The Power of Blogs

[H2O Man]

"Given the extraordinary media scrutiny here, if any case presents the real possibility that these letters, once released, would be published on the internet and their authors discussed,even mocked, by bloggers, it is this case. .... any interest by the press or the public in the contents of these letters would be minimal, if not non-existent."
--Team Libby's Response to Judge Walton's 5-17 Order

As we move towards the Tuesday sentencing of I. Liar "Scooter" Libby, I think it is worth taking a quick look at the power of the internet. I believe that Team Libby's concern about the internet is based not on any concern that people will "mock" those who authored letters of support for Scooter; but rather, because they are aware that the most accurate reporting on the Plame scandal has been found on the internet.

It is interesting to note that the Joseph & Valerie Wilson Legal Trust Support's web site has a section for reports "in the news." They link some reports from the corporate media. But they also link to progressive internet sites, including: {1} Truthout; {2} FireDogLake; {3} HuffingtonPost; {4} AntiWar.com; {5} ThinkProgress; and {6} RawStory.

I applaud the people who have helped raise the American public's awareness of the significance of the Plame scandal. Any time that attorneys for a convicted felon request a federal judge to try to keep American citizens from discussing the crimes of the Bush-Cheney administration, I think that those citizens have hit a sore spot. Every time there is a post on a blog, or a discussion on a progressive site such as the Democratic Underground that provides information on the OVP/WHIG/OSP operations to protect the lies that brought us to war in Iraq, we exercise our Constitutional rights.

Thank you, one and all.

[babylonsister]

1. YOU, H2O Man, need to take a bow yourself! You kept us all here at

DU apprised of what was going on, and we are in your debt.

:hi: :thumbsup:

[EFerrari]

18. You said it, sistah.

:)

[mzmolly]

32. Heck yes!

:toast:

[H2O Man]

2. A link:

to the Wilson's "in the news" ....


http://www.wilsonsupport.org/news

[annabanana]

5. done. . .n/t

[annabanana]

3. Now, If we could only get Congress to dump those massive

bills (that "no one ever really reads" - Conyers, Fahrenheit 911) out here on the net where thousands of citizens could really burrow into them, we might get bills that actually behave as advertised.

[L. Coyote]

20. Perhaps this could be litigated. Don't we have a right to know somewhere in law?

[spanone]

4. Thank you H2O Man

[formercia]

6. I need a bigger Tin-Foil-Hat.

my head is beginning to swell. :rofl:

[Me.]

7. Good One

I think back to '04 when the Plame threads started up, and there, years before it became mainstream was info on what happened on AF1`, and the words neocon and WHIG long before MSM used them.

[bonito]

8. K&R!

[mopinko]

9. after reading al gore's book

i shuddered to think of where the world would be right now without the internet. who would have any information about the crimes that have been committed in our name? no one. we would all just be fearful, frustrated, and forgotten.

[L. Coyote]

21. we would still be tree killers, reading the papers by the ton

[mopinko]

33. none of this is in my newspaper

i used to get the chicago tribune. i occasionally see the NYT. so, i repeat, where would i find the truth?

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

10. The "Plame Threads" played a major role!

Let no one discount the fact that the think tank which developed around the Plame threads of 2004 was a huge development in the power of the tubes to gather and disseminate information and chew it to pieces!

The power of numbers was made apparent - so many good minds participated and uncovered heretofore unkown connections... we listened to the guidance of posters with superior intellect and great experience, and each person added to the whole. We created something totally new, and began to change the world thereby.

[H2O Man]

11. DU's Plame Threads

were read by a lot of people. And there was some information on them that was "confirmed" months and even years later. I think that DU is the very best place for discussions on the Plame scandal.

[DemReadingDU]

26. and many thanks to you!

It was your essays on the Plame scandal that enlightened me about the background of Cheney and Libby to Wilsons. If it weren't for the Internets and The Google, and your essays, I'd still be clueless. Thank you!

[Old and In the Way]

12. The internet has changed everything as to how news and information

is collected and disseminated. As Mopinko notes above, I cannot imagine how poorly informed we'd be without the internet. Our traditional media has totally failed us. We'd all be clueless as to the extent of the crimes that this administration has foisted on our country if we had to rely on for-profit media organizations, whose primary job appears to be to cover for the Republican Party.

Of course, it is the contributors of great analysis and insight, like yourself, that makes DU such a great reading experience.

