"Pelosi is so far left her title should include "(D-Beijing)."
That's unfair.
San Fran Nan believes in the 'democratic way' - but Putin style. So it should be (D-Moscow).
Posted on 07/21/2008 11:49:46 PM PDT by kristinn
The Austin American-Statesman caved to pressure from the Daily Kos-Netroots Nation and pulled an article from the newspaper's website that poked fun at the liberal convention being held in Austin last weekend.
The article, entitled Gore's Surprise Visit Highlights Netroots Conference was published on the front page of Sunday's paper.
It was written by feature writer, Patrick Beach--meaning the article was not a straight news piece (think Dana Milbank.)
Greg Mitchell, a writer for Editor & Publisher who blogs at the Daily Kos attended the conference as a panel speaker.
He brought attention to the article by posting about it the Daily Kos. Mitchell says that Austin Kossacks claiming to know people at the American-Statesman promised to "work their magic" on the paper.
By Monday the article was pulled from the American-Statesman's website, with the message: "The page you've requested is not available."
An editor's note by Editor Fred Zipp was posted to the American-Statesman's website Tuesday:
"Readers expect front-page stories to speak directly and clearly about events and issues. Eliminating the possibility of misunderstanding from our work is a critical part of our daily newsroom routine. When we communicate in a way that could be misinterpreted, we fail to meet our standards.
"Our front-page story Sunday about the Netroots Nation convention included doses of irony and exaggeration. It made assertions (that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might find herself at home politically in Beijing, for example) and characterizations ("marauding liberals" was one) meant to amuse. For many readers, we failed.
"In trying for a humorous take on the Netroots phenomenon without labeling it something other than a straightforward news story, we compromised our standards."
Rather than re-label the story on the web version, the cowards at the American-Statesman gave in to the Kossacks and pulled the article entirely. So much for liberals' respect for the First Amendment.
Here is the forbidden article preserved in Google cache at least for now:
Gore's surprise visit highlights Netroots conference Former vice president speaks at Austin convention for liberal bloggers. By Patrick Beach
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Name-dropping Al Gore and his call for a switch to clean, renewable energy within 10 years was enough to pull whoops of approval from the 2,000 or 3,000 marauding liberals gathered for Netroots Nation at the Austin Convention Center on Saturday morning.
So when the former vice president and Nobel Prize co-winner made a surprise — and cleverly scripted — appearance during U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's talk, it looked like the conference might turn into a faint-in.
Talk that Pelosi (who is arguably so left-leaning that her parenthetical should be D-Beijing) would have a Very Special Guest had been buzzing about the conference of liberal bloggers, pols and media types since it began Thursday (it concludes today). But it wasn't clear to attendees that something was afoot until a schedule change handed out Saturday morning indicated the speaker's talk would last 45 minutes longer than previously indicated.
Not that Gore's appearance was necessary to whip up the troops.
From the beginning, it was clear these people were convinced the electoral map would be repainted with a brush sopping with blue paint come November.
The believers will tell you it's morning, that they smell the napalm. And it smells like, oh, yes, victory.
It didn't seem to matter that the conservative and much smaller Defending the American Dream Summit — featuring syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr — was going on in Austin at the same time. That was miles from downtown, so there was little chance for a rumble.
With the current administration's low approval rating, a charismatic presumptive Democratic nominee and a Republican opponent some in the GOP have been reluctant to even air-kiss, the energy was palpable and, like the political blogosphere, terribly self-confirming.
They went to panels about how the presidential election would be won house by house, block by block. They staged mock media interviews and critiqued themselves, and showed films ("Crawford") and Internet videos ("Harry Potter and Dark Lord Waldemart"). They attended panels on the war, health care, online social networks, volunteer organizing and expanding the networking power of something called an "Internet."
There was even one panel Friday featuring Princeton economics professor and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman (wearing, as if to galvanize stereotype, what appeared to be Birkenstocks) that was essentially about how the media weren't liberal enough.
As they say, only in Austin.
Filmmaker Paul Stekler, who teaches film production and politics at the University of Texas, said:"As you have greater democratization (through the use of technology to distribute one's message), you also have a greater degree of what's called confirmation bias. We live in a very different and weird world in terms of dissemination of information right now."
Indeed, you couldn't find anybody who disagreed that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were "two ignoramuses," a label hurled by Parag Mehta, the Democratic National Committee's director of training.
Big names? Got 'em. There was Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder of the Daily Kos political blog, who hatched the idea a few years ago to get his like-minded pals together and who, in a Friday lunchtime keynote with Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, seemed amazed at what the notion had unleashed.
"We're going to keep growing; we're going to keep pushing for an unapologetic Democratic Party," Moulitsas said.
