My Response To The Daily Caller's Payola Allegations

May as well tell the whole story around this weak BS from the Daily Caller as regards me.  Yeah, I guess I kinda did set them up a bit. But I got pissed when I heard Strong was insinuating my name into a payola story without having contacted me. So, I figured, what the hell. Maybe they have a personal venetta, as I led the fight against their silly RNC strip club story. Hmm.

True stories of bloggers who secretly feed on partisan cash

Dan Riehl, who writes the Riehl World View blog, is one of Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele’s most vocal defenders in the conservative blogosphere. When The Daily Caller reported the RNC spent $1,946 at a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex acts, Riehl blasted the piece as a “pathetically weak story tailored to play to the Left and create problems for the GOP.”

“Riehl World View” readers might be interested to know that Riehl is not simply a blogger, but also a paid consultant to the RNC. In an interview, Riehl said he was paid an amount in the “hundreds of dollars” for writing a strategy document on how the RNC could better reach out to bloggers. Riehl said his motivation for defending Steele was to aid the Republican Party, and that he didn’t disclose his consulting work because, “I didn’t see it as having anything to do with my views.”

“I never made enough money to be bought,” he said.

Riehl has made it a goal to mobilize conservative benefactors and organizers to establish a funding infrastructure mimicking what the liberal “netroots” created during the Bush years. “They did it the smart way,” Riehl says.

I don't have an LLC, btw. Why Strong asked other people that question, but did not ask me when I called his offices, forcing him to talk to me when I did, I've no idea. I heard he wasn't too thrilled about that, btw.

It was not a secret that the RNC paid me a few hundred bucks for a document.

I devoted hours and hours of my own time over a period of months trying to coordinate an effort involving many top bloggers and the RNC to improve communications and legal, legitimate cooperation in a partisan sense. I stress that, as it was the RNC that made me aware of certain FEC restrictions, which we were careful to not violate. That's why money wasn't involved. I made phone calls, took meetings, paid Metro and lunch costs, all out of my own pocket because I am dedicated to improving the blogosphere in an ethical manner - as well as winning politically for Republicans at the ballot box. I won't name which top bloggers were involved, but there are many that could vouch for these facts if they wanted to. If they want to stay out of it, that's fine, too.

If I had done it as a consultant, I'd likely have charged in the tens of thousands of dollars. I didn't. When all was said and done, the RNC asked me to write up a concise document based on the knowledge that was discovered from the process. It's called knowledge transfer, actually. I promptly disclosed to all involved bloggers that I had a chance to make a few hundred bucks for doing that, and only that - and I was taking it, if there were no objections. If they had any objections, none were conveyed to me at the time. So, see, it never really was a secret. It was so insignificant, especially in light of the many, many hours of non-paid, volunteer work I had done in the effort, it never even occurred to me to disclose it on my blog. It was simply insignificant as compared to the larger non-paid effort.

As a consultant, I would have billed a few thousand dollars for the document. DC consultants are notoriously over-paid. Instead, I charged a few hundred, mostly it was as a token of appreciation, really. And guess what, the Daily Caller's silly strip club story killed all that work. The RNC pulled in on itself, staff changes were made - and, so far as I know, the document I did designed to help the blogosphere and RNC relationship as a whole, simply got shelved. And, by the way, the out of pocket expenses some struggling bloggers paid on their own for calls, or a meeting, that all went down the drain, too.

Heckuva job, Tucker, heckuva job, you clueless idiot. And now everyone knows why I was so pissed and fought back so hard at the time. It never was about Steele, money and, or for, me, it was about helping all struggling, unpaid, Indie blogs and bloggers, each and everyone.

Now, here is my question for the Daily Caller. If I'm lucky, I made 10 - 12 grand as a blogger last year after walking away from a six figure career to help build new media and work to take the country back for conservatism. I have to pay taxes on that. I have to worry about how I'm going to pay my rent every month and pay my health care out of pocket these days. On the other hand, Tucker Carlson took millions, gave himself a nice office in DC and does little good partisan journalism for us, while using his editorial page mainly to push an anti-Cap and Trade effort. And that, while attacking the RNC and now a conservative blogger - to bolster DC's rep as a serious media outlet, when I'm not sure it is, perhaps?

Based on multiple sources, Left and Right, there are some very interesting story lines floating around behind the scenes at the Daily Caller. The way new media works, and Carlson knows nothing about that, or much else, imo, we get to ask questions both ways. I've already started to ask some and have gotten some interesting answers.

