Blogger Tom DeLay Drops Hammer On Liberals

Ex-GOP House Leader Launches A New Blog

(CBS)  Blogophile is written by CBSNews.com's Melissa P. McNamara

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The former GOP House leader has a new blog - liberals need not apply. Plus, Time magazine hails 2006 as the the year of "user-generated content." And, does Google make a good spy?

Hammer Time

Rep. Tom DeLay, former House majority leader, has entered the blogosphere. And liberal bloggers are not rolling out the cyber welcome mat.

Calling himself a "rookie blogger," DeLay's site is a forum for his new organization, GAIN (Grassroots, Action, and Information Network). He writes on the blog that "the importance of the blogosphere in shaping and motivating the current conservative movement is unquestionable- not only has it served as an important tool in breaking through the liberal MSM clutter but it has helped to keep our elected officials true to principle.”

While many of the posts are not actually by "Tom" himself — he said on Hardball that the ideas were his — he does weigh in occasionally. Last Saturday, for example, he wrote about the Iraq Study Group's report, or as he calls it, "The Way Backward—A Cynical Strategy for Surrender."

"And here I thought DeLay couldn't get anymore embarrassing. Once again, he's exceeded my expectations," Steve Benen blogs at The Carpetbagger Report.

DeLay was quick to anticipate the outspoken ways of bloggers. According to USNews.com, the site will have a way to "filter out" those with dissenting views, and according to numerous reports, many negative comments that escaped the filter have already been removed from the site.

James Risser, over at TomDelaydotcom.blogspot.com, claims to have rescued and posted many of those negative comments about DeLay.

Many liberal bloggers were amused that DeLay's blog received so many negative comments in the first place. "Folks like DeLay are not exactly down with the reality of democracy in such unadulterated form," a blogger at Blue Meme writes.

“Mr. Delay, welcome to the blogosphere. I hope you can do for the conservative blogosphere what you did for Republicans in Congress,” Jon Swift mocked.

And, of course, some bloggers were ready to take a political jab at DeLay. "In spite of its sophomoric polemics and nasty tone, the blog is a jaunty read. But I think its attempt to use witty anti-left banter to try to distract readers from the tragedy of our foreign policy will fall flat," Morra Aarons writes at BlogHer.


Thanks, Time Magazine!

Time magazine's annual "Person of the Year" contest has been chosen and well, "You" took the honor. 2006 was the year of "user-generated content," the magazine hails, much to bloggers' delight.

The magazine describes their choice this way: "It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes."

The topic was one of the most popular in the blogosphere, and won unabashed praise from bloggers. One blogger, William Beutler, says he suggested the idea back in October when Google acquired YouTube.

"This is awesome. Time is recognizing in a very real way that what happened in the past few years is special and important," John at JJB blog writes. "That because of our new tools and models, power and change are distributed and contributed instead of passed down from above."

Jeff Jarvis says Time was smart to choose more than just one person. "There are many worlds within our world and many leaders in them. So if Time were doing its job properly, it would highlight a million people of the year," he writes at BuzzMachine. "But, of course, it can't. The form doesn't allow it. And the form is what led to massthink. But mass is over. And I see this as Time's admission of that. And so for that, I applaud them."

Many bloggers took Time's choice personally, and posted their would-be acceptance speeches for the award. "The common people have made the Time’s Person of The Year!," a blogger at Just Thinkin’ adds.

Still, some bloggers question the choice. "Congrats bloggers, you beat Ahmadinejad!," Taylor Owen at OxBlog writes, referring to the Iranian president, a possible runner-up. "Why can't Time pick an unpleasant character as person of the year? Is it because it is released over the holidays? Is it bad for sales?"

"Time magazine is offering their readers an ego trip for Christmas," a blogger at The Flypaper Theory writes, adding that it's "not a bad marketing stunt either."

Gawker also thinks it's a big marketing gimmick. "See, this way they get to roll in YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, even Web 2.0 -- anything with a hint of buzz, warranted or not. And since a bunch of Yous use a lot of these tools, we're all meant to be flattered and intrigued by our collective appearance on the cover," they write.

Well, like it or not, it seems to have worked.


Intelligent Googling

If you've ever wanted to know just how U.S. intelligence works, perhaps you don't need to look further than your own computer.

When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be involved in their country's alleged nuclear weapons program, the agency refused. So, according to the Washington Post. The United Nations has been using high-frequency hits produced by searching "Iran and nuclear" to determine who deserves a travel ban.

Of course, as anyone who has Googled, well, themselves, knows you have to weed through many sources that turn up. Eventually, the CIA approved a handful of the people derived from the 100-plus that came through Google, according to the Post. European officials told the newspaper their governments did not rely on Google searches but came up with nearly identical lists to the one U.S. officials offered.

