Will Netroots Nation Be a White-Out in 2008, Like it was in 2007

I've heard that, in contrast to last year's YearlyKos, this year's Netroots Nation was making a special effort to reach out to diverse parts of the Democratic Party, instead of having a virtually all-white conference again.

"A Diversity of Opinion, if Not Opinionators:
At the Yearly Kos Bloggers' Convention, a Sea of Middle-Aged White Males"

By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 6, 2007; C01

In that article, the conference organizer, Gina Cooper was quoted as saying, "I hate using the word 'diversity.'

Apparently, she also hates using the word "black", because I searched the entire Netroots Nation website and I can't find a single instance of the use of that word to mean that color group of people that makes up 20% of the Democratic Party. I'm not saying the word isn't there somewhere, but check it out for yourself, using the search function, and see if you can find it! See if you can find us

This actually represents a regression relative to 2007, when the word "black" was used once, in a description of Alexis McGill, who "She has written and taught primarily on urban secession, black youth political participation and organizing the hip-hop generation. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University."

So, I searched for the word "African, but every mention of the word "African" is from the 2007 program, with none from 2008.

It seems like instead of trying to address the lack of diversity pointed out by the Washington Post last year, Netroots Nation may have circled the wagons and tried to make the conference even more monochromatic this year then last. Otherwise, why wouldn't they announce any break-out sessions or speakers or participants who are "Black" or "African" American?

Well maybe instead of recruiting Blacks, they're focusing on recruiting Latinos? Well, there are two mentions of the word "Latino" in the database, so maybe they're recruiting non-whites one color at a time.

OK, well now it's time for someone to explain how pseudo-"progressive" only-whites expect to win the 2008 election without input, participation or collaboration from Blacks and Latinos. It must be the progressive "serendipity strategy."

Moulitsas Zúñiga Family Member Sits on Board of Latin American Federation of Associations of Hotels and Restaurants

Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga says he came from a poor family in El Salvador. But not very poor, according to documents publicly available on the Internet. He told the Salvadoran newspaper, La Prensa Gráfica, "No tengo dinero. No vengo de familia famosa o poderosa." (I don't have money. I don't come from a famous or powerful family, he told LaPrensaGráfica.Com.)

However, someone with the last name "Zúñiga", who is also listed in government documents as the "manager" of the Zúñiga's family hotel, also happens to be a director on the board of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Hotels and Restaurants:

ASOCIACION SALVADOREÑA DE HOTELES
ALAMEDA DR. MANUEL ARAUJO, PASAJE CARBONEL CASA 2
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
TELS. (503) 298 3629, 298 1651, 245 4529 FAX 298 3628
PRESIDENTE LIC. CARLOS ALBERTO DELGADO [Zúñiga] CEL. 887 5721 TEL. 225 5286/312
VICEPRESIDENTE LIC. JORGE CASTILLO
e-mail gerencia@jaltepeque.com suitesjaltepeque@telesal.net asocdehoteles@telesal.net

Notice that the e-mail listed for the Carlos Alberto Delgado Zúñiga above is the same as the e-mail for the "family hotel" at which Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga held his honeymoon celebrations, the Hotel Suites Jaltepeque, which is part of the multi-million dollar Club Jewel of the Pacific Group hotel and condominium complex.

Actualmente opera como un hotel pequeño de playa "Hotel Suites Jaltepeque", para el mes de septiembre de 2003, se operará el Club Jaltepeque, Club nunca visto en las costas salvadoreñas, con el "USO DE DIA" exclusivamente para socios. La membresia es nula y demanda una cuota mensual de mantenimiento. Es membresia segmentada. La finalizacion de la primera y segunda etapa será en un término de 24 meses como máximo, se venderán las membresías anualmente y de manera preferencial las primeras a partir del 1o. de agosto de este año. Igualmente se comercializán en la actulaidad acciones de propiedad de la empresa a un precio minimo de compra de $2,500.00 cada una (1,000 en total) de lo que tenemos informacion en nuestra pagina web www.jaltepeque.com y posteriormente personalizada para presentar las bondades de este proyecto completamente innovador en nuestro país. ElSalvador.Com

And the same e-mail is listed for Carlos Alberto Delgado Zúñiga in his capacity as a member of the Central American Federation of Tourism Boards, which is highlighted in the "Regional Industry Profile of the Central American Free Trade Agreement."

The Moulitsas "family hotel" provides oppulent services for its guests. There's lovely blue sail fishing off the coast of El Salvador through the Hotel Suites Jaltepeque!
Imagine! Five days of angling for just seven thousand dollars USD!

