Free Republic Rocks Nancy Pelosi's World With Scoop on Threat to 9/11 Mosque Opponents

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

Free Republic rocked Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) world by breaking the story about her menacing comments calling for the investigation of critics of the location of the Cordoba House mosque planned for the neighborhood of the World Trade Center site of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York City.

Two San Francisco media outlets reported on Pelosi's press conference where she made the remarks, but neither one saw fit to report them. Fortunately one of those outlets, KCBS, posted an audio recording. The other, the San Francisco Chronicle, posted a video that had bad audio rendering the menacing comments inaudible.

I had posted the Chronicle article which highlighted Pelosi appearing to dodge the issue by saying it was a local zoning issue for New Yorkers to decide. Afterward I found the audio file at KCBS and listened to it. When I heard Pelosi say the things that weren't being reported I knew this was something that was potentially explosive. So I transcribed the relevant parts, wrote up an article and posted it to Free Republic at 10:21 p.m. EDT.

Soon after the Washington Times picked up the story and from there it went to Twitter and then to other sites like Atlas Shrugged and Breitbart.

The story percolated over night in the blogosphere and on Twitter until the Washington Times report hit the Drudge Report--first as a headline and then as the lead story with a banner headline and a photo of Pelosi that stayed up most of the day.

Pelosi's threat was reported by the major political sites like The Hill, The Washington Examiner and Politico, as well as NRO, Hot Air and Powerline. The story also dominated talk radio shows including Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

By early afternoon when Pelosi issued a clarifying statement that reiterated her call to investigate the mosque critics, it was too late to soften the blowblack.

That didn't stop the mainstream media from trying. The AP, AFP, the Washington Post and other mainstream media wrote their first articles about Pelosi's comments after she released her clarification. What was missing from most of the articles though was reactions from 9/11 families and others to Pelosi's threats.

An exception was WCBS in New York which posted a story with the scathing headline: 9/11 Families: Pelosi Has Lost Her Mind.

The Hill was nearly alone in reporting on Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) response calling Pelosi's comments a threat to 9/11 families.

The Hill was also virtually alone in reporting Rep. Dan Lundgren's (R-CA) rebuke of Pelosi.

Thanks to Free Republic, millions of Americans became aware today of Pelosi's totalitarian threat to investigate them and put her on the defensive.

I've posted this not to pat myself on the back or to get attaboys, but to show how valuable is Free Republic. Without a Freeper taking the time to dig a little deeper in the story, Pelosi most likely would have gotten away with her threat.

Other Freepers, like Buckhead and icwhatudo to name two, have profoundly affected the national political landscape with their posts on Free Republic.

As we approach the critical November elections, vigilant resourceful Freepers will be needed now more than ever to root out what the politicians and the mainstream media don't want us to know.

[chilltherats]

Great work again, Kristinn. Thank you. That was a great service you provided.

[roaddog727]

Bumperoo!

[JustAmy]

****

[synbad600]

KYMB!

[DTogo]

Why do you hate plastic surgeons Kristinn?

/sarc

[Biggirl]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bert]

Twenty five Attaboys for your continued excellent work!!

[Oceander]

As we approach the critical November elections, vigilant resourceful Freepers will be needed now more than ever to root out what the politicians and the mainstream media don't want us to know.

Absolutely. It's unfortunate that the mainstream media have fallen so far from grace that they've become nothing more than covert propagandists for a failed ideological viewpoint; but that they have, and so it falls to the rest of us to call out, as loudly as we can, that the Emperor has no clothes.

It's pathetic, really, how the media in the U.S. - the nation that managed to bring down the Soviet Union without firing a shot - has fulfilled the dreams of the founder of the Soviet Union by becoming, in Lenin's words, collective propagandists, collective agitators, and collective organizers. That is precisely what Journolist was all about - crafting an a priori narrative into which the facts would be forced, no matter how badly they failed to fit that narrative. So, congratulations to you on this one, and congratulations to Free Republic in general for the valuable service it has rendered to this Republic.

[mom4melody]

OUTSTANDING!

And....it went viral on Facebook too. I share on my wall as did others.

[Biggirl]

Goes to show the importance of Free Republic to the national community.

[samtheman]

It's pathetic, really, how the media in the U.S. - the nation that managed to bring down the Soviet Union without firing a shot - has fulfilled the dreams of the founder of the Soviet Union by becoming, in Lenin's words, collective propagandists, collective agitators, and collective organizers. That is precisely what Journolist was all about - crafting an a priori narrative into which the facts would be forced, no matter how badly they failed to fit that narrative.

It is pathetic. Equally pathetic is the government school system that makes it all possible, churning out legions of leftist journalists and dumbing down enough of the electorate that they can read leftist journalism without batting an eyelash.

[McGruff]

Expect to be investigated. For the umpteenth time.

[left that other site]

Mazel Tov, Kristinn!

[fightinJAG]

Way to go!

[airborne]

When I saw the headline, I guessed right away it was you!

Well done, sir!

[Timeout]

Oh my, Kristinn. What would we do without you?!!!
Thanks for your vigilence.

But I think the media and commentators are missing the import of Pelosi’s threat. She wasn’t calling for an “official” investigation.

She’s issuing the clarion call to all the nutroots to dig up dirt on prominent mosque opponents. Ala Joe the Plumber, public employees should scour public records, anonymously leaking anything embarrassing to the media. Pelosi knows the media will run with it.

She also wants the nutroots to do their own “investigating”. Maybe publish a few home addresses, followed soon by protests from ACORN or the Workers Party. Divorce records? Arrests? Anything “her” press corps can use to slime opponents.

She got what she wanted with her Tea Party accusations: Nazis, nefarious funding. We’ve since had a full year of “news” articles speculating about the racist roots of the Tea Parties and other completely unfounded, ridiculous reporting.

Nancy-—for good reason-—expects the same results this time.

[maryz]

In Austin this was all over KLBJ 590 AM this morning:

It's been all over Boston talk radio too! :)

[freebird5850]

Makes me proud to be a member. Great work!

[Mrs. Don-o]

Well done, my FRiend! Well done!

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm