061003_huffington_560When The Huffington Post crossed the line again with another questionable attack on President Obama this Sunday, many members protested online and here at PlanetPOV.

There was increased and unflattering speculation about the motives and agendas of The Huffington Post and Arianna Huffington. Remarkably, Arianna Huffington has chosen to respond to these criticisms in a letter delivered this morning to PlanetPOV. It reads as follows:

To Whom it May Concern,

It has come to my attention that there are a few members at The Huffington Post and at your site who are under a number of misapprehensions about myself and The Huffington Post.

I am making this attempt to clear up these misunderstandings because I value the truth and our members matter to me. And just for the record, I kept a straight face as I typed that.

As I’m sure you’re aware, it is highly unusual for me  to express my opinions without cameras pointed at me so I hope you’ll understand if I at any time appear a bit disoriented or speak to an imaginary host.

I would like to respond to some of the key allegations that have been made about me but before I do, I would like to once again remark on how I hate that Balloon Boy for stealing MY airtime. Bastard.

1. Huffington Post is owned by a hedge fund with investments in health care and insurance.

Absolutely false. Huffington Post is not owned by a hedge fund. There are at least two hedge funds that own it, smartypants!

2. Arianna Huffington flipped from being a right wing Republican to a left wing  Democrat overnight solely because she is an opportunist.

I find that allegation very offensive. I am very committed to my principles and beliefs! Unless a promising opportunity comes along, of course. People who believe this accusation are cynics. I suppose if Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin or Ann Coulter came out tomorrow to say they were now liberal Democrats and for doing so they just happened to receive enormous publicity, popular news and opinion websites owned by and named after them, valuable book deals, enthusiastic praise and slavish devotion by progressives, frequent cable news and other tv interviews treating them as the voice of progressives and 1990’s hair styles , you’d be just as suspicious.

Let me be very clear about this, Larry, I am not doing this because I have a lust for celebrity, power and money. I am doing this for the children, after all, they’re our future. I have gone on many talk shows and written many columns at Huffington Post and written a number of books to make clear to people that I am not interested in being a celebrity nor am I seeking attention, money or power. And I think most of the millions of people who have seen me on tv or have read my books and articles or visited my website, bought my perfume, purchased an Arianna Huffington action figure (with kung fu grip) or will line up to see the movie based on my life story, know that I have no interest in being a celebrity.

3. Arianna Huffington and The Huffington Post purposely publish misleading headlines, anti-Obama articles and dishonest and sensationalistic stories in order to generate media attention and greater web traffic so higher rates can be charged to advertisers.

Where do you people come up with these things? When I write an article with a 50 point, screaming red headline demanding that Joe Biden should be the first Vice President in the history of the United States to resign in protest because his advice was not accepted by the President in one instance in Afghanistan, I’m not doing it to get attention. Jeez! And how would that result in my getting more media attention? As I told MSNBC’s The Ed Show, CNN, ABC News, Headline News, CSPAN, Lifetime, Oprah, The View, Rachel Ray, Logo, The Food Network, Animal Planet and Glendale High School reporters, I’m not interested in publicity, I’m speaking out selflessly on the fictional issues of the day because I care. About the children.

4. The Huffington Post doesn’t care about its members, it secretly supports the presence of offensive right wing racists, ideologues and fanatics as comment bloggers because the conflict they create keeps members on the site longer and clicking more which increases ad revenue.

Okay, let’s break this down. Do you really think the hedge funds that own The Huffington Post invested in it to make a profit? Do you really think they would have plowed money into the site if they weren’t solely motivated by Democratic and Progressive  principles? Do you really think hedge funds put profits and return on investment above doing what’s right for this country? That they would have the audacity to view the faithful, principled members of a web site as nothing more as rubes to be manipulated to increase returns?

If so, I feel sorry for you. I mean, just think what would happen to this nation and its economic system if financial entities were actually that greedy and so focused on stuffing their pockets that they took no responsibility for the ramifications of their actions. You don’t understand how caring and principled hedge funds, banks and other financial institutions really are. Maybe your corporate parents just didn’t give you enough love when you were founded.

Secondly, why would we want people posting personal insults, racist attacks, demeaning Obama, promoting propaganda and lies and in the process, inspiring the kind of outrage that makes people spend many valuable hours out of their life defending the president, principles and truth which they value? It’s not like there’s any profit in that for us to have increased numbers of people on the site for more time. Except in advertising revenue but otherwise, why would we want that?

