The San Antonio Express-News is reporting that Blue America candidate Rick Noriega has made some unfortunate comments about bloggers in a speech before the Texas Broadcasters Association:
“We’ve seen talk radio become an organizing tool for the die-hard right, while liberals are credited with turning the blogosphere into a political weapon. Each of those media has a targeted demographic group and works them into an ideological lather,” Noriega said.
“This, I believe, is damaging to the political culture in this country.”
Considering the support we’ve given Noriega as a Blue America candidate, these comments were extremely disconcerting. Noriega will be here tomorrow at 1pm PT/4pm ET for a special Blue America session to discuss his statement with the community.
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ZED
zed? AGAIN with the bloody anglo-hawaiian! :):)
CTuttle @ 1
Dayam, two in a row…!!! 8-)
zed
first zed?
greenwarrior @ 4
definitely not zed
well hell’s bells.
Probably not ZED…
Eight? Rats.
KestrelBrighteyes @ 7
I said that the first time I ever swore.
I gave to Noriega’s campaign. Look forward to hearing what he says tomorrow.
We have to hope Rick doesn’t go all McNerney on us. I want this guy to be better than that.
I’ll have to lurk from wurk.
Good evening everyone. Anyone think Noriega was playing to his audience?
Which part of robust debate — with comments and conversation between candidates and constituents — is “damaging to the political culture in this country”?
Questions of political candidates and office holders are rarely the problem. Usually, the damage arises from the answers. I’m looking forward to some tomorrow.
Thanks, Jane, for lining this up.
Not sure what’s going on when the first 10 (or so) comments — including MINE — are about who gets the ZED. Sheesh…maybe we (me) should think about our priorities???
Ah, Zee subtle Tuttle.
Greetings CTut, Jane, and the rest of you fast-movin’ lakers. You all is singein the ‘lectronic byways tonite. Hot you is, indeedy.
My Slan Tendrils are twitching. I smell the most crushing electoral defeat in the history of American politics coming in 2008.
If so, we need to have a Progressive Agenda firmed up and ready to go, with laws prewritten if possible to lay on the congress critters desks. And a committment by the Progressive Blogosphere to push hard until those new Reps and Sens GET IT DONE.
I am opening nominations with Universal Medicare. Anyone want to add something?
There have been some recent unsettling moments for Blue America.
two ideas in play here:
-everybody fucks up, puts their foot in their mouths, steps in it, drops the ball, etc., once in a while
and/or
-people who will speak against you to please your enemies aren’t really your friends, and shouldn’t be trusted with your blood or treasure
rick? which/both is it?
althespook @ 18
yep!
KestrelBrighteyes @ 7
This is Hell’s Bells…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TchCw2VdIkw
msmolly @ 16
No, just scroll with the punches…
;)
That too bad..I just received a nice thank you note from Mr. Noriega. I never would have given him a dime if he hadn’t been vetted by Howie Klein.
sooo noriega has fallen under rahm emanuel’s charm huh? damn
wangdangdoodle @ 23
Quit being so mousey about it…
chicago dyke @ 20
word.
Hi CD!
I’m afraid to google slan tendrils.
I hope Mr. Noriega does better than McNerney.
Lather.
What has damaged the political culture in America is divisive two party politics and executive power grabs that out stretch constitutional authority.
althespook @ 18
It’s amazing that a new narrative regarding the GOP hasn’t quite yet congealed.
If ever a movement has proven to be a colossal failure it is the modern day GOP.
Frauds, hucksters, scam artists, perverts, autocrats and small minded lackeys with nary an accomplishment to boast of having achieved.
-GSD
Oklahoma kiddo @ 19
there will be more, and worse, before we win. such is the nature of the blood sport, known as “politics.”
juslin @ 25
Nah… he has nothing to do with Emanuel. He screwed up and when Jane and I walked in the door the phone rang and it was him saying he wanted to come on FDL right away to explain himself. It sure isn’t something Emanuel or any of his dogs have ever done. Let’s hear him out tomorrow.
althespook @ 26
I never cease to be amazed.
But then again, the Democrats are pretty weak tea too.
-GSD
althespook @ 18
the return of the ever popular habeas corpus. the removal of the patriot act and non-Fisa surveillance. that’s the short list. and …i’d love to have one that says we can’t go to war or fund war unless i personally sign the docs.
