Yes this ad trying to destroy the democratic process was actually linked on a so called progressive website. I could be wrong but I doubt even people who want to kill the bill out of principle on the left don’t want to block the democratic process. I really don’t know what to say but this is way too over the top.

Please keep this in Speakers Corner.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/state-of-the-union-is-oba_b_436045.html

It seems Whoreanna has become the self-appointed spokesperson on the plight of the middle class in our country. As if. She’s an ueber-right idealogue, who married a fortune and sucked up a mega divorce deal (along with a lot of other things along the way) and suddenly converted from slightly Right of the Teabag Party to saintly Progressive overnight in November 2004 … for a price. (No surprise there).

She’s second-guessing and threatening this President again. No doubt tomorrow she’ll be all over MSNBC, causing Ed’s blood pressure to rise, eliciting more syllable-strangling mixed metaphors from Keith, or else she’ll be over on The Situation Room, causing Wolf Blitzer to cream his knickers.

She is a corporate whore doing the job of the corporations and people are stupid enough to drink her toxic koolaid. And for someone who’s championing freedom of speech, she sure as hell doesn’t practice it.

I would love to issue her the challenge of living for a MONTH on an average middle class salary and living in an average middle class home, juggling bills, mortgage payments, car expenses etc. She simply couldn’t do it. She’d be out of that house so fast, the front door wouldn’t hit her feta-cheesed ass. I don’t know what makes me angrier – idiots like Huffington getting kudos and credits for being clever or the dumbasses who follow her religiously.

Right … I’m going to the dark room now.

Huffy is doing it again.  Any good news that does not fit their narrative must be instantly spun to the negative.

Case in point a recent poll by ABC News, the BBC and ARD German TV that attitudes are improving towards the West in Afghanistan.  Rachel Maddow even touted this poll as good news on her show.  Huffy now has “experts” (their spin machine) refuting the results of the poll.  Polls have errors and I am not defending the results of the poll specifically because I do not have enough info but I do ask,

Why challenge this poll Huffy when there are hundreds of polls?

The answer is simple on any subject where Huffy is trying to create a narrative all contrary evidence must be refuted.  There is no reason to question the news services that conducted the poll.   They have no reason to push poll to skew the results.  Spinning news to fit memes is exactly what Republicans do when results are contrary to their intentions.

Today I stumbled upon a website called scienceblogs.com. I found a post called “What to do about the Huffington Post’s support for anti-vaccine nonsense and quackery?” written by a surgeon/scientist called Orac.

The gist of the article (from May 1, 2009) was the tone and quality of the science articles on the Huffington Post and AH’s apparent anti-vaccine vendetta (and other issues). Since many of us have a lot of problems with how political issues are presented on HP, I found it extremely interesting that scientists on this site (read the comments) are taking issue with the quality of science there.

Here is a link to the post I describe:

What to do about the Huffington Post’s support for anti-vaccine nonsense and quackery?

More links to articles by Orac about the science at HP:

Antivaccination rhetoric running rampant on the Huffington Post

Woo-meister Supreme Kim Evans takes on rationality and the swine flu at The Huffington Post

More quackery at–where else?–The Huffington Post

Who is Patricia Fitzgerald (and why should you care)?

Needless to say, I entered a comment inviting Orac to planetpov.

BEWARE OF GREEKS CAUSING RIFTS IN YOUR POLITICAL PARTY/MOVEMENT …

I’m on a mission. I’m utterly angered and repulsed that so many people on the Left are bamboozled by a phoney shill, who purports to be a Progressive.

People need to learn to think critically and investigate the background and modus operandi of every media talking head who puts forth an idea as fact. If you don’t, you just aren’t thinking. The saddest thing that can happen to a person is for his intellect to stultify.