I hate trolls! Really I do! Ooh, they get me so mad! In fact, I’m going to go over to Huffington Post in a minute just to bash some! Hey, you should too!

5. Huffington Post claims to be a place for progressives and liberals but has policies of censorship and banning which are very oppressive and more fitting for a right wing site.

I have heard all the overheated complaints about how our big and growing blacklist of words makes posting difficult, how annoyed some people are at the arbitrary wiping of their posts and how arbitrary and easy to abuse our system of banning members is. I think the best response to this would be a post from one of your fellow members that was posted today:

ahbrownnoser I’m a Fan of ahbrownnoser 31 fans permalink

This comment is pending approval and won’t be displayed until it is approved.

I am so p*ssed off that Ar_i@nn@ would ever be accused of

s

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o

o

t

i

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down free speech at Hu_ff1ngton_P05t. It would k i 1 1 Ar1_@nn@ to think that anyone was f#$ked up enough to think such sh1t.

Reply  Favorite  Flag as abusive Wipe with bottom like toilet paper  Posted 01:24 PM on 10/26/2009″

You see? And that was from one of your own.

And as for all the unfair criticism that comments on all of the articles I write on Huffington Post (I just love saying the name!) are fully moderated to keep out all strong criticisms of me and my opinion, so that all I and readers see are fawning, glowing compliments from the little people about how brilliant and right I am…it’s just coincidence that no one has ever had strong words or criticism of anything I’ve ever thought or wrote. I’m not saying I’m right about everything but have you considered that the many people grovelling at my feet over everything I say…might be right?

6.  Zsa Zsa Gabor is my cousin.

How silly this one is! Zsa Zsa is Hungarian, superficial, self-centered, addicted to celebrity and attention, married for money and used her husband’s wealth to live the life she wanted for herself. On the other hand, I am Greek.

In closing, I would like to invite all of you to reconsider The Huffington Post and join us there for thoughtful, mature and substantive discussions about issues that really matter in an atmosphere that respects and protects Freedom of Expression. That is, those of you we haven’t banned yet for freely expressing speech we don’t allow there.

Sincerely,

Arianna Huffington”

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Truth
Member

Oh AdLib. How history has proven you to be right!

caleb36
Guest
caleb36

The issue of anti-Obama comments and their relation to Republican electoral efforts is more complex than some supporters of the President realize.

Within the progressive camp, there are two legitimate points of view about President Obama. One school of thought contends that he is a true progressive doing the best he can under very difficult circumstances. The other school believes that he is far too centrist (actually center-right) and that his positions must be challenged if the effort for genuine progressive change is to continue (I belong to this second school).

What both schools of thought should agree on, however, is that it is imperative to support Democrats 100% on election day so as to avert the disaster of a Republican and Tea Party victory. Regardless of our views on the President, we must get out the Democratic vote!

This is where Huffington shows her Republican stripes. Her front page stories seem calculated to discourage Democratic turnout. Now, less than a week before election day, is not the time to blast the President in front page hatchet jobs, or show unflattering and mocking photos of him, or highlight unreliable polls portending a Democratic defeat. Yet within the last few days, Huffington has repeatedly and ceaselessly done all of these things.

boomer1949
Member

caleb…

So give this a try. Make an attempt to post your comment anywhere “over there” and watch what happens. All of your suspicions will be confirmed.

She’s a faux Dem with a destructive agenda. This was no “accidental” encounter by any stretch of the imagination:

Amalfi Italy — August 2010

[imgcomment image[/img]

Khirad
Member

That little picture gets pended or scrubbed every time.

boomer1949
Member

Khirad…

What drives me nuts is her two-headedness, I mean two-facedness. You know? After all the crap she has been tossing around the last year, she had the audacity yesterday to jump on the “Sanity/Fear” bandwagon. Does she really think people are that stupid?

It can only mean she saw an opportunity to make money and could not resist when the $$$ light bulb went off in her head. ChaChing, ChaChing, and she laughs all the way to the bank.

And, as far as the chummy picture or any attempt to challenge HP’s or her position, the scrubbing can not even be considered censorship. It is a sign of her insecurity, her bias, and her corporate evilness.

