Tag Archives: Dana Loesch

Trampled Underfoot

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The Dana Loesch vs. Breitbart.com dustup is of little genuine interest to anyone outside the Twitterati and those who live for such things. There is some amusement found in watching people choose sides; it is well nigh impossible to see such without believing the primary motive is figuring out which kissed ass will prove the most beneficial for positioning in the phonebooth kingdom that is conservative new media. For everyone else, it’s as compelling a story as the aforementioned new media is influential in shaping public opinion. Which, if you noticed the election results last month, is not at all.

This duly noted, the story serves to illustrate a deeper issue that normally resides beneath the surface but has now forcibly risen above ground. Namely, the deep fractures that occur in any movement or cause when personality cults transcend substance.

The words of Paul when he was chewing out the church in Corinth come to mind:

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

We’re not seeing much of this mindset, now are we?

Granted, it is an extremely difficult balancing act for any messenger to simultaneously promote their message and his- or herself in order to promote the message without making his- or herself, not the message, the center of attention. A modest messenger is a rare commodity, albeit not an impossibility. Unfortunately, these days very, very few so much as make an effort to be modest. Instead, they choose to be the political equivalent of an entertainer going out of their way to be sexually provocative and artificially, calculatingly controversial. This is done for the sake of attempting to disguise a lack of genuine talent and/or commitment to the cause of which they screech. As compared to speaking in favor thereof.

There is a huge difference between being a lightning rod and devoting efforts toward being vapid thunder. The lightning rod does, while thunder says. Andrew Breitbart was a lightning rod. He created or co-created media powerhouses such as Drudge and Huffington. He broke stories — Pigford, Anthony Weiner — and let the chips fall where they may. Breitbart was larger than life not because he acted like it. Rather, he was larger than life because his accomplishments organically lifted him to that status. He used this to his advantage, as well he should have.

Unfortunately, with very few exceptions those he chose to assist him have, since his painfully early passing, fallen far short of his standards. They do not create; they only recreate, churning out endless variations of the same tired media bashing with occasional sprinkles of ersatz edginess. Andrew Breitbart was a force of nature. They are children blowing on a pinwheel.

Loesch and Breitbart.com are, to paraphrase a band description I once read in a rock’n'roll encyclopedia, significantless cul-de-sacs off of the very road of media and popular culture they set out to resurface. Some on the right may worry that their legal battle might somehow besmirch the political philosophy for which they so loudly claim to be standard bearers. The fact is they trampled underfoot the standard in favor of ego strokes long ago. The lawsuit merely confirms their vanity.

Of Isaac, Rat Bastards and What Actually Matters

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I rejoiced at hearing the news that Dan Collins’ father is pulling through his present medical crisis and appears to be on the road to recovery. The unfortunate fellowship doesn’t mind waiting as long as possible to reluctantly welcome new members.

It does put my mild case of butthurt stemming from looking at the fun happening to other people currently waiting out Isaac in Tampa, even as the parties continue unabated, in perspective. I’ve missed every other convention, collective and schmoozefest since the dawning of my modest political writing days; surely one more will not prove lethal. Still, it would be nice to attend one at least once, or at the very least have someone attending one say while they’re there “wish you were here.” Someone. Just one person. Once. Well, Stacy McCain did ask if I was coming to Tampa. So there’s that. That said, I note there will be no CPAC in Denver this October for me, and it’s 99 44/100% certain there will also be no CPAC at the main soiree in February 2013 at its new digs in National Harbor, Maryland. Ah well. Remind me to avoid Twitter for a couple of weeks that month. Or, write about faith and music more, since neither of those topics seem to have much in the way of conventions to miss.

My hardly fatal bruised feelings over being left out of the party (again) notwithstanding, it does rankle to see people I have no love lost for feted and featured at such gatherings (*coughaliakbarcough breath coughdanaloeschcough gasp coughmichellemalkincough wheeze coughkurtschlichtercough*). I really need to do something about that cough ASAP. Either get over it and let the Kool Kidz have their fun, which they’re going to do regardless since they don’t give a rat’s ass what this rat bastard thinks of them, or continue to be the one who at the end of the parade of the emperor’s new clothes calls out “but I don’t see anything!” Because frankly, when I look at Akbar, Loesch, Malkin, Schlichter and others, I see nothing. Certainly nothing worth worshiping. They are what they profess to oppose, and nothing in that is worthy of celebration. Only contemplation over what truly matters: conservative principles, or self-appointed leaders’ egos.

That all said, it would be good to be at the convention and experience it live; perhaps snatch a few interviews with people that matter, spend time actually listening to the big boys and girls rather than noting their words for the sole purpose of pontificating over said words. Thing is, they are the leaders of the free world. We bloggers? Not so much. Not even if you wrap yourself in Andrew Brietbart’s burial cloth. He was a giant. You and I? Not so much. He was a force of nature; a true leader, one who created what previously did not exist. You and I? We blaze no trails. We might make some of them smoother. We did not cut them through the liberal media wilderness.