The story had many bloggers asking if Google is really the best way for the government to gather intelligence. "Why, pray tell, is the U.S. State Department using Google to determine who should go in the UN draft of sanctions on Iraq by doing Google searches?," Rowan writes at Uncommon Thought Journal. "Nothing against Google in any of this. I think it is an excellent search engine and use it all the time. However, I would think that our government had a more sophisticated and targeted 'tool.'"

“Good work, everyone. There's nothing that says 'intelligence reform' less than relying on Google searches and refusing to share information between organizations,” Carolyn O’Hara writes at Foreign Policy’s blog.

Some suggest it's a sign of the U.S.' intelligence failings. "No wonder their intel is so far from reality (As we saw the CIA's intel on Saddam's WMD)as all those come from crowdsourcing/public not from real investigation," Kams writes at Bloggism. Doug Mataconis at Below The Beltway agrees, asking, "Shouldn’t we have better sources of intelligence?”

Other bloggers are troubled by the notion of the government Googling them. "The thing that scares me most is not that Google has people's net history information (emails, clickstream, calendar, etc) to make ad decisions, but it is that government agencies (both the US and foreign) can utilize the laws of their country (or create ones in certain cases) to access that information,” Cyan Bane writes.

Blogophile RSS Feed

[huskerarmy]

It might be a hard sell to say that greed and corruption are good for America. No doubt he'll do his best to get that message across.

[houser123]

Unfortunately, I witnessed the interview Delay had on Hardball the other evening. My feelings mirror the writer who stated," And here I thought DeLay couldn't get anymore embarrassing. Once again, he's exceeded my expectations." How can anyone listen to what this blowhard has to say? This man is the most vile, scupulous,deceiving and utterly worthless person that has ever been elected to the U S Congress. Conservatism is well and good if one wants to lead their life in that manner, however as an ideology to govern, well we see where we are today with this administration.

[bluestardad]

Why is Delay out of Jail. The Hammer is a punk!

[mjv2944]

The neocons poster boy, representing everything that is wrong with their philosophies. This guy is a real honest to goodness CROOK. He and his fellow neocons have done more harm to America than any liberal has ever done. Gone and hopefully forgotten.

[observantx]

So the bug killer has to filter out the not so agreeable responses to his blog. Hmmmm. Sounds a lot like Rush only letting the dittoheads spout off on the air.

Well, many voices make beautiful music, they say. Let%u2019s hope that we don%u2019t end up with a one note symphony from Mr. Delay.

[antoniof123]

Why is he not in jail did he get a pardon form the idiot we call a president?

[bluestardad]

Hammer is one of the Reasons America is voting Democratic!

[bluestardad]

Neo-clown Hammer. Go Away!

[bluestardad]

He may have gotten a pardon he sure spent enough time riding with the Dicktater!

[inbethlehem]

Would somebody tell this washed up hasbeen that nobody really gives a sh*t what this idiot has to say!

[processor2]

Why do liberals treat alternative ideas with such rabid hate ??? ....... I thought liberals preached tolerance & understanding !!



PS

Remember, just because you don't agree with an opinion, doesn't make it wrong, it's just a different opinion

[processor2]

Why do liberals treat alternative ideas with such rabid hate ??? ......... I thought liberals preached tolerance & understanding !!


PS

Remember, just because you don't agree with an opinion, doesn't make it wrong, it's just a different opinion

.........................

[jonw1115]

processor2

Keep in mind there are probably many Liberals out there who wouldn't go off like this. Mind you this is a way for these people to go off on rants and slam whatever they don't agree with. I have been reading for much longer than I have posted on here. It seems to always be the same small group of folks who never have any positive things to say regarding any issues.

[grumpas]

processor2 Why do rabid conservative's think they have all the answers to the questions of the universe and those who don't agree with them are ignorant and uninformed????? That has been my experience with rabid conservative's! They have that superior attitude that they know everything and the person they are talking to knows nothing. Their theory's regarding anything are cast in stone and have come down from on high to them personally. Anyone who doesn't agree with them is a dumb stupid clod. They think they are superior to everyone because they are conservative! So, I would suggest you clean off your own doorstep before you start preaching to liberal's!

[frankly6]

processor2

You come in slamming people and whine when you get slammed.

If you just got your facts right you'd be beyond reproach.

[grumpas]

I also forgot to say anyone who doesn't agree with a conservative is a liberal (it doesn't make any difference how middle of the road you are) you are instantly labeled a liberal!!! They lump all opposition to their arrogance as liberal! Because they have difficulty in taking any criticism for their ideas!

