Weigel: "Fox News is pumping around the clock to get Paultard Tea Party people on TV"

[RonPaulFanInGA]

"It's all very amusing to me. Two hundred screaming Ron Paul fanatics couldn't get their man into the Fox News New Hampshire GOP debate, but Fox News is pumping around the clock to get Paultard Tea Party people on TV."

I stand by this, although I apologize if people find the word "Paultard" offensive. It was a neologism coined during the 2008 campaign to describe fanatical supporters of Paul -- I used it in this case to convey how Fox covered those supporters in 2008.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/an_apology_to_my_readers.html

[MsDoodahs]

You seem to be a HUGE fan of this Weigal guy.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

You seem to be a HUGE fan of this Weigal guy.

Really? I doubt this is even the fifth time I've mentioned him in my 2.5 years here. :rolleyes:

[lester1/2jr]

the context of that should be noted. he was saying that some private, or that he thought was private, email group or something he is a part of was raided by some site who published that.

so he didn't say it publicly, at the same time you can't help but note how he really feels about us

[RCA]

Really? I doubt this is even the fifth time I've mentioned him in my 2.5 years here. :rolleyes:

I'm showing 8:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/search.php?searchid=5148056

[TigerPrwn]

Weigel Smiegel has issued an apology:


UPDATE: Rather than responding to our inquiry, Weigel posted an apology to his readers on WaPo here.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/an_apology_to_my_readers.html

An apology to my readers

I'm a member of an off-the-record list-serv called "Journolist," founded by my colleague Ezra Klein. Last Monday, I was deluged with angry e-mail after posting a story about Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) that was linked by the Drudge Report with a headline intimating that I defended his roughing-up of a young man with a camera; after this, the Washington Examiner posted a gossip item about my dancing at a friend's wedding. Unwisely, I lashed out to Journolist, which I've come to view as a place to talk bluntly to friends.

Below the fold are quotes from me e-mailing the list that day -- quotes that I'm told a gossip Web site will post today. I apologize for much of what I wrote, and apologize to readers.

- "This would be a vastly better world to live in if Matt Drudge decided to handle his emotional problems more responsibly, and set himself on fire."

I apologize to Matt Drudge for this -- I was incredibly frustrated with the amount of hate mail I was getting and lashed out. If he wants to link to this post with some headline accusing me of wishing death on him, I suppose he can do so. But I don't wish that. I was tired, angry, and hyperbolic, and I'm sorry.

- "Follow-up to one hell of a day: Apparently, the Washington Examiner thought it would be fun to write up an item about my dancing at the wedding of Megan McArdle and Peter Suderman. Said item included the name and job of my girlfriend, who was not even there -- nor in DC at all."

I stand by this -- I was offended by the way that item was written. I do apologize for reacting like this against the entire Washington Examiner, as my gripe was with one reporter, and the person who gave them this item was apologizing to me.

- "I'd politely encourage everyone to think twice about rewarding the Examiner with any traffic or links for a while. I know the temptation is high to follow up hot hot Byron York scoops, but please resist it."

I stand by that reaction but apologize for belittling Byron York.

- "It's all very amusing to me. Two hundred screaming Ron Paul fanatics couldn't get their man into the Fox News New Hampshire GOP debate, but Fox News is pumping around the clock to get Paultard Tea Party people on TV."

I stand by this, although I apologize if people find the word "Paultard" offensive. It was a neologism coined during the 2008 campaign to describe fanatical supporters of Paul -- I used it in this case to convey how Fox covered those supporters in 2008.

Yeah, Smigel is a realll class act. He "apologizes" for people who find "Paultard" offensive, yet, he doesn't apologize for using it in his "objective" reporting.

I'm still wondering where ronpaulfaninGA got the idea that Weigel donated the max to Ron Paul in 2008.

[AuH2O]

Where does he use it in objective reporting?

Furthermore, none of his "reporting" is what even he'd call objective. He makes no bones about his leanings.

[TigerPrwn]

Where does he use it in objective reporting?

Furthermore, none of his "reporting" is what even he'd call objective. He makes no bones about his leanings.
Well, perhaps you'd better inform RonpaulfaninGA of that. For some reason he thinks that Weigel is a Ron Paul supporter. I know others have been led to believe this as well.

If you are arguing that Weigel has never pretended to be anything less than a political hack, you might be on to something, but he did do a good job of fooling some people. I don't know many reporters who outright admit to being complete political establishment hacks, the majority try to hid behind a certain label.