Long time no see, chicago dyke!
(But that could just be me.)
David W. Bartoo @ 17
707!!! ;-)
howieklein @ 34
Agreed. I gave $$ to him too. I hope he can redeem himself, it would be a big disappointment.
I’ve heard people who should know better say stupid hack things like this before. Mostly just because they’re repeating what they’ve been told and haven’t thought it through. I have no idea if this is what happened but I’m anxious to hear what Rick has to say for himself, I had high hopes for his campaign.
So if Bin Laden is this toothless and feckless stooge in a cave somewhere, can anybody tell me why we have to abolish the Bill of Rights in order to counteract him?
-GSD
Loo Hoo. @ 11
Me too.
wangdangdoodle @ 38
me too!
long time no see!
wangdangdoodle @ 28
*g* don’t be. It’s from an old A.E. Van Vogt novel about a natural mutation in humans…they are born telepathic.
GSD @ 36
Ain’t that the truth…!!! 8-(
wangdangdoodle @ 28
Wimp. Slan Tendrils.
Although it’s possible he was thinking more in terms of the polarization between left and right, each with bases they are striking back from, that kind of thing.
Not that I’m in much mood to find common ground with Rethugs at this point. But that did occur to me when I was reading the quote.
Thanks Jane! Forewarned is forearmed.
In the San Antonio Express-News article Jane quoted is this:
Hopefully (fingers crossed) we’ll get a further explanation as to just who Noriega considers as a “nasty, bad, naughty blogger” on the progressive side of the fence.
We’ll be expecting the naming of names…or the plug may deserve pulling.
no dive – still cleaning for the little woman’s (aka nana white gloves) visit. feels good to be able to sit down and put up my feet for a while
g’evening everyone
Suzanne @ 49
g’evening Suzanne!
madmommy @ 14
Which audience? This one or that one?
Lindy @ 44
Just found it on the wiki. Pretty cool, I’m going to have to read that one.
Suzanne @ 49
Hiya Suzanne! I cut my hair tonight.
Suzanne @ 49
Hello, hello! Sitting here watching Dr Who and keeping up with the comments, myself. A good time to relax.
Suzanne @ 49
Dayam, Ma Cheri, this is as long as the drought of dives, when the Dems buckled for the Patriot fiasco…!!! 8-(
you, firepups! /waves/
i really hope that’s it, i would believe it. when you’re a candidate out on the campaign trail, you’re reading 2-5 speeches a day, speaking to dozens, hundrends of people, talking about the same five issues over and over…it’s rough. you also get tired. smart candidates let their staffers write the speeches, but the are on their game (normally) and can skip over or modify poorly written parts. lots of speechwriters at this level are young, and plenty of people are probably telling rick what to say, when and to whom.
but stressing the tired part. i could buy that. someone handed him a text and said, “you’re on!” it came out robotically, before he could think about what effect his words could have on those not in the room.
Suzanne @ 49
The dayam Bulgarian Judge gives you another 10! I shall have my favorite hamster pee on him in revenge!
Hi, suz!
GSD @ 41
He’s a very handy tool for the “all fear, all the time” crowd. First he was wanted dead or alive, the Bush just wasn’t that worried about him. The GOP loves it when a video can be trotted out for public consumption so they can whip the ninnies into a bed-wetting frenzy.
Great Job Howie and Jane. If we are going to help elect people and expect them to be accountable it is important to do this early (like puppies). Thanks for making Blue America an effective means for us to direct our contributions in a most meaningful way.
Generally speaki’, sumthin’ ’bout polly ticky bring out de two-faced aspect of too many. Foot-in-mouth diseasy be but minor symptom, de nex manifestation affect de backbone, shore ‘nuf. Guess we see what this man hafta say . . .
you can tell i’m tired. ahem, “yo!”
Suzanne!!!!
I clean that way when my mom comes to visit. Never clean enough for her though.
Mad Dogs @ 48
Can you say “walk it back”?
That initial quote was pretty all-inclusive: “while liberals are credited with turning the blogosphere into a political weapon.”
Not “a few” liberals.
Not “some” liberals.
Not “many” liberals.
Just liberals.
I’m waiting to see what Rick has to say to explain this.
