"The Nation" Apologizes To John 'If You Touch My Junk' Tyner Over TSA Article

[Hissyspit]

Background on the article and controversy here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9632510 and here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9636727

http://www.thenation.com/blog/156700/apology-john-tyner

An Apology to John Tyner

Katrina vanden Heuvel
November 28, 2010  

At TheNation.com we make it a point to practice fearless, bold, timely journalism that raises critical issues ignored by the mainstream press. On very rare occasions that ambition leads to mistakes, and when it does, we're committed to acknowledging them and setting the record straight. Unfortunately, a recent article by Mark Ames and Yasha Levine, "TSAstroturf: The Washington Lobbyists and Koch-Funded Libertarians Behind the TSA Scandal," was one such moment.
 
As Glenn Greenwald of Salon quickly pointed out (and as other writers echoed), the article wrongly suggested that John Tyner, the libertarian citizen-activist who coined the "don't touch my junk" protest against the TSA's security procedures, might be linked to an Astroturf operation. Ames' and Levine's article didn't directly call Tyner a plant, and they didn't say that he was funded by the Koch brothers. Nonetheless, their article gave that impression--by placing Tyner in the article's lead and by using a generally disparaging tone to refer to him. The article also used innuendo to cast doubt on Tyner's motives, and when Tyner denied any connections to lobbyists and to Koch-funded organizations in an interview, we printed his denial--but we didn't press hard enough to get clarity on his actions and intentions. We should have stopped and done just that, and if Tyner's story checked out, we should have removed him from the piece.

We have published a reply by Ames and Levine that acknowledges some of these problems, but as editor of The Nation, I also want to apologize to John Tyner. The Nation hasn't been--and never will be--in the business of muffling citizen protest.

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[Catherina]

1. Katrina vanden Heuvel should hire herself out to the Administration

They're going to be dashing off a lot of apologies in the coming days.

[PeaceNikki]

2. He's still a petulant Libertarian blogger who's whole point was to cause a scene.

[ShamelessHussy]

4. mission accomplished

getting the word out is what its all about

fyi

[Hissyspit]

5. Because a scene needed to be caused?

This whole TSA shift to scanners and invasive public pat-downs has been a civil liberties disaster no matter who is saying or doing what.

[PeaceNikki]

6. I dunno.

An immoveable asshole meets an unstoppable douchebag results in me really wishing somebody, anybody really, in that video would take a taser to the nuts.

[laughingliberal]

7. Lol. Continuing a smear Greenwald completely proved false:

As for his standing accused by The Nation of suspicion on the grounds of his avowed libertarianism, consider what he wrote several weeks before the TSA incident. In a post responding to this question -- "When’s the last time you were seriously inconvenienced or injured by something that big government did?" -- Tyner wrote:

Gay rights , TSA body scanners, highway checkpoints, the PATRIOT Act, warrantless wiretaps, extra-judicial assassinations, indefinite detentions, inflation, etc. Don't tell me that (some of) these don't affect me. When one person's rights are trampled, everybody's are, and that's just at the federal level.

What a right-wing monster! If only Democratic Party leaders -- who support most of the serious rights infringements he condemns -- were this monstrous. Or consider what he wrote about the statements of Juan Williams and Bill O'Reilly which conflated Muslims with Terrorists:

These two statements properly deserve all of the outrage, in my opinion. Millions of Muslims do not accept violence and enable jihad. The U.S. government, itself, says that there are probably less than 100 Al-Qaeda members fighting in Afghanistan. It admits that many are probably hiding in Pakistan, but even being generous would probably place the total number under 1,000. Muslims make up almost a quarter of the world's population. If they all really supported violence and jihad, even if merely millions of them supported it, they would have destroyed the U.S., whose military only numbers about 1.4 million, quite decisively a long time ago. In fact, most (the percentage of "radical" Muslims is almost infinitesimal, but still prevents one from saying "all") Muslims are peaceful, preach peace, and abhor the violence perpetrated in their religion's name.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/11/24/tyner

[PeaceNikki]

8. He's a a libertarian douchebag who, browsing through other posts on his blog,

one can easily see that he hates government doing its job, calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme and thinks the Holy Free Market could save the economy.

He's still a choad.

[_ed_]

11. And none of those things have anything to do

with civil liberties and the TSA. He might have also been a shit to an ex-girlfriend. That also doesn't make a bit of difference.

[frylock]

26. he seems more liberal than most so-called liberals around here..

you read the greenwald piece, right?