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

People should know by now that the only friends we have are from institutions like FEE, FFF, LvMI, Quarterly Lib. Journal, Property & Freedom Society, Free Talk Live, etc. Why even concern yourselves over the WaPo...the days of people like HL Mencken, and other editorial writers are long gone. Besides, Newspapers are a dead medium.

[AuH2O]

I know Dave Weigel, and he is sympathetic to Ron Paul. More than pretty much anyone I can think of at WaPo, NYT, Politico, etc.

[TigerPrwn]

WaPo's David Weigel Again Exposed Trashing the Right He's Supposed to Cover
By Lachlan Markay (Bio | Archive)
Thu, 06/24/2010 - 16:52 ET


Many conservatives, including a number of NewsBusters contributors, have been skeptical of Washington Post blogger Dave Weigel since he was hired in March to cover the right. Time and again, those concerns have been vindicated as Weigel has ridiculed a number of conservatives and conservative positions.

It seems that the Washington Post has little interest in an objective blog-based approach to the news -- something this humble blogger has noted previously. Likewise, Weigel seems to have little interest in covering the right with an even hand; he has consistently shown his disdain for the movement and its members.

The website Fishbowl DC today published a number of excerpts of emails from Weigel to an email list created by fellow Post blogger Ezra Klein ridiculing various conservatives. He says he hopes Matt Drudge will "set himself on fire" and dubbed Tea Party protesters "Paultard[s]," a crude reference to Ron Paul.

Weigel also apparently does not appreciate being made fun of. After the Washington Examiner's gossip blog Yeas and Neas published a piece taunting his dance moves, Weigel called on members of the email list to refrain from linking to any Examiner content.

Weigel took heat in May for calling gay marriage opponents "bigots" and for stating on his Twitter account, "I hear there's video out there of Matt Drudge diddling an 8-year-old boy. Shocking."

NewsBusters contributor Dan Gainor called Weigel out on his inappropriate statements, noting that his new employment at the Post required a heightened degree of professionalism that he may not have been used to. Apparently that message was lost on Weigel.

As a reporter for an organization as prominent as the Post, Weigel should not be surprised when he catches flack for making unprofessional and inappropriate statements.

Weigel has taken to his blog to apologize for and defend the most recent comments. But his excuses really do not make any difference. The comments he is trying to defend demonstrate his hostility towards conservatives and conservatism. A journalist who reverts to name-calling and derisive criticism of those who is charged with covering cannot seriously claim to be covering them fairly.

"I feel [Weigel's] column often looks for ways that make conservatives look bad," wrote Gainor in March, "while his opposite number, the Post's Ezra Klein, is an open liberal and spends his time making the left look good."

Who knows, maybe that was the point all along.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/lachlan-markay/2010/06/24/wapos-david-weigel-again-exposed-trashing-right-hes-supposed-cover

[TigerPrwn]

I know Dave Weigel, and he is sympathetic to Ron Paul. More than pretty much anyone I can think of at WaPo, NYT, Politico, etc.

I'll pass on his brand of "sympathy".

[Cowlesy]

Whatever. In the end, media people have to wake up each morning to the fact they're members of the media. That's punishment itself.

I think all Dave does is blog, no? I haven't read anything of substance that he's written before.

[specsaregood]

//

[Cowlesy]

It is a classic passive-aggressive technique. I use it on the wife all the time when I really want to get her blood boiling. :)

With that said, I refuse to be offended by the term paultard and still think we should take it over and make it ours.

lololol

I will say this.

I'd much prefer to have a snarky, midol-needing Dave Weigel blogging about "the right," than some douchenozzle from NewsRealBlog who have a burning hatred for traditional conservatism. Think about that, we could have some rapture-ready evangelical completely ignoring or really skewering (other than what we have now which is the the occasional lame Weigel post) traditional conservatives, instead of Dave who is just prone to the occasional hissy-fit.

[TigerPrwn]

lololol

I will say this.

I'd much prefer to have a snarky, midol-needing Dave Weigel blogging about "the right," than some douchenozzle from NewsRealBlog who have a burning hatred for traditional conservatism. Think about that, we could have some rapture-ready evangelical completely ignoring or really skewering (other than what we have now which is the the occasional lame Weigel post) traditional conservatives, instead of Dave who is just prone to the occasional hissy-fit.

