Posted on 06/28/2008 10:36:43 AM PDT by kristinn
The Washington Post published an article today in the Style section about researcher Danielle Allen's efforts to track down who is behind allegations that presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (Illinois) is a Muslim. Allen is an Obama supporter who works for the Institute for Advanced Study.
The article was written by Matthew Mosk. A curious choice for The Post considering Mosk's involvement in the nefarious MD4Bush scandal in which Mosk claimed to have been given access to a Free Republic poster's account to expose a Maryland GOP government appointee who was alleged to have commented on rumors that a Maryland Democratic mayor was an adulterer.
Mosk displayed the same talent for exposing Freepers' identities in today's article that he did in the MD4Bush scandal. However, the only person he exposed then was the Republican. The person (or persons) behind the MD4Bush screen name was not reported by Mosk.
The article Mosk wrote today purports to be about efforts to track down where the 'Obama is a Muslim' allegations began. However, it is actually a warning shot across the bow to opponents of Obama that they will be tracked down and exposed for speaking ill of the Obamessiah.
Mosk even makes sure to let Obamaniacs know who is behind Free Republic and where he can be found:
Of the file folders that are spread in neat rows across Allen's desk, only one is bulging. It holds printouts of the reams of conversations about Obama's religion appearing on Free Republic. Since its start in 1996 by Jim Robinson of Fresno, Calif....
The effort by The Post to protect Obama from rumors is in stark contrast to how they promoted potentially candidacy-damaging rumors eight-years ago.
When George W. Bush ran for president in 1999, The Washington Post led the way in rumor-mongering about whether he used cocaine in his youth. Bush refused to deny cocaine use saying that denying rumors just leads to having to deny more and more rumors. No one ever came forward with allegatons that they had first-hand knowledge of Bush using cocaine, but that didn't stop The Post and the mainstream media as painting Bush as a cokehead. No reporter ever asked Bill Clinton about cocaine use, even though several people known to Clinton claimed to have first-hand knowledge of Clinton using the drug while in public office.
While Mosk ignores The Post's own rumor-mongering, he leaves the impression of Free Republic as the rumor mill of the right. A fair reporter would have noted that Freepers exposed the fraudulent Texas Air National Guard documents that CBS News used in its attempt to derail President Bush's reelection bid in 2004. Buckhead, the Freeper who called foul on the documents, was tracked down by the Los Angeles Times even though he did not post his name on Free Republic.
Mosk's article closes with Allen complaining that the Internet has become as influential as unions and political action committees (PACs) in elections. Unstated is that the political activities of unions and PACs are heavily regulated by the federal government.
Allen seriously misunderstands the right to anonymous political speech--equating political speech with the right of a citizen to face his accuser when charged with a crime by the government:
..."This kind of misinformation campaign short-circuits judgment. It also aggressively disregards the fundamental principle of free societies that one be able to debate one's accusers."
While Mosk and The Post are furiously protecting Obama from the Obama is a Muslim allegation, they steadfstly refuse to report on Obama's well-documented connection to the terrorist supporter and Osama bin Laden sympathizer, Jodie Evans, co-founder of the anti-American group Code Pink.
The Post article claims that the Internet's danger to politics is the ability to spread rumors anonymously. The real danger is the left's willingness to use the Internet to track down and destroy its perceived enemies. Allen and Mosk's teamwork exposing Freepers is one more example of that.
One of my friends told me she ran out of her estrogen—guess she had to get a new prescription and it took about a week.
Her family told her if it ever happened again, she had to leave home! :)
I was on it for 25 years—never believed all the hype.
I took it for about 4 years, at first it was great but after about 2 years it began giving me problems. I can’t take any medication for very long.
I just got tired of taking it and also thought it would be easier to lose weight. Not true.
But today I decided that I am very allergic to ice cream—it makes me break out in fat. So I’m going to try that tack.
Pretty crazy that they’ve researched each person based on various postings. Kind of like they’re stalking. Weird if you ask me.
LOL!
Blackmail and intimidation are standard operating procedure for the left. Get used to it. It will get worse.
Boy, talk about a flashback there...haven’t heard those terms used for a while!
“We will have to protect our own identities in addition to any security provided by websites. “
Some people still use usenet, but with PGP or Blowfish crypto.
Don’t overlook steganography.
These modes work best with people who have met face-to-face, though, and it’s difficult to add vetted members.
Or so I’m told, I read a book discussing these issues of communications.
“As a member of the VRWC, I have yet to get such an email.”
Were you one of the folks who got the letter telling you not to go to Dixie Chicks concerts? I framed mine.
One hopes that they left...
A. On a gurney...
*OR*
B. In handcuffs...
the infowarrior
Well, this is certainly their modus operandi. I was at one of the Walter Reed counter-protests, and this woman walked by me in a daze. I didn’t know who she was or what she was doing there, and initially didn’t pay much attention to her.
Someone pointed out that she was taking pictures of the Freeper’s license plates to post on the Internet. She was apparently one of the Code Pinkos, which in retrospect, explained why someone with her skeletal physique would wear pink gym shorts and a tank top.
Then, the ditzy, seemingly drug-addled person walked out into the busy intersection in front of Walter Reed (against the traffic) and nearly got run over by a car.
This is what they do. This is how they operate. Remember it well, everyone.
If they want to pull that with me, they can try it. I live up here in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, so I am used to it.
There is a difference between saying “Obama is a Muslim” and saying “Obama has a Muslim background.”
He does have a Muslim background.
I’d go so far as to say that Obama has a Muslim upbringing.
Been that way for a loooonnng time, now...
the infowarrior
You do not have to be a Catholic to go to a Catholic school.
They accept everyone, to them, it is a way to get their parochial foot in the door, so to speak.
I agree, there is a difference. I’d like for the WP reporter to tell us why the difference is important to her.
Yep. That is a great post, expatguy! Says it all, for me.
Exactly! They thought they'd intimidate us and we'd back off. ROTFLMBO. Hey, Allen and Mosk, you pathetic little Stalinistas, how do you think you're doing?
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