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Scandal Puts Focus On Role of Bloggers (WaPo on FR, NCPAC and MD4Bush)
Washington Post ^ | 02/11/05 | David Snyder and Matthew Mosk

Posted on 02/10/2005 10:41:44 PM PST by conservative in nyc

The Web site began as a sort of Internet boutique for like-minded conservatives and libertarians, suspicious of federal power and angry at President Bill Clinton.

Started in 1997 by a reclusive California conservative, freerepublic.com saw its membership blossom with Clinton's impeachment and the election of George W. Bush. Attention to the site reached a zenith last fall, when a "freeper" -- the group's moniker for its bloggers -- first discussed flaws in documents CBS News used in a report critical of Bush's National Guard service.

---Snip---

One participant working under the handle MD4BUSH, whose identity is unknown, drew Steffen into a private conversation and appeared to coax him to share more details about his role in spreading the rumor. Copies of those chat room e-mails were later provided to The Washington Post.

The Oct. 18 conversation began with MD4BUSH complimenting Steffen and saying how obvious it was that the rumors about the mayor were true. Steffen, writing under the name NCPAC, replied:

"I don't look for the MO'M [O'Malley] story to hit for a little bit yet. . . . However, a lot of what everyone knows about MO'M is because of work that has occurred. It's been a wild ride."

MD4BUSH later probed further:

"Your saying that my dentist knows [about the rumors] because of work you did? Wow, I must say, I'm impressed. I mean really, everyone knows -- how did that happen?"

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Free Republic; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: compost; ecpa; freerepublic; gannon; kristinn; md4bush; media; mediabias; msm; ncpac; odoherty; omalley; ryanodoherty
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To: advance_copy
So, either MD4 is a WaPo insider

Duh...

621 posted on 02/11/2005 12:02:42 PM PST by Getsmart64 (..)
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To: Jim Robinson

RE: "more attacks on the states"

That construction strikes me as something someone overseas might say. Just a thought ...


622 posted on 02/11/2005 12:02:42 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Getsmart64
Explain this "more likely"...and..."illegally intercepted"....does not follow Occam's Razor...

In this context, "illegally intercepted" means a violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Google can find some good explanations of the ECPA law for people who are unfamiliar with it.

"More likely" is an expression of the opinion that one scenario is more likely to have occurred than another.

623 posted on 02/11/2005 12:11:43 PM PST by HAL9000
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To: conservative in nyc

At one point he mentioned being at a certain press con. The MSM who were at the same con, if they cross referenced NCPAC here, could have figured it all out.


624 posted on 02/11/2005 12:12:09 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: norwaypinesavage

LOL

He or she probably scratches his or her head and remarks:

"Hey. These guys are right!"


625 posted on 02/11/2005 12:14:21 PM PST by CDB
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To: conservative in nyc

If MD4Bush has already passed the info to the WaPo, then in order to avoid being accused of illegal story sourcing he had to post the same content here so if ever caught, he could claim it to have been public domain.


626 posted on 02/11/2005 12:14:52 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: AnnaZ; MEG33; Mo1; conservative in nyc; Grampa Dave
LOL. I feel inspired!

*********************************************************

I am gonna throw this on here because of the mention of the Jeff Gannon situation at the bottom of the article:

*************************************

From Easongate.com

Three Strikes from the MSM

Reuters reports on Easongate (an aside: aren’t wire services supposed to be on the cutting edge of news?). In a poorly researched article titled "CNN Executive in Hot Seat Over Iraq Claim", Reuters conveniently omits many facts, including crucial eyewitness statements.

But one witness at Davos, Florida businessman Rony Abovitz, said he was shocked by Jordan's initial claim and asked him to prove it. "I was quite surprised, especially by his passion for what he was saying," said Abovitz, who wrote an entry detailing Jordan's comments on a blog from the World Economic Forum that was later picked up by others. "I thought that this was a huge story, very damning to the U.S. if true."

Abovitz said that others in the room, including Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., joined in the debate, which became heated before being broken off. But Abovitz, who co-founded a medical technology company in Hollywood, Fla., said that he felt impelled to blog it after realizing that others weren't going to report on it.

