The Day I Was Outed As A Republican Operative
If you visited Reddit yesterday (and at some points today), the first post that greeted you was:
That links to a post by me entitled “What Exactly Has “Changed” Under Obama? The Rich Get Bailouts, Torture Goes Unprosecuted, AIPAC Decides The Fate Of Iran, and Democrats Are Still Silent Accomplices In Bush-Era War Crimes“. Followed by the posters comments on the story, it essentially implicates me and ProseBeforeHos as being mere operatives in a grander ploy by Republicans to turn social media sites against Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.
First, I would like to address the accusation in itself: Under no circumstances would I ever take money from the Republican party. I spent my seventeenth year on this planet working on Ralph Naders 2000 Presidential campaign. I spent 2004 and 2006 working for state Green Party’s (Virginia and Georgia, respectively). I’m not going to go into greater detail about my personal history or beliefs, but I am the farthest thing from a conservative. I do not have any sympathy, desire to work with, or would ever take cash to either manipulate a social media site, to promote a Republican or conservative agenda, or do anything that undermines the integrity of this website. I don’t hold many things sacred, but the purity and honesty in which I pursue things is one of them.
Secondly, yes, the title was hyperbolic. But, I stand by the assertions I made. I don’t think it is a big deal Nancy Pelosi was possibly consulted about torture techniques. What I do think is a big deal is Nancy Pelosi and Co. spending 6 years cheering on the worst offenses of George Bush’s administration. And at the center of the torture debate, the Democrats are scared to death, because they are implicit accomplices in Bush’s war crimes by not doing a damn thing to stop them while they occurred.
Thirdly, the incident revealed one sad aspect of the social networking frenzy: it breeds the worst kind of self-obsession and bloated sense of collective ego I have witnessed online. At most, Digg and Reddit garner a couple hundred thousand unique visitors a day. Do you really think that, in the grand scheme of things, the social networking sites are such a great democratic movement? Do you really think that you are so important as to warrant a grand conspiracy to influence your opinions? The answer is no to both questions, and we’d all be a lot better off if you got over yourselves.
Love always,
Alec
[…] Yesterday, Reddit gave a story with no credibility or factual basis over 3,000 points accusing me of… […]
Wow, slinging allot of names out there. So, are you under the impression that people instinctively know you, your values and what you would and would not do?
|If you think I have any sympathy, desire to work with, would take money from, or ever |betray my values for a few pennies, you are a fucking idiot.
No sir, in this case, you are the idiot. The world doesn’t know enough about ‘Alec’ to make an informed opinion. Now, I know what your thinking – “Then why did they make the opinion to assume conservative ties?”
Because, Alec, The internet is a forum for opinions. If you think that conservative “Social Media Representation” firms do not exist, then you are again an idiot.
Drop the ego, this is not about you, your beliefs, or anything about you, it was the social trigger for this day to discuss an important and relevant activity as it was relevant to the situation based on an individual comment of opinion.
To summarize: Quit being such a drama whore.
I don’t think the point was so much that you, yourself, are a republican operative, but rather that GOP affiliated groups are paying people to upvote articles critical of Obama no matter who writes them in effort to undermine his support. I also operate a liberal/progressive website and I’m sure they’d latch on to anything negative i have to say about Obama as well.
I like turtles.
you do of course realize that there’s a “Free Newt Gingrich!” ad running on this page…
“I also operate a liberal/progressive website and I’m sure they’d latch on to anything negative i have to say about Obama as well.”
Big fucking deal. If you can’t hold Obama to the same standards that you held Bush and friends to, you’re a hypocrite, and every bit as intellectually dishonest as the right wingers.
If that’s all true, what the fuck do you care? Who’s the self-obsessed geek here really?
You, bitch – that’s who. Own it.
i love reddit.
i love this shit.
Your disgust is well placed. The liberals are pushing an “I’m a victim” assault on anyone who doesn’t tow the “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need” party line. They assume there is a conservative plan to destroy Obama, when it is their assumptions that are the ultimate source of their paranoia. It’s easier to accuse your political opponents of the very thing you are doing than to admit you are willing to do whatever it takes to implement your agenda.
http://www.lp.org
what’s funny about this to me is that there is a banner ad for ann “evil incarnate” coulter.
maybe you don’t have control over that or maybe you do. but i’m just sayin.
I like turtles, contextual Google Ads, and internet drama.
“I don’t think the point was so much that you, yourself, are a republican operative, but rather that GOP affiliated groups are paying people to upvote articles critical of Obama no matter who writes them…”
Exactly that.
The post made no accusation of you being a Republican operative, it just used a story critical of Obama’s performance so far as an example of what GOP activists were up to and that story just happened to be yours. If I were to post a story ridiculing Obama on national security, it would be voted up by the same operatives according to the post’s claims. In reality, I’ve turned down offers to work with Republican think tanks because I disagree with their ideology.
