The Left's Unethical Abuse Of The Blog Format

I've mapped this for so many stories it's old for me and, I imagine, many bloggers. But it's always worth exposing how the Left uses its blog infrastructure in an unethical manner.

The Washington Monthly:

A SHAKY STORY STARTS TO LOOK WORSE.... The rationale for Sarah Palin's resignation has never made sense, but it seems even less clear now.

There's nothing shaky about it, except for the usual liberal tactic. I dealt with it yesterday here. TPM, The Plum Line and others put out shaky non-stories and the Left blog infrastructure keeps putting it up somewhere else day after day.

Often they'll get MSNBC, or some lazy journalists to bite. That, or the alleged buzz in and of itself becomes the news as a means of giving a non-story legs.

There is no buzz. There is no story. But the Left's blog infrastructure never lets the facts get in the way of a talking point they want to push. It's actually one of the most unethical and egregious abuses of the form that there is. But they apparently don't respect that very much either. It is not beneficial for the form at all. It's one of the things that gives blogging a bad name as untrustworthy. And they're paid to do it.

Comments

[SpeakEasy]

Alinsky Tactics 101. Truth does not matter. And that is why journalism (traditional) is all but dead.

[Globetrotter]

They also besmirch blogging by putting out bogus rumors as fact and pushing them into the mainstream. Such as people being under investigation and about to be indicted or questioning of birth ect. They give blogging a bad name and so many of their bogus stories have blown up it's no wonder elite media turns their noses up.

[Slide]

"They also besmirch blogging by putting out bogus rumors as fact and pushing them into the mainstream"...

Yeah, exactly. Like when they put out the story that Obama isn't a citizen.. crazy stuff like that and. . .wait...sorry, that wasn't the scummy lefties that did that. Nevermind

[Globetrotter]

Slide\

I was thinking more of the lefty that pushed the Whitey Tape, or the Fake TANG memo.

[Good Lt.]

> Like when they put out the story that Obama isn't a citizen.. crazy stuff like that and. . .wait...sorry, that wasn't the scummy lefties that did that. Nevermind

Can you cite a major rightwing blog that buys into that claim, or are you just referring to fringe nutjobs barking at the moon like Andrew Sullivan does about Trig Palin not being Sarah Palin's child?

And also, can you cite a single quote from a GOP politician or Bush or Cheney "questioning the patriotism" of anybody? A direct quote only will suffice - you utterly failed to produce any support for that claim either.

[O!]

The Obama birth certificate rumors originated on the PUMA blogs. So, yeah, another fever swamp conspiracy theory started by the "scummy lefties."

[Slide]

National Review Online major enough for you?

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzgwMzU5MzFkNThkOWVlMjJjNjA3YjJlMGM0NTAzOWU=

Tom Delay, who was majority leader of the House I believe directly questions the patriotism of Democrats. Below is a link to the entire article but here are the last couple paragraphs. Please note the very last line:

"So go ahead and apologize, if you're really sorry, but the question begs: Sorry for what? For liberating 25 million people? For removing a tyrannical psychopath from the world stage? For ending a verified weapons of mass destruction program? For fighting the war against terror? Or are you really just sorry that you're saddled with the consequences of an insincere vote in the first place?

With such men and women leading Congress, the United States would have surrendered the Revolutionary War after New York, the Civil War after Bull Run, World War II after Kasserine Pass and the Cold War after Vietnam (come to think of it, that's exactly what they did propose).

Now there's something to apologize for. And yes, I am questioning their patriotism."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/2984.html

[Troll Hunter]

Hey, Preparation "S", yeah, exactly. Like when they put out the story that Obama isn't a citizen.. crazy stuff like that and. . .wait...sorry, that [WAS HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN THAT RAISED THE ISSUE OF THE MISSING BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND THE TRIP TO PAKISTAN ON AN INDONESIAN PASSPORT.] Nevermind.

[Sam the Plumber]

I actually think this post by Benen makes some good points, and perhaps we all took Palin at her word a little too much in the first place regarding the ethics canard.

I think it's important that people know that the $2 million number being floated would have been paid out complaints or no complaints. One can still argue this is waste, but the impression we all got from Palin originally was that this was something extra being paid by Alaskans.

Pointing out that Palin is complaining about the very ethics laws she championed is also salient. In a state where there have always been ethics issues, would it really be any different were it someone other than Palin as governor? Isn't this the cost of greater transparency?

Great article by Benen. Still don't know what you complaint is.

[daniel mcgrath]

you guys pioneered theecho chamber techniques. It's your own petard. Now swing quietly.

[North Dallas Thirty]

"In a state where there have always been ethics issues, would it really be any different were it someone other than Palin as governor?"

Yes.

Because the DNC and its paid bloggers were filing ethics complaint after ethics complaint in an attempt to personally bankrupt Sarah Palin.