[laughingliberal]

29. +1 nt

[girl gone mad]

40. Maybe Obama can appoint him to his deficit commission.

Sounds like he'd fit right in.

[AlbertCat]

64. Gay rights , TSA body scanners, highway checkpoints.....

Hahahahaha!

TSA body scanners are as important as Gay rights????? (I guess if you're a Puritan.) Highway Checkpoints????

One does not have to travel by air. If he doesn't want to go thru security, he can take the bus.


Tempest in a tea pot.

[_ed_]

9. Was Rosa Parks

a petulant civil rights activist who's whole point was to cause a scene?

[PeaceNikki]

10. Really?

Really?!?

[_ed_]

12. Just using your logic

[PeaceNikki]

13. No, you're not, "Johnny Edge".

[_ed_]

14. What?

[JackRiddler]

37. Yes she was and god bless her for it.

Minus the petulant, of course.

In case you didn't know:

At the time of her action, Parks was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for workers' rights and racial equality. Nonetheless, she took her action as a private citizen "tired of giving in".

Rosa Parks was a RIGHTEOUS civil rights activist whose point was to cause a scene! She gets my thanks and applause for it. We need a few million like her right now, not just at the TSA but at the gates of Wall Street and the Pentagon.

[LisaL]

15. And?

I will not be surprised if a lot of people protesting TSA will turn out to be libertarians.

[_ed_]

16. It's reflexive defense of authority

by way of ad hominem. The cheapest form of propaganda.

[PeaceNikki]

18. lolz

[_ed_]

21. Profound argument

I'm awed.

[PeaceNikki]

17. And I choose not to align with or cheer on attention whores who's sole intent is to be an ass

[LisaL]

19. You can align with whoever you want.

I however, admire people who stand up for themselves.

[PeaceNikki]

20. Gee, thanks, mom.

:eyes:

[jberryhill]

33. Yes, go with the crowd "TSA bad", baaa

[_ed_]

Ad hominem: It's easier than acutally thinking or arguing facts

"An ad hominem (Latin: "to the man"), also known as argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise."

[Odin2005]

47. LOL, there is "libertarian" being the new "Nazi" of the apologists.

Personal liberty is so old-fashioned! :eyes:

[MadHound]

22. And heavens to betsy, we don't want a scene caused as we continue to lose our right to privacy

Be polite and don't cause a scene as the police state solidifies around us, no no no no, that's not right at all.

It amazes me how people value politeness over civil liberties.

[LisaL]

23. Well behaved women rarely make history.

Or in this case men.

[_ed_]

24. Unfortunately,

people around here value party affiliation over civil liberties.

[Mimosa]

Not everybody on D.U. values party over civil liberties.

Ed, welcome. :D


I was born a rebel!

[TorchTheWitch]

51. there shouldn't be a single one

Not ONE.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PeaceNikki]

42. Oh? Like who, patt?

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PeaceNikki]

44. .

edited cuz the mods took care of it.

[Matariki]

25. God forbid anyone who's engaged in civil disobedience should 'cause a scene'.

I'd suggest you need to read some history books and get some chutzpah. Or at least be grateful to those who have the chutzpah to put aside their personal convenience and comfort to take a stand on the wrongs in our society.

[Marr]

28. In other words, "shut-up, shut-up, shut-up!"

[PeaceNikki]

30. Him? Yes, he's a blowhard Ron Paul cultist.

I'm not interested in "Johnny Edge's" cries for attention.

[Marr]

31. His complaint is valid. You're doing the same thing Rush Limbaugh does when

someone makes a valid argument he doesn't want to acknowledge. Just attack the messenger, call them names, try to smear their character.

I'm amazed you don't see it.

[PeaceNikki]

35. lolz

[Marr]

36. Is that latin for "bullseye" or something?

I've noticed you make the same remark every time someone accurately describes your position.

[Odin2005]

48. So? quit attacking the messenger.

[hack89]

32. Are all bloggers trying to make a point "petulant"?

or just those with different points of view? Do only progressive activists have pure motives?

[PeaceNikki]

34. I don't think petulance has a party, but it runs more rampant among Libertarians

in my experience.

[Lucian]

39. Sometimes "causing a scene" is what brings civil rights issues to the mainstream.

[Odin2005]

46. "cause a scene" Is a major aspect of Civil Disobedience.

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hlthe2b]

61. Yes... those pesky petulant Libertarians (& progressives & others)

who are arrogant enough to stand up for their civil rights. How dare they!


