Posted on 01/23/2010 11:44:38 AM PST by PittsburghAfterDark
An interesting phenomenon has been occuring in various newspaper "Letters to the Editor" pages. A woman with the same name has had letters published in no fewer than 9 newspapers praising Obama while using various city and location residences.
Now it's one thing if the person(s) name was something like John Brown, Steve Smith, Amy Jones or any other number of common name combination. However the name being used is Ellie Light.
This may seem like much about nothing except for one small thing. The only Ellie Light that FReepers were able to locate by Lexis-Nexis or internet searches were a reporter that used to write for the Bergen Record.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2435422/posts?page=18
This reporter, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Washington bureau head, Sabrina Eaton has published several email exchanges with "Ellie Light" on her personal blog on cleveland.com. These exchanges are on the source URL for this post.
This is a very troubling development. Until it is known who "Ellie Light" the following questions are obvious.
- Who is behind the pseudonym "Ellie Light"?
- Is someone from the White House, Democratic party or a close ally employing someone conducting this kind of work?
- Why are newspapers failing to contact letter(s) to the editor to verify name, address/location and phone number and instead relying on email exchanges?
- Can you imagine these questions not being asked if they were the same name, publishing the same letter to the editor in various newspapers around the United States praising a Republican President?
I give major kudos to Sabrina Eaton for doing some true reporting and investigative work. I would be opposed to any White House or political party conducting such a campaign. This is a dangerous trend that's been revealed; newspapers are verifying even less and less information that they publish.
I urge Ms. Eaton and FReepers to stay abreast of this story and not let it die.
Me thinks that “Ellie” won’t be logging in sometime soon.
http://www.theblogmocracy.com/2010/01/12/chaber-of-commerce-warns-of-double-dip-recession/
January 12, 2010 12:15 pm
A year ago, if we had read in the paper that employers were hiring again, that health care legislation was proceeding without a bump, that Afghanistan suddenly became a nice place to take your kids, we would’ve known we were being lied to. Back then, we recognized that the problems Obama inherited as President wouldn’t go away overnight.
During his campaign, Obama clearly said that an economy that took eight years to break couldn’t be fixed in a year, that Afghanistan was a graveyard of empires, and would not be an easy venture for us. Candidate Obama didn’t feed us happy-talk, which is why we elected him. He never said America could solve our health care, economic and security problems without raising the deficit. Instead, he talked of hard choices, of government taking painful and contentious first steps towards fixing problems that can’t be left for another day.
Right after Obama’s election, we seemed to grasp this. We understood that companies would be happy to squeeze more work out of frightened employees, and would be slow to hire more. We understood that the banks that had extorted us out of billions of dollars, were lying when they said they would share their recovery. We understood that a national consensus on health care would not come easily. Candidate Obama never claimed that his proposed solutions would work flawlessly right out of the box, and we respected him for that.
But today, the President is being attacked as if he were a salesman who promised us that our problems would wash off in the morning. He never made such a promise. It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a President can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything.
If OBama inherited this, then GWB inherited the Enron collapse and 9/11 from Clinton
“President can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything.”
oh ellie, ellie, ellie, you just can’t resist that one phrase.
She showed up in a similar letter to the Bennington Banner (a liberal rag in Bennington, VT) on Jan 12, 2010. Called herself “Ellie Jeanne Light”, no address published.
"President can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything."From a Google search for "President can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything" :oh ellie, ellie, ellie, you just can’t resist that one phrase.
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,390
I am interested in how much effort went into this propaganda campaign.
When I submit an LTE to my local paper, I must include a phone number so the paper can call and confirm I (lack-of-trust) wrote the letter and not someone pretending to be me. How did Miss Light suply and answer a local number for each paper that carried her missives?
:)
Interesting, isn’t it?
Dang, that Ellie sure gets around!
I wouldn’t be surprised if this Ellie letter to Ben Smith was spammed by ‘Ellie Light’
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/A_defense_of_Obama.html#comments
I don’t know much about twitter, but it looks like about 5 hours ago, ellie light started a twitter. haha
* Name EllieLight
* Bio Lifelong Democrat. Anti war, Code Pink, Loving Mom and Grandma. Love to read and cook.
she doesn’t say she loves to “write letters to the editor”. ;)
The North County Times, in San Diego County, California, has a comment section poster who uses both her real name and a couple of aliases. She commonly posts something under her real name, then agrees with herself using the aliases. She also turns up at public meetings, blathering on and on regarding things about which she has no understanding.
Local readers got quite a bit of enjoyment on the day that one of her aliases got into a disagreement with another of her aliases.
The punch line? She’s planning to run for office.
Each one of those papers should be spammed with this to force them to disclose it....
MEGA scam.
???
Haitian help
Westport News - Jan. 19, 2010
A disaster has struck Haiti, and many struggle with the best way to give. Generosity is good, but it’s better to be generous and smart. ...
(Not Found)
//
(no link)
Give with your heart and your smarts
Ruidoso News (NM) - Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Author: To the editor:
A disaster has struck Haiti, and many struggle with the best way to give. Generosity is good, but it’s better to be generous and smart.
Of course, most of the well-known charities have geared up to provide relief in Haiti of all sorts, including medical care, food and shelter, and I’ve provided a list of a few of those below. However, even in giving, it’s good to know where your money goes.
If you’re considering making a heartfelt donation to people in need, there are still factors to consider. For example, one would prefer to donate to an organization that had a presence in Haiti before the earthquake struck.
It’s best to donate to an organization large enough to make a substantial difference in this sad crisis, but not so large that your donation gets lost in the shuffle.
It only takes a few minutes to learn a bit about the charities you donate to, how accountable they are with their dollars, the percentage of your donation that goes to direct aid, and even the salaries of an aid organization’s CEOs.
Even in times of crisis, it’s good to donate with your brain attached. Below are links to two organizations that thoroughly research charities operating in the United States. Charity Navigator provides info about all aspects of a charity’s finances, and the Better Business Bureau Giving Alliance centers more on a charity’s financial transparency and accounting practices.
Ellie Light
Three Rivers
Charity Navigator: www.-charitynavigator.org
BBB Giving Alliance: www.bbb.org/us/charity
A short list of charities involved in Haiti
Direct relief: www.directrelief.org/Index.aspx
Save the Children: www.save-thechildren.org
Mercycorps: www.mercycorps-.org
Doctors without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Americares: www.americares.org
International Relief Teams: www.irteams.org
World Hope International: www.worldhope.org
Oxfam: www.oxfamamerica.org
Mennonite Central Commit-tee: www.mcc.org.
Sounds a little like the lyrics for one of the big production numbers in “Hair”.
“Who is Ellie Light?” now on facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=261752540668&ref=search&sid=720854311.3228289797..1
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