There’s a particular media person who’s really getting up my tits at the moment. Just like I had George Bush pegged as the ineffectual frat boy that he turned out to be, I’ve had this one pegged for the last 28 years, ever since her rather ignominious departure from the United Kingdom after brazenly trying to appropriate a place amongst the serious British media intelligensia. (Don’t be fooled: the fact that Kirsty Wark – the most dipshitbrained political commentator and ‘pet Scot’ fo the BBC – interviewed her recently only served one purpose – Huffington’s stupidity made the equally vapid Wark look good).

I suppose our fathers and grandfathers, the so-called Greatest Generation, had to deal with Tokyo Rose and Axis Annie. Now we have to deal with the Greek Whoracle. I always thought, being the grandchild of three, that naturalised Americans came to this country to savour freedom. Instead the Whoracle came to enhance her brand and further her own interests, all the while criticising any and all Administrations which got in her way. I suppose Michael Huffington’s loss to Barbara Boxer in the Senate campaign and his subsequent ‘outing’ (and thus ending of the business arrangement that was her marriage) put paid to her ultimate ambition of becoming a First Lady with an ‘intellectual political salon.’

She’s weighing in on everything with no experience or expertise, shouting down people whose knowledge is better, and criticising everything our President does with no basis whatsoever. In her past two television appearances, she’s managed to shout down both Jane Mayer and John Podesta, both of whom have infinitely more experience in matters Afghan than she can ever hope to have. As she’s adamantly demanding President Obama reveal all his strategy behind his escalation of troops in Afghanistan, I’m absolutely gobsmacked at this assertion.

Lady, this is war. And in war, sometimes you have to keep your cards close to your chest – mostly, so assholes like you can hazard second-guessing. You show everyone your hand and your enemy has you by the short and curlies … or maybe that’s what you want? Maybe you’re the obvious spy, the dog in the manger, whose demands are so ridiculously silly that no one would ever think that you’re working for ‘the other side.’

Ah, but who is the other side? Well, we haven’t heard much from the teabaggers and the birthers lately, have we? But we’ve been hearing a lot of the Left’s base who’ve obviously been breathing in the toxic fumes of the Whoracle’s Koolaid. These are so-called rational people – well, I’m rational too; and I never believed the Damascene conversion the first time around when it happened to St Paul, and I’m sure as hell skeptical about someone who promoted Newt Gingrich as the saviour of America in the 1990s, blatantly and openly campaigned for Bill Clinton’s impeachment at the same time, supported John McCain in 2000, hurrah’d George Bush’s surge and voted him in a second time, enabled Ahhnold in his bid for governor after her own laughable ‘campaign’ tanked, and suddenly woke up the morning after the 2004 Election to ‘realise’ she’s a Progressive?

As the Brits would say, ‘Pull the other one. It’s got bleeding bells on.’

Like Rupert Murdoch, she runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds; and at the end of the day, it’s all about herself and her ego. That someone of the calibre of George Stephanopolous keeps giving her the kudos by allowing her to appear on his roundtable and spew her toxic venom and ignorance is a disappointment. Perhaps it’s something to do with the Greek connection. Well, Major Hasan’s a Virginian too, but I’m not about to land on the side of someone who opens fire on and kills 13 people.

Nope, the reason we haven’t heard from out teabagging friends on the Right is because their seemingly more intelligent counterparts on the Left, having drunk the Koolaid-flavoured retsina offered up by the Whoracle, are doing the job of debunking and discrediting President Obama for them.

Perhaps when President Palin ascends the Oval Office throne, there’ll be a place at her side for the Media Whoracle too. Two good ones together, and all enabled by the totally puerile and immature base of the left, throwing a massive hissy fit and not voting for a reasonable, rational, sensitive and intelligent man. We thought we’d done something right, only to be told by a media shill that we haven’t, and she’s telling us what to do about it.

Hello?

One great Progressive voice recently said, ‘Faith is the absence of critical thinking.’
But I wonder how long he will continue to be a ‘progressive voice?’

Just remember this: In the end, you get the government you deserve. Maybe y’all deserve Palin.