:sarcasm:

[sabrina 1]

62. Is he? So you were never involved in the fight against these machines

and pat-downs that was a huge issue for the 'left' since 2004? Were you on Bush's side of this issue, because it is the exact same one we on the left fought for years, successfully, or were you supportive of Democrats when they succeeded in stopping Bush from installing those machines in airports, and forced the ending of the 'enhanced pat-downs' in 2004 as soon as they began?

I would like to know whose side you were on back then, because your comment implies you sided with Bush. The Obama administration has betrayed those who fought this battle for so long. They have sided with Bush and Chertoff against the American people and especially against the left, which seems to be a habit with this administration.

I am so very grateful to people like John Tyner and all those who have been in this fight since the Bush administration started stripping away our rights. He is a true hero as it takes great courage to stand up the way he did. The man has a family and will now probably be on the TSA's list of people to watch along with the dirty hippies who are always on some government watch list, since they are always fighting to preserve our rights.

When this country fought for its independence those who led the fight were often from vastly different political ideologies, but they were able to join together for long enough to gain freedom from the British Empire and set aside other differences.

This battle to preserve our rights is going to have to include people from all sides of the political spectrum, unless you are prepared to give up your rights now that it is our team that is taking them away. I am proud to be working alongside an honest citizen like John Tyner in order to preserve our rights.

He has been true to his principles, a supporter of the rights of all Americans, including gays and minorities because as he said himself, 'when one person's rights are violated, so are mine'. A wonderful sentiment, I wish many of the democrats I know shared it, including our president.

Kudos to John Tyner, a true hero.

[AlbertCat]

63. He's still a petulant Libertarian blogger who's whole point was to cause a scene.

Really!

He reminds me of that Family Guy episode about getting a prostate exam. :eyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHKTE75dgE4

[laughingliberal]

3. Good! That article was a horrible example of 'journalism.' nt

[woo me with science]

27. Excellent. nt

[johnaries]

38. The article was over-the-top, but I still have questions about Tyner.

He obviously declined the scanner just to go through the enhanced pat-down, and turned on his video before the pat-down began. He wasn't exactly belligerent, but he did issue a threat if the agents did what he knew they had to do. This whole thing just "smells bad" to me, almost like an ACORN-like set-up. Certainly not as bad, since the video wasn't edited like the ACORN vid was, but definitely a set-up.

So, was Tyner a patriot, someone looking for his "15 minutes", or was there a darker intent to stir up controversy?

I sure wish I knew Tyner's motives.

[TheKentuckian]

53. The person is not important but the policy. Right is right and thank God for trouble makers

We'd be dead as fried chicken without them many, many years ago.

[LisaL]

60. The man stood up for himself and something he believes in.

That's all I need to know about him.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LibDemAlways]

50. I'm glad to see this. Tyner never struck me as anything more

than a guy who refused to be robbed of his 4th amendment rights at the airport. You can object to libertarian philosophy without disparaging someone who apparently has the courage of his convictions.

[20score]

52. Glad to see this.

[bertman]

54. Thank you, Katrina. Helps restore my faith in The Nation. REC.

[bertman]

55. Thank you, Katrina. Helps restore my faith in The Nation. REC.

[bertman]

56. Thank you, Katrina. Helps restore my faith in The Nation. REC.

[bertman]

57. Thank you, Katrina. Helps restore my faith in The Nation. REC.

[zenprole]

58. Bootlicker

We're in the midst of a tsunami of propaganda and two of the most effective weathermen are to be drummed out? Katrina vanden Heuvel is so clueless, she would have sent Woodward and Bernstein to cover Orioles games.

Ames and Levine's mild correction more than covered any oversight. The story stands, and let's please remember it another several months down the road.

[EFerrari]

59. LOL. If these two are our most effective weathermen, we're screwn. n/t

[zenprole]

65. Check your sources

Try catching up with The Exile's online presence; Ames and Levine (and Matt Taibbi) cut their teeth in the kleptocracy of the post-Soviet Union and this puts them several furlongs ahead of others in the Decoding Propaganda Steeplechase.

Or, you could try Mark Ames' excellent "Going Postal," also a heroic effort at deciphering workplace violence. It's an interpretation sure to strike callow fear into the namby-pamby careerist 'meritocracy.'

Make no mistake: Ames, Levine, and Taibbi work the deep end of the pool. Ditch your ideological water wings and come on in. The water's freezing.

[EFerrari]

66. Do you always give free advice to people you don't know?

:)