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Archive for July, 2007

An Op-Ed We Just Might Blog

Published by William Beutler on July 30, 2007 in 9/11 Attacks, Blog Fights, Charts and Graphs, Iraq, Leftosphere vs. Rightosphere, Middle East, National Security, New York Times, Terrorism and Tough Crowd. 2 Comments

Memeorandum is not my homepage, although it might as well be — if you want to know what’s going on in the political blogosphere right now, it beats the pants off Technorati or Google’s BlogSearch. Normally here I’d say something about its impressive signal-to-noise ratio, but the fact is, there’s no noise. (On sister site Techmeme once, I saw a weeks-old story linked once. Once.)

It’s good enough that I tend to think that just by eyeballing it you can tell how big a particular story is. If that’s the case, then the Michael O’Hanlon/Kenneth Pollack op-ed in today’s New York Times may be the most talked-about newspaper article this year, at least:

Michael O'Hanlon-Kenneth Pollack opinion piece in the NYT, "A War We Just Might Win"

Unlike many, perhaps most, stories listed by Memeorandum this one attracted attention from both the pro-war/conservative/righty bloggers as well as the anti-war/progressive/lefty bloggers. If you’ve read the op-ed, it’s not hard to see why. O’Hanlon and Pollack both supported the Iraq war at the outset — the latter expressly advocating it in an influential book — but changed their minds as the war continued and the rebuilding project went awry. Nowadays the right is grateful for any sign that the war might be winnable, especially if it comes from Democratic-aligned intellectuals, especially if it runs on the New York Times’ left-leaning op-ed page. Meanwhile, the left has at least as much invested in ending the very same war that the right wishes to continue, in discrediting Pollack and O’Hanlon’s work, by pointing out inconsistencies and oversights, not to mention disputing their anti-war credentials.

It is not, however, an even split.

So who wins this battle of wills? Well, if you trust Memeorandum creator Gabe Rivera’s secret sauce, and you trust my count (I’ve included the complete breakdown after the jump, if you’re feeling argumentative), and we focus on this iteration of the page (there were others), several more large blogs of the right hopped on this story than blogs of the left tried to burst it like a bubble: 37 to 18, with 10 online newspaper items and non-aligned bloggers making up the oft-overlooked third leg of the blogospheric debate. Still, take this with a grain of salt — The Huffington Post has more traffic than many of these blogs put together, while righty traffic leader Instapundit linked it approvingly, but as usual offered too little commentary to make the cut. And in the course of writing this, I have seen more than a few perfectly major blogs not linked here — but I still think it’s a pretty good representation.

If there’s nothing else to be said here, it’s a fitting story to capture (political) blogosphere-wide attention — the rightosphere came to be after 9/11 and to support war on terrorism, of which Iraq is consdidered a piece, while the leftosphere was built around opposition to the invasion, and frustration with moderate liberals who supported it — like, say, Kenneth Pollack and Michael O’Hanlon.

Continue reading ‘An Op-Ed We Just Might Blog’

Mail of the Species

Published by William Beutler on July 30, 2007 in Apple, E-mail, Hillary Clinton, Seriously, Tech Blogosphere, Technology and Washington Post. 0 Comments

A couple of posts caught my eye this weekend, both having to do with e-mail. The first came from Owen Thomas at Valleywag:

There was a time, back in 1998 or so, when AOL was synonymous with email for most ordinary folks. That time, of course, is long past. But AOL’s tireless flacks are trying to bring it back with a press release outlining which cities’ residents are most addicted to email. Surprisingly, Washington, D.C. comes in first.

Surprisingly? As I got into the elevator on my way out of work this afternoon, I almost hesitated to take out my iPhone, for fear of seeming conspicuous and tech-obesessed. Never mind: the man and woman already aboard were tapping away, two-thumbed, at their CrackBerries.

And then this, from Jake Tapper at ABC News:

[T]he Washington Post has … obtained a fundraising letter from Clinton taking issue with Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan’s style-section story about Clinton’s cleavage.

Yeah, I “obtained” that as well. By opening my inbox.

Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood II: CFRed and the Globalist Conspiracy

Published by William Beutler on July 24, 2007 in 9/11 Attacks, Comment Sections, Conspiracy Theories, Fred Thompson, Libertarians, Republicans, Ron Paul, Sock puppets and White House '08. 24 Comments

Earlier this month, Blog P.I. tracked a multi-monikered Internet troll whose sole enjoyment in life appears to derive from supplying blog comment sections with underwhelming arguments against Fred Thompson (disclosure).