Then there was John Dean, the former Nixon White House counsel who has made a second career of railing against what he considers right-wing excesses the way recovering alcoholics preach against strong drink.
"I have deep fear of my former tribe, and what they might do particularly in the law," Dean said, before going on to refer to former Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani as "Richard Nixon on crystal meth."
It's plinking bass in a barrel to paint liberals as overly intellectual types incapable of having fun unless reading Noam Chomsky counts, and it sure does for them. And there were a handful of colorful characters, including some men from Cedar Creek who looked like bikers and represented the Warrior Wolf Society, which they described as "a group of pagan warriors with wolf totem spirit," and a guy in a Bush mask and clothing with prison stripes.
But for the most part, these were serious-minded people, and decorum prevailed.
When a few people had the temerity to shout at Pelosi and Gore, they got shushed as mercilessly as they would have at a Nanci Griffith concert.
The no fun thing? Maybe it's because, as Democrats, they're not used to having it.
The incredible imploding presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis and John Kerry were used as textbook examples of what not to do. As political ad man John Rowley put it, he's been in the business for 15 years and only the last two have been good in terms of the political tide. Still, he said, "We've got to get ready for the day when we're not swimming downstream."
In other words, what a pendulum does is swing. But technology is power, and the left has been quicker to adopt it. As Gore put it Saturday morning:
"You are at the cutting edge of a new era of history. You will look back many years from now and tell your grandchildren about coming here to Austin, Texas, and about the first two meetings of Netroots Nation, and you will tell them that this was the beginning of an effort that was the start to reclaim the integrity of American democracy."
That is exactly what Joe Trippi had in mind. It was the one-time Howard Dean campaign aide who saw, perhaps a little too early and a little too enthusiastically, the transformative power of the Web. As he walked from one place to another Friday afternoon, he got stopped every 20 feet or so by people who knew him or at least knew of his ideas. And this is what they had wrought; this is what he had predicted.
"It's amazing," Trippi said. "I knew it was going to happen, but I'm still blown away that it happened."
pbeach@statesman.com; 445-3603
Scary a newspaper would cave.
I am more amazed that the Statesman actually printed the article in the first place. They usually are first in line for the liberal kool aid.
When a republican or conservative talks, a portion of their remarks are paraphrased -- usually in language designed to put the republican, or the conservative position -- in the worst possible light.
Unless the remarks are a gaffe, in which case they are showcased.
When a Democrat speaks, the remarks are introduced by a talking point or catchphrase designed to sell the idea - and then the most flattering video of the best part of the speech is shown. Precious airtime is usually taken to include thunderous applause.
If a Democrat makes a gaffe, it is ignored as long as possible -- and then when it is mentioned, it is only in the context of "Republican Hate Speech" for bringing the gaffe up in the first place. A minimizing, re-worded paraphrase of the gaffe is referred to.
Cheers!
IMO, a “feature” writer is still a news writer. If it wasn’t, the article should have been flagged as a column or humor or something other than straight news or feature. But it shouldn’t have been removed completely.
I believe the Statesman has established a FreeRepublic standard we should all endeavor to hold to until Nan-the-SanFranGran is out of office.
"Pelosi is so far left her title should include "(D-Beijing)."
That's unfair.
San Fran Nan believes in the 'democratic way' - but Putin style. So it should be (D-Moscow).
The Washington Post runs stories like that all the time, targeting republicans.
They do manage to label them “News Analysis” most of the time.
HF
The AAS just became Pravda for the nutroots.
Hey Algore, how is your JETSTREAM going to fly without any fuel in the tanks? Solar and wind powered jets are a figment of your imagination. With all the hot air you are expelling, you could float the Hindenburg.
>>— Pelosi is so far left her title should include “(D-Beijing).” <<
Thanks for adding that tidbit. The liberals here are PO’ed bigtime about that.
>>—The paper had been a cheerleader for Bush for many years and only acted liberal, at times, because this, afterall, was Austin.<<
My BS meter just pegged and broke the needle totally off the shaft.
Win one for the Zipper folks..
Liberals have no more respect for their opponents' opinions than any other partisan group. Granted. Given their claims of tolerance their hypocrisy makes their position even worse. Granted.
But what happened here is not a first amendment issue. Nobody forced the American-Statesman to pull the article. Least of all the government. They made a business decision. No worse or more cowardly than that of many, many businesses who refuse to take positions which their customers might not like.
What a perfect description of the kooks!
Agreed. While it was inappropriate for front page, it should have been relabeled and kept on the site, if they keep other articles.
Some of 'em like more of a challenge.
I know this is probably something that has been tossed out there before, but I’ll go ahead and ask. Why haven’t we had some form of convention for Freepers?
It would get the Conservative movement pumped up again. I think it would be best prior to the 2010 election season to start.
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