'Zounds! The National Press Club discovers that the Netroots wants to be the deciders of acceptable speech.
The apostrophe is there because the word is actually short for the oath "God's wounds." This has no relevance to the post, but I thought that you might find it interesting.
By Moe Lane Posted in Barack Obama | Liberals | Netroots — Comments (10) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Silvia Smith of the National Press Club is - wait for it! - gobsmacked:
Is 1st Amendment on life support?
Commentary by Sylvia A. Smith
Washington editorWASHINGTON – After a week of relentless e-mails and phone calls from people who were outraged at the prospect of a guy scheduling a press conference to make allegations about Barack Obama, I’m not sure extreme CPR could resuscitate the idea of free speech in some Americans’ minds.
The message they sent was that the guy is a crackpot and a felon and therefore should be prevented from speaking.
(Via Ben Smith)
I suspect that Ms. Smith doesn't really read the blogosphere much, because she's apparently legitimately astounded at the way things went down. Or, possibly, she's just never been actually aimed at by our esteemed opposite numbers before.
Read on.
This is, of course, fallout from the Larry Sinclair affair, which the Online Right would dearly love to ignore... if only the Online Left would finally shut up about it, once and for all. The problem is, of course, that since very few of us in the VRWC are ready to believe that Barack Obama did cocaine and then had gay sex with Sinclair in the back of a limo -
- And may I note in passing that a politician never wants to see the phrase "[politician's name] did cocaine" in print? Even when it's part of a denial? Especially when it's part of a denial, in fact? -
...it's fairly hard for even our opposite numbers to rail on and on about how we're so obsessive about it. Hence, their typically enthusiastic response to the revelation that Sinclair had rented space at the NPC. The result was apparently quite, er, dramatic:
But then a few blogs got wind of the event. They huffed and they puffed that Obama was being unfairly attacked. They detailed Sinclair’s allegations. They stoked their readers to try to force the National Press Club to silence him.
The messages were along the lines of: “How can you allow a criminal to speak?” “Please deny Mr. Larry Sinclair the opportunity to lie to the public.” “Can anyone just buy media coverage?”
Hundreds of phone calls and e-mails poured in to my NPC office from people who saw Sinclair’s rental agreement as evidence that the national media condoned his allegations.
Had Sinclair paid a PR firm $150,000, he wouldn’t have gotten nearly this much attention.
Ms. Smith says a couple of questionably accurate things about the role of bloggers versus journalists in this editorial - I'm inclined to let it slide in this case; it's not like she hasn't been given justification for her poor reaction - but there is a point here that I'd like to point out, or perhaps point and laugh at: Larry Sinclair is a creation of the Netroots. They give him what power he has, thanks to their absolutely obsessive interest in who he is and what he says; so if they want him to go away, they need to start ignoring him.
I know, I know: better to wish for the sun to turn back in its course than to wish that the Netroots learn restraint, self-control, and detachment. But this way they can't claim that nobody ever told them where they went wrong.
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'Zounds! The National Press Club discovers that the Netroots wants to be the deciders of acceptable speech. 10 Comments (0 topical, 10 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
They may have been biased but they had the right of the matter. There were also many of them and they had multiple eyewitnesses to the events. They were impossible to ignore.
Sinclair, maybe yes maybe no. I have really no way of knowing but the way the campaign and the left acts makes me think there might be something to it.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
...for the moment, I would note that Sinclair's publicity is driven primarily by the Left itself. In fact, I did note it.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
- John Kerry said that ignoring the Swiftboaters... might have cost him the election.
I suspect that's true, but not in the way he thinks. The Swifties were not politicians and they were not especially wise in the ways of Washington. "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" was an offshoot of the Swift Boat Sailors Association, a typical military "alumni group" that got together every so often to drink and trade war stories. When Kerry got nominated, many of them were horrified because they considered him a traitor and a fraud. They started SBVT to distinguish themselves from the alumni association, which had (and still has) nothing to do with politics.
Their plan was to collect affidavits from members who had witnessed things, prepare a "dog-and-pony show," and deliver both to the National Press Club. Then they'd go home, mission accomplished.
Imagine their surprise when not a single reporter wrote a single word about what they'd said.
The press ignoring the Swift Vets is what cost Kerry the election. Because that pissed them off. That's when they decided they'd need a book, and TV ads, and a talk radio tour. The rest is history.
Had the reporters not been quite so far in the tank for Kerry, the Swifties may well have delivered their message and gone home.
Drink Good Coffee. You can sleep when you're dead.
And therein lies the difference between most journalists and some bloggers: Professional journalists don’t print or air startling allegations without first investigating their credibility.
She forgot: Unless it is about a Republican.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
I thought to myself, How would I react if several hundred Netrooters suddenly called/emailed me out of the blue to scream at me for something? - and while I can't say that she's right, it's not like she threw the first punch. :)
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
1. Where they alleged he had an affair with a lobbyist.
2. Where they questioned his eligibility to hold office (After they had endorsed him)
Then there was the whole Rathergate incident.
Then contrast that with Mr. Hahn's description of how the press treated the Swift Vets. You can see why I find assertions of journalistic standards amongst the press laughable. If anything Cary Grant in "His Girl Friday" was kind to the press.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Gahh thoughts keep running ahead of my fumble fingers.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Had Sinclair paid a PR firm $150,000, he wouldn’t have gotten nearly this much attention.
These people are there own worst enemies.
Smith's ox has been gored, and her attention is now focused, but at least she has a taste for what is desired next if the alternative media can be eliminated.
I believe the reason the Netroots have been so passionate about Sinclair is that they are trying to fight him as if he was the Swiftboat Vets for Truth. John Kerry said that ignoring the Swiftboaters, as you suggest they should do with Sinclair, might have cost him the election.