PS — bet she’s sorry she ever Tweeted about the accidental encounter. 😉 It’ll haunt her forever. Bawahhha!

Hopeington
Member
Hopeington

Good to know you do funny on this planet…you had me going at first but then I see, you slipped into to her inner thinking….I feel right at home.
I know it’s weird, but I really feel free er that I can say what I want about the huffnpuff queen. Half of my comments were scrubbed over there it was getting frustrating. But now that I can, I have nothing to say except, thanks Planet people.

seehowtheyrun
Member
seehowtheyrun

Hello everyone: I’ve been fed up with HP for quite a while: misleading, sensationalistic headlines, stories based on hearsay, terrible moderation, facebook and twitter nonsense, etc… I’m glad I finally made it here (I was wondering where everyone was the past couple of Friday nights). Troll bashing is fun sometimes, but it’s nice to be able to come to place where one can engage in intelligent, honest, conversation, and debate. The site looks great, and the postings are excellent. Thanks for the invite kevensenen.

seehowtheyrun
Member
seehowtheyrun

I mean kenevseven !!!! (eyestrain).

Corgi Lover
Guest

Welcome to the site. That kitty looks awfully familiar! It’s growing here, the site and the members. And the management is user friendly, it’s amazing!

escribacat
Member

Hello seehowtheyrun,
Welcome to the land of no pending and no Jon Gosselin stories!

Hopeington
Member
Hopeington

No Gosselin stories!!!BIG SIGH!!!
What a relief e’cat!!
Good to see you too.

Hopeington
Member
Hopeington

Hey there seehow, I got here cuz they banned Looktotheleft and karate kid left a “coded” message.
I’d been wondering where everyone was too.
I mean it when I say I’m glad we made it out.
Positive.

jdmn17
Member
jdmn17

Welcome to the Planet!

bito
Member

A warm welcome seehow, you will like it here if you like civility.

Khirad
Member

.

Khirad
Member

.

jdmn17
Member
jdmn17

Welcome, there are a lot of your old favorite posters here. Look around, get your slippers on and enjoy

pacollegegirl
Guest
pacollegegirl

Wow…Now, this is where I can seriously call home. I was ABSOLUTELY fed up with huffy and and of their b/s reporting. Let me say thanks again to whom ever it was that led me here. Love the piece on AH.

KevenSeven
Member

You are welcome!

In both meanings!

Help us promote HuffNo Friday!

Pass the word about the Planet!

escribacat
Member

Hello pacollegegirl. Welcome!

Corgi Lover
Guest

Yes, a most satisfying piece of satire. And, sincerely, a very flattering picture of her. I especially liked point #6 personally.

SouthernGirl2
Member
SouthernGirl2

Hello everyone,

It took me a little while to find my way through.

I couldn’t agree more with you about the Huffington Post. I was wondering what was going on with my posts “pending” and I hadn’t written anything offensive. Well, I now know why! I wrote “Dick Cheney’s name.

Good job!

Kalima
Admin

Welcome to our Planet and enjoy your freedom here. 🙂

KQµårk 死神
Member

Welcome. The moderation, scrubbing and banning is infuriating with Enoughington Post. What in the world is liberal or progressive about that, especially their “fully moderated” articles when you cannot criticize Aryanna or her minions. The worst part is racists can have racist monikers and icons which never get scrubbed.

KevenSeven
Member

Welcome!

We will be holding a HuffNo Friday this week. Help us publicize it on Thursday? You need to be discrete to get around the Mods there. “planetpov.com” is now a banned word!

KarateKid
Member

Keven,

Still learning how this site operates but wanted to tell you KK is here, at nicole473’s request. What did you say to get banned at HP? I pushed the envelope today and always have wondered why it hasn’t happened to me yet. Anyway, good to see you here. KK

don
Guest
don

Kevenseven, I was stunned by your recent scrub at Huffington. The erradication of all previous posts is reminiscent of Soviet practices, and is definitely anti-progresive. The old stomping grounds certainly aren’t what they used to be. I remember early on when you had to suffer horrendous trolls that posted useless trash, wait that’s now isn’t it. There was one in particular that went for the throat on Arianna calling her all manner of sexist things. I think it was her ex-husband.

I’ve always wondered, did you ever post at the old Fear Bush web site?

KevenSeven
Member

Thank you.