But I digress; back to what truly matters: friends spared for now entrance into the unfortunate fellowship, others fighting wasting disease. These are the people that matter to me. I will stay and be happy with those who have loved us today.

Have fun in Tampa, people. I and my fellow RBBSers will be here when you come back down.

pf_nnj

Not Now, John

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Let me be clear: I like John Nolte of Breitbart.com. I really do. I love reading his tweets, even though he’s never acknowledged anything I can recall I’ve tweeted him let alone follow me back. His fierce defending of Sarah Palin against what he dubbed the “GOP Smart Set” back when they were all jumping on Rick Perry’s demolition derby-destined bandwagon and thought the way to lift their boy up was trashing Palin was magnificent. But every once in a while…

Case in point: yesterday, Nolte wrote about at least some members of the MSM are beginning to rebel against the mantra that Obama must be worshiped at all cost. Fine, well and good. Unfortunately, Nolte doesn’t see the irony of his own words about the media:

Just like high school, there’s a pecking order in the media — a cool kids’ table, and the requisite desire to be liked, need to be included, and a somewhat nauseating set of rules to it all. Glib, detached irony is a calling card as is an obsession with the fun and games of politics — because that’s all any of this is to them. It’s as though taking the future of your country seriously immediately relegates you to the nerd table.

He continues:

Bottom line: Everything a vast majority of the media does is meant to impress their own. It has nothing to do with getting to the truth or informing the public. They’re writing, reporting, and tweeting only to satisfy and aggrandize The Collective — to continually prove they belong or to improve their standing.

Like I said, it’s like high school, and wanting to be part of the cool kids’ clique requires conformity – and this conformity isn’t exclusive to only left-wing journalists. Media-approved conservatives like Joe Scarborough, David Frum, Peggy Noonan, and the like are just as bad; maybe worse because they should know better.

Um, dude… have you looked at our side lately?

You’ve got your co-worker Dana Loesch, who’s got plenty of time to trot around the country and pick up awards in-between making sure her every moment of being outrageously outraged over the latest outrage somehow puts her at the center of things, and hubby amazingly unable to find the time for anyone who doesn’t kiss their ass and promote their standing in the community. A simple request for a listen by a conservative music artist is responded to with uncalled for vitriol. Is this how compatriots are supposed to treat each other?

You’ve got Michelle Malkin, who after foisting Allahpundit on us, then firing good men like Dan Collins, subjects us to her latest pet project Twitchy, an endless stream of instructing us on which outrageous outrage we’re supposed to be outraged about. Yet, she can’t be bothered to talk to anyone below her pay grade even as she hangs out on Twitter all day. It was months after I made a video and put it on YouTube about her missing cousin that she acknowledged its, or my, existence; and only then after repeated links for the video sent to her.

And this isn’t just as much high school as anything the MSM puts upon itself? Really, John? Really?

The media is what it is. It’s not going to change for our sake. We can change ourselves. If our mission is still what we’ve claimed it to be for years, namely destroying the media’s cliquishness and ivory tower dwelling in favor of honesty, supporting each other and accountability…

… just when does that start, anyway?

Not now, John. Not as long as we close our eyes to the corruption within our own ranks brought in by those who have become what they profess to oppose, empowered by sycophants seeking their own slice of the unshared, hoarded pie.

A car burns at the scene of a bomb explosion at St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, December 25, 2011. Five bombs exploded on Christmas Day at churches in Nigeria, one killing at least 27 people, raising fears that Islamist militant group Boko Haram - which claimed responsibility - is trying to ignite sectarian civil war.

Um… About That Twitter Mess

A car burns at the scene of a bomb explosion at St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, December 25, 2011. Five bombs exploded on Christmas Day at churches in Nigeria, one killing at least 27 people, raising fears that Islamist militant group Boko Haram - which claimed responsibility - is trying to ignite sectarian civil war.

A car burns at the scene of a bomb explosion at St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, December 25, 2011. Five bombs exploded on Christmas Day at churches in Nigeria, one killing at least 27 people, raising fears that Islamist militant group Boko Haram - which claimed responsibility - is trying to ignite sectarian civil war.

I have no dog in the Dana & Chris Loesch vs. Twitter fight that boiled over yesterday and carried through into today. Several writers such as Stacy McCain and the Lonely Conservative have already extensively written about the matter, and I defer to them.

This duly noted, an article Ms. Loesch wrote attacking an article written by Yahoo! News reporter Chris Wilson (no relation) warrants commentary. In Mr. Wilson’s article, he surmised the reason, or at least part of the reason, for Mr. Loesch’s Twitter suspension was detailed by the message Twitter sent him when his account was first suspended, that being his sending multiple unsolicited mentions to other users. In English, that means you’ve sent too many tweets to other people who don’t follow you with links in them in too short a period of time. Ms. Loesch, despite this being the initial message sent to her husband by Twitter, asserts this had nothing to do with the account suspension.

Really?