[Lochloosa]

13. Don't thank us....

Thank you :toast:

[bleever]

14. I guess "being the media" really is working, isn't it?

It's a great feeling, just knowing that it's possible.

:toast:

[L. Coyote]

17. Better yet, "Being the Media the Media Reads."

Journalists are Googling all the time, and they find DU threads. Google has our stuff up real fast. They must crawl the Home page every few minutes. Some threads from the last few days are the highest ranked on recent scandals. We top Time on their new Rove AL story, and we cover the Abramoff angle.

[bleever]

22. I keep being surprised at Google results

on topics we dissect on DU.

Keep on truckin'.

:thumbsup:

[H2O Man]

15. DU

will apparently be "down" on Tuesday morning, perhaps for an extended time. I'll be looking forward to getting on to discuss the sentencing with people here as soon as DU is back on track. And, of course, to taking advantage of the hours between now and then ....

[L. Coyote]

16. The Power of Discussion Fora = Google any Issue and is DU in the Top 10?

Let me give it a test, with "Disclosure CIA Agent Identity"

Only Waxman (house.gov) and Wikipedia beat out DU.

Why? Discussions can be very keyword rich, repeating the same terms many times. Compilation threads really rise in rank, and offer an opportunity to present a lot of connected dots to off-group web searchers. A lot of people get their first impression of DU this way, and some posters are not exactly poster children for the more serious elements here.

[Me.]

19. If You Type In I Liar Libby

H20's threads are #2 & 5

[bleever]

23. And if you type in "Scootie Libbert" you get this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=126936&mesg_id=133182

:)

[H2O Man]

24. And Scooter Libido

was the nom de plume he used when writing his book. And here the public thought Scooter Libido was an ex-Hill staffer when he exposed one Ms. Plame.

[Me.]

29. We've Got A Million Of Them

Now I'm wondering if Scootie will try any last minute delaying tactics, like a trip to the hospital

[H2O Man]

30. I imagine

that it is a stressful time for him. As much as I know felons like him have to have consequences for their crimes, I do not take pleasure in people being incarcerated. Yet it is clear that he still has the attitude that he did nothing wrong in exposing Plame, in lying to the FBI, in lying to the grand jury, or in lying this country into war in Iraq.

[Me.]

34. His Thumbing His Nose At The Justice System

Our laws, is the crux of the matter. He and his are of the opinion the laws don't apply to them. The icing on his prison cake without a file is that he is prepared to shield the biggest offender of them all, our dick of a veep,

[WilliamPitt]

25. Thank you right back, sir.

[SoCalDem]

27. Why Blogger?..Why Now?

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) J Mon Feb-21-05 11:57 PM
Original message

Why Bloggers...Why Now?


Hey Media....

You have fallen down on the job. You know it, and now you know that WE know you know it .

You flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and ....there appears to be a parachute "malfunction"..Happy Landings, Icarus

........

For decades media had Carte Blanche to report on whatever they chose, and for the most part did it fairly well. I'm sure that when FDR was putting together the New Deal, there was a lot of media attention to the pros and cons of the programs he planned. I know that during the Kennedy/Johnson/Nixon/Ford/Carter/Reagan/Bush1/Clinton years, there was no shortage of critical press. They understood that it was their JOB to report on important legislation.

Presidents are not supposed to "like" the coverage they get. It is what it is. Administrations have always tried to divert attention from their failings and trumpet their successes, but it's the DUTY of the press to call equal attention to both.

The stakes are very high, and the public is starting to realize that this might be our "last stand" against a government run amok. Instead of having the press standing by as "the fly on the wall" recording what is happening, they have become little more than megaphones for the politik-speak coming from the White House.

The real irony here is that as things have gotten ever more serious, the press has turned tail and run the other direction. They insist on force feeding us celebrity drivel, as China "eats our lunch". We just have to study, in depth, the make up of the Jackson jury while jobs are leaking from our country like water through a sieve. Brad & Jen's break-up is "top of the hour news...every hour" while we rarely hear an up to date accounting of our war dead. Our lopsided practically militant legislature is dismantling our long held safety nets but we see smiling anchors bemused by the antics of water skiing squirrels, and skydiving Grandpas.

Instead of deliberate reporting and follow-up on important issues of our day, we are "treated" to pseudo-journo-spokes-folks who delight in telling us about THEIR lives and the books THEY have written. Whole "networks" are devoted to "news", and yet they seem to interview each other as often as they report the news.

