Sunday, January 24, 2010

The great HillBuzz con job -- EXPOSED!

You may not have heard about this contretemps, but right now the HillBuzz site has created a dust-up which has become a huge topic of conversation over on Blogostan Right.

I never cared for HillBuzz. I don't think I've ever linked to stories published there. If I have, I'm sorry.

Frankly, I've long suspected that the accusation of GOP funding of PUMA was true in the case of HillBuzz. Those guys remain strongly pro-Palin and they love Scott Brown the way Homer Simpson loves donuts. (In other words, they weren't reluctant "protest" supporters.) Apparently, Limbaugh has cited HillBuzz on his show.

The HillBuzz crowd keeps pushing the "Obama as socialist" lie, which is a sure sign of Republican dollars at work. The "socialist" canard can be demolished by mentioning just two names: Larry and Timmy. And that's it. End of story. No further argument. (Anyone who tries to mount a further argument merely outs himself as a GOP stooge.)

The HillBuzzers despise liberalism. They think that every last liberal should be driven out of DC the way St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland. As I am a proud liberal -- one who opposes Obama because he isn't a liberal -- the HillBuzzers have made themselves my enemies. There can be no dialogue and no reconciliation.

It turns out that Hillbuzz is run by some gay guys. At least they say that they are gay; for reasons I'll soon make clear, we can't believe any unverified thing they say. I mention their (alleged) orientation only because it is part of the larger story, which I will let them tell for the next few grafs:
We were told, point blank, by Democrats in Chicago that people on the Left had “had enough with (us), and were going to come after (us), in a big way” if we didn’t stop rallying the troops for Scott Brown’s win over Coakley. We were given the ultimatum: either drop our support for Brown and the Left would leave us alone, or continue speaking out on Hottie McAwesome’s behalf and “just see what happens”.
Oh, right. As though the mafia-like "left" could would be stupid enough to threaten all of the many bloggers and writers that supported Brown.
They are no longer just attacking the entity that is “HillBuzz”, but those at the Daily Kos, DemocraticUnderground, Moveon.org and other George Soros, DNC-backed troll mills have ratcheted up their attacks to the personal level. Unlike Michelle Malkin, Erik Erikson over at Red State, or even people like Nikke Finke at DeadlineHollywood or Harry Knowles at AintItCoolNews, we’ve maintained this site anonymously because we wanted to have personal lives apart from writing original content on the Internets. 99% of you have respected this convention, and have allowed us to just be the “HillBuzz boys”, or other variations on whatever you call us. That’s allowed us to be both Batman and Bruce Wayne, which means we can still have jobs, go out and have fun, and enjoy life while spending half our time each day working our hearts out for our love of country in service of whatever we can do to defeat Liberals and stop socialism from taking over this nation.

But, the Kossacks and Moveon.organisms have decided to attack us on the personal, not just the site, level. They are using some of our real names, urging their members to do us personal and physical harm in our real lives, and calling us racists over and over again in the hopes of making us unemployable in the future — because they’ve libeled us by calling us RAAACISTS! on that personal level.

And, you know what, this tactic does have an immediate psychological and financial impact. This weekend, after these attacks from the Kossacks and Moveon.organism began, we lost two freelance jobs because the nonprofits we were working with felt they can’t be associated with people who are being called racists, since these nonprofits work in the black community and here in Chicago there is a neverending turf war on the Southside, where anything is game when it comes to business or politics.
And it is the chief weapon of the Left against just about everyone.

They’ve been using this for decades now.

They use it to scare people into silence. They force people to drop what they are doing and spend hours defending themselves, trying to prove they’re not what they were accused of. They demoralize you with the RAAACIST rants, and try to ruin your lives with them. They cost you work, take food off your table, and threaten your personal safety and well being.
On one hand, I've had enough personal experience of the ghastly Kos crowd to know that they did indeed use the "racist" accusation to silence all perceived enemies of the Chosen One. Occasionally, a few Kos Kooks still try to drag out that tired tactic, although that shit ain't selling nowadays.

This is something you won't learn from the Hillbuzzers: The progblogs are fractured. Many of the proggers are now seriously pissed off at Obama -- not because he's a "socialist" but because he's a corporate sell-out.

I also note that this Hillbuzz piece, in contravention of all the normal rules of blogging (to the extent that we have any rules), refuses to link to any offending Kos post so that we can see just what the hell is really going on. We simply do not have any evidence backing up what Hillbuzz has to say.

As disgusting as the Kossacks were (and are), I cannot believe that Markos Moulitsas would allow displays of open homophobia. Misogyny, yes -- at least when the target is Hillary Clinton -- but not homophobia.

Yet some on the right are now claiming that the left's alleged attack on Hillbuzz is really an example of rampant homophobia.

The Hillbuzzers insist that they are the victims of a massive coordinated attack by all the big lefty sites.

Hm. You note that smell in the air? I believe that it is the unmistakable aroma of fish, mixed with rat.

I did some preliminary Googling to see these offensive, allegedly homophobic Kos stories. Typing in the words "Daily Kos Hillbuzz" led me to ZERO Kos pages. At least, there were no Kos returns on the first two pages of Google results. All of the entries went to places like Free Republic, Michelle Malkin, something called Gay Patiot, this site, and so forth.