And in the meantime, read the bloggings of one Greek who’s not afraid to call out a Media Whoracle out for the phoney she is.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/13/17647/726

Since the orbit of The Planet periodically brings it close to the wormhole that is The Huffington Post (mainly after full moons), I think it is high time that I made an oath here and now to stop talking about the trolls and personal conflicts at Huffington Post.

After all, the whole point of being at The Planet instead of HuffPo is so that I don’t have to be bothered with and distracted by all that petty, unnecessary stress and soap opera over there. I can get back to what I set out to do by joining HuffPo originally, blog about issues and events that really matter to me.

And by continuing to talk about all that HuffPoop  here, it’s like I’m working against my own desire to escape it. So, I vow not to talk about the inter-member bullshit at HuffPo ever again after the period at the end of this sentence.

There! That feels good! Very freeing!

No more will I talk about you know who and that other guy and “her”, not to mention “she” and the other one, you know who I mean.

In fact, I think talking about not talking about HuffPo is worth talking about often and in great detail.

And, I think anyone not talking about not talking about HuffPo is not talking about what shouldn’t be not talked about.

If we’re going to try to shrug off the HuffPo insanity, we need to start talking seriously about not talking about HuffPo.

And what better way to do that than talking about how we should be talking about not talking about it? And we can’t be all talk about not talking about it!

Know what I’m talking about?

Disclaimer:  I am not an owner or employee of PlanetPOV.  All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.  Only through the wonder of a non-moderated free internet press do these opinions appear.

To Ms. Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post

I would like to communicate to you my sincere concerns over the overall premise and day to day operation of your website, the Huffington Post.  If I did not care on how the image of Huffington Post reflects on all progressives, within and outside of the blogosphere, I would just walk away and say nothing, but it is considered a “representative” source for progressive thought.  This is why I am commenting here.  I have come not to praise Caesar nor to try to bury her.  Instead, it is time to openly and honestly say what is at issue with the Post.

Those who you have entrusted to operate it have turned it into a tabloid.  It no longer resembles a blog for intelligent discourse but instead contains far to many questionable items, as I will list:

1. Stories only fit for the National Inquirer.  Frankly, I don’t care how cute or naïve that the almost son-in-law of the former governor of Alaska looks in his Playgirl photo shoot.  Nor who is or is not wearing panties at some celebrity event.
2. The headlines for the more serious stories are now glaring examples of deceptive advertising.  They are designed to bring you in to see what’s in the circus tent it seems, not what is actually under the big top.
3. The accuracy of a number of your stories is getting diminished all the time.  I will give you the benefit of the doubt and say this is do to quick and lazy writing, not purposeful deceit like I would expect from my hometown Republican newspaper.

The stories are supposedly for a progressive audience, but more and more they have an agenda of their own, and it is not the agenda of the core progressives I know, and certainly not mine.

Those whose duties it is to maintain decorum and equilibrium in the flow of thoughts and ideas on the comments section, otherwise known as the moderators, are an utter failure.  I cannot claim them to be anything but.  Why?  Because:

1. There is absolutely no actual enforcement of the commenting policies.  It is as willy-nilly as it can be.
2. Besides turning the “comments” section into a social gathering place, you have allowed and seemingly approved of the publishing by trolls, and some others, comments that are vile and ugly in a manner that all civilized people should recoil in horror from.  I have seen comments calling the president a “nigger”, holocaust denial comments, comments claiming our government is worse than the operators of the concentration camps, etc.  Even in an open exchange forum those types of comments should be severely limited, but it seems no longer at HP.
3. Good, intelligent comments, backed by unbiased fact sources, are often obliterated for unknown reasons.  It is almost as if real thought and discourse is being discouraged.
4. People are being exiled for extremely dubious reasons, and yet some members are allowed to perpetually exist; promoting vendettas against others, often for reasons only based on opinions.

