Posted on 06/24/2009 4:34:02 PM PDT by kristinn
Nico Pitney, the Huffington Post 'reporter' planted in the Brady Briefing Room yesterday by the Obama White House to ask a question on a pre-arranged topic of Barack Obama previously worked as an opposition researcher for Democrat big wig John Podesta and is a self-described "fan" of Barack Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Podesta served as Barack Obama's presidential transition chief and is president and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP). Pitney served under Podesta as deputy research director for CAP as well as managing editor of CAP's Think Progress blog
Pitney left Podesta in 2007 and when he was hired by the Huffington Post to be their national editor.
In an interview by the homosexual website, Queerty, published March 7, 2008, Pitney described his work for Podesta and Huffington:
I was doing essentially opposition research for years and found the process of digging into these issues really fascinating. There's so much going on that doesn't get picked up and the web allows for so much of that to come out. So, with Huffington Post, I have the ability to do some more advocacy oriented stuff if I want to and also I dig up new information through the journalism we do there, so that's why I went there.
Question: So you were politically conscious and active prior to your transition into journalism…
Yeah, I had worked on campaigns coming out of college and then I joined the Center for American Progress, which is nonpartisan, but progressive and we started a blog there, Think Progress, and basically did opposition research on conservatives and conservative ideas, policies and figures. That's where I got the urge for it.
One example of Pitney satisfying his urge to whack conservatives was a HuffPo hit piece on Sarah Palin he co-authored with Sam Stein that was published Sept. 2, 2008.
The Media Research Center's Culture and Media Institute described the article:
In an obvious attempt to create a Jeremiah Wright-style scandal for the Republican presidential ticket – and to marginalize conservative Christian values – Huffington Post National Editor Nico Pitney is questioning the religious beliefs of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her former pastor.
A Sept. 2 Huffington Post (HP) article by Pitney and Political Reporter Sam Stein begins with an ominous headline: “Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview.” They write, “And if the political storm over Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright is any indication, Palin may face some political fallout over the more controversial teachings of Wasilla Assembly of God.”
Pitney and Stein label Palin’s worldview “controversial,” and quote snippets from Wasilla Senior Pastor Ed Kalnins’s sermons that paint him as extreme. Wasilla Assembly of God church member Karissa Nelson told CMI what she thought of the HP story: “It’s sad how people twist your words.”
In his effort to marginalize Palin’s religious values, Pitney appears to be advancing a political agenda. Just two weeks ago, the self-described “advocacy” journalist was scheduled to participate in a panel on opinion writing at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association convention in Washington, D.C. Pitney told CMI he is neither a homosexual nor a member of NLGJA, but he is clearly an ideological fellow traveler.
Pitney's biography published at the Huffington fails to note a journalism degree, nor any background in journalism at all:
Nico Pitney is National Editor at the Huffington Post. He was previously Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and Managing Editor of ThinkProgress. He lives in Washington, DC, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and NPR. Nico can be reached at pitney@huffingtonpost.com.
A website posted a bio of Pitney purportedly from CAP that mentions Pitney writing for his college paper. No wonder that's not in his HuffPo bio:
Nico Pitney holds a degree in philosophy from the University of California Santa Barbara, and studied economics and international relations with the Fund for American Studies at Georgetown University. At UCSB, Nico was an editorial staff writer for the campus paper, chaired the Student Forum on the Middle East, and coordinated field operations for several local races. Prior to joining the Center, Nico developed web content for the youth arm of Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign.
On Pitney's Facebook page, he describes himself:
Nico Pitney is a fan of:
Politicians(:)
Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Democratic Party Howard Dean
Rahm Emanuel
Pitney was trusted by Obama and his staff to play ball and not act like a real reporter. No wonder Emanuel leered at reporters when Obama called on Pitney at the press conference.
Not a truthful word ever escapes from the mouth of the mid east’s leaders personal bitc*.
OFGS.....transparency my A**
I thought planted questions were a big no-no for pressers.
Oh, silly me, I forgot that the rules don’t apply to “the One”.
So he’s no different than the rest of the WH press corpse!
Pray for America
:-) Thank-you for this post! This PROVES HOW THE Soros/Obama camp lies about EVERYTHING!
IMO, Obama lifted Dean’s strategy to fool the American voters.
DATED: Monday, August 11, 2003
The Progressive Case for Dean
by Nico Pitney
“Apart from his platform and its flaws, however, Dean should be commended by progressives for accomplishing what social justice movements so often work toward and only rarely achieve - his campaign is creatively utilizing the internet to facilitate large-scale independent organizing, and drawing significant numbers of new and disillusioned voters into the political process, getting many of them to contribute their time and energy away from the computer screen.