That brings up a whole other point. Experts? Experts used to be just that. They did not serve up a political agenda with their science. The so-called experts who are foisted in our faces day in and out are little more than Think Tank Hacks who have sold out to the right wing machine. They are as believable as the tobacco executives who repeated one after another "I do not believe that nicotine is addictive". For a price, these experts will say whatever they are paid to say. We know it, and we are tired of the lack of diversity of thought.

Bloggers are just ordinary people who are tired of being lied to, and who are ashamed and embarrassed for our "media folks". For the most part, the on-air "talent" are people who had the advantage of a good education, are well paid, and should know better. It's like seeing the guy from school who got a PHD working at Walmart.

We also "get it". We recognize the "code words" used in reporting the few news stories that get reported. We are ashamed of you because you are letting us down daily, hourly. You are our last hope for spreading truth and unvarnished facts, and yet you are usually first in line with lies, half truths and White House fax transcriptions.

Before you accuse the LEFT of being poor sports, I might remind you that "the left" controls NOTHING, and hasn't for a long time, so the "liberal bias" crap just does not pass the "smells like shit" test. Truth HAS no bias.

Our so-called media jumped on the war wagon with breathtaking gusto, never questioning the obviously bogus information, and yet had the guts to "be offended" when ordinary people started to take you all to task. You are our "last man".. We count on YOU to tell us what's going on. Sure, you all looked "cute" in your "war outfits", and it probably was great fun to race through the desert on tanks. You grabbed every lifeline the government tossed you as the reasons for war proved as solid as blobs of mercury. WE knew from Day One, minus 5 that the whole war was phony, and we are holding you responsible for a great part of the resulting carnage.

There was a window of opportunity when real reporting could have prevented the whole thing, and exposed the mess. We saw how you all enjoyed watching Colin Powell doing linguistic gymnastics at the UN, while the whole world laughed at us. Our media stuck their fingers in their ears and chanted la-la-la-la. You could not be bothered with mere facts.. The swooshy graphics were all ready.. the logos designed, and the measurements for your "war costumes" were already at the tailors.

and now we have arrived somehow, at Gannon/Guckert/Jeff/James/Cannon/Bulldog/BoyWonder.. whatever-the-hell he calls himself today. Get a grip people.. It's NOT about the sex (although he flaunted it).. It;s about the LYING... (Now where have we heard that canard?) and it's about the LACK OF SECURITY at the White House, and the EASY ACCESS that a male prostitute could get, and yet legitimate news people have difficulty getting.

We are spending billions of dollars on Homeland Security, and yet our own White House seems relatively INSECURE.

The Blogosphere is being covered now, out of obvious desperation on your part, but you are covering it in your usual dimwitted way. Turn the microscope around. You should be focused on:

Why can ordinary citizens with a computer be able to dig up facts that are unknown to people with degrees in journalism?

Why is the general public MORE aware of the undercurrents of stories than the mainstream press?

Why are bloggers meticulously careful in the sourcing of their material, providing voluminous links, while "real journalists" are the ones "just making stuff up" and claiming "confidentiality" when they get caught?

What's it TO you if real people have opinions too? Are OUR opinions less valid because we are the consumers of news, instead of the ones asking the "non-questions".?

Why are the relatively FEW opportunities afforded journalists WASTED with inane "questions"? I don't care what he eats, how fast he bikes, how many armadillos he fed Barney, or any of the other crap you guys ask him.

In case you have not noticed, we have some serious issues , and they deserve your full attention. If you cannot do it, please find someone else to do your job.

We have "moved on"..

[symbolman]

28. You're very welcome

And thanks for the sterling reviews of my years worth of research on this subject and thanks to the many folks here who donated and received my two DVD film compilation called "Rove's War".

Launching it during John Conyer's nationwide Town Hall Meeting was a real treat. Being hugged by Conyers and called "Brother" for being a good media foot soldier in Detroit while filming that event was over the top.

Too bad that Leopold led 100's of blogs into the ditch in one fell swoop with his bizarre tale that Rove had Been Indicted, among other things. I hated seeing Truthout being held captive by his rants.

But at least he/they have your support, and they couldn't ask for a better man. :)

Here's to H20Man, and the DU! Three Cheers!

[mzmolly]

31. Indeed, I think blogs in this era will have made a lasting historical impression.

Imagine what we'd NOT know were it not for bloggers, the "internets" ;) and DU?