But, before I proceed, I'd like to know why Carlson is spending millions to attack his alleged own side, instead of doing much of anything serious to help it, as I have done on my own time and dime for years.

Pardon me if I don't wait for a response and get back to the real work of taking America back, instead of whatever game the hood ornament at the Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson, or so I hear, is playing with himself at the Daily Caller these days. I guess they needed a face that looked good on MSNBC, even if he doesn't have a freaking clue about anything substantive, let alone new activist media on the Right-side of the blogopshere.

Straighten your bow-tie, jerk. You look like a fool to me from here.

Comments

[Jeff]

all of this Red on Red action is getting alittle too obvious ... Is Tucker looking to pull a Huffington in the future ?

[David R. Graham]

One wonders whether the money trail supports the premise that Tucker flies under a false flag, is a mole, works for Drummond Pike/the PLA.

Young Conor with one N certainly flies a false flag.

One surmises this is not Red on Red but rather Blue flying Red on Red.

[listingstarboard]

The sensationalism of the RNC story turned my stomach. Whose frigging side are you on Daily Caller? They are nothing but a second rate Daily Kos.

[Chuck]

You might want to put some ice on that Tucker. After you straighten your bow tie that is.

[KillTruck]

I won't pretend I've been around long enough to know the inside baseball of big-time blogging. I'm not sure if being associated with a think tank or organization is that big of a deal. I think if someone's getting money, even in the form of inflated ad rates, from a specific candidate that they're endorsing it should be disclosed.

As far as the Daily Caller not doing enough partisan reporting, that's what I like about them.

[Jeff]

this Daily Caller peice just looks like Huffo and Kos link bait ...

[kdj]

Dan, I hope a lot of other people besides you attack this Daily Caller story. Its attack on the right blogosphere is nothing but conjecture, and damaging to the very people we rely on to keep pushing the country in the direction needed to take it back.

How he can use an un-named source to simply state that half the conservative bloggers out there are on the take (within the first two paragraphs of the post), portraying struggling writers actually making money a tiny bit of money with their blog in as negative a light as possible, and basically continue on treating the unnamed source as fact without need to question?

DC and tucker ripping on the all the guys that don't have their big bucks while Liberal bloggers are paid well by tax-exempt progressive lie tanks is truly sad, and I hope this goes a long way to DC losing whatever credibility with conservatives it had.

The fact that any story this ugly starts with the words "True Stories" is a joke in an of itself. The only time any writer needs to lead his title with "True Stories..." is when he knows his piece is full of crap to begin with.

[salvage]

The RNC pays you for this crap?

Wow.

They are desperate.

[Al Gore (D-Crazed Sex Poodle!)]

Did somebody mention desperate? Did they bring lotion and a hand towel too?

[zaugg]

salvage- I'm sure nobody pays you for anything except the Nanny State and the welfare checks you cash in your mom' basement. STFU.

[FeFe]

I think you eluded some time ago to your work and I assumed you got paid for it. After all, "You get what you paid for" comes to mind. I would think anyone in a position to act would take more store in something they placed a value on than posts in the greater blogosphere for the gadfly web surfer. I had no problem with this assumption as merit should have value. Now if you were a monthly paid shill without disclosure and no partisan adds, that would be a horse of a different color.

As Maryland sinks from the weight of the Professional Left conquest for 50 years, Chairman Steele's new media in his own state is pathetic. However, any effort to change that from inside or out of an organization should be noted with hope for change not couched in suspect crony capitalism gossip. One person already lost their life from Passport Gate (and another a knee?). When will the Daily Caller admit that to be the TMZ of the Washington Beltway does not a presidential library journalist make? When their balloon payment is due?

[syn]

Dear Tucker Carlson, the Amateur Right has nothing compared to your shameful colleagues and friends employed by the Professional Left. Please taek the time to note the difference. For a change.

"What we have is the Amateur Right: a loose amalgamation of free-roaming conservatives and libertarians who engage in political activism in their spare time - and on their own dime."

"The term "Professional Left" denotes a growing industry that specializes in converting other people's money into an ideological product, while making a good living out of it in the process."

http://thepeoplescube.com/current-truth/the-professional-left-vs-the-amateur-right-t5883.html

[Mad Monica, Catty Commenter]

Ye know, this is starting to piss me off. Why the hell are we attacking each other when there are so many lovely targets on the other side????? What a bunch of bullshit. Give 'em hell, Mr. Riehl.

