It all started when Fox News bloviator Bill O’Reilly claimed Daily Kos is a hate site, and that therefore, Jet Blue should pull out as a corporate sponsor of the Yearly Kos convention in Chicago, next week. Jet Blue’s contribution was in the form of in kind donation of tickets for some speakers, so they couldn’t take those back, but they did ask YK to remove their logo from the web site and conference materials. On July 16, O’Reilly said Daily Kos is “hate of the worst order.”

Well, bloviator Bill has kept up the drumbeat. So far he has compared Daily Kos to David Duke; the KKK, Benito Mussolini, Nazis and Al Capone. It is difficult to think of anyone on national television lower than Bill O’Reilly.

Well the blogosphere is fighting back and contacting O’Reilly’s advertisers about the poor standards of his program; notably the despicable lies he tells. So far, Lowe’s, the big home improvement store chain, of which there are a number here in MA, has pulled its ads — but competitor Home Depot remains an advertiser. As Markos says, two can play at this game. Click on the link for info on O’Reilly advertisers, and Fox advertisers in general

Now, the Associated Press reports that a coalition of groups is ramping-up a campaign to pressure Fox advertisers.

MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America’s Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking thousands of supporters to monitor who is advertising on the network. Once a database is gathered, an organized phone-calling campaign will begin, said Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New Films, a company that has made anti-Fox videos…

Home Depot has not had an unusual number of calls, said spokesman Jerry Shields, and the home improvement chain will not change its advertising strategy.

”We’re not in the business of censoring media,” Shields said. ”We need to reach our customer base through all mediums available.”

Groups like the Sierra Club have targeted Home Depot because they believe it’s inconsistent for the company to promote environmentally friendly products while advertising on a network that has questioned global warming.

It looks like Home Depot may be in for some surprises.