I visited the Gay Patriot site. Suspiciously, they too did not prove the point by linking to (or quoting from) any offensive material written by a Kos or HuffPo writer.

Neither does this site.

"Conservative Pup" is yet another conservative writer who repeats the HillBuzz accusation without linking to any actual evidence. (On the other hand, I like the logo.)

I went to Daily Kos. Not one mention of HillBuzz on the front page. Same thing over on Zsa-Zsa's playground.

If you Google "www.dailykos.com Hillbuzz" (which should call up all recent references to Hillbuzz published on the DK domain), you get nothing -- except for one entry, which leads here.

That diary entry is a rant against PUMA sites. Actually, I have little or nothing against this particular rant, since the sites being targeted -- No Quarter and Texas Darlin' -- are ones that have pissed me off as well. (Remember my posts about the birth certificate nonsense? Remember my photoshopped image of Larry Johnson dressed as a clown?)

Here's what said ranter has to say about HillBuzz:
The most despicable of them all. They have called black people, "paranoid and lazy" and "race voters". This blog has been pushed and promoted by Rush Limbaugh. It is being used as a tool to inspire Republicans, through racism and bigotry to get out and vote. It is then disguised as a Liberal blog so no one calls them out on their racism.
I don't know if the Hillbuzzers really did call blacks "paranoid and lazy" because I don't read the site often. One thing is for sure: In the afore-cited post, the Kos diarist did not reveal the true identities of the HillBuzz crew, did not say anything homophobic, did not interfere with anyone's employment, did not call for physical violence and did not participate in a "coordinated attack." So far, I have seen no evidence at all that any Kossack, or any other writer for the big lefty sites, has revealed real names or other personal information or urged anyone to inflict physical harm on anyone connected to HillBuzz.

Repeat: We do not have one iota of evidence that anyone's job has been affected. Repeat: No-one has linked to any actual posts which call for the infliction of violence.

This whole brouhaha is a fake-out, a set-up -- an example of internet psy-war.

For further evidence, take a look at the HillBuzz strategy page: The HillBuzzers proudly indulge in the sort of tactics they denounce in others. You don't see such calls for ratfucking action at The Confluence or any similar site.

C'mon. How could Kos and allied sites mount a "coordinated attack" without said attack leaving any Google traces? I'm reminded of the witch-burning scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. To be specific, I'm thinking of the guy who shouted "She turned me into a newt!" despite the utter lack of visible evidence proving newt-ness. Google tells the story: The ones mounting a coordinated attack are all on the right.

On the other hand, if someone were to tell me that the true power behind HillBuzz was a capital-N Newt, I might be inclined to listen.

52 comments:

Alessandro Machi said...

Joe, you're looking in all the wrong places.

Try places like Rump Roast, stupid Pumas, and Bigot Bashers.

Joseph Cannon said...

No, I'm looking in the RIGHT places. I am looking where HillBuzz and the conservative sites told me to look.

Joseph Cannon said...

Stupid PUMAs no longer exists, by the way. Actually, there were two sites by that name -- both gone now.

You still have offered NO citations to back up what HillBuzz has to say.

And you can't move the goal posts. You can't allow the HillBuzzers to castigate Kos and HuffPo and DU -- and then say that all of the actual evidence is somewhere else. Come on, Alessandro. That is SHIT, and you know it.

tamerlane said...

I was a Hillbuzz regular during 2008 for their astute observations and wicked humor. Then Limbaugh featured them on his radio show, and the comment streams were inundated with neanderthals.

On election night, the Buzz Boys co-hosted a party with the local Young Republicans. As I recall, it was around that time they blogged about having met some Log Cabin boyfriends. Very rapidly after that, their content shifted sharply to the right.

I'd love to know what really happened at HB, whether it was romance or cash that caused their 180.

It may also be, as suggested here, that the Buzz Boys were shills from the start. I was actively involved in forming the group that became known as JSND, and Day One we had a none-too-subtle GOP mole attempting to convert us PUMAs into republicans.

Anonymous said...

Just an observer who has been reading Clinton supporter blogs since the summer before the primaries. So I watched blogs like The Confluence start and PUMA start from that blog, watched the PUMAs splinter, read HillBuzz when it got started out of interest although I do not agree with them.

I think HillBuzz are who they say they are. At Daily Kos, a user "The Bigot Basher" wrote about HillBuzz, that's what they are upset about. I think the HillBuzz writers are still very upset about the primaries, took things personally, and are prone to exaggeration and embellishment. What we are talking about is a squabble between small blogs not read by very many people. It is the same few PUMAs and a tiny few Obama diehards who hate PUMAs and they all waste their time making a big deal about it.

There are people like me who were for Hillary, voted Obama, and are now disappointed but not surprised at how he's governed. And then there are people who obsess about being persecuted by liberal conspirators including ACORN, SEIU, Obama bloggers, etc., because conservatives who hate Obama like the story and it gets them attention.

Look at someone like Charles Johnson who not only quit the right, he turned on them and started attacking them. I think it is the same thing, HillBuzz writers not only quit the left, they feel so betrayed they are just completely throwing themselves into supporting Palin and other GOP.

Joseph Cannon said...

