Lindsay Beyerstein provides an interesting inside view on the John Edwards blogger meltdown. Beyerstein was approached by the Edwards campaign about blogging for it. She declined and warned the campaign about the dangers of hiring high-profile bloggers who carry a lot of "personal political baggage." What the campaign didn’t seem to realize, she wrote, was that "the right-wing blogosphere was going to try to get Edwards’ bloggers fired no matter what. Unlike the liberal netroots, the right-wing blogosphere is capable of exactly one kind of collective political action. They call it ’scalping’ — they pick a target and harass that person and his or her employer until the person either jumps or is pushed out of the public eye." Hiring controversial bloggers, Beyerstein contends, can hurt a campaign and undermine the independence of the bloggers. "Every campaign needs a blog," she wrote, "but the most important part of a candidate’s netroots operation is the disciplined political operatives who can quietly build relationships with bloggers outside the campaign."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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18 Comments
That Beyerstein’s comparative analysis between the left and right blogspheres is accurate is testified to by yet another of GSheridan’s projections.
When the story broke, GSheridan made the telling claim that the Edwards Campaign had been beset by angry lefties. To the contrary: my calls to the Edwards Campaign in the midst of the controversy were unfailingly polite and supportive. And when they did the right thing and kept Amanda Marcotte, I sent them $25.
The lesson? GSheridan projects the pack-mentality of the Wingnut blogsphere onto the residents of Left Blogistan. In doing so she reveals her aspirations go no further than to be a one-trick attack pony.
Aside from the total BS inherent here – this is just more “vast right-wing conspiracy” balony – just a bit of irony, I think.
To quote: “They call it ’scalping’ — they pick a target and harass that person and his or her employer until the person either jumps or is pushed out of the public eye.”
Gosh, we’ve never seen anything like that from posters on the left here at WEBlog, have we?
Uh, yea, well, yes we have.
GMC70,
Name one example of left-wing ’scalping’ that resulted in someone losing his or her job.
Here’s an example that is NOT scalping: Ben Domenech, one of the founders of RedState.org, who had been hired by the Washington Post to write their “Red America” blog.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Domenech
Despite the objectionable things he’d written (Corretta Scott King was a ‘communist’ whose funeral George W. Bush shouldn’t have attended), it was his plagiarism of multiple pieces over a protracted period of time that drew the attention of the Flat Hat and Daily Kos.
What’s the difference between these cases? One the one hand, a right-wing blogger plagiarized and was held accountable for his actions by Left Blogistan. On the other, a radical Catholic splinter group, the Catholic League, led by bigot and anti-Semite William Donohue, objected to comments made by a blogger, and, through the Right Wing Megaphone (Fox News, etc) demanded that she be fired. After being fired and reinstated, Marcotte resigned
Maybe there are cases you’d like to name. But in this one, it’s a false equivalence to claim that the Left collects scalps in the manner of the Right.
When the Right lies, we call ‘em out. If you call that ’scalping,’ it says more about how YOU see things than it says about anything to do with folks who post here.
What this thread starter says makes sense to me: a campaign needs a blog in today’s world; the best way to handle it is to employ a blogger from within, and not without, the campaign for the reasons stated; and it becomes necessary that the campaign blogger be able to make contacts and establish a good relationship with outside bloggers. Good advice for both sides.
Maybe this is why little miss fossil fuels is so worried about posting any identifying info?
Because SHE would use such identifying info to go after someone on the left outside the blog?
She’s worried about being held accountable for her remarks?
She sure is different here than she is on lonely blog. Maybe it depends on the group paying her?
heheheheheheheh
heheheheh if “scalping” worked for the left side of the blog, we’d be rid of values boy by now. And his little dog syrios.
Nope. The more we expose them the better the WE loves them.
I wonder when the left will get its own shill at the WE?
ksfarmgrrl,
EXACTLY. The left swarms; the right scalps.
Remember BEFORE the election?
We had one poster who very prominently used his real name.
I say he needed to get that up to prove to his employer that he was doing what he was getting paid for, namely blogging here.
After the election we don’t hear so much from him and he uses an anonymous nic.
Yeah I think we had a “proll” here.
GMC seems to be increasing shrill these days.
‘Course who can blame him?
If I were a Bush backer, I’d be having an emotional melt-down too.