I was posting links to columns here criticizing Hairyanna.

Can’t have that!

escribacat
Member

Hehe. Okay, you had me going at first. And then I thought, nah, she’s not so self-aware….Brilliant. Well done. Especially the line “Huffington Post, I just love saying it.”

She was just boasting on KO about the HP “scoop” over the weekend. Gak.

whatsthatsound
Member

ROLF MAYO!
(rolling on linoleum floor, my ass yodels “Okay!”

SouthernGirl2
Member
SouthernGirl2

LOL

Kalima
Admin

Another obvious dig at the President, again she displays her agenda. Not shy that one.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/barack-obama-is-doing-my_b_334631.html

sharonh
Member
sharonh

She is a megalomaniac.

Kalima
Admin

She’s a Republican parading as a Progressive for years to make money and gain her 15 minutes of fame.

SouthernGirl2
Member
SouthernGirl2

Exactly!

We were furious with her about that bogus Why Biden should resign headline!

http://weeseeyou.com/2009/10/15/weeseeyou-arianna-huffington-why-biden-should-resign/

Kalima
Admin

Must be taking advise from “Tricky Dicky.”

One good thing is is that she made a complete and utter fool of herself for saying it.

Strega
Member
Strega

Hi Sharon & indeed she is.

sharonh
Member
sharonh

Well allo darlin. How does it go with you?

Strega
Member
Strega

Good, thanks. I’m trying to figure out my way around this site. Also trying to figure out how to upload an avatar!

sharonh
Member
sharonh

I use Gravatar.

SouthernGirl2
Member
SouthernGirl2

It took me awhile to figure out my way around too. Whew!

KevenSeven
Member

Glad to see you here!

Help us promote HuffNo Friday this week!

nicole473
Member

co-sign.

KarateKid
Member

ok, nicole, made it, signed up and ready to roll. KK

nicole473
Member

Hey, KK, GREAT to see you here!!

Welcome!! 🙂

KarateKid
Member

Thanks, now to figure out how to use Gravatar.

kesmarn
Admin

That is appalling. The problem is, she would like to be doing HIS job. But apparently she feels that, since the prohibition against foreign-born presidents rules out her own run for the position, she’ll settle for being the back-seat driver in the Obama administration. She really does fancy that she runs the show from behind the scenes. Dream on, Ariaaaaahhhhna.

nicole473
Member

I think you’re right. She is very delusional AND arrogant.

SouthernGirl2
Member
SouthernGirl2

My friend at WeeSeeYou.com has a name for her… “Airyhead Puffington”!

nicole473
Member

Ha ha……very apt. 🙂

Kalima
Admin

Oh AdLib, this is a treasure trove of pure brilliance, for a second, because I’m still half asleep, you had me going there.

My first laugh of the day and I thank you!! 😆

sharonh
Member
sharonh

Holy sarcasm AdLib. You got me with your headline. Who is Larry? That is one piece of work, very nice.

escribacat
Member

Did she do a Larry King show recently?

KevenSeven
Member

Well, I just want to say that I am very comforted by Hairyanna’s letter and am sure that my permanent banning at the IP level, and the fact that I cannot get anyone over there to return my e-mails, is all due to some low level flunky who does not understand how things work.

sharonh
Member
sharonh

You can go to the electronic store and buy a device so your IP is not static. Wouldn’t it be worth it to see Keven666?

KevenSeven
Member

I sould look into it.

Actually, as I think of it, Huff probably has a cookie somewhere in my computer that is frustrating my efforts to post. Gotto go clear the cache!

KevenSeven
Member

Damn! Cleaned up my cookies cache, and suddenly my new sock seems stable!

Bring on HuffNo Friday!

KarateKid
Member

So does this mean you’re back on that site?

escribacat
Member

I have to wonder if they did turn out to have the capability of banning at the IP level, why did it take them so long to get rid of that nutjob racist who used to appear every morning and post every racist slur in the book and get repeatedly banned until it exhausted itself.

Pepe Lepew
Member

Who was that?

KQµårk 死神
Member

Bankington is obsessing about banks again in her latest criticism of the president that should be listed in the WSJ.

Suzanne525
Member
Suzanne525

So I just got to this site, and this is the first article I read, without having seen the byline first!

Just fabulous! I even read it with the accent!