Okay, you don't sound at all unreasonable, anon. (Although I wish you were not anonymous.) But can someone please humor me with a few links to prove that

1. There really was a coordinated attack involving Kos, HuffPo, and DU,

2. This attack included calls for physical violence as well the revelation of names behind pseudonyms, and

3. The attack led to severe real-world consequences?

Alessandro Machi said...

Let me get this straight. Stupid PUMAS DID EXIST for several months, at least six months, and now doesn't.

That is exactly how Barack Obama does things. When sources get outed, they disappear.

EVERY TOPIC would call various puma bloggers racists. Racist this, racist that. Yet the blogger remained anonymous.

Alessandro Machi said...

By the way, Stupid Pumas is still up. Just click on the cache link located under the google listing and all of their articles show up.

Bob Harrison said...

You are right Joseph. If KosPus is guilty then there should be some evidence of the action. Clinton and Puma supporters are first and foremost, I think, civil libertarians and that kind of action is against those principles. You win by having the superior argument, not the loudest noise.

tamerlane said...

It is sad that so many former Dems have such a burning desire to punish their ex-party, that they aid and abet the GOP.

As I opined,
http://trueliberalnexus.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/theyre-shooting-hostages/

the Brown election in MA may have been a necessary smack upside the head to the Dem leadership. But if we keep electing republicans to punish BO and his codependents, we are merely cutting off our noses to spite our faces.

We must define our political wants and needs, and select 'vendors' whose 'products' meet them. The vendors are the individual candidates; their products their platforms.

tamerlane said...

Bob, a Kubota? Really now! (I'm a New Holland man.)


Unfortunately, the loudest voice usually does get heard over the truth....

Alessandro Machi said...

I've had a few debates with Rump Roast, Stupid Pumas and Bigot Basher. They think nothing of insulting, calling others names, even those who use real names, while they remain anonymous.

If you want to find the articles, just type my name in quotes. "alessandro machi" then type "stupid pumas" (also in quotes) or my name in quotes and "rump roast" in quotes, or my name in quotes and "bigot basher".

If the links don't come up, then use the cache feature. I decided to use my real name a couple of years ago because I noticed that blogs and forums that require real names are more respectful and courteous.

I can spot an imbecile a mile away now, they continue to insult me even while they use some moronic name. I remind them how juvenile it is to insult others who use real names while not using a real name themselves, and then I try to avoid them in the future.

Stupid Pumas, Bigot Basher, and Rump Roast ALL ENGAGE in insulting their guests who use real names even as they do not.

Why you would choose to defend these anonymous idiots is a surprise to me.

Joseph Cannon said...

What the hell are you talking about, Alessandro? I have defended no one.

I think this is a case where you are reading words that differ from the ones I actually wrote.

I SAID that HillBuzz has accused Daily Kos, DU and HuffPo of engaging in a co-ordinated attack in which real names were revealed, and in which there were incitements to violence. The HillBuzz Guys also said that they were personally threatened, and that they lost real-world jobs as a result.

I SAID that there was no proof for any of this.

You went on to mention some other tiny sites that I never visit.

Whatever happens on those sites is of no concern to me. Those sites -- which are insignificant -- played no role in the inflammatory HillBuzz piece, which has received a great deal of play across the right-wing spectrum.

HillBuzz talked about DK, HuffPo and DU.

And I called bullshit.

Can you or anyone provide me with links proving that this accusation is NOT bullshit?

Specifically: I am looking for proof that DK, HuffPo and DU resorted to threats, called for violence, and destroyed jobs.

Do you understand now? I'm not talking about OTHER shit that happened on OTHER sites.

When I'm talking about the color of cats in Kentucky, don't change the subject to the temperature of toothpicks in Timbucktoo.

Alessandro Machi said...

Here is the ground zero article. Have you seen it?

Who are HillBuzz?

Joseph Cannon said...

No, I had not. The link goes to a site that is not DK, DU or HuffPo, so it is irrelevant to my point. (And I see nothing truly objectionable within the post itself.)

That post does contain a link to this Kos post -- finally! We're on Kos!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/17/826014/-Scott-Brown-and-a-hate-siteThe-making-of-a-Republican-Campaign.

Nothing in that post is at all objectionable to me.

Now, since you seem to be having problems reading today, Allessandro, let me be very very clear. When I said "Nothing in that post is at all objectionable to me," I referred to THAT POST AND NOTHING ELSE. Got it? I don't know this guy's work, and I don't care to follow it.

I'm sure he would not like this blog if he even knows of its existence. And I couldn't care less.

So far, you've shown me nothing that proves anything about a coordinated attack by KOS, DU and HUffPo that led to threats, incitements to violence, and loss of work.

Alessandro Machi said...

The first line of the article states...

The “Hillbuzz boiz” have of course reacted furiously to my article on them reposted on Stupid PUMAs, DU, Daily Kos and my site,

So a hillbuzz article on Bigot basher was reposted on those sites. Whether you think the article rises to the level of harrassment or not is another matter, but clearly some type of cross posting did occur.

Snowflake said...

I read their blog a lot during the primary.

It was wickeldy funny and attacked Obama and his various pawns.

They are definitely gay.

Basically when it became clear during the primary that the democratic party was going to force Obama down our throats and that anyone who opposed him was going to be labeled a racist they seem to have left the reservation.

