salvador, and what [reactionary and brutal(?)] government did he participate in? What is MAMZ's familial relationship to Carlos Alberto Delgado Zuniga and why has MAMZ never, ever publicly acknowledged the name of even one member of his biological family?

Radar Online Magazine Questions MAMZ's CIA Connections and Resulting Conflicts of Interest

Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga (MAMZ's) CIA connections, and his resulting conflicts of interest, are beginning to become more widely known. And few people are willing to look on MAMZ's year at the CIA as favorably as the MAMZ minions do. Look at this interview from Radar Online, for example:

I found this surprising: You almost joined the CIA as a covert operative a few years ago, after starting Daily Kos. Did you apply for a job or were you recruited?

I applied. I also applied at the State Department, but only the CIA showed interest. I was underemployed, and I didn't have very good job opportunities at the time. It was something that seemed to be up my alley. I'm interested in politics, I'm interested in foreign relations, I'm interested in analyzing stuff and writing about it. The interviewing process took a year, between security checks and all sorts of psych evaluations and drug tests.

Do you think the Agency's interest in you had anything to do with the fact that you were becoming influential in liberal politics?

I wasn't then. This was late 2002 and nobody knew I existed. I started blogging in early 2002, and it was around that summer, probably, that I applied. I don't think they knew about Daily Kos until I disclosed it. Part of my extracurricular activities and whatnot. Radar Online

Also interesting from the interview in terms of MAMZ lack of bona fides as a "progressive":

Do you still hold opinions these days that the young Republican Kos would endorse?
I'm a free-trader. I believe in minimal regulation for small businesses. I like to make a lot of money.

How are you doing on that front?
I could always do better. I'm definitely a capitalist. Radar Online

How many progressives would describe themselves that way? It seems to me that this is precisely the character type that we would have called a "square" "running dog lackey" of the capitalist system back in the 1960's. This is a description of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce, not thier union-member working-class opponents.

So, when did materialist who believe in business' freedom to pollute rivers ("minimal regulation") and who try to join the CIA suddenly become progressive? In fact, if you admit MAMZ into the progressive club, you have to concede that the entire American political spectrum consists of various variants of amoral and greedy selfish capitalist Republicans. And the name "progressive" is just new window-dressing for an old Republican habit.

Hat Tip to Stu Piddy for this!

Kos & Chevron, Will You Join Us? ***UPDATE 3*** (+)

By: Revisionist at the Political Fleshfeast Blog

Everyone has seen it and marveled at the disconnect between progressive ideas and taking money from a evil petrocorp. Its been rationalized and poo-poo'ed. I saw the ad myself just a couple of days ago. In the past week it has taken on a new significance as the situation in Burma has gone from bad to worse. It is especially significant today since this is International Blogger's Day for Burma.

Several kosnics have brought it up the past week. And the usual suspects just say something sarcastic about how this has "been discussed before" so shut your fucking pie hole and don't let the door hit you on your way out.

here we go again. . . (31+ / 0-) Recommended by: taylormattt, Elise, citizenx, trashablanca, MBNYC, GoldnI, , TomP, by andgarden on Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 11:14:51 AM PDT

Revisionist :: Kos & Chevron, Will You Join Us? ***UPDATE 3***

The Kos junta can not be moved by the pleas of of the people in the people-powered movement. But the greater blogosphere is a buzz with Anti-Chevron fervor