[Not Likely]

Dan Riehl: Hired boot-licker.

[Cold Warrior]

"I am dedicated to improving the blogosphere in an ethical manner - as well as winning politically for Republicans at the ballot box."

Would that more of us conservatives were. Especially the "winning politically for Republicans at the ballot box" part. Actually in the trenches, so to speak, INSIDE the Republican Party locally in our local Party committees as precinct committeemen.

As you may know, on average, in every state, HALF of these slots INSIDE the Party are vacant. Precinct committeemen, and only precinct committeemen, vote in the Party leadership elections. You know, the elections that lead to, ultimately, Michael Steele being elected to the RNC chairmanship. And, you may know, the half of the precinct committeeman slots that are filled are split about 50-50 between conservatives and moderates. Michael Steele's election reflects that.

So, do the math. IF conservatives flocked into the Republican Party in droves to fill up all the precinct committeeman vacancies, THEN that 50-50 split would turn into a 75-25 split in favor of conservatives. AND, as an added benefit, the grass roots strength of the Party would go from half strength to full strength. The Republican Party would become a conservative juggernaut.

The grass roots conservatives in the tea parties and 9.12 groups in Utah figured this out and flocked to the Party caucuses to get elected to be delegates to the Utah nominating convention. Result? Bye-bye, incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett. In Nevada, the grass roots conservatives in Clark County and some of the other counties have flocked into the Party, become precinct committeeman, and have taken over the leadership of the Party. In Maricopa County, AZ, where I live (most populous county within which Phoenix sits), we've gone from 31.8 per cent strength in 2008 in the precinct committeeman ranks to 57.5 per cent strength in 2010 through aggressive recruiting of conservatives who are in the tea parties and other grass roots conservative groups. Those grass roots conservatives are dying to "do something" politically but don't now what to do. We tell them to UNITE POLITICALLY to take over the Republican Party -- it's a pure numbers game and it's there for the taking.

Go here to learn more: http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

http://www.redstate.com/coldwarrior/2010/08/19/318-per-cent-pc-strength-to-575-per-cent-from-2008-to-2010/

Conservatives won't take back the Republican Party until they . . . take back the Republican Party. Blogging alone won't make it happen. Conservatives will take back the Republican Party ONLY when enough of them actually go to their local Republican Party committee meetings and become ball players INSIDE the Party itself so they can elect new, conservative Party leadership. Yelling at the Party from the bleachers won't make it happen. You have to become a ball player INSIDE the Party. And that means becoming a precinct committeeman. It's easy to do -- every state has its own rules. None are onerous. And, it's FUN! Only takes a few hours a month.

For Liberty,
Cold Warrior

[salvage]

>salvage- I'm sure nobody pays you for anything except the Nanny State and the welfare checks you cash in your mom' basement. STFU.

Ha! Ha! Yes! That is exactly me!

You are very smart and witty.

[Sam]

Well, when you spend half of your time attacking other Conservatives....

It's called Karma. Not that I agree with what Tucker did to you.. It's just Karma.

[Al Gore (D-Sex Poodle!)]

Did somebody say tart and titty???? Oh, never mind.

[kdj]

@Sam

Yes, karma is definitely a conservative principle. F* reason.

[Dymphna]

I tried to comment before and it didn't take...so here's the second edition (w/ one correction):

"I won't name which top bloggers were involved, but there are many that could vouch for these facts if they wanted to. If they want to stay out of it, that's fine, too"...

No, it's not 'fine'. In fact, it is craven cowardice to leave you to hang in the wind. Having been through Crazy Charles Johnson's meat grinder I can attest to the fact that most bloggers -- the Bigs, particularly -- won't say anything until THEIR ox is gored. Then it becomes suddenly relevant...though what you may have been through is still of no interest to them except as evidence of their innocence.

The blogosphere, left or right, is not one whit better than the MSM when it comes to courage or ethical standards. In fact, it may be a tad worse. The in-fighting in the wings is sad proof that many folks operate from the principle of scarcity, i.e., anything you get leaves less for me. Thus in their furious scramble for "exclusives" or being the first on a story, some bloggers don't appear to be restrained by the same standards that apply to 'real' relationships. Or...maybe their personal relationships are similarly fraught.

