Join Glenn Greenwald and Arianna Huffington at FDL's Book Salon
By Nicole Belle Friday May 02, 2008 4:00pm
Glenn Greenwald will be hosting the Book Salon over at FireDogLake to discuss Arianna Huffington's latest, Right is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe right now at 2:00 pm Pacific/ 5:00 pm Eastern. From the Amazon Editorial Review:
Huffington makes the case that America has been hijacked from within by a radical element—the “lunatic fringe” of the Right that has taken over the Republican Party. Despite holding views at odds with the majority of Americans, these zealots have given us an endless war in Iraq, a sputtering economy, a health care system on life support, a war on science and reason, and an immoral embrace of torture.
But they haven’t done it on their own: they have been enabled by a compliant media that act as if there is no such thing as truth and are more interested in cozying up to those in power than in holding them accountable, and by feckless Democrats who have allowed themselves to be intimidated into backing down again and again.
Sounds right up our alley. Go on over and say hi to Glenn and Arianna.
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The whole left right battle is worn out. At this moment in time, its basically the big oil companies and the military trying to maintain status quo which requires US/Dollar hegenomy established at the end of WW2 to continue. It can't because we're bankrupt.
Call me a conspiracy nut if it lets you sleep easier, but wasn't the DC Madam suicide really creepy? Even the gals at Fox news were questioning the official story.
We have seen the enemy and it is us.
The mainstream media is, indeed, pitiful these days, but the lunatic right have been enabled, most importantly, by the compliant American people, the vast majority of whom seem to have been anesthetized by the culture of stuff, stuff and more stuff. Until enough of us wake up and take action...nothing will change. Nothing.
Left and right used to be about economics, and still is in most of the Western World. The US has taken the literal meanings of these two philosophies and transformed politics into a simplistic club mentality, us (the right) and them (the left over and undesirables). Stupid and infantile, that's American politics for you.
Act of State @ 1:
Plus if this war ended unemployment would skyrocket, and the machine would grind to a halt without factories churning out weapons, supplies, and most other war related prodution materials, not to mention the boom in security in intelligence sector. We'd ALL fall flat on our face.
I also remember GW Bush promised in one of the 2000 debates with Gore he would continue to keep the Clinton economy flourishing (nice little lie) and it sure would be something to fall back on in our current mess to late for that though.
"Huffington makes the case that America has been hijacked from within by a radical element—the “lunatic fringe” of the Right that has taken over the Republican Party. Despite holding views at odds with the majority of Americans, these zealots have given us an endless war in Iraq, a sputtering economy, a health care system on life support, a war on science and reason, and an immoral embrace of torture.
But they haven’t done it on their own: they have been enabled by a compliant media that act as if there is no such thing as truth and are more interested in cozying up to those in power than in holding them accountable, and by feckless Democrats who have allowed themselves to be intimidated into backing down again and again."
I'd like to thank the Amazon Editorial Review for summarizing my frustration in about 100 words. I'm putting it on cards and handing it to anyone that asks "What's your problem ?"
Huffingtonpost banned me recently for including in my comments the percentage of comments not going up (it had changed from 25% to around 50%).
ex. (HuffPo comment censorship currently 25% and rising)
The posts often dealt with Israel (and not in a hate speech way but with factual observations and links for support) though the last comment before the banning referenced the fact that the Iraqi oil wells had not been metered yet allowing for any theft to go undiscovered and uncalculated and provided links to confirm this.
The most irreverent I got was sometimes refering to Arianna as Zsa Zsa, and Hillary as the Hildabeast (in conjunction with the "monster" comment). I said Zsa Zsa was filtering any messages that went against the official narrative on Israel so that she could increase her TV time.
Arianna is now pretty much on a TV blitz for her book.
I had been registered and commenting on Huffingtonpost since about 2005. I had commented before on innocuous comments not going up and even wrote their administrators directly several times with the so-called offending posts asking what the problem was but never got a response.
When they banned me they deleted every single comment I had ever submitted to HuffPo. Hundreds of submissions that were OK for public consumption for 3 years before disappeared instantly. That has never happened on any site that I had been banned on before ever. Not on the Muslim forum (ummah.com) where the mod did not like my atheism but the other posters thought I was respectful and indicated they missed my input after the ban, not even on the Jewish Journal, who's mod didn't like that I stated that Israel has lied and murdered (as evidenced by the facts of the attack on the USS Liberty) and that they had used nukes (radiological weapons) in their recent attack on Lebanon. I would even grant that the evidence on the last one is sketchy but the recent updates on that story seem to confirm it. The Journal did however, let back in under another name a poster who made death threats to the monitor and threatened violence against me although under another handle.
If Arianna wants to be seen as the queen of the progressives (I like many of her positions myself and am also an Obama supporter) but actively scrubs information that is uncomfortable for Israel, who benefits?
Arianna benefits with lots of face time on TV and radio, and many of the progressive talk radio hosts, and TV commentators such as Kieth Olbermann, and blogs reference, cite, or interview writers from the Huffingtonpost. Isreal is making a big PR push for its 60th anniversary as well as the programming in conjunction with tomorrow's Holocaust Remembrence Day, but focus too much on the victims of Israeli aggression and it appears the word goes out to make the problem go away.