[jc80013]

This guy is the best thing Democrats could ever have wished for. A big mouthed powerful Republican with skeletons jumping in and out of the closet. Keep up the good work Mr. DeLay you have my vote for man of the year!!!!!

[jebediah76]

Okay - so what DeLay wants to do is form a community of sorts where dissenting opinions are shunned and his far right ideas can be propogated. There are many such enclaves on the internet - this one does not alarm me.

The thing that Delay and Co. don't understand is that you cannot take a political website and call "Grassroots" any more than Sony can fake a PSP worshipers fansite. It never rings true.

Truly impactful and popular blogs started out tabula rasa and the users determine the direction and political tone - this is WHY Time magazine's person of the year is "You" and not Tom DeLay. This is why the blogosphere is not really spinnable. It is also why folks like Delay are desperate to spin it.

Eventually every community builds walls - this one just happens happens to come with some shabby pre-fab ones already installed.

Besides, who really cares about a politician's Blog? It will obviously be full of the poilitician's views. And obviously call itself neutral and impartial. Its just plain silly.

[processor2]

grumpas.....your post with just one-word changed, and I agree with you:

Why do rabid liberal's think they have all the answers to the questions of the universe and those who don't agree with them are ignorant and uninformed????? That has been my experience with rabid liberal's! They have that superior attitude that they know everything and the person they are talking to knows nothing. Their theory's regarding anything are cast in stone and have come down from on high to them personally. Anyone who doesn't agree with them is a dumb stupid clod. They think they are superior to everyone because they are conservative! So, I would suggest you clean off your own doorstep before you start preaching to conservative's!

Posted by grumpas at 10:15 AM : Dec 20, 2006

They're your words...let's see you & frankly6 attack your own words

[processor2]

REPOST - left out one-word

grumpas.....your post with just one-word changed, and I agree with you:

Why do rabid liberal's think they have all the answers to the questions of the universe and those who don't agree with them are ignorant and uninformed????? That has been my experience with rabid liberal's! They have that superior attitude that they know everything and the person they are talking to knows nothing. Their theory's regarding anything are cast in stone and have come down from on high to them personally. Anyone who doesn't agree with them is a dumb stupid clod. They think they are superior to everyone because they are liberal! So, I would suggest you clean off your own doorstep before you start preaching to conservative's!

Posted by grumpas at 10:15 AM : Dec 20, 2006

They're your words...let's see you & frankly6 attack your own words

[processor2]

Why do liberals treat alternative ideas with such rabid hate ??? ......... I thought liberals preached tolerance & understanding !!


PS

Remember, just because you don't agree with an opinion, doesn't make it wrong, it's just a different opinion

.........................

[madisongirl-2009]

Way to go, Processor2 Tell it like it is.

I know what you mean, the libbies are a mean-spiritied hateful bunch of folks. Just read their posts, they tell on themselves.

I've read your posts in a few other places

Keep up the good work....don't let the libbies rhetoric get to you....stay with your facts

THANKS

[frankly6]

processor2

You come in slamming people and whine when you get slammed. BOOOOO...HOOOOOO....your breaking our hearts.




If you just got your facts right you'd be beyond reproach.

[frankly6]

processor2

This just in:

The moon is made of blue cheese and the liberals are secretly mining it and giving free cheese to the poor. This has angered Halliburton executives because because *** Chaney awarded them an exclusive no-bid contract to mine blue cheese on the moon.


Source:
The Blue Cheese Gazette


You should get on this story right away. Mmmmkay?

[randalds]

I see procerror2 is over here posting his same garbage over and over again. Like most loonytoons neocons he has bought into the theory that if you repeat the same lie over and over again (which is derivative of bushrocks1 anyway) that it'll magically become true. It doesn't work of course but it gives his tiny fevered brain something to play with, our then himself.

[changeit4]

I can't say that liberals (or Democrats, Independents, Greens... Politicians et al) have the answers.

However, America can see one answer in stark contrast to all else:

Six years--and counting--of staying a failure of GOP course is not working. At this point, any different idea is an improvement for this nation. It failed Reagan too, and the first Bush...

Change is good for the country when what it's got is failing us. And it's failing miserably.

[randalds]

I love the fact that Delay put up his site at first with no filters and got slammed with negative comments. As the great Bugs Bunny once said "What a maroon!"

Now he has it set up so he only gets positive comments, which should cut the bandwidth use down to about nothing, and just like Bush he can live in a world that's all warm , fuzzy and free from any sort of reality.

[rafterman1]

"Like most loonytoons neocons he has bought into the theory that if you repeat the same lie over and over again (which is derivative of bushrocks1 anyway) that it'll magically become true. It doesn't work of course "

Actually, it DOES work. Hence Bush getting elected twice.

[changeit4]

Yep. The last two posts say it all. No wonder no one can tour the White House anymore. They don't want anyone bringing reality in with them.