I promised then to look a little closer at the identity of this dedicated anti-Fredhead, and while I later thought I had thought the better of it, Christopher Caldwell’s piece in the most recent New York Times Magazine afforded me the opportunity to re-rethink that decision.

And so this post exists… in three interminable parts. I don’t often use the below-the-fold feature on WordPress, but this post won’t appeal to everyone, and I don’t want it to get in everyone’s way. But if you’re game, then follow me…

Continue reading ‘Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood II: CFRed and the Globalist Conspiracy’

The Washington Post’s A1 Placement Condition for Bloggers

Published by William Beutler on July 22, 2007 in Border Security, MSM vs. Blogs and Washington Post. 2 Comments

The Washingon Post profiles Virginia blogger Greg Letiecq today, and even as an A1 below-the-fold feature of the sort they often runs on weekeends, it’s an odd read. It’s not that writer Nick Miroff can’t disguise his loathing of Letiecq’s website, Black Velvet Bruce Li — it’s that he seems to go out of his way to make it blindingly obvious to even the least perceptive reader that he really, really doesn’t like what Letiecq stands for, and it ultimately hurts the piece.

Here are a few of the unnecessary sneering asides that mar Miroff’s article:

“Fairfax County Harboring Illegal Aliens” was the title of a recent, and typical, Letiecq posting… …to dismiss Black Velvet Bruce Li as the rantings of a fringe extremist underestimates Letiecq’s reach and appeal… …fanning anti-illegal immigrant sentiment — and providing a venue for raw, sometimes bigoted views… …he points to his neighbor’s house, emanating loud salsa music, where he believes two “illegal aliens” are living. He doesn’t have proof of this, of course, but pronounces his assumption as fact anyway.

I could even be persuaded that Miroff’s reference to Letiecq’s “French Canadian” background is an underhanded effort to induce thoughts of hypocrisy in the Post’s “elite” readership.

Would the Post have cast Letiecq in such a negative light if he had been a liberal?

Actually, yes. On Saturday, April 15, 2006, the Post gave the same treatment to Maryscott O’Connor, who runs MyLeftWing.

Loud, crass and instantaneous… …can one person sitting alone in a living room, typing her fingertips numb on a keyboard, make a difference? … …on it goes, every day, around the clock, on Web site after Web site… …it is where O’Connor finished her evolution from lost soul to angry soul…

Even the accompanying photographs and opening paragraphs of each article are strikingly similar. Here’s Miroff today:

Greg Letiecq photo in the Washington PostIllegal immigrant ice cream vendors might be spreading leprosy in Manassas. Prince William County has been infiltrated by “unassimilated marxist radicals.” Manassas Park police covered up the predations of five Hispanic men who gang-raped a woman in the street in June. These claims, among others, have been made in recent months by Greg Letiecq, whose popular blog, Black Velvet Bruce Li, offers “Blog-Fu for Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park politics” — often making up in passion what it lacks in proof.

And Finkel last spring:

Maryscott O'Connor photo in the Washington PostIn the angry life of Maryscott O’Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O’Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer. Out there, awaiting her building fury: the Angry Left, where O’Connor’s reputation is as one of the angriest of all. “One long, sustained scream” is how she describes the writing she does for various Web logs, as she wonders what she should scream about this day.

But did Miroff pull actually his punches? One difference between the profiles is that Finkel quoted liberally (so to speak) from related blog postings, which were more lurid than the quotes O’Connor supplied. O’Connor: “I’m insane with rage and grief. But I also feel more connected than I ever have.” A Kossack: “I feel like I’m being molested everytime I hear [Bush’s] voice.” In comparison, Miroff only alluded to unsavory comments on Letiecq’s website. Whether this is because the quotes were insufficiently awful or unquotable in a family newspaper, I can’t say.

So maybe Letiecq actually got off easy. Or maybe, considering how the leftosphere rose up in righteous outrage to defend O’Connor, Letiecq missed his opportunity to becoming a rallying point for immigration-focused bloggers.

Meanwhile, Letiecq is off for the weekend but has a note about the article on his site. As a non-resident of Virginia, I don’t read his site much and can’t evaluate Miroff’s assertions based on my own impressions. But if this comment section is at all representative, it does seem those elitist Posties can give as good as they get:

# Anonymous said on 22 Jul 2007 at 7:08 am: How can you tell you are in a French Canadian town in Maine? By the maple syrup taps on the telephone poles

Sometimes it seems as if the Post can’t cover bloggers as crazy people, they won’t cover them at all.