This is not a healthy environment for anyone.  I don’t know what the management’s motivations are these days, but it does not seem to be for the promotion of progressive ideals and thoughts.  This is sad.  Instead, it has become nearly as virulent as some of the right wing blogs in some ways.  This is unacceptable to clear thinking people.  And it is becoming an agent infecting even good progressives who would have shown more civility in the past than I see them showing today in their posts.

If you sincerely want the Huffington Post to be a beacon of progressive truth, it is time for you to put aside other pursuits and wade back in and take the bull by the horns.  As it stands today, the Post is becoming less and less believable, and although you may be receiving awards for being a highly influential woman, you are losing readers who no longer have any faith in what you are saying or what you are really after.  I became one of those a few months back.  Disillusionment is sad for everyone, including myself.

I am willing to be a “proper” visitor to HP if and when the environment there is cleaned up.  Until then I will come in, say what I got to say in a passable manner, and get out.  If someone wants to see my more intelligent and eloquent postings, they should not look at HP, but instead at PlanetPOV.  This is what a more healthy environment can and should look like.

Sincerely, Felonious Monk

Reprinted from “DocStrangelove’s” message on the HadEnoughington Post…

“For what it’s worth, I just heard from my friend on the west coast known as “MrCreosot­­e” and it seems that he is NOT currently in limbo as originally thought.

He told me that his profile is now gone and it appears that he has been rendered an official “non person” on this site.

He was never warned of this impending action, nor has he had any communication from HP whatsoever. Just, “poof”, as he said to me.

He did tend to P.O. the powers that be here. Heck, I probably would as well if I came here as often, but I only post every once in a long while.

He asked to wish all of his fans here, and, in his own words, “even the dimwits”, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

He told me how disappointed he was and how sorry he was to see what had happened to this once vibrant place and that he probably won’t be back… deciding to go to another “Planet” where one can speak one’s mind without fear of institutionalized retribution.

Although he is a J.ewish Athiest (his words, not an oxymoron), he offered this missive from First Corinthians (13:11) as his swan song;

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

There, I done my duty.

_____

I imagine that we’ll have another contributor here soon.

this will be a short one.

just to let everyone here know peacekitten has been banned from huffington post without so much as a warning or a cautionary email.  all i got was a lousy lightning bolt.

of course i am but one tiny fish in a pond that is filled with undeservedly banned posters.  but what begins to happen when this sort of practice is accepted without a fight is the chilling of free speech.  who is going to be willing to speak their mind, only to be silenced or punished in a childish manner?    soon, the cumulative effect is that our right to speak freely without fear of recrimination is taken without so much as a whimper, and our own mindset changes so subtly over time that we don’t even realize we are now a faceless part of the crowd.

trying to excuse it because it is a “private” website is not good enough.  it’s apologizing for hypocrisy, because it means that such a place is not willing to honor and stand for one of our most basic rights.  such a place has no right to try and garner the benefits of the public, only to hide behind their privacy when they are too scared to do the right thing.

such things are really much more complex than simply shrugging one’s shoulders, ignoring it and moving on.  eventually, those of us who will NOT conform will end up like the people at the end of “fahrenheit 451,”  who have to essentially become the books they are no longer allowed to read by walking around reciting them from memory.

free speech.  you either believe in it or you don’t.

it is really just that simple.

Hi, I’m Rob-S, and I’m a Moderatorholic

{Audience}  Hi, Rob

{Rob}  I’ve come here to confess I’ve been a heavy handed, two fisted moderator for over two years.

{Audience}  Tell us more, brother Rob.

{Rob}  It all started when I wandered in off the street one night into Sister Arianna’s temple of Liberal Love.  How was I to know that it was a trap.  I feel so ashamed.  {awwwwww}  Well, the high priestess sat me down, gave me a cup of strange tasting coffee, and before long, I was an acolyte.  {Praise Arianna!}  But then she started asking me to do all these things, and I found I had no resistance to doing them.  And then one of the Investor brothers brought me this Kool-Aide, and said “drink”, and, being a good acolyte, I did.  {Blessed Be, Blessed Be}  He told me I must follow the new regimen to the letter, even when being contradictory.  And it was good.