Indeed, Obama Party members in Alaska have been knee-deep in corruption, and yet not a word has come from these defenders of governmental ethics.

Sarah Palin made the mistake of thinking that Obama Party members would not abuse ethics laws in an attempt to attack her personally. She thought they had respect for the purpose and spirit of these laws. She gave them entirely too much credit.

The hilarious part is that the Obama Party, which has systematically blocked every attempt to enforce ethics laws against its own tax-cheating members like Rangel and Stark, is now attacking people using them. It goes to the complete lack of values, morals, or principles that are at the core of the Party. Indeed, we should have expected that given that Obama himself broke privacy laws by ordering his paid campaign workers in Ohio government to release Joe the Plumber's tax records.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Also, why did Barack Obama pay bloggers and journalists in Alaska to spread the word that Sarah Palin was under FBI investigation, when it in fact was not true?

[mark l.]

"you guys pioneered theecho chamber techniques."

nihil novum sub sole.
(there is nothing new under the sun)

[Globetrotter]

For someone inconsequential and DOA the left is sure spending an inordinate amount of time obsessing over her. The panic as Obama tanks is palatable.

[O!]

From Slide's NRO link: "Meanwhile, Philip J. Berg, a former Deputy AG of Pennsylvania and a professed Hillary supporter, filed a lawsuit claiming Obama is not constitutionally eligible to be president"

So yeah, as I pointed out earlier, the birther conspiracy theory came out of the "scummy lefties" in the Hillary camp.

Thanks for confirming it, Slide!

[Reaganite Republican]

Steer the topic. Change the subject. Deflect and divert.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that there are organized trolls attempting to hijack and control all internet debate and field a wall of pro-Obama blogs to maintain momentum for The One as he rams-through an ultra-liberal agenda while also focused on 2010/2012. They've got official DNC bloggers working off the same list in every state, and it seems barnacles attached to every message board like Politico or Topix.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe has admitted that there is such a web-based effort in support of Obama... he runs it... and it's funded by the DNC:

"David Plouffe, who ran Obama's campaign, now runs "Organizing for America" out of the Democratic National Committee. It uses the same Web-based tactics that won the presidency to mobilize public opinion behind Obama's initiatives."

But employing such a manipulation on blogs and message-boards serepticiously is really not clever, slick, or anything to be proud of... rather, it's underhanded, cowardly, and ethically dubious.

If Obama's wisdom and moral supremacy are so self-evident, then why such fear of an open discussion of the issues?

http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/

[SacTownMan]

RR,

The Astroturfing from the left is laughable in it's tactics.

These airheaded trolls show up here like this latest hack Slime. He and the troll regulars like Lame-O spew their Soros talking points ad nasium. When pressed they link leftist sites like Salon, The Atlantic, Huffington and Daily Koz thinking that the rational folk on the right would buy into their BS!

Never linking unless pushed and using the SAME points as their other moonbat buddies they seem to think that if they say something time after time it makes it true!

The problem is most of these asshats are twenty something know-it-alls like CoNar that try and act like they actually KNOW something about the world. The reality is they sucked off of their parents teet to get their BA in some half-assed liberal arts degree and base their experience on rags like Daily Koz / Huffington.

Carry on patriots!!

[Slide]

Hey sackman you say, "The problem is most of these asshats are twenty something know-it-alls like CoNar that try and act like they actually KNOW something about the world"

If you are talking about me, I'll let you know I'm in my mid 50's, retired law enforcement officer, been all over the world, and probably have forgotten more than you know. But nice try anyway.

[Slide]

this, "It is hard to avoid the conclusion that there are organized trolls attempting to hijack and control all internet debate and field a wall of pro-Obama blogs to maintain momentum for The One "

reminds me of the Will Rogers quote, "I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat"

I'm confused why you think Obama has the need to pay anyone to proffer their viewpoint? There are quite a few of us that were disgusted with the last eight years of greed, deceit, cronyism, lawlessness, and stunning incompetence that represented Republican rule and we will never be quiet. We will call you on your lies, demonstrate your hypocrisy, highlight your selfish greed and otherwise be in your face. I am quite happy to do it for free.

[xerocky]

"There are quite a few of us that were disgusted with the last eight years of greed, deceit, cronyism, lawlessness, and stunning incompetence that represented Republican rule and we will never be quiet. We will call you on your lies, demonstrate your hypocrisy, highlight your selfish greed and otherwise be in your face. I am quite happy to do it for free."

Ok Slide, I'll buy that. Are you also pissed off that Obama fired Walpin the way that he did? Are you pissed off at Kevin Johnson? Can you see how the stimulus money is mostly going toward Obama country? Can you see the potential for massive abuse therein? Are you going to be just as mad at that?

Why is Fank Raines not taken to task by the left? Because let's face it, they're a bunch of no good partisan hacks as well. The fact that you do it for free just means that you have time on your hands.