Note this article does not directly quote from Sen. Dodd, Rep. Franks, David Gergen, Richard Sambrook, Justin Vaisse, Bernard Rappaz and Bret Stephens, whose accounts confirm Rony’s assertions. Rony’s account is the only one mentioned, giving the appearance of a lone dissenter. There is no mention of a tape. Shoddy reporting or deliberate omissions? You make the call. Since Reuters CEO Tom Glocer has similar problems with slandering troops, we can understand Reuter’s soft peddling of this story.

The Associate Press (an aside: aren’t wire services supposed to be on the cutting edge of news?) also covers Easongate today (this same article is posted at The New York Times). The account is more balanced that Reuters' but still deficient in facts. Of note:

CNN said, however, that it had no such transcript and, although a videotape reportedly exists of the conference, the meetings were held under rules forbidding participants from being quoted directly.

"I don't know how much more clear we can be," Robinson said. "I think the story should be moot when you read in the first accounts that he made the misstatement and he cleared it up.”

Sorry, Mr. Robinson, but it is far from clear, and we are not depending on Mr. Jordan's accounts of the events at Davos. “A videotape reportedly exists”? We know it exists. Contact Mark Adams and ask him to release it, and copy Eason Jordan while you’re at it. At least the AP took the time to read this site and directly quotes our petition.

The Boston Herald has a contemptuous article on bloggers covering Easongate. It seems the downfall of some reporter named Jeff Gannon (who?) from Talon News is worthy of bloggers’ efforts, while CNN's chief news executive accusations of American troops intentionally targeting journalists without a single shred of evidence to back up these outrageous claims is not.

Please sign the petition to express you displeasure with the state of events.

Email Eason Jordan and Mark Adams to request the tape be released.


(Thanks to reader Zach for forwarding the articles.)

Posted by: rogg | Comments (5) | Permalink | TrackBack (2)

627 posted on 02/11/2005 12:18:35 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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To: Lazamataz
For emphasis:

And two, if you read carefully, you can see the liberal caricature of what a conservative is, emerge.

628 posted on 02/11/2005 12:25:44 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Lazamataz

Outstanding "warning message." My only suggestion is to add "or work for one" to "If your daily job is such that you are a high-profile individual..."


629 posted on 02/11/2005 12:29:17 PM PST by CDB
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To: Alia

Do you have the key to the handcuffs?


630 posted on 02/11/2005 12:29:19 PM PST by beyond the sea (Barbara Boxer is Barbra Streisand on peyote ......and is the north end of a south bound mule.)
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To: Lazamataz

Here's another thing I've been mulling over for some time. Given all this, I think my thoughts are correct. We need to stop posting photos of FR related events. And we should not put our photos on our profile pages or in posts. This is tough medicine - it would mean no more photos from BBQs or from innagural balls and the like. But sadly, I think we cannot reveal what we look like to the public.


631 posted on 02/11/2005 12:30:01 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I tried it again. It says page cannot be displayed. It happens everytime I go to submit the signature.


632 posted on 02/11/2005 12:30:09 PM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: arasina

Sorry I had a slip of the finger there its pukin dog.

I guess I lost all I was trying to say didn't I?


633 posted on 02/11/2005 12:30:58 PM PST by Rightly Biased (I believe If you can't say something good about somebody your probably talking about Hillary Clinton)
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To: conservative in nyc

BTTT


634 posted on 02/11/2005 12:31:07 PM PST by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: All
Should have added that "CNN Executive in Hot Seat Over Iraq Claim", has been posted here:

CNN Executive in Hot Seat Over Iraq Claim ^

635 posted on 02/11/2005 12:31:33 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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To: advance_copy

Bump.


636 posted on 02/11/2005 12:33:17 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: GOP_1900AD

Has this NCPAC person been confirmed to be legit? If theories are abounding.....let's go a step further, black helicopter further, what if NCPAC is one of them?


637 posted on 02/11/2005 12:37:49 PM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: pbrown

Highly doubtful. I believe NCPAC really is Steffen. His stature and initimate knowledge come through in his posts. Plus he's publicly admitted to being NCPAC.


638 posted on 02/11/2005 12:46:18 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: GOP_1900AD
You're probably right but, If a person is to play a part, they must play that part flawlessly and convincingly.
639 posted on 02/11/2005 12:55:40 PM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: pbrown

Hmm...check your Freeper mail.


640 posted on 02/11/2005 12:56:26 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (A Proud member of Free Republic ~~The New Face of the Fourth Estate since 1996.)
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