What? The Huffington Post? But I thought they were supposed to be the good guys. They're good as long as you cow tow to their Spanish Inquisition tactics when you have something to say about one of their articles. I suppose at this point you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about?
It all started this morning when I got up and checked the front page of the Huffington Post to see that Newt Gingrich may not have the money to actually run for President (Wow Newt- way to show you have fiscal management skills). In addition to this interesting headline was another one directly involving my congressional critter, Darrell Issa. Those of you who know me better know I have a plethora of pet names for him, including Darrell Issa-hole and Darrell the Douche. However, now the company he founded and is still on the board of directors apparently hasn't been paying the tariffs on the products they are having manufactured in China. Of course I, never at a loss for the written word, wrote the following comment:
"As one of Sir Douche-a-lot's constituents, I can't tell you how corrupt this guy is. In addition, he outsourced thousands of jobs in his district to China. Furthermore, if you go to the web page, it will claim that the products are made in the U.S.A!!! Why would anyone vote for this guy?"
Unfortunately, my comment never got published (which has become a daily occurrence for me- at least one or several of my comments will not be published with no explanation). However, with this one I pressed it up. I wrote them a note asking for the explanation why it was denied. I received a response from Stephanie H., User Support Specialist, Huffington Publications. This was Stephanie's reply:
"This particular comment is unacceptable because you use the pejorative nickname of 'Sir Douche-a-Lot' to refer to Rep. Issa. This name calling is unacceptable and does not contribute to the dialog. If you were to resubmit it with his name or anything other than insulting name calling, the comment would likely be approved."
Now I could understand if I used profanity and even if I name called another reader, but referring to a public figure in a satirical way? Really? What gets me most about this is that the Huffington Post makes money off of First Amendment rights and yet denies those same rights to other people!! In addition, if I were someone like Bill Maher or Jon Stewart and used this name, they would have printed it. This is selective censorship coming from a company that calls itself a "communications" company. In my book this makes them not very much different from Fox News.
And if you look at my comment I call Darrell Issa corrupt. But they aren't upset about that name, but rather the name Sir Douche-a-lot! That's like going to a movie and seeing a woman get killed and being upset because you saw her breast. Seriously? I was starting to think that the Huffington Post was a credible news organization after being fairly skeptical about it for a year or so now. Now I find this!
A credible news organization would realize that the point of the comment was very important- namely that this guy is no good and doesn't really give two hoots about his district, constituents or even the integrity of the position he holds. I hope that everyone will keep that in mind before linking to any of their stories. Arianna, is this what AOL has done to you?
While I empathize with your main point and complaint, you really should educate yourself on the First Amendment.
ReplyDeleteHuffPo bacame ALPO and has gone to the dogs. But that's where it was headed anyway. Any thing with Andrew Breitbart's fingerprints on it is rotten to begin with.My name for AH is The Greek Whoracle. she got just what she was after...the almighty dollar.
ReplyDeleteYou were fortunate to get a response from Stephani. I was banned from there and after countless emails and even with the help of 2 people that had a lot of contact with her, she completely ignored my requests.
After years of commenting there I came to 'know' and appreciate many of the other posters and enjoyed the communication and sharing of info. But with hundreds of pending comments those days are gone and it's nothing but a hate fest that dumbs you down and creates more $$ for the whoracle. I'm disappointed....I had such high hopes for the place.
Danielmarcel- What do you mean I need to educate myself about the First Amendment? It guarantees the right of free speech and freedom of the press. The Huffington Post is able to make money because of this amendment, which gives them the right to criticize any political person they like. But when I try to criticize someone in a way that is not restricted by this amendment, they won't allow it.
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