The blogosphere has done one thing to American politics: it’s damn difficult to say one thing to one group, and something else to another group.
althespook @ 57
Hamster??? That’s a weasel…!!! ;-)
Fern @ 51
The group he was giving the speech to, The Texas Broadcasters Assoc. MSM cowers in fear before actual people asking the hard questions they are afraid to ask.
Hello from Lampasas, TX (aka Baja Oklahoma)
Unfortunate comments indeed!
Optional explanations:
a) Fishcrawl and be real mealy mouthed. (Not recommended as an insult to our intelligence)
b) Misquoted–out of context. Same as above, unless he provideds irrefutable proof of a hatchet job–otherwise it’s a he said, he wrote sort of thing.
c) Truly wants a happy furry puppy party that gathers at the river and sings kumbaya with those who have kicked our effing teeth in for 30 years.
d) Woops. Mea culpa. Tired–relentless campaigning–stepped on my tongue. Apologize and issue a retraction.
Lindy @ 44
recently reissued by the way
wangdangdoodle @ 52
After you’re done with Van Vogt, try Clifford D Simak.
Suzanne @ 49
one time when i lived in israel, i scoured the house in
honordread of my mother’s upcoming visit. i could hardly believe my eyes, but just about the first thing she did was find a broom and start sweeping. trust me, there was-absolutely- nothing-on-the-floor to sweep.Suzanne @ 49
My mom left earlier today. She had the little guy swiffering the spiderwebs from the corners and my older boy running a lintgrabber under the entertainment center. The OCD gene is being nurtured in the next generation!
CTuttle @ 64
No, its a ninja hamster in a weasel suit. Geez, do i gotta explain EVERYTHING? :):)
Oilfieldguy @ 66
Dayam, OFG, long time… Hey, Hunt’s hiring for Kurdistan…!!! ;-)
Elliott @ 10
My grandmother said that ladies should never swear. Closest she came was to say, “I SWANEE!”
FDL WARNING! There are some Democratic Congress Kritters, who are afraid of Rove or Cheney, and want to make the Iraq Genocide permanent. Be more afraid of Jane Hamsher and lefty, fem, bird dogging bloggers who are not sober and serious.
Do not spit into the wind. Do not mess around with Jane!
And everybody say, “Rick, don’t you know,
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape,
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that ol’ Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jane.”
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ler-still/
montag says:
September 1st, 2007 at 12:22 am
NoriegaBlog @ 344
Tancredo criticizes on Taiwan Policy:
http://tancredo.house.gov/PRAr…..ewsID=1302
What do we think?… My grandparents were resistance fighters against the communists in 49… Where’s our stance? or is there one?
That means your parents were working for Chiang Kai-shek (and Madame Chiang Kai-shek) and the warlords, and MacArthur. What makes you think things would have been better for them under the system those assholes would have created than the current one?
C’mon. It’s a useless question. Mao won, almost sixty years ago. Deal with now. Figure that one out and get back to us. (After you figure out how the Bush family fuckin’ did you and yours in.)
Is this the same guy?
The blogosphere has done one thing to American politics: it’s damn difficult to say one thing to one group, and something else to another group.
ramen. seriously, if we can only do one thing in this effort, let’s make it “killing absurdity as political discourse.” a lofty goal, i know. but i would die happy knowing that pols no longer believed they could promise a cheese moon to religious wackos in the morning and a space program to liberals that afternoon, and get away with it.
i try not to be cynical on this blog, and rick has lots of potential outs. but he better not meet this forum with arrogance, when he comes here. jus sayin.
Oilfieldguy!!
Boy, have I had problems with my computer! Thought I was rejected for being too radical. It took me a few moments to realize not with this crowd.
I really want to hear what Noriega has to say about his public statement. Maybe he isn’t comfortable with bloggers but to publicly condemn them is a little extreme. Disagree with us – OK. I go along with that. But we’ve been categorically rejected/dismissed/ brushed-off.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Glad I have a day to reflect on his remarks. I want to be rational and not reactionary in my questions and comments.
Maybe he just sees us as small fry. Like the way the horseless carriage was dismissed.
Seriously, glad I’m up and running again. Good to read through the threads. Hi Jane – Looking real good there, girl!
mary mccurnin, remember, though, most of our moms didn’t work outside the home. I love a clean home, mind you, but I don’t obsess anymore.