P.S. I’m not saying that the title of this post should be taken literally, but consider David Von Drehle’s twinned profiles of conservative Betsy Newmark and liberal Barbara O’Brien in July 2005. They were portrayed as pugilistic, yes, but certainly not crazy. Where did that article run? W12.

Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood, or: Hey, RepublicansAgainstFred! Why Don’t You Leave A Comment Here?

Published by William Beutler on July 10, 2007 in Comment Sections, Fred Thompson, Online Campaigns, Republicans and White House '08. 13 Comments

As my now-standard disclosure should make pretty clear, lately I’ve been keeping a close eye on Fred Thompson-related Internet discussion. And before that, I’d been writing plenty about overzealous online campaigns. Well, here the twain meet.

It’s one thing to offer relevant criticisms of a candidate (or potential candidate), but making things up out of whole cloth is an obvious sign of desperation. From what I’ve seen, some people are desperately afraid of no one so much as Fred. Which people? Savvy readers will be able to guess for themselves, but I’ll save my comments on that for later.

This post tracks the activities of one (I assume it’s just one) shape-shifting anti-Fredhead and the ridiculous lengths to which he (I assume it’s a he) has gone in recent weeks to attack Fred in many a comment section across the left- and rightosphere. Let’s dig in:

I can’t remember where I first noticed somebody named “Jim Robinson” going after Fred, but thanks to the Oracle of Mountain View, it was not difficult to track his hilariously ineffective mau-mauing across the blogosphere. Early on, he sounded like a Rudy fan:

This guy is a joke and delussional if he thinks people qill vote for him because they like Arthur Branch. He has absolutely no executive experience and is less qualified for the job than Barack Huessein Obama. Posted by: Jim Robinson | May 31, 2007 at 12:26 PM

This comment is a rarity not just for its expression of support for Giuliani, but also because it was posted at Gina Cobb’s website and hers only (the typos, as we shall see, were not a rarity). This next comment, on the other hand, found its way to at least three dozen comment sections, sometimes as Jim Robinson and sometimes as Thompson Truth File:

During his eight years in the Senate, Thompson won his free trade credentials with his votes to extend the president’s fast-track trade promotion authority and to approve permanent trading relations with China. One right-wing critic in a widely circulated internet column called Thompson a “neocon globalist” for his immigration, free trade, and foreign policy positions. Social conservatives are also likely to question Thompson’s “liberal” voting record on immigration. Although Thompson has recently written and spoken out about the need for strong border control, while in the Senate he voted to increase visas for skilled foreign workers and to increase permits for unskilled foreign farm workers. Overall, Americans for Better Immigration, an anti-immigration lobbying group, gives Thompson a career grade of C for his mixed voting record. Thompson will likely come under withering criticism from anti-immigrant candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), who mixes his social conservatism with a heavy dose of nationalism and anti-corporate populism. Posted by Thompson Truth File | June 11, 2007 4:26 PM

I particularly enjoy the bit about “one right-wing critic.” One assumes that the critic being quoted is either a figment of the author’s imagination or someone so fringey and insignifcant their name would provoke, at best, a quizzical look. Here our Mr. Robinson sounds more like a supporter of Rep. Tancredo — quite a leap for a recent Rudy-booster. Also weird is the detached, matter-of-fact nature of these statements, as if these are not the writer’s opinions, but perhaps you might be interested to know… know what? Fred is not an “anti-corporate populist”? Gee, that’s helpful.

Another comment, both too long and too slanderous to repeat here, was posted to a couple dozen different comment sections during the month of June — on conservative blogs such as Frank J’s IMAO and Steven Taylor’s PoliBlog, liberal blogs like Crooks and Liars and The Hollywood Liberal, even mainstream newspapers like the Denver Post and gossip site TMZ.com.

It may be a clue that “Jim Robinson” is almost surely stolen from Jim Robinson, the owner and operator of Free Republic. If you’re wondering, here’s what the real Jim Robinson thinks of Fred:

Unlike RudyMcRomney, Thompson/Hunter are not the media’s choice. Nor are they the Republican leadership’s choice. They’re the grassroots conservatives’ choice! Great concept, eh? … now that we have fine conservatives like Thompson, Hunter, Tancredo, et al, making solid progress … I’m starting to get optimistic about our chances.

Now, here’s “our” Jim at Michael van der Galien’s site, upon the news that Fred was (at the time) planning a trip to Israel:

Fred Thompson is going to Isreal to campaign for the US PResidency but cant be bothered with getting on the campaign trail and meeting actual US citizens. Thats rich. Sound like a globalist.