I swear! For a guy who who has "no money" and doesn't come from a "famous or powerful family", Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga's family members sure are well connected all over Latin America.

So, why, precisely, has Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga felt the need to dissemble about the wealth and power of his family in El Salvador? Oh, well! I guess we'll find out sooner or later!

Which National Reporter Will Break the Real Story of Markos Moulitsas Zúñiga's' Real Background?

Here is an enormous scoop that has not yet been reported in the national press. The first reporter to simply report the little-known but now well-documented background facts about "Kos" (DailyKos) is going to become a national figure.

The biggest name in the blogosphere is "Kos", AKA Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga. He's hosting a national convention, Netroots Nation (previously known as YearlyKos) on July 17–20 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. This is a good time for the press to at least provide some background information on the man behind the conference.

http://www.netrootsnation.org/agenda-2008?topic=black

He says he came from a poor and family in El Salvador. "No tengo dinero. No vengo de familia famosa o poderosa." (I don't have money. I don't come from a famous or powerful family, he told LaPrensaGráfica.Com.)

Yet, he has never told the press or his supporters the names of the members of his biological familly, perhaps because his real family history is patently inconstent with and tends to discredit everything he has said about himself to his supporters, to the press, to the public and to political officials who are scheduled to speak at this Netroots Nation Conference, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

For example:

His own blog says he celebrated his honeymoon at the family hotel on the Pacific shores of El Salvador. It turns out that this "family hotel" is "Hotel Jewel of the Pacific", a massive hotel and condominim complex where the daily rate for a room is about $300 United States dollars! Is that consistent with coming from a poor Salvadoran family?

Research reveals that a member of his family, the same one listed as "manager of the family hotel", Carlos Alberto Delgado Zúñiga, received a $700,000.00 loan from the United States' Overseas Private Investment Council, for his international Baja Salt Group.

It's not wrong to be rich. But, it's wrong to be rich while consistently presenting oneself as a poor immigrant, particularly when one was actually born in Chicago.

And the same member of his family that received the grant from OPIC is also on the business member board of ANEP, El Salvador's "National Association of Private Corporations", which the CIA has calls "a political pressure group" and which has been associated with the assassination of Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero.

http://www.anep.org.sv/anaso_a.htm

Twenty-seven years ago,

When [Jesuit Fr. Rutilio] Grande was killed, however, [Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo] Romero made an extraordinary decision: The following Sunday there would be only one mass in the entire archdiocese. In order to receive the eucharist, every person would have to come to the cathedral in San Salvador. The oligarchy reacted with alarm. The day after Romero announced the single mass, representatives of ANEP, the national businessmen's association, met with Romero and demanded that the idea be dropped. The church, they said, was stirring up trouble and conflict. Theology Today

And Carlos Alberto Delgado Zúñiga, the same ANEP board member who is the national director of El Salvador's national tourism board, Casatur, and, by his own admission, owns an enormous hotel/condominium complex on the most exclusive ocean front land in El Salvador, is the "manager" of Moulitsas ZÚÑIGA´s "family hotel" and shares his last name, as well as a startling family resemblance.

Presidente : Lic. Carlos Alberto Delgado Z.
Director Ejecutivo: Lic. Ena López
Teléfono y Fax : 2223-9775
Correo electrónico: casatur@telesal.net
Página web: www.casatur.com
Dirección: Carretera a Santa Tecla, Pasaje Carbonel contiguo al edificio Carbonel Nº 2.

http://www.anep.org.sv/anaso_a.htm
http://www.joyadelpacifico.com/

He also owns an international salt corporation, Baja Salt Group, that exports table and industrial salt to "Japón, Corea, Taiwán, Nueva Zelanda, Centro y Sudamérica y en la costa este y oeste de Norteamérica."

Although some fifty blogs have reported these facts, Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga has never denied any of them, and has confirmed some researched facts, such as that he spent his youth as a Republican campaign operative and vehemently opposed ALL gay service in the military back in 1993.

With Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zúñiga hosting a national bloggers' conference in Austin, Texas, with Nancy Pelosi as one of the speakers, I think these are all facts the the public needs to know and would find very interesting. And I can provide MUCH MORE information to fill in any gaps and satisfy editors, based on published government records, newspaper reports, etc.

Again, the reporter who writes this story first will become nationally know because of the high profile of Mr. Moulitsas and his Netroots Nation conference in Austin.

I'll call you this week to talk about this some more.