I don't think they are republicans-I do think they -and others- want to destroy the present leadership of the democratic party and then somehow ally themselves with whoever takes over from the ruins.

Finally I read their statement and I don't see where they say the threats were on the blog-they just say they occurred. I also fail to see how the absence of postings is dispositive of anything since the Obama people regualrly removed their postings.

I lost respect for Hillbuzz a long time ago but if they shine some light on who these internet thugs-well why not.

I guess well see.

Anonymous said...

This seems to me to be a blogwar between GOP ratfuckers and Obot blogstalkers.

I'm cheering from the sidelines for a high bodycount.

CognitiveDissonance said...

Joe, did you happen to read through all the comments on that Kos post? That's often where the really vile comments and threats take place. You reported a lot of that during the primaries. So it wouldn't surprise me if that occured regarding the HillBuzz people.

Also, let's not forget all the diaries of Clinton supporters that were purged from that blog during the primaries. I don't know if what HillBuzz said really happened, but nothing that comes out of that sewer pit called Daily Kos would surprise me.

Joseph Cannon said...

I did read the comments. Nothing. The post in question was not popular and got only a handful of comments.

That said, you're right -- the comments were the place where you saw the real vile stuff. I did what I could to preserve a representative sampling because I was afraid that Moulitsas would censor the most unforgivable remarks.

Anonymous said...

http://hillbuzz.org/2010/01/24/who-is-sean-osullivan-and-what-web-sites-does-he-run/#comments

Interesting thread they have up.

I don't know what happened but I did meet someone who did identify themselves as being a gay man at the RBC fiasco and he gave a LIVE interview with his real name to CNN.

I went there to check it out today and I don't recognize a single poster, as many of the Hillary supporters left months ago. I do believe they are now pushing the GOP meme and are working to unseat Boxer, Reid and I forget the third Democrat.

The site became a GOP fan fest with the name of HillBuzz and using Hillary's photo to boot, once someone died if I recall correctly.

Their name should now be GOPBuzz or RushBuzz...

I don't go there as the folks that do have nothing in common with me and I don't believe voting in a host of GOP folks will improve Health Care, Gay Rights and least of all Women's Rights.

Anonymous said...

It's *all* ugly.

Joseph, have you braved haggis yet?


juststoppingby

Alessandro Machi said...

Of course Reid and Pelosi HAVE TO BE UNELECTED. They put their own selfish agenda above the democratic party.

The democratic politicians were afraid that if Hillary Clinton was elected and democrats gained in both houses, that THEY COULD LOSE THEIR OWN SEAT just two years later, like what happened after Bill Clinton was elected.

This ended up being a really dumb point of view as the odds of some seats being lost after gaining a bunch in the 2008 presidential election is somewhat of an inevitability.

One can be a democrat, and be a PUMA, and want the crapsters out who butted into the 2008 election and made it a selection of the democratic political elite of the party rather than letting the democratic voters decide.

I wish there were more third party candidates so that a message could be sent to BOTH PARTIES at the same time.

Bob said...

Joe, you're just like Obama... Smart, verbose, a solid speechmaker, and...

You still don't get it.

Anonymous said...

Of course HillBuzz is pushing the GOP meme. Using the picture of Hillary Clinton to attract her supporters is pretty "cute" but their recent "apology" to George Bush for their comments used against him in the past pretty much sums up where they fall.

That blog is full of Right Wing talking points and full out support for GOP candidates which goes to enforce the flavor of that blog.

The irony is that they have been attacked by a diehard Obot who attracts few commentators and though the content of Bigotbasher may be anti PUMA it does not much emanate throughout the blogosphere.

A lot of small blogs are now becoming nothing more than sounding boards for the lunatic fringe and HillBuzz fits right in.

Their first order of business would be to remove the picture of Hillary Clinton to be replaced by Michele Malkin. That at least would be an honest declaration for once.

Snowflake said...

Hillbuzz claims they still support the Clintons but they have attacked candidates the Clintons supported like Coakley. I don't see any logic in what they say anymore other than they want to get even with the democratic leadership.

This really is another consequence of Obama. After the primary fight Obama made it clear that people who did not support him early on like the folks at Hillbuzz were not going to be included in the party. What do you think the 40 page questionnaire that you have to fill out to get a job with his admin was about.

Evidently Obama felt that these people have no where to go and they can be sort of stranded and left to fade away-like an old spinster woman in an attic somewhere.

His much talked about judgment seems to have been wrong yet again.

By the way I sense a growing feeling among members of the gay community that the dems are not going to deliver for gays-and I wonder if Hillbuzz is a sign of things to come. Anyone see Cindy Mccain's ad supporting gay marriage lately? Think it's a coincidence?

Anonymous said...