As far as web-attacks go, I know of two situations where right-wingers have used posts to get people fired.
Their blog nic did not provide the anonymity they hoped, and the information from their posts was brought to the attention of the poster’s boss by the winger.
We call it “freeping” because in both cases it was a poster on the right-wing FreeRepublic who got the lefty fired.
For instance, I could catalogue how much time GMC spends on his taxpayer provided computer and send it to his boss if I were so inclined.
That would be FReeping. Since I’m a decent human being as opposed to a freeper, I wouldn’t do that.
But I hope, GMC, you’ll see that it doesn’t take a conspiracy to put the hurt on someone.
And the fact that the left-of-center are always the targets and never the perpetrators of this kind of harassment speaks volumes about the hardball tactics of the reich-wing.
The fact that someone got fired from a political campaign for saying something embarrassing to the campaign is hardly new. The only difference is the source of information. On the Internet:
1) Comments can be accessed immediately by millions.2) Comments can remain available for years.
This is another kerfluffle (how do you spell that?). Some political hack got thrown off the train when they became inconvenient to the candidate. Who cares. . .
And why is the right-wing always ridiculing the idea of a “right-wing conspiracy.”
Certainly, the Swift Boat attack on John Kerry was absolutely proof of many individuals working together for the sole purpose of demeaning Kerry’s greatest asset, his three purple hearts, his silver star, and his bronze star with V for valor.
The push poll about McCain’s fathering an illegitemate “black” child, the Richard Mellon Scaife funded attacks on the Clinton’s, the current anti-Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, the Starr witch-hunt and impeachment, the Pat Roberts-Jerry Falwell videos accusing the Clintons’ of murder and cocaine running . . . the list goes on and on.
If not a conspiracy, what is it?
Cap’n,
Indeed. The studied nonchalance of the practiced “nothin’ to see here” is the tell that, yes, there IS something to see here.
GMC,
What are you talking about? The above seemed like a pretty specific accusation.
Could it be the 7th year for the Vulcan D.A.? I am wondering if that explains his notable increase in shrillness.
Greetings victims of society. The only person on this blog I’d like to see fired would be Capn Communist. Can’t believe any sane person would hire someone like him.
The others like JR, WClark and kfg, CS don’t seem to work, at least not during the day, so no point in that. heh heh.
Gotta fly and your welcome for the drive-by posting! heh heh
I am retired, JM. Sorry to hear that you are doing well. I had hoped that we had seen that last of you.
Politic has to be a even “dirtier” job then cleaning out sewers, there have been a few that post here and on the message board I have long suspected as being a paid blogger. Their opinions just seem so devoid of any basis in facts or even reality. They position on a topic has nothing to do with the evidence present and more simply with which party it refers to. Glynn from the message board long ago and GSheritan from here have stated things that could not be stated by someone that is of a real sentiment and more only if you are being paid for a amoral view being expressed. Others seem to not see anything of a politic nature as being serious and more just a silly game of partisan politics here. Both do a disservice to the American people and aid the enemies of this Republic.
I have long accused that the powers that be, are using such blogs and their political enemies to hide in plain sight the truth. If someone you align with tells you a lie and someone you distrust tells you the truth… Which will you believe first? With so many no longer depending on the evening news or news papers for their information. But rather two second sound bites and partisan commentators to give them the information to form a opinion or a decision. It becomes even more difficult to know what is what and with the state of partisan politic being what it is. I could easily believe that either side would actually hire a partisan to intently “submarine” a opposing candidate campaign.
It has gotten too far out of hand and will only destroy this country in the end, gone are the days of fun and silly campaign tricks. Like the Republican hiring a female stripper to run naked passed the back of a crowd at a Ed Muskie campaign train stop to befuddle the reserved candidate to the point he could not continue.
The Republicans will stooop to any low to win an election including stealing it if they can as they did from Al Gore. So of course you can expect the same trash out of their right wing nutcase nazi leaning bloggers that you get from AM radio everyday from the likes of Hannity, Boortz, Limbaugh and the other minor league nazi idiots like Beck and Savage.
Remember when JM said he would never be posting here again?
Thanks for proving beyond a shadow of a doubt you are a damned liar, douchebag.
Now . . . the question is, which new CONservative that’s popped up recently is really JM under another nic.
Don’t forget he tried it before with “Eier.” Wonder if he’ll be black or white this time . . .