Not only will they leave you to swing in the wind, Dan, but they won't even bother to apologize for doing so.

A woman who is a survivor of the Chazzer wars has as her signature line, "you're lucky if you can count your true friends on one hand"...or words to that effect. Every time I see an email from her, that tag makes me smile. She has many (healed) wounds that attest to her survival.

A recent study said the desire for justice is inborn. In fact, they made the further claim that this trait is shared by all primates. IOW, your indignation is hard-wired ;-)

You have my sympathy in this. Fortunately, our blog is small enough not to be on the radar, but large enough to survive on donations from loyal readers (plus some savings). We turned our energies to transatlantic concerns a few years ago and haven't looked back. I keep trying to make myself become more interested in what's reported on the MSM but it's so...?trivial, maybe?

Don't let this ankle-biter get you down.

[Rick Calvert]

I think you should have disclosed the payment Dan even if it was a nominal sum. A lot of the purpose behind adhering to strict ethical standards is to avoid any appearance of impropriety, not just obvious conflicts of interest.

By not disclosing the transaction you opened yourself up for criticism and that hurts your stated objectives.

Bloggers that accept direct payment from candidates for positive coverage and fail to disclose that are definitely unethical and should be exposed and called out on it. I am not saying you did that here. Your circumstance are very different than the other blogger mentioned in the story. But again you made yourself vulnerable by not disclosing something that would have definitely been a non issue if you had disclosed it at the time.

I hope you take this with the spirit it was intended.

[Bloopy]

Hmmm....sounds like a pathetically weak response tailored to play to the Right and create problems for anyone other than thee.

[Dan Riehl]

"I think you should have disclosed the payment Dan"

Not only did I disclose it to bloggers, I disclosed it to the Daily Caller, or it wouldn't have been in it. Did you see another source for it? It came from me because it became relevant. It never was, before.

[Darcy]

Hang in there, Dan. And thanks for your candor.

[JohnPaul]

Take the country back for conservatism? Lofty goal. And how do bloggers expect to do that? The very people who read conservative blogs in the first place are converted (i.e. preaching to the choir). It seems there are thousands of bloggers who act like bitchy little schoolgirls with their cat fighting and such. It ends up showing the worst of politics that people hate. Seems more good could be done for the country if bloggers, with all their smarts, actually got involved in the community creating successful companies (with lots of jobs) and helping real people. Also seems somewhat anti-conservative to put so much hope in politics (i.e. government/policy) to change the country.

[dave]

Let Carlson go @#$% himself. If theres any blogger I have ever read who tells it like it is, with no sugarcoating, its Dan.

Keep it up.

[T]

I guess I don't see the "unethical" part of getting paid for your work? I don't see bribery, I don't see Journolisting. I see a professional fee paid to a professional. Why is that unethical?

Maybe I don't understand the "rules". I didn't know there were "blogging" rules.

I can't stand Daily Caller. I admit to reading some articles, but I was very disappointed when they launched. All I saw was an online Tabloid, TMZ style of Blog.

I haven't always agreed with Dan, however, he is unchanging. He will apologize if it's warranted, but he doesn't compromise his convictions for a fee.

Usually, I scroll past any hit pieces on conservatives the DC likes to write. They seem to have certain authors who target particular names and write less than flattering commentaries on them.

DC is like Politico. I don't like Politico.

[mcg]

Wait. You made HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS?
If I were Dr. Evil I would be impressed.

[Ron Cantrell]

If you did work for the RNC for a few hundred dollars that you should have been paid thousands, you should report the differece as an inkind contribution.

[Beth]

Wow, if I had known there was all this money flowing, I'd never have quit blogging! LOL!

Does Tucker Carlson or anyone at the Daily Caller actually KNOW any conservative bloggers? I mean, beyond knowing a few names? What a BS story!

I'm kinda pissed I didn't think to run a state blog, maybe that IS where the money is. White Trash Wednesdays and photoshopping Kos' face on goatse I guess was probably not the best way to generate revenue. ;)

[Jack]

hwore.

[Mark]

"I won't name which top bloggers were involved, but there are many that could vouch for these facts if they wanted to."

So much for the free, open disclosure of individuals, organizations, and their financial connections in the marketplace of ideas.

Better that we require only non-Conservatives to adhere to such standards of sunlight, openness, and professional integrity.