One gay Massachusetts democrat here who still enjoys a daily dose of HillBuzz. Yes they are most certainly gay. They probably have veered a bit too much to the right but that really isn't a bad thing when you consider gay rights. I've always proposed more visibility for gays in the GOP to mute some of the obstacles to full gay rights. If you've followed HillBuzz for any length of time, you would know that their defense of Hillary morphed into a defense of Sarah Palin after the same hit squads shamelessly took off after the Governor and her family utlizing the same 'Alinsky' methodology. The Buzz boys alleged misogyny, and they were probably partly correct. They subsequently have been bombarded with hate mail ever since. Believe me that has an affect. I used to post frequently at DU. Specifically in the new age section since I am an astrologer. Whenever I linked to my analysis of Barack Obama's natal chart that simply suggested that he wasn't quite who he purported to be; OMG the vile, hateful and intense responses I received could have been written by the Aryan Nation. So yep. I believe them. And I know that such situations produce a swing of the pendulum to the opposite side of the political spectrum. It certainly made me more moderate. I have no patience for the crazies at either end of the sprectrum. I also fully believe that the boys have lost jobs in Chicago. They work in the hotel industry. They have worked for Loews Hotels. I know for a fact that the unions pull strings, chains and levers there, and a word passed to the right power that be, would have immediate reprucussions that could easily cost a job. So I know how vocal gay men who are not pro- Obama can "upset' the left-ticles enough to drive them crazy and reactive. There is nothing they have alleged that isn't quite possible, nee quite probable. After Scott Brown (who is a nice guy btw) I believe that the Obama wing will stop at nothing to mute the backlash. Plouffe to the rescue.

Zee said...

Bob, are you joking??? " Smart, verbose, a solid speechmaker, and..."

If Zerobama is so smart, verbose and a solid speechmaker, why did he need a teleprompter to speak to a group of 4th graders?

I guess he's taken
"are you smarter than a 5th grader?" down a notch.

And have you heard Joseph make a speech? Or seen Obama write a blog? Your comparison makes no sense.

That said, I was hoping for some light on this subject but still have no clue what anyone's talking about.

Anonymous said...

"Their first order of business would be to remove the picture of Hillary Clinton to be replaced by Michele Malkin. That at least would be an honest declaration for once."

I agree with you here and do think it is a bit of an OUTRAGE that they are using 'HillBuzz' with Hillary's photo when it was clear that Rush Limbaugh worked hard to move folks to vote for the other candidates because of his HATE for Hillary Clinton and his MEGA CDS which has not abated as yet.

If the boyz have joined hands with the GOP, then God bless them, but at least be HONEST about it! I did enjoy some of their observations but have lost interest in all the GOP praise, day in and day out!

Have they mentioned ONE good Democrat as of late?

Alessandro Machi it is OK to be a GOP 'gay dude', it is not OK to fool people by luring them in, when your philosophical political landscape has changed... don't ya think!?!

OTE admin said...

FWIW, TheBigotBasher regularly posts over at DU using that username.

Stats:

Member since Jul 01st 2008
Number of posts 2595
Gender male
Country United Kingdom
Comment Fighting Right Wing Smears as they start.

This person also crossposted at DU the same DK post you linked.

This person is very obsessed with "PUMAs" while the rest of the world has moved on.

run_dmc said...

Joe: sorry, but I think you are misreading Hillbuzz's post. I am not going to vouch for Hillbuzz positively or negatively, but I do read them regularly because I think they are hilarious, even though they've tilted way right.

You acknowledge you don't often read Hillbuzz which is why I think you misread this one post of theirs - you don't have all the context.

The Hillbuzz guys have written increasingly in the past few months of being personally attacked, threatened or having their livelihood undermined in Chicago - by real people in real life - not virtually online. If you read the post you cite closely, you'll realize that they have 1) stayed anonymous online, but 2) say they are being attacked in their personal life by the Kos, Move-on, etc. orgs who have urged their supporters to attack the Hillbuzz guys personally - i.e. - in real life.

They actually do not say that these attacks by Kos, Move-on, etc were in online postings. These orgs do have people and/or partners who live/work in Chicago and can do this type of attacking outside of the virtual world. Hillbuzz is saying that, while they remain anonymous at their blog, enough people in Chicago know who they really are, and there are enough Kos, Move-on, etc. operatives who live in Chicago that these groups can do real damage by blacklisting the Hillbuzz guys among the Chicago community.

This is why they say they have had trouble getting gigs (since many of the Hillbuzz guys are free-lance event planners, event organizers, etc.) and even dating because they are now becoming known in Chicago for writing Hillbuzz. Or, if not specifically for being behind Hillbuzz, for being outspoken McCain and Palin supporters in their community and for organzing, fundraising and advocating for Scott Brown.

You know, Joseph - not everything that happens in this world happens online or can be discovered by searching comment threads and blog posts. Even when the activity is conducted by people who otherwise spend much of their lives online. Kos, Move-on and Hillbuzz also exist in the real world and what they may or may not do in that real world cannot necessarily be proved one way or the other by you or the others on this thread by searching blogs.

None of this is to say that I definitely believe Hillbuzz's claims. Just that you can't disprove or really even undermine their claims simply by searching the virtual online community.

Anonymous said...

I really am not involved in any of this - as I tried to stay out of the controversy of the elections. I just don't have much enthusiasm for any politician anymore. They all lie regularly.
But just for you Joseph...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=128261&mesg_id=129244

http://hillbuzz.org/2009/12/07/using-concern-troll-tactics-against-the-left-help-push-independents-away-from-democrats/


Here's the offending image:
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515c5469e20128766d463d970c-800wi

The offending blogger:
http://the-bigotbasher.dailykos.com/

And- if you do a whois lookup of that man and check out the address listed-well...it's a very strange assortment of websites under their belt.
But for clarification, I could not find any actual violent threats - just the outing (which is pretty easy to find) of the owner of Hillbuzz -and by outing I mean real name (Kevin Dujan) and photo of Kevin DuJan with Michael Steele.
I did not see any real attacks about his gayness....maybe they are out there, but the real issue was the eeyore post on DU (about Hillbuzz post) and the fact that Michael Steele thought highly enough of DuJan to be photographed with him (as posted by Kos poster BigotBasher).
k

DeniseVB said...