Dean’s campaign has developed an infrastructure to support grassroots activism unmatched by any in American history. The uniquely interactive nature of the campaign “creates, embraces, enhances, validates, and rewards intimacy,” as one supporter wrote on the campaign’s weblog. Dean has dropped in on threads and message boards at unofficial websites set up by supporters and fielded any questions that were asked of him. Author David Weinberger, commenting on Dean’s guest-blogging at Stanford law professor Larry Lessig’s website, asked, “Has any presidential candidate ever in history been dropped into a free-for-all quite like this? Could it be any more different than Bush’s scripted press conferences and tailored, crotch-enhancing photo opps? Democracy just got a little real-er.” Even some establishment commentators recognize the fundamental reforms being rushed in by Dean’s campaign. Dick Morris, hardly cheering on such changes, recently argued that the “larger message of the Dean candidacy is that the era of TV-dominated politics is coming to a close after 30 years. ... [T]he inevitable replacement of television with the Internet as the fundamental tool of political communication is destined to accelerate. The true answer to campaign-finance reform, the Internet will open a real possibility of a transfer of power to the people.”
Dean has also demonstrated an impressive ability to draw supporters from diverse backgrounds. From the politically-marginalized to the politically-uninitiated, from registered independents (who have set up personal websites to help bring new independents into the fold) to McCain and Perot supporters upset with Bush’s accelerated neo-imperialism and cultural conservatism (who have a website of their own), Dean’s message is resonating widely. According to the progressive youth mag Wiretap, every campaign’s “youth outreach efforts were routine and shallow” except for Dean’s, which is far larger and designed so that youth “are not just a passive audience for campaign speeches, but enlisted as community organizers” addressing issues beyond Dean’s campaign, like Bush’s attack on the Teach for America program. In polls, Dean frequently leads his fellow Democrats by wide margins amongst independent voters and men, who are typically more likely to vote conservative. This information is fantastic for folks who support Dean but wonder about his electability. It’s also great news for progressives in general, who should be clamoring to draw such a politically-diverse group of individuals into left-leaning web-based political activism. The internet is the progressives’ optimal playing field: decentralized, free of the constraints of the mass media, perfect for alternative information dissemination and mass organizing. Individuals who are drawn to Dean’s blogs and mailing lists can be introduced to the various and sundry sites providing news, op-eds, and activism opportunities for progressives.
“Patience and fortitude conquer all things,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. In pressing times, progressives have demonstrated great fortitude by committing themselves to institutions and social movements that addressed injustices theretofore neglected. Howard Dean is no holy grail, but amidst a trend in our country toward widespread political ignorance and a sort of corporatized proto-fascist nationalism, perhaps it is our patience that is needed now. What we have in Dean is a man who can articulate liberal positions intelligently, passionately, and commandingly, and who has the grassroots/netroots support and an appeal to diverse constituencies that will allow him to defeat George Bush. Let’s join Dean’s campaign, get on his e-mail lists, and spread the word. “
Please read the complete article/BS @ http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0811-09.htm
Nico Pitney, the Huffington Post 'reporter' planted in the Brady Briefing Room yesterday by the Obama White House to ask a question on a pre-arranged topic of Barack Obama previously worked as an opposition researcher for Democrat big wig John Podesta and is a self-described "fan" of Barack Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Podesta served as Barack Obama's presidential transition chief and is president and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP). Pitney served under Podesta as deputy research director for CAP as well as managing editor of CAP's Think Progress blog. Pitney left Podesta in 2007 and when he was hired by the Huffington Post to be their national editor.
Thanks!
Didn't hear about the leer. Would like to know more.
The Center for American Progress is so nonpartisan it only does opposition research on "conservatives, and conservative ideas, policies and figures." Does this idiot Nico have any idea that he has just contradicted himself? Does the idiot Nico understand what the word "nonpartisan" means? Actually, I think he does know what "nonpartisan" means. He's just an outright liar; pretending and calling himself and his Center for American Progress "nonpartisan"; probably to get some sort of government grants, while using that money to fund Left wing, Democratic Party political operations against conservatives.
It also appears as an attempt to redefine the word "nonpartisan" to mean opposition to conservatives and conservative ideas. What lowlife, bottom feeding slugs this creep and the communist organization he worked for are.
Yes, but Obama had TWO ringers in that “spontaneous” press conference: The South American “journalist” was also set up in the front row by Obama for HER rehearsed question on Columbia.
They are all plants. They have been paid off with our taxpayer stimulus money. The media was whining and crying about going broke until about January 20. ALL those stories just died like our prosperity did. And them ABC just did a big “pro-bono” show for ozero’s health care plan. I am calling BS big time here. That production cost a LOT of cash and even though the media is full of libtards, they do have to pay their bills. More hope and change for the peasants.
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