Oh and the ads for Ann Coulter free alerts for when her next piece of inane, rambling spew she calls a column is out peppered all over the page are somewhat odd…
Why would Republicans ever promote a website like mine though? Just because I am no friend of Pelosi & Co. doesn’t make me a friend of them. I’m criticizing them from a fairly leftist perspective, would a Republican really think it’s a good idea to encourage that kind of thinking?
Grow up kiddo, just grow up.
this site sucks
You’re leeching off Reddit traffic by making up a little faux controversy. Nice move for your pocket, but your credibility has just hit negative numbers.
Not my credibility.
Also, this site rules. Do you see that icon by your name? It’s a god damn alien with a funny hairdo and bat wings. I dare you to top that.
@alec
if there is a legion of companies funded by gop to troll social media sites…
they aren’t trying to promote your point of view. they are promoting items on your site critical of democrats as part of their efforts to overrepresent public sentiment against democrats and their policies.
most people getting here from reddit aren’t going to go through your other entries. some are just going to read the headline and comments on readdit. or at best peruse the linked document.
Obamatons rule reddit. We’ll be at war with the rest of the Muslim (i.e., oil-rich) world before he’s gone from office, and they’ll be saying what a great thing it is that he raised mileage standards to 35 mpg.
But most redditers are young, don’t have kids, and don’t really give a sh*t that we’re killing other peoples kids all over the world.
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and be proud you aren’t one of the liberal “sheeple” who won’t question the hypocrisy and paranoia of the left.
You do realize that there’s an Ann Coulter add running above your column… right?
i love turtle
Most redditers are rank and file moonbats, so this really doesn’t surprise me.
Not an Ann Coulter ad! Oh no, my double-agent life as Social Networking King and Republican pawn has once again been exposed. Damnations to Google Ads!
you really made some angry nerds angry!!! be careful they may say something mean about you on the internet!!!!
“Yesterday, Reddit gave a story with no credibility or factual basis over 3,000 points accusing me of being a Republican operative”
And today Reddit is upvoting a whiny rant on a site that gets a few hundred unique visitors per day by a person that no one will remember in one day. It’s the short attention span and love of the unimportant that fuels the Reddit horde.
Um, alec is a moron.
Only a fat Michael Moore clone could take such offense to a fucking blog post and concoct some make-believe conspiracy where there sacred online communities are being invaded by Republican operatives. Only in your own minds do you lonely, desperate nerds mean so much to the world.
Alec, go to the top of this page and reread the reddit title. Now read it again. They are not talking about YOU. They are saying that an article on your site is being promoted by a GOP funded company. The reason your article was chosen is probably because it was critical of democrats. Again, it was not accusing YOU of being a republican, having republican ties, or being a member of reddit, digg or what-have-you. It wasn’t about you.
“self-obsession and bloated sense of collective ego I have witnessed online.” Not nearly as self-obsessed as someone who thinks the entire Internet is out to get him. Did you visit reddit and read the comments? Did you bother to learn how the website works? What conventions are used as to titling and linking of things?
I think you meant to say-
Like I would ever dream of taking their bullshit money.
I enjoy redit a a source for rubbernecking, but politically you can tell there is a population of idealistic white kids whose parents are still footing the bill. Their critical thinking is at that level and here is a perfect example of what I mean “Not nearly as self-obsessed as someone who thinks the entire Internet is out to get him.” Anyone would be hard pressed to affirmatively show that Alec thinks the entire internet is out to get him, but this is comment level of pro-liberal/antiRepublican argumentation on redit. Second WOMM has already denied what it was accused of, and this is old news. Libs have been complaining about this for a good couple years, yet no proof EVER arises, other then some mental case screaming at the top of his lungs that he was a part of it. I have been accused of been a Republican Operative, which is funny. All I do is read REAL news A LOT and thus have an ability over idealists to win in debate since I simply argue from a point of fact. You see fact is complicated an difficult, particularly when it come to economics and foreign influence often needing moderate level of training to understand why Dems of Republicans vote a certain way. But if your a young white kid, its much easier to not take the time and headache to figure out the difficult stuff and simply take the easy road: idealism(which of course if followed by ad hominem discussion).
this site = FAIL
When you going to start demanding that Obama prosecutes all those involved in the setting up of the USA torture regime? Dick Cheney John Yoo Condaleeza Rice…. to the prisons with them… You’re quiet about that?
Whatever you think you accomplished with this convoluted nonsense, you failed.
oh, and Love always? give me a break
This site sucks ass. Also, alec, get a fucking life
Let’s prosecute all torturers no matter which party they more closely affiliate with. While we are at it maybe we can torture your web design guy a little bit.
the commentors are pathetic, this site is pathetic, reddit is pathetic. no one cares.
[…] surprising, considering this is the place that falsely accused someone mildly critical of Obama as a Republican operative paid to smear him on social media […]
[…] exactly has “changed” under Obama?: A thread about this article, which sparked this hysteria on […]
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