Welcome to the Tea Party Joe :) If you read the comments in the HillBuzz Thank you for your support thread, you'll see many links dug up by the BuzzFanz. You'll also see many Dems and Repubs who are meeting in the middle, and it's wonderful !

Anonymous said...

PS- Bigot Basher was the one who pointed out the close ties that Hillbuzz's Dujan has with the Republicans by posting the photo link on DU - he also has a kos blog (previous link I posted) and as Machi linked - has his/her own blog.
It should also be noted that Dujan was active on the campaign trail recently, accusing the democrats of attempting to out two republican candidates. Whether or not this was true, it did stir up dirt on the campaign trail:

http://hillbuzz.org/2009/12/18/what-chicago-democrats-are-planning-to-do-to-out-republicans-mark-kirk-and-aaron-schock/

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2009/12/rumor-source-is-lifelong-democrat-and-burris-fundraiser.html?cid=6a00d834515c5469e201287670c11f970c

I read some of the conservative links you posted and saw they are attempting to raise funds for DuJan....who interestingly enough, also is said to be a fundraiser for Roland Burris. ugh.
k

Snowflake said...

It is interesting to think how much damage one woman's lawsuit did to the Clinton presidency-I wonder where this claim- if true- could potentially lead.

The fact they mention a RICO claim is also interesting-someone with a brain is talking to them about this.


I wonder where this is heading.

Alessandro Machi said...

Snowflake, where this is heading is the democratic leadership sold out Hillary Clinton even when her popularity was on par with Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton was regularly bashed by the media, on the web, and back stabbed by a contingent of politicians who chose to help democratic influence a race that was too close to call.

The call to "move on" is a desperate call from core Barack Obama voters who think everything that went on in 2008 was acceptable.

How can the democratic party not repeat their jaundiced ways if they are not held accountable for their 2008 actions?

Anonymous said...

If Zerobama is so smart, verbose and a solid speechmaker, why did he need a teleprompter to speak to a group of 4th graders?

Zee, sorry, WRONG on all counts there.

When Obama spoke with the **6th** graders, he did not use a teleprompter, nor was there one there to use.

AFTER he spoke with the students, he left the room without a teleprompter, to go to a different room that had the teleprompter, which he used to address the MEDIA.

Unless you meant to characterize the media as 4th graders, every element of your statement lacks foundation. (See the AP wire pictures and captions for the evidence on this.)

XI

Anonymous said...

First Anon here again! Sorry Joseph, it was easiest, in general I only read blogs and prefer not to post.

>>There really was a coordinated attack involving Kos, HuffPo, and DU>>

I think they allege "coordinated attack" because the same post appeared on these sites. However it seems to me that the reason this happened, was the same person (BigotBasher) is registered at all three sites (or two, at least, I don't know about Huff Post). Thus, this person just cross-posted his own blog post in several other places that get more traffic.

"Coordinated attack" sounds juicy but if you are familiar with Daily Kos or DU, you would know that literally anyone with a computer could sign up for accounts at these sites, wait out the few days' trial or however it's set now, and cross-post the same text on all these sites at once. There is no moderator approval required to do that.

So on the one hand it IS likely to have reputation/professional consequences for the Hillbuzz writers, I'd guess, if someone goes around posting their real names all over the Internet. I understand why they are upset. On the other hand, alleging this cross-posting by one person is the work of a conspiracy involving owners of these sites and possibly going up higher in Democratic circles, strikes me as the kind of story Malkin and Rush would love, but not one that reflects the facts as we know them.

Writing this as one who is no fan of Daily Kos and was disgusted by the things many Obama fans wrote on the blogs during both races. Until someone comes up with irrefutable proof of a conspiracy, my belief is that the simplest answer is the right one: like-minded people gather on blogs, talk to people who agree with them, they agree more and more, and mutually reinforce this and kick out dissenters through rude comments and thuggish (online) behavior. Yes it is ugly and yes people are quick to make accusations of racism and post other nasty insults about anyone they don't agree with on politics, this is why I don't read these blogs much any more. But this is not new, it happened in waves on Daily Kos over other issues and candidates, long before anyone had even heard of Obama.

TheBigotBasher said...

Joe, you are quite correct, I rarely read your blog and next to no one used to read my blog. I had a small low traffic following that may or may not get discussed with my mates at the pub on a Friday. I was happy with that. I am now getting hundreds of racist wing nuts spamming me.

I have a larger readership at DU, in part backed by the AA Group there.

I have a small minority interest in PUMAs, because my mother is from Boston, where an awful lot of PUMAs originate. So that is me.

As an Irish man, growing up in England, I hate racism.

My morbid interest in PUMAs extends only to the fact that many were racist extremists, I look no further than Noquarter, Hillbuzz and Texas Darlin for that.

