Commentary on the Virginia political blogosphere:
As the Old Dominion Blog Alliance plays out its hand in the game it called, as the dealer, we’ll see if it can actually sell the childish, dirty tricks shenanigans of Joe Stanley and Ben Tribbett as newsworthy to the mainstream press.
With the hook “Dem blogs refuse to condemn Stanley and Tribbett properly,” I wish them the luck they deserve. Hey, if newspaper editors are buying that pitch as happening news, well, I’ve got a bridge to nowhere I’d like to sell them.
It is worth noting that there is no lefty, Democratic equivalent to the junior high school frat party, echo chamber that is the ODBA. And, there has been nothing from any organized group of progressive bloggers at all like chest-pounding posts such as -- “We are the ODBA!”
Shiver me timbers!
Perhaps it is worth remembering that prominent Virginia Republicans have been busted for illegal eavesdropping, and worse in recent years. And, so forth .. and so on. Neither party has a clean record on this sort of thing.
Why pretend it is otherwise? Punish the guilty and move on.
Some of Virginia’s blogging Republicans, who are apparently obsessed with “macaca payback,” don’t seem to realize that merely saying someone was part of promoting/enjoying that humorous campaign story last year doesn’t strike the average voter as being a mortal sin.
It is also worth considering that if your good name is connected with a bunch of crackpots, because you continue to be a member of their trouble-making blogging team -- after it has gone too far -- then you are probably running a risk you should think about.
At this desk, it seems the ODBA's rather silly scheme has already fizzled. Without an ongoing hot-contest campaign to hitch this story to, no one outside of those who closely follow the copycat blatherings of the blogosphere gives a whit.
Since 1985, in various formats, SLANT -- an independent voice based in Richmond's Fan District -- has offered its readers original commentary on politics and popular culture, including cartoons and selected sundries. Warning: Sometimes that means satirical content. All rights are reserved.
7 comments:
Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
To see this as "Macaca" payback is to miss the point, Terry. Joe Stanley associated the group with a bunch of pedophiles merely because they posted factual accounts of Roscoe Reynolds's record. His registration of the domain name and the redirect happened right when his connection to the campaign was revealed. No attacks were made on Stanley, only facts pointed out that he was the same man who made the Macaca video (though not the event, you are correct) and pushed the Harris Miller flyer that many have felt was anti-semetic. What was Stanley's response to these points? Not a defense of his actions, not even a counter with any other facts. No, he tried to associate the ODBA with an organization that promotes the rape of little boys. That is unacceptable and can not be tolerated and he needs to be held accoutable for the low blow politics he has engaged in.
This is not about "revenge". This is about common decency and attempts by Joe Stanley and associates to take the heat off of officials they work for.
The point? Common decency?
Sorry anonymous, but no one outside of the ODBA's membership buys it that this tempest in a teapot is really about common decency.
Meanwhile, speaking of common decency, John Q. Public is too busy laughing at the denials of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) to pay much attention to lame attempts to tarnish the supposedly good name of the ODBA.
Nor do people in the real world care about an amateurish political cartoon that appeared on a flier last summer.
It’s just not news to anyone that there are obnoxious Republican and Democratic bloggers who act like brats and delight in annoying their opposites.
When bloggers post well-written comments about issues and politicians, they can have an effect on public opinion. When bloggers who can’t write a lick rant on and on about what other bloggers are doing, John Q. Public simply goes back to ignoring blogs.
Nice post. The ODBA issue has been below the radar for folks like me ... the perspectives in your posts and in the comments is helpful.
"are" helpful
There is more to the ODBA than the SWACers. People want to attribute all of the worst acts to the group even when they were committed by people who aren't members. The problem is, Joe Stanley went out of his way to promote child rape at the expense of a group of 25+ private citizens who had done nothing to him or his candidates except post videos and the facts. If he had done this during the Waldo spat, whatever. But he did this after YouTube videos showed a candidate he is working for in a bad light. This was his response to factual information and it is uncalled for. Stanley needs to be held accountable.
Oh, for pete's sake. ODBA got burned by someone's trashy, juvenile internet stunt. I'm not sure what anonymous is waiting for people to do to Joe Stanley to "hold him accountable". Nor do I know who is supposed to be doing it. Frankly, I don't care. Most Virginians, Democrat or Republican, haven't ever heard of the ODBA or Joe Stanley. This is just typical adolescent sniping that you see all the time on the web. Time to move on, guys.
Post a Comment