[MacTrek777]

My my my you can just feel the love radiating from each comment you read here. Makes you proud to be an American. ;-)

[MacTrek777]

You sure can feel the love in here. Makes you proud to be an American the way you liberals and conservatives treat each other with such respect.

[randalds]

"Like most loonytoons neocons he has bought into the theory that if you repeat the same lie over and over again (which is derivative of bushrocks1 anyway) that it'll magically become true. It doesn't work of course "

Actually, it DOES work. Hence Bush getting elected twice.

Posted by Rafterman1 at 12:17 PM : Dec 20, 2006

Sad, but true rafterman, sad, but true. Proves that you don't have to fool all of the people all of the time. You just have to fool enough fools to make it to 51% (and claim a "mandate" too of course).

[randalds]

You sure can feel the love in here. Makes you proud to be an American the way you liberals and conservatives treat each other with such respect.

Posted by MacOO7 at 12:57 PM : Dec 20, 2006

As a liberal I have a great deal of respect for true conservatives, I just haven't seen one since Goldwater died. Bush isn't one, neither was his dad (though close) and neither was Reagen. They were right wing ideologues who hijacked the republican party and drove it into the hands of the neoconservatives, who bear no resemblance at all to conservatives. They're not conservatives, they're just using the name.

[actornaught]

Partisan political speech is ancient, but our current wave was certainly started by so-called conservatives in the early 80's. They repeated illogical hate-speech, eventually called it 'talking points', and let it soak in until enough people looking for someone to blame believed it. The main proponent was Rush, who's only talent was debate. He ran with it, and his 'fans' never noticed that the debate was one-sided and heavily managed.

Now those fans have learned the technique of squelching the free speech of their perceived opposition, and many 'libbies' (gotta laugh at that one...) have followed by fighting fire with fire. I can't blame them. And yes, the neo-con's 'liberal' is anyone whos belief set includes one thought that leans liberal.

From social pressure, most of this country will say it's not 'liberal', but when quizzed on individual issues, the population can be defined as 75% 'liberal'. Look at the comments on this website in total.

By the way, these terms are way too simplistic. Just about nobody fits within the true definitions liberal or conservative, I'm just going with current connations. And if you have a problem with such intellectual study, you're a neo-con...

[processor2]

Why do liberals treat alternative ideas with such rabid hate ??? ......... I thought liberals preached tolerance & understanding !!


PS

Remember, just because you don't agree with an opinion, doesn't make it wrong, it's just a different opinion

.........................

[processor2]

frankly6 is living proof that extreme liberalism is a mental disorder.

Most liberals are the "glass-is-half-empty" kind of people,,,while everyone else has a positive outlook on life.

It's kind of sad, really

Even my brother's 11 year-old has more sense

...........

[processor2]

Way to go, Processor2 Tell it like it is.

I know what you mean, the libbies are a mean-spiritied hateful bunch of folks. Just read their posts, they tell on themselves.

I've read your posts in a few other places

Keep up the good work....don't let the libbies rhetoric get to you....stay with your facts

THANKS
Posted by madisongirl at 11:20 AM : Dec 20, 2006



To: madisongirl:

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT

[actornaught]

Proc'2 & Maddie,

It looks like I need to do this your way.

Neo-cons started the nastiness years ago, it's their technique. Some fed-up 'Libbies' feel they have to return it as a defense.

[processor2]

Actornaught

WRONG

Remember the commercial in 1964 with the little girl holding a flower and a mushroom cloud going up.

That was DONE BY LIBERALS against Goldwater

Actually it was the Neo-Commies who started the nastiness...conservatives just decided to join in

[actornaught]

We can keep leap frogging back in time if you want. I remember McCarthyism, a huge attack on our constitution. (By the way, I consider Eisenhower to be the best president of my lifetime.)

My comments referred to the current partisan political interchange such as is directly reflected on this board.

[randalds]

Way to go, Processor2 Tell it like it is.

I know what you mean, the libbies are a mean-spiritied hateful bunch of folks. Just read their posts, they tell on themselves.

I've read your posts in a few other places

Keep up the good work....don't let the libbies rhetoric get to you....stay with your facts

THANKS
Posted by madisongirl at 11:20 AM : Dec 20, 2006



To: madisongirl:

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Posted by processor2 at 04:43 PM : Dec 20, 2006


Ok, except for changing the date and time, how many times have you reposted this same "message of support"? I've seen it 4 or 5 times myself.

[james_risser]

CORRECTION

CORRECTION


The link you list to my site that has the original comments sent to DeLay is located here:

http://www.tomdelaydotcom.blogspot.com

PLEASE CORRECT YOUR STORY. THANKS