Politics

The Destruction of Andrew Breitbart

We here at Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons, among them: we didn't know who shot it, we didn't know when it was shot, we didn't know the context of the statement, and because of the history of the videos on the site where it was posted, in short we do not and did not trust the source. -- Fox News anchor Shepard Smith on Andrew Breitbart By virtue of publishing the Drudge Retort, I've been following the career of Andrew Breitbart for ... (read more)

Exercising My Right to Petition the Government

On Tuesday I visited five Congressional offices in the Capitol to make the case for small publishers who rely on targeted Internet ads for revenue, an event that rated a story in Politico. The Interactive Advertising Bureau invited web entrepreneurs to come to DC and meet members of Congress and their aides, hoping to make the point that thousands of Americans are running businesses powered by these ads. We're one of the only sectors of the economy that's been growing during this recession. ... (read more)

Candidate Fakes Air Force One Photo

Jonathan Bourne discovered something funny on the web site of David Benning, the Republican running for Congress against Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). Take a look at this photo of Benning, his wife and an unidentified couple in front of the famous door of Air Force One: The photo is displayed on Benning's about page, where it has the filename airforceone.jpg. But as Bourne reveals, Benning wasn't actually rubbing elbows with the president and other high fliers: Turns out the photo is of SAM ... (read more)

Hamsher and Greenwald Respond to PAC Story

The piece I wrote on Jane Hamsher's PAC expenditures has drawn responses from both Hamsher and Glenn Greenwald, the cofounder of the Accountability Now PAC. They claim that I am engaged in "an attack meant to shut down fundraising" and "standard political cult behavior of trying to smear those who oppose the Leader." Hamsher submitted her comment to Mediaite: Glenn runs Accountability Now, which is a non-partisan organization, and I run FDL PAC, which is a progressive organization. FDL PAC ... (read more)

Who the Hell is Rogers Cadenhead?

There's a new story on Firedoglake this morning titled Who the Hell is Rogers Cadenhead? The author goes through my background and describes me as a "semi-deranged" former journalist. That's disappointing. Not fully deranged? A lot of people on Firedoglake and Daily Kos are questioning my motives and accusing me of writing a "hit piece" against Hamsher. I do not regard it as a personal attack to investigate how a PAC spends its money and ask the founders about specific expenditures. A PAC is ... (read more)

How Jane Hamsher Spends Her PAC Money

Firedoglake publisher Jane Hamsher has become one of the most polarizing figures in the liberal blogosphere, moving people sharply to the pro or con column with her outspoken opposition to the health care reform bill, appearances on Fox News bashing the Obama administration and the letter she sent with conservative activist Grover Norquist demanding the resignation of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Hamsher wields a lot of influence by operating two Democratic political action ... (read more)

Glenn Beck Begs Listeners Not to Throw Bombs

On his talk radio program today, Glenn Beck begged his listeners not to use guns or bombs to respond to the passage of health care reform in Congress. In a long diatribe in which he claimed that today's Democratic leaders were violent radical Marxists in the '60s, Beck said, "They need you to pick up a gun or a bomb. They need you to break the law. They need you to become them in the 1960s." Beck claimed that the United States is "entering a very dangerous phase" by design of the Obama ... (read more)

Andrew Breitbart Lied to Pimp ACORN Story

Clark Hoyt, the ombudsman of the New York Times, has finally figured out that Andrew Breitbart and James O'Keefe lied to the media about the way O'Keefe was dressed during the ACORN sting videos last fall: ... O'Keefe almost certainly did not go into the Acorn offices in the outlandish costume -- fur coat, goggle-like sunglasses, walking stick and broad-brimmed hat -- in which he appeared at the beginning and end of most of his videos. It is easy to see why The Times and other news ... (read more)

Huffington Post Censors Jesse Ventura on 9/11

A March 9 commentary submitted to Huffington Post by former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura was removed after publication by the site, which replaced it with a note stating that contributors are banned from engaging in conspiracy theories: Editor's Note: The Huffington Post's editorial policy, laid out in our blogger guidelines, prohibits the promotion and promulgation of conspiracy theories -- including those about 9/11. As such, we have removed this post. "I can't believe the Huffington Post ... (read more)

Article by O'Keefe May Explain Senate Stunt

On Jan. 25, James O'Keefe and three other conservative activists were arrested after a weird incident in which they entered Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-La.) office in New Orleans dressed as telephone repairmen and attempted to gain access to the closet where the phone system was serviced. They were charged with "entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony," according to an FBI press release. There's been a lot of speculation about the motives of O'Keefe, ... (read more)