Oh Fred, you globalist, you! And see this from Wizbang Blue:

Thompson is a puppet of Karl Rove who is pushing an amnesty bill on a public that clearly doesnt want it. Why doesnt someone ask Thompson about his ties to Rove ans whether or not he supports theamnesty bill. So far Fred refuses to answer any questions and later this month he will be traveling to Isreal and London to campaign for the United States Presidency. Something very shady is going on and the people have a right to know who exactly Fred Thompson is. Posted by Jim Robinson | June 12, 2007 4:27 PM

What’s that? Fred, a supporter of the misbegotten “comprehensive” immigration bill? Now, that’s worse than wrong — that’s outright dishonest. Fred has been speaking out against the bill in radio and web commentaries and at speeches in Virginia and Connecticut — listen to Fred in his own words.

Meanwhile, our pseudonymous critic actually stepped up this line of attack. Shedding “Jim Robinson” and adopting “FredsForAmnesty” — this may be my favorite handle — he decided to invent a quote and push it as far across the blogosphere as possible. See this comment, deposited on at least two dozen blogs in late June, here from The Jawa Report:

“We can not deport 12 million illegal aliens.” Fred Thompson Posted by: FredsForAmnesty at June 20, 2007 05:45 PM

It’s easy to isolate because he spelled “cannot” as “can not.” Many people have said this, but Fred Thompson has not been among them.

Even more hilariously, this individual set up an account just to plant this made-up quote at lefty netroots homebase MyDD. Even better, a MyDD contributor actually told him where to go — indicating that this line of argument works on neither conservatives nor liberals. It’s almost too much.

And we haven’t even gotten to the other ridiculous nom-de-blog mentioned in the title, “RepublicansAgainstFred.” This moniker has been used at least three dozen times, on some of the most prominent blogs on the right. At Wizbang proper:

He is nothing more than a puppet of Roves and if he manages to fool the GOP primary voters into giving him the nomination, the GOP will get creamed in the general. If Fred Thompson wins the nomination, I will immediately go out and register as an independent. I can not in good conscience vote for a completly inept and dishonest candidate. There is too much at stake. Posted by RepublicansAgainstFred | June 19, 2007 1:49 PM

At Captain’s Quarters:

I dont care who endorses Freddie or comes out against him. I will never vote for Freddie. not in the primary and not in the general. He is a politcal HACK! Posted by: RepublicansAgainstFred at July 2, 2007 12:41 PM

My favorite among these coincided with Fred’s recent trip to London, which included a meeting with Lady Thatcher and a speech before a private (not public, like the schools) center-right think tank. Here’s what he posted to California Yankee:

Who the hell does this guy think he is going to London and making statements about foreign policy? Last time I checked he was only a private citizen and he cleary has no authority to do so. He is out of line. WAY out of line. Posted by: RepublicansAgainstFred | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 05:53 PM

Okay, now that’s just funny. And before I forget — RepublicanWomenAgainstFred? Definitely the same guy.

Anyway, I think I’ve made my point — some falsehood-spreading moron with way too much time on his hands has launched a comment-section crusade against Fred Thompson. If bloggers who have received his comments are interested in forwarding his IP address to me, I will gladly look into it further. It doesn’t really matter, though — the good news is that it doesn’t seem to be having any effect whatsoever. The bad news, such as it is, will be discussed in my next post.

In the meantime, feel free to suggest any additional instances of this laughable conspiracy of one in the comments.

Open Season

Published by William Beutler on July 10, 2007 in Blog Consultants, Democrats, Metapost, Netroots and Startups. 0 Comments

Last week Ari Melber from The Nation asked me to comment on the prospects for Open Left, a new blog from Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller, which launched on Monday. Accepting my fate as a known critic (and risking the “concern troll” label), I willingly responded with my predictions for the site. Melber was just looking for a quote to illustrate his column, but today he’s posted the entire exchange at Personal Democracy Forum. Here’s a sample:

Whatever happens to Open Left, it won’t be like HotSoup. [AP Reporter Ron] Fournier and company had no idea what to do with an online community or even how to build a website and no clear idea who their audience was. These guys don’t have that problem. I think the better analogy is HuffPo — that website is very successful, but it’s not quite what Arianna originally envisioned. The netroots will come to the table, and probably so will the offline activist orgs. Campaign professionals, not so much.

Not enough for you? See the whole thing here. For my thoughts on the (apparently defunct) disaster called HotSoup, see here.