PUMA PAC had a great many of them, but have LARGELY culled them. I post at Stupid PUMAs relatively often because I am amused by how Darragh Murphy profits from them.

After 8 years of GOP rule, screwing the Earth, never mind the US I was pissed that so called Democratic supporters would campaign for another GOP term.

I hope that explains my position on PUMA.

So now I wish to pipe in, as this whole GOP exercise was about me and the only left of center traffic going to my site from here is as a result of the link from Machi (hi Alessandro).

There was no homophobic reference about Kevin DuJan. Discovering who Kevin DeJan is is not exactly difficult. Type whois hillbuzz.org

I have not lied about him. I used his exact words. All still up there. This is not an over use of the "racist phrase". A decent examination of his blog proves where he really stands.

I have had no take down notices from him or his Solicitors. Terminator style, Sean O'Sullivans from across the Globe (literally) have been subject to stupid Rethugs saying do not attack Hillbuzz.

A site that gets radio support from Rush Limbaugh cannot be called a friend of progressives, no matter where you stand on Obama.

I do not knw the owners of DU, Daily Kos or even George Soros. There was no co-ordinated attack. The re-posting Allesandro mentions was because I cross posted my blog on DU and DKos. They did not ask me to.

I am not paid by George Soros or by the DNC or anyone else.

Just in case the Freepers want to out the blog owner here in response to my post, I have no idea who he is. I agree with some posts and strongly disagree with others. I have never posted before.

Personally,I think that the Freepers et-al are being had. All kinds of right wing blogs have jumped to the call for money for Hillbuzz, to defend them, a relatively high traffic blog against me, a tiny blog writer. I'm not really sure that needed the support of the Free Republic, Conservatives for Palin and Michelle Malkin.

It is all quite funny, but I do wonder where the money is going, which gets to the point you were making originally. (PS love the graphic)

Zee said...

Thanks for the correction, XI.

Oh, and "Anonymous gay Mass Dem?" Yeah, homophobe Scott Brown is SUCH a nice guy. And the woman candidate? Yeah, thought so.

Anonymous said...

One more followup, Joseph. I have just read a lot of HillBuzz posts, and I am pretty well convinced that they are who they say they are. Only gay guys would make some of those references. They're smart, and they know how to fight, and they are really talented at rallying the troops. And I understand wanting to spite certain Democrats. (They say "Liberals," but Obama is no liberal.) But I don't know why in the hell they want to fight for Republicans, knowing what kind of policies Republicans are for. There are still some Clinton Democrats they could support and I wish they'd direct their energies there. Some of the anti-PUMA bloggers who direct their energies at attacking HillBuzz don't realize they're being played, because HillBuzz can point to them and say, look, the entire Left is like this.

Anonymous said...

CON JOB is the right headline! These guys/Dujan have ALWAYS found new reasons to ask for $$ and the donation plea is the first thing vistors to the site see.

And always, always the stories of the perpetual gay-bashing, seemingly their/his entire lives. I do not mean to diminish the real dangers GLBT face, but NOWHERE else have I ever read the sob-stories about such a sad gay past and present ANYWHERE! SUCH DANGER! DONATE DONATE DONATE DONATE!!

Hillbuzz ironically has no problem labeling others HOMOPHOBE! at the drop of a hat or burst onto other blogs with libelous, damaging accusations of their own.

the turn from Hillary supporters to bomb-a-mosque for each and every terror act and erase-the-evil-libs is evil, sick and short-sighted to say the least!

am surprised that the right jumped onto "the cause". What a racket!!

Publius said...

Hello extremists of the radical left…

Google me, baby, I want you to. My name is Warner Todd Huston and your side has attacked me in such places as DailysCuz, DummicrapticUnderground, a multitude of smallballblogs and the ignorati of Media Matters have even tried their weak-kneed, limp-wristed best to knock me. I have been a target of the left because my work has been on Limbaugh, Hannity -- most of the radio biggies -- and I've been in the LATimes, the New York Times… heck even Der Spiegel wrote about me during the late presidential campaign. I am your ARCH ENEMY, folks.

Does that give you my bonafides?

OK, OK, all the fun rhetoric aside… I found your site trying to find any DailysCuz post that was involved in this "coordinated effort" to attack the Hillybuz boys. I wanted to find all these multitudinous posts that outed these outies and tried to turn them to lefty dust. I wanted to see these posts for myself.

But I am forced to agree with Joe, here at this point. There really isn't any. Sure that one nit wit that thinks he's "all that" going by the name of TheBugdetBuster er whatever it was (aren't all you wacky lefties a budget buster, anyway?) posted something, but it all amounted to a big so what for me. One blue meanie on the DailysCuz that has no reach, no following and no power called the Hillybuzzers a name? Then this same nonentity posted it a few other places? That's all we've got here?

Now, I am a Windy City fella, too, and it really IS possible that the Hillbuzz folks have been threatened in real life, off-line. That's how Democrat thugs in Chicago work. If you don't go with the program they send "the boys" around your place to "convince" you. We have one of the worst mobbed up governments in the country in Chicago. Always have. And King Daley runs it all. So, I can believe that the HillBuzz guys were accosted in real life.

However, there doesn't seem to be any webtrace of it. So, in that case, I don't see anything to post about. It ends up being a case of he said/he said. For me there is no there, there. I will not be writing about it as things stand now.

