Uh-oh. I have drawn the ire of bloggers on Daily Kos after my appearance on The O’Reilly Factor last night. Daily Kos diarists are up in arms that I was critical of their beloved website. Interesting. I think most people would prefer my brand of constructive criticism vs. Daily Kos’ vitriol.

The founder of Daily Kos, Markos "Kos" Moulitsas’ statement:

• He has "enmity" towards Senator Clinton. (Fancy way of saying deep seated hatred or hostility)
• He calls Senator Clinton’s voters, "low-information Democratic voters…" (Code-speak for "stupid")
• He refers to the millions of Democrats who voted for Senator Clinton in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island as a "shrinking band of paranoid holdouts" (Offensive and mathematically incorrect)
• He accuses Clinton of trying to ignite a Civil War within the Democratic Party (irresponsible and divisive)

They are mad at me for appearing on The O’Reilly Factor. Yeah, I went on O’Reilly and expressed my personal feelings of distaste towards comments I find to be offensive, threatening, divisive, and have no place in Democratic politics. Though I disagree with O’Reilly likening Daily Kos to the devil, I am happy to appear on the most-watched program on cable news and express my support for Senator Clinton. Because contrary to what the Daily Kos diarists may believe, not all Democratic and Independent voters sit in front of a computer all day and get their news from the blogosphere. The truth is many of them come home from a long day of hard work and sit down to hear what Bill O’Reilly has to say.

Don’t Kos and his blogger posse understand that progressives need these voters to win in November? Instead of arrogantly dismissing their intelligence and espousing that all Democrats should follow blindly behind whatever he and his merry band of bloggers believe, Kos should reconsider his flawed rationale on the primary to date. On one hand he props up the party activists that are attending caucuses as the end-all-and-be-all of the Democratic electorate, while at the same time trying to downgrade the role of superdelegates to a rubber stamp. So it’s okay to be a grassroots activist and have an opinion, but if you are a super-duper activist and have worked your way into a State Party leadership position or elected office, you must lose your own opinion and trade it in for someone else’s??? And don’t get me started on the disenfranchising nature of caucuses that exclude hourly workers, nurses, waitresses, senior-citizens and countless others who don’t have four hours to spare…

This ain’t North vs South, and there ain’t gonna be no Civil War. I may be in the minority here, but I am pretty confident I am right. The heated contest between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama has been good for the Democratic Party. It has produced record turnout and monopolized media coverage away from John McCain. The fear-mongering talk of Civil War within our Party is rubbish. It’s a scare tactic to try and persuade superdelegates to cave for Obama. Regardless of whoever gets the nomination, we will be a united Party come November. Come to think of it, Senator Clinton has stated this unequivocally many times while Senator Obama has said in press conferences that he was not sure his supporters would unite behind Senator Clinton. Coupled with Michelle Obama’s wavering on the question on whether she would support Senator Clinton if she wins the nomination, it calls into question which campaign is more comfortable with a split in the Party…but I digress.

I do not consider myself a "real" blogger, but I have praised the role of citizen journalists in countless speeches and interviews. Bloggers have brought a much needed fresh perspective and truth to political reporting. I also have a lot of respect for Kos and his service to our country while in the Army. Deep down, I don’t believe Kos hates Senator Clinton. And I really hope that he doesn’t honestly think that millions of Clinton supporters are dumb and stupid. I know for a fact that Kos wants a Democrat in the White House. So my advice – reign in your posse, Kos. Educate them on the real facts of presidential politics and what it will take to actually win the general election. While you’re at it, try informing the netroots that supporting a candidate you believe in should not include insults, name-calling, and threats. At the end of the day, we all have the same objective.