{Audience}  Oh, no, brother Rob!

{Rob}  Yes, and before long I had a score of bright eyed followers doing my bidding for the good of the high priestess.  Our mission was simple.  Expand the base of the visitors to the temple.  Yes, and every click was like another donation.  It was a miracle!

We have our standards.  Consistency, not an issue, though.  No use of words on THE LIST.  No information of what THE LIST consists of.  THE LIST shall be updated continuously in any manner we choose.  No attacking the Trolls.  Sorry, you can’t say Trolls.  Against the rules.  Absolutely no mentioning the temple in your posts.  Certainly not the high priestess, for her name is sacred.  And many proper names, including those mentioned in the piece you are posting to, they too shall be forbidden words.  Do not fear, there are good words we always accept.  “Barry” is a loved word.  Don’t ask why, but it has been granted blessed approval.  And if you can sneak in a reference to economics, no matter how ignorant it is, we will accept it, for the high priestess is well versed in it and loves to hear the word.  And racism, while we deplore it and accept no direct references, is always welcome from our troll friends in their pursuit of their truth.

But do not bash to Trolls.  We love them.  They bring us multiple clicks.  And no words they may use, unless of exceptionally scurilous nature, shall be removed from our sight.  (or site).  We will punish those who question the trolls and mock them, for it is forbidden in the laws.  The laws are all.  And if you speak in a foreign tongue, beware, for we have excrutiating punishments in the infamous time-out box waiting for you.

For those sinners who come and speak of forbidden things, or mock the creator {blessed Arianna}, we shall cast you out into the darkness.  For it is said that even those who wore the vestments of a holy Monk may be cast out if they carry the seed of descension and question the holy relics.

Now I have digressed.  I came here to seek absolution for my sins and to walk the path of righteousness.  Am I welcome among you, as a repentant Moderaholic, I ask?

{Audience}  GO FARK YOURSELF.   We’re sorry, brother Rob, we find you to be undeserving.  Be gone from among us!

{Rob}  How dare you ingrates speak thus to me!  Off with your heads.  I have the power.  Beware!

Thus ends my little morality play.  It is only fiction.  No persons, either living or dead, were represented by this piece.  There could not be any people like this, now could there?

No, I don’t have a lisp and I wasn’t cursing.

Just a reminder that today is “Thank Huffington It’s Thursday!”. To help me with this reminder, I’ve brought my nephew, MadLib to join me in this post. Say hi to our members, Madlib…

“Hi.”

Madlib, why don’t you repeat that question you just asked me?

“Why?”

Uh…so everyone else can hear it.

“You already told me the answer.”

I know, I’m just asking you to repeat it for the nice people here.

“That’s okay.”

Madlib, please, as a favor to me?

“Uh-uh.”

It’s the whole point of this post. I just need you to ask it one more time.

“I don’t want to.”

You don’t–*deep breath*–Madlib, can you just repeat your question please?

“Make me!”

Look, you’re taking up these good people’s time and wasting all this page space, will you just ask the question again?

“I’m texting.”

Listen you little…okay, fine…then I’ll just join your Facebook page.

“NO!!! Okay…Uncle Adlib, why is this day different from all other days?

I’m glad you asked. You see, Madlib, this day is not like all other days because it’s the day we symbolize our torturous trek through the barren wasteland of Huffington Post to freedom. That’s why each Thursday, at 9pm PST, we begin a fast and don’t consume any pages from the Huffington Post until midnight PST Friday night. In this way, by our absence,  we also say to Huffington Post, “Let our moderated comments go!”

“Huh?”

Jesus! Can you stop texting for ten seconds?!

“I heard ya.”