A first hand story. Several weeks ago I was doing some freelance work for a third party, creating their social media presence on different platforms including Facebook and Twitter. The client had numerous clients of their own, each with their own Twitter account. Shortly after I had created the account for my client, which being brand new had no followers, I started sending messages to the aforementioned accounts containing links to the Facebook posts I had done earlier featuring the businesses in question. Four posts into doing this, Twitter dropped the account suspension hammer, stating that I was sending — you guessed it — multiple unsolicited mentions to other users.

I mention this to point out that maybe, just maybe, regardless of all the hype and hyperbole and bluster and such over Mr. Loesch’s account being suspended, the reason this happened isn’t solely due to some dark leftist conspiracy. Maybe, just maybe, he tripped one of Twitter’s automatic triggers. Perhaps other tweeters out to “get him” did file a multitude of spam and block reports. But that would not have generated the original message he received. It would have stated his account was suspended due to a high number of spam reports.

And maybe, just maybe, people are flying off the handle for no legitimate reason.

Maybe.

Final note: If you’re more worked up over Mr. Loesch’s Twitter misadventures than twenty or more Christians in Nigeria being murdered by Islamic terrorists yesterday…

… you’re doing it wrong.

I could tell you there is no troll in the valley
No tricky ghoul behind the trees
Yeah, I could tell you there is no molester
In the alley
To take a lead pipe to your knee

But you won’t believe it ’cause it ain’t true
You won’t believe it ’cause it ain’t true
Rivers flowing through your precious body blue
Trickle crimson when the chicken claws you

I could assure you
You could not be swallowed by the ground
Since we’ve moved away from L.A.
And I could tell you no child of Jesus will be found
Under rubble somewhere today

But you won’t believe it ’cause it ain’t true
You won’t believe it ’cause it ain’t true
Rivers flowing through your precious body blue
Trickle crimson when the chicken claws you

Yes, I could swear it
I will not betray another friend
I’ve found true love and I’ve lost an eye
And I might promise never to hurt you again
Cross my contrite heart, hope to die

But you won’t believe it ’cause it ain’t true
You won’t believe it ’cause it ain’t true
Rivers flowing through your precious body blue
Trickle crimson when the chicken claws you…

mas

Whatever Happened to the Mutual Admiration Society?

You know… the one where conservative bloggers and pundits actually praised each other?

First, this morning there a lengthy and thoroughly unpleasant Twitter exchange between John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine and columnist for the New York Post, and Dana Loesch of Big Journalism fame. It started when Mr. Podhoretz wondered aloud:

I note that a certain anti-Romney tweeter is calling Romney supporters “prog lites.” She supported Romney in ’08. Why was that?

To which Ms. Loesch, she who is loathe to acknowledge supporters but will fight to the death anyone who looks at her cross-eyed, replied:

I made a differentiation that you apparently chose, either by accident or obtuseness, to ignore.

The response:

You mean the distinction between your support for Romney in ’08 and your detestation of him in ’12? I missed that.

And it was on, with Ms. Loesch repeatedly accusing Mr. Podhoretz of name-calling and other assorted crimes against nature for reminding one and all that Ms. Loesch did indeed support Romney in ’08. She, in-between temper tantrums, insisted it was solely because she disliked John McCain so much she found Romney to be the lesser of two evils. Which may well be. But you still supported him, Ms. Loesch.

Maybe it’s me, but I’m thinking a simple, calm “yes I did support Romney in ’08 and here’s why” rather than striking a pose as the put-upon, perpetually outraged, poor poor pitiful me, “I’m just a girl” girl. But no. We must be outraged! We must defend our virtue (no comment)! We must attack! We must maintain our carefully contrived… er, controlled image as the mucha macha sexxxy albeit unavailable sista! Or something.

Later in the day, Ms. Loesch PMS’d with Ace, who has been known to do the same. This time, it was in reference to an interview with Romney. From the looks of it, he misunderstood, or misheard, the reporter’s question in regard to the Blunt-Rubio amendment, which would insert into Obamacare an exemption for organizations whose principals prohibit artificial birth control methods from being forced to provide said artificial birth control methods, through whichever health care plan they offer, to their employees. First Romney said he was against the bill, then said later in the day he was for the bill.

In dashed Dana, flicking spittle every which way as she railed against Romney’s obviously fatal flaw and/or deliberate disingenuousness. Ace, who was on the Rick Perry bandwagon until it finally crashed and burned, then jumped aboard the Romney ride, was quick to defend his chosen one. Naturally, given the two participants it wasn’t long before they butted heads on Twitter.

And I thought I could be contentious.

I’d say it’ll all be better once a candidate is finally selected, but no. The lessons of 2010 about continuing the fight the primary after it’s over by trashing the person the voters in said primary selected (ask Christine O’Donnell how that feels) have not been learned. Regardless of who wins the nomination, or if it comes to a brokered convention who is selected, the friendly fire will continue unabated. And if the Republican nominee loses in November, woe be unto his or her supporters as the rest of the right will vent their full fury against them for, as they will be accused, single-handily condemning us to four more years of Obama.

ADDENDUM: Thanks to Conservative Commune and The Daily Beast for the links.