BTW, one of the first times who Arianna was (other than the wife of a CA pol) was when I saw her at USC for a taping of Bill Buckley's "Firing Line" with the topic being internet censorship. I forget if her husband had come out of the closet by then and if she was pre- or post- divorce at the time but I remember the argument she made clearly (she was on the right against people from the Electronic Freedom Foundation on the left) when she said it that severe restrictions are justified "because even if it protects just ONE child from abuse because of internet pornography, it will be worth it."
Find the "Firing Line" transcripts in the archives and see for yourself. Michael Kinsley was the moderator I believe.
Her new mantra seems to be that restrictive filtering of factual information on the internet is justified because even if it only protects Israel from ONE factual story that it finds objectionable, it will be worth it.
The greatest threat involving information and propaganda is misdirection. If they get you to look the other way, they can do things in plain site. Couple that with the simply omitting coverage of things that conflict with the official narrative, and the manufacturing of consent is assured.
I guess Arianna feels so disenfranchised she's now the Sister Soldier of the Society Set.
Ugh, if anybody knows about wing-nuttery, it would be Ariana Lekkington. I think she's still one, merely masquerading as a vicious progressive. She's got a terminal case of anti-Clinton toxicity from too many drinks at the bottomless winger well. It's like a cancer and unpleasant to be around.
I don't envy anyone in her presence.
tasti freze @ 8:
She's accustomed to High Society. Your not going to find any true blood revolutionaries regardless of which side of the spectrum your on at that level.
LanceThruster @ 6:
They've become way to reactionary, one sided, and knee jerk over there at HP and are not open to critique.
Many of us have seen through the Right Wing Agenda since the 50's so this isn't anything new.
It's just hard to believe how quickly the Neocons turned everything upside down in Nov-Dec of 2000.
She was part of that right-wing fringe when she attacked Bill Clinton, Savaged Al Gore, voted for W. and fell in love with Newt and his Contract with America.
Very uninforming 'Salon'...
She claims to have the faith that we can some how re-form the media...
They are corperate owned - What influence can we possibly have on them?
Wouldn't it be easier to re-form PCBs?
Huffington is wrong.
She's a bandwagon jumper jumping from the right and left.
She runs a site that is so clearly bias that it hurts me. The "Fox News" of the Left, running recently the Clinton "White N***er garbage story.
Take a look at Ms. Huffington's blog if you'd like to see what the lunatic fringe looks like. I'm sorry, but I don't think you can have it both ways. She's just as much a part of the problem--a self-aggrandizing hash slinger out to sell books. Go back to the right, Ms. Huffington, where all your fellow Regean lovers are. And, don't let the door hit you in the can.
Leaveus @ 13:
LOL...
Or turn oil back into dinosaurs, etc. Oh wait, the Earth is only 6000 years old. Never mind.
Arianna Huffington (nee Stassinopoulos) was a complete twat and totally full of her self importance when based on this side of the pond. We are so happy that we do not have to listen to her anymore, and extend our full sympathy's to all citizens of America for having to listen to Arianna's pontificating twaddle. It's a form of punishment that one would not wish on ones worst enemy.
;-))
pronounced loon-a-teek freenge.
So Glenn Greenwald will be promoting Mrs. - er, excuse me, Ms. Huffington's new book.
Of course, all of you remember how you came to know Miss Huffingtons name don't you?
If you don't, your too young to remember the 90's.
Without Bill Clinton, you wouldn't know Ari's name.
It doesn't surprise me in the least that the woman who spent the entire 1990's calling for the impeachment of Bill Clinton is now calling for the Democrats to elect anyone but Hillary Clinton.
Let me keep this short-----[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
End of discussion.
Come November, the GOP will be obsolete.
SpankyTheMonkey @ 20:
Site Monitor---- 'Obscene' would have been more accurate. But my statement was definitely NOT 'Off-topic'! Please don't tell me C&L is going the way of Huffington Post. Your site is the last bastion of common sense in a world filled with the lack thereof....
It's always struck me that the right must have something big on the democrats, must be sort of blackmailing them, to cause the democrats to be so uncombative, year after year. And that the big, corporate media, including all their underlings, are nothing more than the willing tools of the right. And these things may be true.
But I think that underestimates the effect all the plane crashes and "suicides" that have taken the lives of democrats over the years, not to mention the shootings. Remember when the Republicans had a two-plane crash majority in the senate for a while? And I think a few artillery shells lobbed at selected journalists' hotels, and a "suicide" here and there, like that guy that wrote "Fortunate Son", (google Margie Schoedinger) and next thing you know, nobody crosses you - they know better. And, hey, how about that pair of "suicides" in the DC Hooker affair. You don't think that was going to lead to anyone highly placed, do you, but now that those two women are dead, it won't?
So let's see - so many of you are bashing, and quite viciously, Ms. Huffington for her being on the left. You seem to take offense that she has apparently seen "the light" and come over to your side. Are you the only ones worthy of holding the views you have? Has she somehow damaged your views by moving from the right? I doubt this.
I think you should be praising her for the positions she's supported since "seeing the light" and moving to the left. The name calling and insults are misplaced and frankly make you look like immature and angry extremists. Way beneath you really, and counter productive to the goals and ideals of most leftists.
DaveTheAngryRhodeIslander @ 24:
My beef isn't with her positions. As I pointed out, I agree with her on many of them and welcome her voice. My point was about the extent of her gatekeeping and wat it does to the overall discussion. If she gains progressive credibility in one area, but uses it to control the discussion in other areas, who benefits? It is the very essense of a 5th columnist.
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