So, there you have it. On this one Joe and I stand on the same point. Now let's get back to our corners and open the artillery on the things that really matter. Oh, and we won in Massachusetts, nyah, nyah. (Well permit me a moment of triumphalism, will ya? The GOP will surely snatch defeat put of the jaws of victory like they always do)

Your pal, Warner Todd Huston
Hey, check out my home blog www.publiusforum.com
A'course, you can always find me on BigGovernment.com, BigJournalism.com, StopTheACLU.com, RenewAmerica.us, RightWingNews.com and a ton of others!

By the way, this is jess between you and me, right Joe? LOL

Snowflake said...

Hillbuzz and or their allies seem to be stalking the original blogger-like a scary PUMA-sorry couldn't resist.

They seem to be out for blood.

You know given how many people have complained about these kinds of attacks on Obama critics it would really be interesting if there were a central repository of where the attacks on various Obama critics come from to see if there really is some pattern.

It is hard to tell how serious the Hillbuzz "gals" are-it's hard to tell what they are really up to-but the idea of studying these attacks is interesting.

Anonymous said...

kevin k. at rumproast, bettycracker, mrs. polly
seem to be scared of something about this story

http://snarkopolitan.blogspot.com/2010/01/hellooooo-hillbuzz.html

http://www.rumproast.com/index.php/site/comments/a_faq_about_hillbuzz_vs._rumproast_and_me/

http://bettycracker.blogspot.com/2010/01/attn-crazy-people.html

Bigotbasher, you're interested in PUMAs because your mother is from Boston? uhhh...sure.

Mrs. Polly said...

Hello, Mr. Cannon! It seems I have been running your blog all along:
http://hillbuzz.org/2010/01/28/hillbuzz-on-breitbart-tv/#comment-115268

And Alessandro's undercover work trolling as a faux-PUMA was sussed out by the bright lights over there.

The Lord of the Flies at Shillbuzz has frontpaged my long-dormant (since MARCH) blog and set his Shillbuzzing minions to out me for my nefarious work as you, or something, by, among other things, establishing exactly where I live.

Awfully sorry, but since I am also you, I thought I'd give you a heads-up. You might want to think about setting up the card table and putting out some bridge mix, since WHO IS CANNONFIRE is sure to be one of Shillbuzz's fundraising questions of the day.

PS. If you're curious, the front page of my unexpectedly revived blog might amuse you. If you're not curious, and why should you be, have a lovely evening, what's left of it.

If this comment doesn't make it out of moderation, btw, the grief won't kill me. Cheers! Mrs. P

Nijma said...

I say MYIQ is right; it's a proxy war between Axelrod and Rove.

I had my own adventures with Rumproast, when Bigotbasher, then blogging as "JohnD" invited me to "dialog" and brought all the Rumpsters along. I have since removed all the Rumproast threads and aired out my blog, but the four letter words I had to put in my filter are still there. At JohnD's Stupidpumas websites (the one with the wordpress subdomain is still up) he published the real names of Jennihillary and an academic who writes for the Confluence (although he later removed the second one at her instigation). I also had the Rumpsters stalking me for ages, following me around to grammar sites and reporting back to the forum on my opinions about commas. (BTW, their forum, the Rumper Room has suddenly been taken offline.) Rumproast lives on mean streets and harbors all kinds of misogyny, as well as creatures you don't want to see in the daylight, but seems to want to stop short of obvious illegal activity. One of them--I never found out which one--impersonated me at Pandagon, and the Rumproast proprietor, to his credit, put an end to that.

Nijma said...

Another note about the blogger JohnD/obotinchief/Bigotbasher/The Watcher, who started the stupidpuma blogs: Kevin at the Rumproast has been calling him "a UK blogger", implying he's untouchable because he's not in the U.S. (see "FAQ about Hillbuzz vs. Rumproast") But in a comment JohnD left at my blog, he stated, "First a little background on me, I am a lifelong democrat in my 40’s who voted for Obama." The last time I checked, Brits don't vote in our elections.

Joseph Cannon said...

He's in California, though not in my part of the state.

Anonymous said...

Nijma, you do know "Brit" is an offensive term and just as offensive as "Yank"?

I am not JohnD, my connection to the US is through my mother via Ma. Home of many Irish Americans.

I also find it difficult to understand why you would defend a blog that whips its readers up into real levels hate by writing stuff like this :

This is “the religion of peace”.
THAT. WANTS. TO. KILL. US.
And, yes, every Muslim is indeed complicit in all of this since Muslims worldwide do not stand up and fight the terrorists in their midst. Instead, they take to the airwaves demanding “understanding of Islam” and repeatedly say, “This is not Islam!” whenever Muslims murder people, or attempt to blow them into millions of pieces. Well, for several decades now we’ve heard “This is not Islam!” and we’re still waiting to see WHAT Islam is then.
Sure looks like a bunch of murdering lunatics hellbent on destroying the West to us.


http://hillbuzz.org/2009/12/29/islam-is-not-a-religion-of-peace-it-is-in-open-war-with-the-west/

Nijma said...

Yes, the IP was California.

Nijma said...

I also find it difficult to understand why you would defend a blog that...

You have me confused with someone else. If you want to know what I actually did write about Hillbuzz, see my URL.