Amy Goodman poked a stick in their eye

The image was stunning: tens of thousands of saffron-robed Buddhist monks marching through the streets of Rangoon [also known as Yangon], protesting the military dictatorship of Burma. The monks marched in front of the home of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was seen weeping and praying quietly as they passed. She hadn’t been seen for years. The democratically elected leader of Burma, Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since 2003. She is considered the Nelson Mandela of Burma, the Southeast Asian nation renamed Myanmar by the regime. After almost two weeks of protest, the monks have disappeared. The monasteries have been emptied. One report says thousands of monks are imprisoned in the north of the country. No one believes that this is the end of the protests, dubbed “The Saffron Revolution.” Nor do they believe the official body count of 10 dead. The trickle of video, photos and oral accounts of the violence that leaked out on Burma’s cellular phone and Internet lines has been largely stifled by government censorship. Still, gruesome images of murdered monks and other activists and accounts of executions make it out to the global public. At the time of this writing, several unconfirmed accounts of prisoners being burned alive have been posted to Burma-solidarity Web sites. The Bush administration is making headlines with its strong language against the Burmese regime. President Bush declared increased sanctions in his U.N. General Assembly speech. First lady Laura Bush has come out with perhaps the strongest statements. Explaining that she has a cousin who is a Burma activist, Laura Bush said, “The deplorable acts of violence being perpetrated against Buddhist monks and peaceful Burmese demonstrators shame the military regime.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said, “The United States is determined to keep an international focus on the travesty that is taking place.” Keeping an international focus is essential, but should not distract from one of the most powerful supporters of the junta, one that is much closer to home. Rice knows it well: Chevron. Fueling the military junta that has ruled for decades are Burma’s natural gas reserves, controlled by the Burmese regime in partnership with the U.S. multinational oil giant Chevron, the French oil company Total and a Thai oil firm. Offshore natural gas facilities deliver their extracted gas to Thailand through Burma’s Yadana pipeline. The pipeline was built with slave labor, forced into servitude by the Burmese military. The original pipeline partner, Unocal, was sued by EarthRights International for the use of slave labor. As soon as the suit was settled out of court, Chevron bought Unocal. Chevron’s role in propping up the brutal regime in Burma is clear. According to Marco Simons, U.S. legal director at EarthRights International: “Sanctions haven’t worked because gas is the lifeline of the regime. Before Yadana went online, Burma’s regime was facing severe shortages of currency. It’s really Yadana and gas projects that kept the military regime afloat to buy arms and ammunition and pay its soldiers.” The U.S. government has had sanctions in place against Burma since 1997. A loophole exists, though, for companies grandfathered in. Unocal’s exemption from the Burma sanctions has been passed on to its new owner, Chevron. Rice served on the Chevron board of directors for a decade. She even had a Chevron oil tanker named after her. While she served on the board, Chevron was sued for involvement in the killing of nonviolent protesters in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Like the Burmese, Nigerians suffer political repression and pollution where oil and gas are extracted and they live in dire poverty. The protests in Burma were actually triggered by a government-imposed increase in fuel prices. Human-rights groups around the world have called for a global day of action on Saturday, Oct. 6, in solidarity with the people of Burma. Like the brave activists and citizen journalists sending news and photos out of the country, the organizers of the Oct. 6 protest are using the Internet to pull together what will probably be the largest demonstration ever in support of Burma. Among the demands are calls for companies to stop doing business with Burma’s brutal regime.

EarthRights continues to pound Chevron

The protests began on August 19th, when the military’s decision to sharply increase the price of natural gas and other fuels sent shockwaves through the economy. The military has recently responded with violence, killing at least several protestors (including monks) and arresting hundreds more. But the oil and gas corporations themselves, who are partnered with the military government in gas export projects, have shown no sign of trying to prevent further bloodshed. Instead, Daewoo International and the Thai gas company PTTEP initially announced plans to export more of Burma’s natural gas, and on September 25 PTTEP issued a statement assuring the public that their investment was not jeopardized by the unrest. A third company, India’s ONGC Videsh, along with India’s Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, traveled to Burma amidst the protests to sign three new deals to extract and export natural gas. And Chevron Corporation, the largest remaining U.S. company in Burma, has simply remained silent. “The corporations who can influence the military junta know who they are. They must pressure the regime to maintain peace, and respect the rights to speech and association of the people of Burma. Instead, however, they are pursuing their business interests while people’s lives are at stake,” added Chana Maung, Director of ERI Southeast Asia. “The regime has resorted to violence against the peaceful protestors, and the companies now also have blood on their hands, but it is not too late for them to act.” According to ERI Burma Program Coordinator Naing Htoo, “Whether they like it or not, the companies are not socially or politically neutral in the current unrest in Burma. They say that their presence in Burma helps, not hurts, our people. It’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is.” For example, Chevron, through its takeover of Unocal, is a partner with the junta in the notorious Yadana natural gas pipeline project. Unocal's construction of that project involved mass forced labor and other human rights abuses, committed by the army on Unocal's behalf. Moreover, Chevron Corporation is one of the largest foreign investors in Burma. Their Yadana project funnels tens of millions of dollars to the regime, money the military desperately needs to retain its stranglehold on power. Despite Chevron's material support for the regime, and direct complicity in extensive human rights abuses, Chevron claims that it can play a positive role in contributing to the protection of human rights. Empty rhetoric is not a substitute for action, however, and now is the time for action. Given Unocal/Chevron's shameful behavior thus far, Chevron owes the people of Burma a moral obligation to immediately use its influence with the regime to help prevent the mass slaughter of peaceful protestors.

Other bloggers are joining in. Here is what was on the Huffington Post - The most widely read lefty blog had to say on the ads and the Burma situation.

