Why do we keep enabling Matt Drudge?

[ruggerson]

I'm Matt Drudge.

I'm a far right, agenda ridden, unbalanced, professional liar.

Tomorrow, if I was so inclined, I could splash, in bold letters, on my website:
OBAMA CAMP CIRCULATES EMAILS ABOUT HILLARY LESBIAN AFFAIR

along with a picture of a supposed paramour.

And because I'm Matt Drudge, the story would then play all day long on every cable news channel, be covered by Politico, Time, Newsweek, and even merit a mention in next day's NY Times and Washington Post.

Meanwhile the Obama camp would be forced to respond that they didn't think lesbianism was anything bad, that they weren't sure, but were confident that none of their staff had done this (but they couldn't flatly deny it, because they have 800 campaign staffmembers).

The resulting stench would leave an impression in the voter's minds that Hillary might swing both ways and that the Obama was running a nasty, homophobic, underhanded campaign. It would also, conveniently, divide the Democratic electorate.

And I could have made the entire thing up.

Because, you see, I'm Matt Drudge.

Nationwide, reporters robotically repeat what I spew on my website without doing any fact checking or making any kind of demands for verification.

I'm Matt Drudge. I'm a disturbed fuck of a human being, but I can singlehandly dominate a new cycle with anything that pops into my deranged head.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Because without Clinton, Drudge would be a useless trashcan

begging for pennies getting ignored.

[anigbrowl]

2. You forgot one thing

The Obama campaign, as you say, couldn't flatly deny it because they have 800 staffers.

But they could disavow it, condemn it, and say that if it was found to come from anyone working on the campaign that person would be fired forthwith.

And sorry, for all Drudge is a gossip-monger I don't thin he just randomly makes shit up.

[NastyRiffraff]

13. Drudge doesn't make things up?? You're kidding, right?

Just for starters, remember the so-called Kerry affair? Made up out of whole cloth. There are others, too. True, he normally takes a piece of something and blows it up to what seems like a complete story. But yes, he's a serial inventor, too.

[ruggerson]

19. So

you think that Peggy Noonan is highbrow and Drudge is honest.

Ooooookay. :)

[maddiejoan]

3. Been done

http://drudgereport.com/flashhh.htm




Cos ya know --Hillary and Drudge are such good friends.
:sarcasm:

[ruggerson]

5. I remember

but he didn't blame it on "emails" "circulating" from a rival's campaign.

[rocktivity]

4. But WHY did Drudge say it was from the Clinton camp if it wasn't?

Surely he must know that he's the last person a Dem would give info to. Come to think of it, if Drudge DID make it up, shouldn't the Clinton camp have taken him to task FIRST? After all, if he made it up, that's grounds for libel. Besides, "We aren't aware of the photo" is a far cry from "No, we didn't give Drudge any photo!"

:crazy:
rocknation

[ruggerson]

7. How do they know some idiotic staff member didn't email it to

another idiotic staff member and Drudge got ahold of the email? They don't want to categorically deny something which might come back to bite them.

The point is this is all accepted as truth by the media, with not ONE ounce of proof or verification. And none of them demand that Drudge deny it, because they want him to link to their future stories and they don't want to piss him off. It's totally insane.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. He said it was "obtained" from the Clinton campaign

It is almost like diplomatic talk. Some things are said to be received from a camp, some things are said to be shopped around by a camp. Some things are obtained. Thieves "obtain" the contents of a safe when they break into a home to get it. Drudge never claimed that those internal emails between a few staffers (who could have been low level staffers in Rhodie Island for all we know) were sent to him by the Clinton campaign. And in the past those types of things HAVE been said when the Clinton campaign wanted the media to pay attention to some issue they felt was being under reported.

There have been plenty of embarrassing leaks of strategy memos and the like that one campaign "obtains" from another. That happens a lot in politics either through moles or carelessness or unguarded conversation or whatever. And there are plenty of things obtained by rivals of a candidate that the candidate's campaign is not happy to see "obtained" by them.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

11. No he did not say that at all

Read the Drudge piece carefully with an eye to what it actually says, not what he wants the casual reader to think it says.

If you've followed Drudge's antics for the last fifteen years, the story decoded is: The email in question was forwarded to Drudge by someone NOT in the Clinton campaign. It was something NOT meant to be publicized that someone with an agenda gave to Drudge.

The idea that the Clinton campaign gave this to Drudge is bizarre, since the story is quite unfavorable to the Clinton campaign.

[Cant trust em]

14. Clinton could have come out smelling like a rose

if she would have spun this the right way. She could have blasted Drudge and the RW conspiracy but there was some muddling of message. This is going to be tricky to shake.

[yardwork]

20. Gee, why would Drudge want Democrats to fight with each other?

I can't imagine.

[TheDebbieDee]

22. To cause division among Democrats?

[cbayer]

6. Because we are stupidly and blindly destroying our own candidates.

And we have created the perfect atmosphere for the republicans to take us down.

Seriously.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

9. YOU ARE SO CORRECT

[NYPat]

15. Yep, Drudge hurt both candidates with this!

The Republicans are probably amused. This campaign has also seen Democrats attacking and denigrating the record of the only President that we successfully elected in 30 years. That and unleashing all the anti-woman, anti-baby-boomer sentiment for public consumption should come back to haunt us in the fall.

[gateley]

10. I am SO not going to enable him that I'm not even going to look at your thread!

Oops. :blush:

[Forkboy]

12. It's sad. And now Kristol is being praised too.

Some people are fucked up.

But hey, did you see who got TS'ed?

[ruggerson]

18. Yeah

I was actually going to pm you. I guess I wasn't the only one being stalked. heheh.

[Forkboy]

21. Thought of you right away when I saw he was gone.

:)

[uppityperson]

16. The photo scandal is a wonderful hit piece on both campaigns.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4771190&mesg_id=4771190

[uppityperson]

17. The photo scandal is a wonderful hit piece on both campaigns.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4771190&mesg_id=4771190