Well you do have a point, but I am sick of being grateful for the lesser of evils. I do think that it is absolutely necessary that his inconsistencies and completely non-objectiveness should be pointed out. In the past, people just like him (Rachel Maddow, Glenn Beck, etc) have been trusted when they should have been handled with extreme caution, and possibly avoided all together.

Weigel is just a liberal going after us, rather than a neo con going after us.

I am not offended by the word "Paultard". Weigel has served in the past to distract/divert the libertarians about Ron and Rand Paul, now he is being used to divert the left leaning. Neo con hacks take care of the right, Weigel takes care of the left.

Can't have the left and right agreeing on any issues...

[specsaregood]

lololol

I'm of course NOT joking. :D

It's a way of saying....
"Listen, I don't want to fight and I didn't expect you to get this upset about what I said. BUT I meant every word of it.".

[sailingaway]

He's a jealous wienie. He can't imagine why no one likes HIM but it is glaringly obvious to everyone else. He's always been jealous of the Pauls. He always tries some little gratuitious dig in interviews, often about 'newsletters',very vague, but HE KNOWS they are nonsense, yet plugs them as if he got a licensing fee every time, or something.

[AuH2O]

Well you do have a point, but I am sick of being grateful for the lesser of evils. I do think that it is absolutely necessary that his inconsistencies and completely non-objectiveness should be pointed out. In the past, people just like him (Rachel Maddow, Glenn Beck, etc) have been trusted when they should have been handled with extreme caution, and possibly avoided all together.

Weigel is just a liberal going after us, rather than a neo con going after us.

I am not offended by the word "Paultard". Weigel has served in the past to distract/divert the libertarians about Ron and Rand Paul, now he is being used to divert the left leaning. Neo con hacks take care of the right, Weigel takes care of the left.

Can't have the left and right agreeing on any issues...

I'm not sure I understand how he's a liberal and he "takes care of the left." He's not perfect, but like I said, he's closer to libertarian than any other journalist at a major left-wing publication.

[Cowlesy]

Well you do have a point, but I am sick of being grateful for the lesser of evils. I do think that it is absolutely necessary that his inconsistencies and completely non-objectiveness should be pointed out. In the past, people just like him (Rachel Maddow, Glenn Beck, etc) have been trusted when they should have been handled with extreme caution, and possibly avoided all together.

Weigel is just a liberal going after us, rather than a neo con going after us.

I am not offended by the word "Paultard". Weigel has served in the past to distract/divert the libertarians about Ron and Rand Paul, now he is being used to divert the left leaning. Neo con hacks take care of the right, Weigel takes care of the left.

Can't have the left and right agreeing on any issues...

I don't think the guy is evil (not saying you think he's evil either). I think he's a pseudo-beltway-libertarian blogger who thinks he's a BSD now that he's got a spot at the Washington Post. You absolutely should point out his non-objectiveness if he's writing something "objective." Of course if he was shilling for our causes all the time, that would not be "objective" either.

Like many have said time and time before, it's not about trusting media personalities. Reporters always have a bias, and their reporting or blogging should be treated as such. Beck, for instance, is doing a great job of attacking Labour Union influence, but one example he uses is the "Smart Grid," an idea not limited to "radical leftists," but also neoconservatives (http://www.electricreliability.org/vc.php?cid=302), however he fails to mention that tidbit.

I just see a lot of hate for Weigel coming from the rapture-ready, pro-war right blogosphere, so that simply gives me pause in joining their chorus. If he was on their side, they wouldn't spend so much time ragging on him, methinks.

[TigerPrwn]

I'm not sure I understand how he's a liberal and he "takes care of the left." He's not perfect, but like I said, he's closer to libertarian than any other journalist at a major left-wing publication.

Perhaps "liberal" was a bad characterization. WaPo readers lean left. Chances are the right leaning independents and the more centrist democrats (perhaps like the ones taking up for Weigel in the comments of the apology) are looking to Weigel for "objective" coverage on the right side of the political spectrum. As he gains their readership, and their support/trust, they will look to him for their news on "paultards" or Matt Drudge, and be swayed by his coverage. In other words, either he is a gatekeeper, or he is being used as one. Either way, he is a big baby, and a complete attention whore who pretends to be "an insider" on the Right.

[TigerPrwn]

I just see a lot of hate for Weigel coming from the rapture-ready, pro-war right blogosphere, so that simply gives me pause in joining their chorus. If he was on their side, they wouldn't spend so much time ragging on him, methinks.

