Posted on 08/09/2005 10:10:27 PM PDT by bobbarker27
Open letter to Drudge By Albert Eisele
Dear Matt:
Just wanted to say thanks for my 15 minutes of fame.
Leading off the Drudge Report two days running with my story about Helen Thomas saying she’d kill herself if Vice President Cheney runs for president meant that your 8 million-plus daily readers now know my name. My relatives in Iowa and Minnesota were impressed, even if my wife wasn’t.
But I have to tell you: If this is fame, who needs it? A lot of your readers — the count was over 400 the last time I checked — reacted with varying degrees of outrage as they blamed “arrogant and self-important” journalists like Ms. Thomas and me for screwing up the country. And they rightly accused me of misspelling “scatological” when I stood up to some of them who attacked me anonymously with language you wouldn’t hear in a biker bar.
Seems a lot of your readers hate Ms. Thomas because they think she’s a liberal apologist who asks “mean-spirited” and “disrespectful” questions of Republican presidents but not of Democratic ones. And they hate me because I defended her as a “great journalist,” which anyone who’s survived in Washington as long as she and Robert Novak have deserves to be called. And Matt, I have to tell you, a lot of your readers castigated me — I think I spelled that right — for calling you a cybergossip and describing them as Drudgoids. Actually, the First Amendment allows political commentators like me and Ms. Thomas, and even conservative apologists like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, to say outrageous things from time to time.
But I learned long ago that when you write something that touches a nerve with people and they come down hard on you, you have to remember that it’s like when a mafioso orders a rival rubbed out — don’t take it personally; it’s just business.
I have to say, though, I was surprised by how you triggered so many vicious and hateful attacks on Ms. Thomas. C’mon, an 85-year-old former White House reporter-turned-opinionated columnist is a threat to President Bush and the Republican Party? Alert the Secret Service. Helen Thomas is approaching the West Wing. Code Red! Code Red! To be fair, I did hear from some thoughtful and intelligent people, like William R. Barker of Harriman, N.Y., who said it wasn’t “fair or professional” for me “to take pot shots at those of us who follow the Drudge Report. … Anyone interested in news should make the Drudge Report his or her homepage. Sure, some ‘reports’ don’t pan out, but that’s the nature of reporting. The fact is, the Drudge Report is 99 percent links and it’s one heck of a resource.”
I told him he has a point but explained that I wasn’t criticizing you or those who get their news from you. I also told him that if he wants to read something serious instead of this ridiculous flap over l’affaire Helen Thomas he could read this former Army officer’s reports from a recent two-week trip to Iraq, which are on our website www.thehill.com under the heading “Iraq dispatches.”
I interviewed brave young Americans in places like Baghdad and Fallujah and Mosul who are putting their lives on the line, and too often tragically losing them, as some 20 Marines did last week, to protect the right of journalists to criticize the politicians who sent them to war, and the right of your readers to criticize those of us who cover them.
Now that’s something worth getting worked up about.
Another pudknocker journalist.
Dear Mr. Eisele,
Your 15 minutes are up.
Did Albert Eisele defend Gannon of Talon News with as much vigo as he defends Thomas or was he just part of the MSM pack on that one?
The only thing worse than a lib writer is a whiney lib writer.
aint no body scared of the old bat.....but after she or any journalist says in effect "I hate GW Bush" why would any sane person want to hear what they have to say?
So he blames Matt for publicizing what he did.
So, since his poor widdle feelers are hurt, I say (in my most sensitive and PC voice), ...
Whoo Hoo! Way to go Matt!!!
I still don't get why he got mad at Drudge for simply linking to his column about Helen Thomas. Why write something if you don't want anybody to read it?
How can you compare Helen Thomas to Robert Novak. Novak breaks news you don't hear anywhere else, like a true journalist. Novak is often critical of Bush and other Republicans on various issues and political strategies. Thomas is just a partisan hack.
I'll bet you could ask each and every Soldier or Marine why are they in Iraq or Afghanistan and NONE of them would answer "I'm here to protect the right of journalists to criticize the politicians who sent [us] to war."
Drudge is a rumor-mongering idiot. I saw him on a late night talk show and the guy is truly as shallow as they come.
This guy is an idiot.
He's mad at Drudge because his liberal media buddies are busting his chops about reporting on a fellow liberal reporter.
Could you provide a list of rumours Drudge has spread? I trust you, but I like to verify. :)
Any examples? And what makes him shallow?
All this is cool but I'd still like to see VP Cheney run for president if it will help us get rid of that highly-opinionated Leftist wacko, Helen Thomas.
A lot of people knock Drudge. Too bad. He's a the reason why most people are even online these days. Cant take the heat? Get out of Hell's Kitchen and stop whining.
Like they're forced to go to his website...
Yeah, this guy really thinks the Iraq war was pointless and probably immoral, but then he says the soldiers are over there fighting for the freedom of speech of journalists. What a smarmy guy!
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