Chevron's green wash of an ad campaign could shape its global policy. My colleague, Judy Dugan, at OilWatchdog.org makes a great argument in calling on Chevron CEO David O'Reilly to "immediately sever Chevron's ties to Myanmar's brutal government and personally speak out against its violent suppression of peaceful protest." Judy really socks it to O'Reilly on the hypocrisy front. Her letter: "Dear Mr. O'Reilly, "Chevron's lavish new image-advertising campaign makes your 65,000 employees look like the Peace Corps, sowing harmony and good feeling across the world. Yet as you well know, the smiling families, poets and sports coaches shown in your 2.5-minute debut television ad, "Human Energy," don't make corporate policy. "Chevron's continued lucrative investment in the natural gas fields of Myanmar fuels a despotic regime that has focused its "human energy" on violently suppressing its citizens -- including the murder of Buddhist monks and the apparent point-blank killing of a Japanese news photographer. "You could have divested the Myanmar fields when Chevron bought their operator, Unocal, in 2005. Chevron said last year that it was considering such action, but failed to take it. "You and your corporation have been silent as Myanmar troops fired on democracy proponents, beat them and incarcerated them. You have been silent about the continued imprisonment and intimidation of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose overwhelming 1990 election to lead the nation was overturned by force. "Your ad campaign, which a Chevron official said would cost 'in the high tens of millions' of dollars, portrays a company that deeply cares about the world and its future. Given your investment in Myanmar alone, that is a gauzy, gorgeous lie. "We urge you to immediately sever Chevron's ties to Myanmar's brutal government and personally speak out against its violent suppression of peaceful protest." Now let's see if Chevron finds any truth in its advertising.

Human Energy. Is that like people-powered? Even Kos sister Firedoglake nipped at Chevron

Brave bloggers and their friends outside Burma are trying to keep information flowing to the outside world. Firepup Bob in HI sent me a set of great links he found in the WSJ - including Mizzima News, Irawaddy News which reminds us of the international oil companies including Chevron still doing business in Burma, and Democratic Voice of Burma.

Many Blogs will be staging more protests in the upcoming days. Docudharma is onboard too. Kisses Budda CORRECTION: Buhdy and DocuDharma just support posting images and not doing much else. They fully support Kos running the ad

CALL TO ACTION!

We will be holding the CHEVRON PROTEST through FAX and PHONE calls on TUESDAY October 9th from 1:00pm-3:00pm Pacific Time (9:00pm-11pm GMT).

Chevron pays millions of dollars in oil and gas royalties to the current military junta. We will demand that they put these royalties in escrow for the legitimate, elected government of Burma headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. These monies are being pocketed by the military leaders - it is not their money.

Below is the contact info for each Chevron office throughout the world.

Will Kos just stop running the Chevron ad once and for all. Or at least run this as well?

But we all know when it comes to MAMZ, its all about the money.

SHAME, SHAME on you MAMZ.

*** UPDATE ****

Kos blinks. Sort of. Bending to the Pressure HERE and by a brave martyr at DocuDharma they sent out Meteor Blades since he is their Trojan caring liberal to post on Burma. Day is nearly over but still its something. NO OFFICIAL WORD THE AD HAS BEEN DROPPED. Or for that matter that they even have the ad. I found Meteor's post ironically funny. Once again special thanks to Big Tent Dharmacrat for building a fire under the poseurs. Had Budhy joined in the boycott maybe they would have trotted out MB sooner.

*** UPDATE 2****

This is NOT a photoshop. This is the page I got not one minute ago. Is this supposed to be Kos sticking it to the man? A bad joke? Or just sloppy webmastering. I will leave it to the blogosphere to decide. So very Crass. Will you join us now Buhdy?

*** UPDATE 3****

As of 11:15 AM this morning the ad is STILL running. They just dont care. Or like other petty dicators MAMZ will just keep running it to prove how macho he is. Fuck you dirty hippies.

PRAISE THE MARTYR carlos oaxaca!!

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MAMZ's CIA History Becomes Mainstream News

The Truth About Kos is becoming more well-known and now I can only say, "He who hath ears, let him hear." Here's the biographical statement presented with an interview that MAMZ did with Charlie Rose on August 13, 2007: "Markos Moulitsas Zúniga 34, is the founder and main author of Daily Kos, a weblog focusing on liberal, and Democratic Party politics. After a six month interviewing process at the CIA, Moulitsas founded Daily Kos in May 2002, and the site quickly rose to prominence . . . " Did DailyKos quickly rise to prominence because of support and training from the CIA? That's for the public to decide, but the implication in there.

In any case, The Truth About Kos has been successful in making this detail part of his established resume. Although it might actually make him more credible to some people, at least the Democratic Left can disabuse itself of the notion that he is a "progressive" CIA asset.

In the same interview, MAMZ effectively admits that he's from a Salvadoran oligarchy family when he tells the interviewer,

You know we were lucky, because I was, I was born in the United States and my mother was born when my grandmother was on vacation. She was born early, I believe, so she was an American citizen. So, we were able to come back without any problems. A lot of people don't have that ability. Charlie Rose

That certainly does seem to contradict what he told La Prensa Gráfica: "No tengo dinero. No vengo de familia famosa o poderosa. Era inmigrante en Estados Unidos (...)" Translated: I don't have money. I don't come from a famous or powerful family."

Salvadoran family's that aren't rich certainly don't "vacation" in the United States. They don't have the money to do so. There's simply a lot about which MAMZ is not honest, a lot about which he simply does not tell the truth and too many instances when his own accounts of his biography radically contradict themselves. So, what is he so desperately trying to hide?