[H2O Man]

35. The corporate media

will probably give less coverage to Scooter's being sentenced than they have to Paris Hilton's case. One case is pathetic -- a spoiled rich kid with a substance abuse problem. The other is tragic -- the betrayal of an important part of the intelligence community, in order to get the country involved in a war that has killed and injured thousands of people.

[mzmolly]

37. What a sad reflection on the notion of a "free press."

SO much work to do ...

[H2O Man]

39. I just got

this week's edition of TIME in the mail. It is usually here on Saturday, or I'd have mentioned this earlier. However, it fits this discussion ....

On page 30, there is a 1-page "viewpoint" that is titled "How Libby's Trial Hurt the Press." It is by Norman Pearlstine, the former editor-in-chief of TIME, and author of "The Press, The Government, and the War Over Anonymous Sources."

Iprobably would agree with Mr. Pearlstine on at least 95% of his views on the topic of his book. But his article is dishonest. The trial of Libby had little conflict involving journalists, compared to the investigation of the scandal which lead to Libby being charged with 5 felonies. And even the investigation broke no new ground .... the law that compells journalists to cooperate with federal grand juries pre-dates Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation.

Mr. Pearlstine hints that Mr. Fitzgerald was not honest in saying he was not looking for a 1st Amendment showdown. He also claims that Mr. Fitzgerald has not revealed what issues led him to force Miller and Cooper to cooperate. This is simply wrong. Any reader of DU knows why Mr. Fitzgerald was forced to take the steps he did. If Mr. Pearlstine read the concurring opinion of federal Judge Tatel which led to the Miller's testimony (In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 438 F. 3d 1141, 1182), he would know that it was because of the serious charges being investigated. These involved exposing a CIA NOC's identity, and espionage. One assumes that even Mr. Pearlstine would admit that espionage from the office of the vice president isn't the run-of-the-mill legal case.

More, TIME was hardly honest with its readers: they knew very well the identity of one high-ranking official who "leaked" Plame's identification. It was Karl Rove, leaking it to TIME's Matt Cooper. But the editors of TIME decided to keep that little gem secret.

[mzmolly]

42. Hmmmm, sounds like I'll have to pick up the latest issue of TIME.

Any reader of DU knows why Mr. Fitzgerald was forced to take the steps he did. If Mr. Pearlstine read the concurring opinion of federal Judge Tatel which led to the Miller's testimony (In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 438 F. 3d 1141, 1182), he would know that it was because of the serious charges being investigated. These involved exposing a CIA NOC's identity, and espionage. One assumes that even Mr. Pearlstine would admit that espionage from the office of the vice president isn't the run-of-the-mill legal case.

Yet much of our media treats the situation a bit like a traffic ticket.

[juno jones]

36. All I can say is

Thank you all for a job well done. I've come here for my news and commentary for years. I'd rather get it from people like you than from the MSM. I agree with the sentiments above, I don't know where we'd be without this crazy internet thing.

Thank you, H2Oman for this thread in which I can formally thank you and everyone else :) .

[proud patriot]

38. Thank You Too H20 Man

:patriot:

[Stephanie]

40. Amen

Thanks to you, friend. :hi:

[Joe Chi Minh]

41. The neocons seem a bit like a photographic negative of the Good Doctor's "Freak Power".

Instead of ripping up the roads of Aspen with a jack-hammer, they build a bridge to nowhere in Alaska, and so on. I'm half expecting to read that George has had his head shaved and been referring to Cheney as his long-haired VP. Fear and Loathing in the Green Zone.

A terrific documentary on Vietnam on BBC4 at the moment. There was a terrible ambush, and he few survivors were told not to admit they were ambushed. As he lay in his hospital bed, a tremendously heroic lieutenant, one of the very few survivors, told Westmoreland, a bullshit artist if ever there was one, where to get off - everyone from the President down - and he didn't mince his words. Unbelievably, they had not been finished off, because the Viet Cong were late for another battle.

Interviews with surviving soldiers and their loved ones, police as well as students and lecturers; being beaten with billy clubs and shot. Enthralling, seeing and hearing these old boys and the women painfully reminiscing. Sorry for the digression.

[applegrove]

43. Well said H2O man. Well said.

[Octafish]

44. Truth is more precious than gold.

Especially so in a democracy. And that is why Bush, his Poppy, and their relatives and cronies work so hard to hide it.

Thanks for telling it, Mr. H20 Man. And thanks for living it.