A chap who goes by the handle Tman was one of several local right-wing blogger who were suckered by Matt Drudge's factually-challenged "alert" regarding the poor sales of Crashing The Gate, by left-bloggers Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga. If one were to use Drudge's criteria (Nielsen Bookscan), nationally-syndicated winger radio host Hugh Hewitt's latest book (see Update II), as well as winger law-prof-cum-blogger Glenn Reynolds' book both fare poorly in sales, compared to sales for Crashing The Gate -- which obviously isn't going to rate a Drudge alert, right? But at least Reynolds, and Pajamas Media co-founder Roger L. Simon had the good graces to issue apologies and/or retractions for spreading Drudge's misleading, factually-incorrect meme throughout the winger blogosphere.
Will the locals do the same, or is this more moral relativism on the right? Or, is Glenn Greenwald correct in his analysis that some folks just parrot what they want to believe, regardless of the facts, and then simply can't apologize or admit when they turn out to be wrong?
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7 comments :
Turns out Mr Greenwald is wrong, and Drudge actually posted the correct numbers. Bookscan DOES record online purchases.
I'm sure the apologies/retractions are forthcoming, right?
And here's a tip- in the post of mine you link to, I don't talk about Hewitt or Reynolds in terms of their influence on the respective parties because the candidates they endorse ARE WINNING.
The ones that Kos and the rest support ARE NOT WINNING, THUS THE POINT OF MY POST.
But you know, white is black, up is down, if only Dean had been nominated, etc.....
Tman: The ones that Kos and the rest support ARE NOT WINNING, THUS THE POINT OF MY POST.
Yeah... let's get in our time machine and tell the 1994 Congress that it's absurd to think that the party in power could be "slouching towards irrelevancy," eh? ;)
Or, if I were a partisan polar opposite of you, I'd say: "Metacomments today links to a story from Eschaton about the plummeting Michael Savage ratings and the dismal sales performance of the Hugh Hewitt's “Painting The Map Red”. What this tells me is that republic's (sic, to reflect your misuse of the apostrophe) may be realizing that the rightist fringe is not going to help them win any elections.
"Hugh 'frontline-on-the-war-on-terror-from-his-studios-in-the-Empire-State-Building' Hewitt has only sold 2643 copies of his book, despite the fact that he gets that many hits on his site in a day, and has thousands of times that number of listeners to his weekday syndicated radio program.
"Have the repuplics learned? Will they give up the Clinton bashing and concentrate on what they are going to do instead? Will they release the dead weight that the rightist fringe is burdening them with? Will they even remember why Reagan got re-elected?"
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Thanks for making my point. You just described exactly how the Republicans regained the majority.
I knew you'd get it eventually!
Tman -- Well, I think you assume that Jerome and Kos' book isn't a plan of action, and if I recall correctly, you and I have had this discussion before. Of course Jerome and Kos aren't highly-paid, inside-the-beltway consultants -- the ones that Dems can thank for their problems getting through to voters the last dozen or so years. That's why the wingers have been on a relentless attack against these types -- they'd much rather Dems rely on the time-tested paths to failure, rather than take up the common sense ideas of the grassroots/netroots.
You are a rightie, so of COURSE you want Dems to move towards your position -- it's what keeps them losing these last few election cycles. Triangulating, trying to pick up those once-valid-but-no-longer-extant "swing voters." You, a non-Democrat, think Democrats simply need to become pro-choice Republicans. To that I say, "horse feathers." Truman said it best: "Given the choice between a Republican and a Republican, voters will choose the Republican every time."
You conveniently ignore that America wants change, is demonstrably VERY unhappy with the GOP-controlled rubberstamp Congress, and the out-of-control GOP Executive. You think the GOP's started a 1000 year reich? We'll see how that plays out.
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Tman -- Oh! So Bookscan does include Amazon sales, eh? SO, how few books must one sell to rank #1398 in sales? Or #1952 in sales? Or maybe #4083 in sales? And what does that say about the "slouching towards irrelevance" of the philosophies espoused by those authors?
You also fall into the logical trap of equating correlation with causation. You can blame Democrats for the fucked up situation in Iraq, and credit the GOP with the sum rising each day, but your saying it doesn't make it true. Sure, there's one guy in Sioux City, IA, who isn't going to ever vote for a Democrat solely because of Kos. He's off his meds, poor guy. 92% of the voters have never heard of him, and of the 8% who have, there's not even a fraction of a percent that's changing their vote due to anything Kos has ever said or not said.
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You are a rightie, so of COURSE you want Dems to move towards your position
Boy are you ever stupid.....
Boy are you ever stupid.....
As stupid as you are persuasive.
Oh, look -- Tman can't be a rightie -- he doesn't believe in Fred Phelps, Intelligent Design or taking away a woman's right to choose!
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