When does lady white gloves come, Suzanne?
How did you decide to cut your hair wangdangdoodle? How short?
TSF is upstairs with a great post about Ahhnooold.
new thread upstairs
msmolly @ 16
Hey, it’s Sunday night and I just had my second glass of wine. Priorities tonight included getting all of the shirts hung up before they got wrinkled, and calling my mom. I have done both, therefore I feel I am entitled to let the world turn without me until tomorrow. :-)
I rely on the good judgement of the ActBlue consortium to guide my support of candidates. I suspect Mr. Noriega was taken out of context (I used to write for a weekly rag and I loved to misunderstand and run with harmless sports related gaffs). So we probably shouldn’t call for his extradition to France, yet. (See?)
Aside to ActBlue. I’m not sure that Dr. Porter’s non-listing on your page serves either him or ActBlue. Any thoughts?
my mind is open to rep noriega – but they must keep in mind where support comes from….
What a treat! Jane in the evening. Good evening dear friends.
Softail @ 67
One of my very favorites – isn’t that in the same book as Null-A?
newtonusr @ 12
He is better than that.
He’ll speak for himself tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be both frank and fair with him.
I was not happy with this quote, myself, but it didn’t ring true from what I’ve known of Rick so far, and further investigation by Texas bloggers indicates that Rick is not as that hatchet job represents him. R. G. had a particular angle in mind, and tailored the story to fit it.
I’ve written on it from my perspective (I was quoted in the story myself and was one of the early bloggers in the draft movement, so felt particularly smacked in the face).
But please, do check into the chat tomorrow and talk to him about it yourself.
madmommy @ 14
Actually, he was quoted out of context, and charging his audience to do more.
Full text of his remarks is included in my TK posting, if you want to see exactly what he said.
It was clumsily worded, without a doubt, but when you see the quote in context, the segment used in the story shows up as a shabby “day is night” gambit that is ironically what Rick was warning against in his speech.
Peterr @ 63
In my view there’s nothing wrong with being a political weapon… Woody Guthrie put a sign on his guitar that said “This Machine Kills Fascists”.
There are some nasty bloggers out there, though…Ann Althouse, for example.
Perhaps it’s possible that the reporter juxtaposed quotes about Right wing talk radiuo and “their” bloggers…and it ended up an attack on progressive bloggers.
things come undone @ 75
I don’t think THAT is Rick Noriega…though it appears to be someone interested in his campaign against Cornyn.
Here is what the blogs “Who Am I” says…”Independently produced and published. This weblog has no affiliation with Rick Noriega for Texas, and the ideas do not necessarily represent those of Rick Noriega or the campaign. Content and website not authorized by any candidate or candidates’ committee.”
And THAT guy is some Net-Citizen who apparently knows T-Rex and was “tweaking him”…doubt that would be Noriega.
simply ask him first- did you approve of the material in the speech you gave to the broadcasters?
Next, are you aware of how much energy the sphere has put out in your cause?
Then- ask for a total complete refund!
And LEARN FROM YOUR PAST> We can not afford this shit anymore!
Just read a post on Agonist– Forget my earlier post re Noriega.
JUST ASK FOR THE MONEY BACK!!!!
After Mr. Noriega’s first visit here, I went to his website to take a look. There was no information there whatsoever. No position statements. No political content at all, that I could see. I hope that FDL mods will try to get him on record re: his stance on some of the major issues.
let me ask this of the mods–do you converse with a blue america candidate prior to offering Blue America help? Is simply being Not-Republican enough to get a candidate into FDL and Blue America?
y’know, this is becoming a pattern. Carney, McNerney, and now Noriega.
I don’t know how blue america chooses their candidates, but maybe it’s time to consider a more stringent process?
Before you make any hasty conclusions about Rick Noriega, please listen to what he has to say today-and ask him.
I talked to him last night, I’ve talked to him at Yearly Kos, and I’ve seen the text of his remarks for the TAB. It was incredibly stupid and unfortunate linking blogs indiscriminately with radio, but the context makes a difference.
And I still don’t regret drafting him for Senate.
Also, much as I respect him, SPK is not infallible. Consider that he might not know what he’s talking about here.
newtonusr @ 12
wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which one gets stinky