Oh really? What did I say?

“Um…you’re going to EPCOT.”

Boycott! We’re going to boycott!!! And we’re going to visit Huffington Post all day today, until our boycott begins at 9pm PST, to invite folks there to join us here at The Planet on Friday!

” Yeah? So what about people who don’t want to EPCOT…boycott HuffPo? Ya gonna rag on them?”

NO! IT’S TOTALLY OPTIONAL! MEMBERS HERE SHOULD FEEL TOTALLY FREE TO BOYCOTT OR NOT! THAT’S WHAT RESPECT AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS ALL ABOUT!

“You sure yell and get angry a lot. You sure you shouldn’t be posting on Huffington Post instead?”

You want something to text about?! I’ll give you something to text about! Come back here!!!

Hey, kids.

Just a minute to dash off a few thoughts before going to a screening of Area 9.

Last week’s Friday was good, especially considering the technical glitches that made it look as if there was going to be no blog at all for the day.

We got two evenings left until HuffNo.   AdLib likes to schedule it to start 9pm Thursday PST, as that avoids posting Friday morning EST.   Me, I am not quite that fastidious.   AdLib and I will mud-wrestle to settle the issue next week.  But please do invite people tonight and tomorrow night to join us for the party.

Apparently we will be having a debate to observe.   That sounds yummy.

All part of the service here at PlanetPOV, the site that entertains, stimulates and amuses.   Oh, and listens to your vents, should that seem useful.

Kids,

I want to reiterate that we had a pretty good Friday, considering the technical glitches.   Actually, I just want to tell you that AdLib’s efforts were heroic and he was turning his efforts away from important professional responsibilities, and doubtless pulled a few long nights to make up for it.    Thanks you, AdLib!

Now, regarding our pending third HuffNo Friday here at the planet: As I have told you before, it is entirely possible to make a nasty dent in their numbers, we have done it before from another platform.   However.    It is critical to not leave until Thursday evening the business of inviting others here.    Please make a point of engaging your friends and drawing them here.

On a slightly divergent note, I invited a blogger with no exposure to Huff, a thinker and lively author, to consider joining us.   His response was to ask why he would spend his time on a blog that was 50% bitching about Hairyanna.

And he has a point.   At some point in the near future I would like to ask you to please consider that simple fact that you are here and not there statement enough of your disregard for Huff.

Besides, the bastards burned my moniker, with 500 fans.    500 fans!   Do you have any idea of how long it is going to take me to build that back up yack yack yack oh woe is me blah blah blah it is just not right snivel snivel snivel they are not fair boo hoo hoo!

Just sayin’.   Let us please have another conversation about how we can spread the word about Fridays, and the rest of the week will attend to itself!

Thank you for your support……

The other day we had a Huff troll here demanding that we stop insulting conservatives and working to get himself banned in order to make a case that the planet is some sort of Stalinist no-speech zone.

We did not accommodate him.    I told him his arguments were weak and he accused me of insulting him.   I corrected him and advised him that criticism of the quality of his arguments did not rise to the level of personal insult, not here.

I mentioned later in the thread a bit of conversation that I had heard between Christoper Hitchens and Stephen Fry (but I had forgotten it was Fry) in which Fry (gay as a three-dollar bill) asks “from where do these people (religious extremeists) get off saying that they are offended?   He wants to ask “so fucking what?”

And I agree.   So fucking what if you don’t like me challenging your (not us planetoids) opinion?   Who fucking said that you have a right to an opinion that nobody could challenge?   Man up or shut up.

Anyway.   I enjoy it when Hitchens and Fry take the stage and make a good liberal arguement.   Odd that Hitchens is also a NeoCon, and I am working up a column listing those of his lies that I am familiar.  But I am with him on so many other things, and I am so weak for Brit accents (lived there as a kid) that I need to cut him a bit of slack.

This is Fry asking his question:

I just love the tone of his voice.