I see what you are saying Cowlesy. I do think that it was the Etheridge "hug" that really got peoples feathers up and ruffled, and I can't say I blame them. He was literally using the Democrat talking points in his "reporting", and now it has been leaked that he trashed those he was supposed to be reporting for on left wing list servs. Attacking Matt Drudge, claiming that he is a pedophile, and saying that he should light himself on fire, also attracted this attention. My theory is that WaPo was looking for a soap opera star reporter/establishment hack rather than an objective journalist to cover the conservatives, so this is why he was hired.

I guess he approached Rand Paul and was trying his best to try and get Rand to make a decision without any of the facts, but Rand handled it very well...

All in all, it would do conservatives well to see Weigel as a TRAP!!!! :D

RN: You've started to take heat for your approach to the BP escrow fund. Do you support the fund, the way it's set up?

RN: But do you support the set-up of the fund? Do you oppose regulating offshore drilling?

RN: To finish up, though: Do you oppose the fund? I'm not going to trap you and ask whether or not it was a "shakedown," but do you think it's legal and legitimate?

Rand:PAUL: I was listening to some people on the Hill today, and they were looking for the justification for setting it up. I don't know what the legal justification is -- I'm not an expert in whether Congress has to give you authority or the president has authority to do it. Those issues take research and time, and I'm not going to make an off-the-cuff response.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/rand_paul_speaks_on_mcchrystal.html

[GunnyFreedom]

Then there's Doug Wead -- if you didn't actually KNOW his brand of sarcasm you'd swear up and down that he hated Ron Paul with every fiber in his being. But of you know the guy's style, you'd know he actually likes Ron Paul. A LOT.

As for Dave Weigel? I have no idea so I won't weigh in on that one.

[sailingaway]

Then there's Doug Wead -- if you didn't actually KNOW his brand of sarcasm you'd swear up and down that he hated Ron Paul with every fiber in his being. But of you know the guy's style, you'd know he actually likes Ron Paul. A LOT.

As for Dave Weigel? I have no idea so I won't weigh in on that one.

Um, I'm not sure how you spin "Ron Paul must run in 2012" by Wead any differently than it sounds.

[Knightskye]

Weigel is sympathetic to Ron Paul.

So are Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann.

[itshappening]

Wiegel LIKES the traffic he gets from covering Ron Paul and Rand Paul, just like Maddow like(d) the ratings and attention she got from it but Weigel's post using the "Paultard" term is very revealing and shows you what he really feels and that is disdain for Ron Paul supporters.

The Newsbusters article is accurate in that he is trashing the right that he is supposed to cover, which he does cover well when he keeps his own opinions out of it

[bobbyw24]

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh famously said he hoped President Obama would “fail” in January, 2009. Almost a year later, when Limbaugh was rushed to the hospital with chest pains, Washington Post reporter David Weigel had a wish of his own. “I hope he fails,” Weigel cracked to fellow liberal reporters on the “Journolist” email list-serv.

“Too soon?” he wondered.

Weigel was hired this spring by the Post to cover the conservative movement. Almost from the beginning there have been complaints that his coverage betrays a personal animus toward conservatives. E-mails obtained by the Daily Caller suggest those complaints have merit.

“Honestly, it’s been tough to find fresh angles sometimes–how many times can I report that these [tea party] activists are joyfully signing up with the agenda of discredited right-winger X and discredited right-wing group Y?” Weigel lamented in one February email.

In other posts, Weigel describes conservatives as using the media to “violently, angrily divide America.” According to Weigel, their motives include “racism” and protecting “white privilege,” and for some of the top conservatives in D.C., a nihilistic thirst for power.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/25/emails-reveal-post-reporter-savaging-conservatives-rooting-for-democrats/

[AuH2O]

Um, I'm not sure how you spin "Ron Paul must run in 2012" by Wead any differently than it sounds.

I guess you could read it sarcastically. Ron Paul must run in 2012. . .

. . . to save the failing political blimp industry!

. . . to distract the 9/11 conspiracy theorists from finding the truth!

. . . to get nerds from across the country out of their parents' basements!

[lester1/2jr]

He's determined to become the exact stereotype of the beltway libertarian derided by rockwell and co

[Badger Paul]

Wiegel, like Tucker Carlson, wants you to make you think he's your friend so he can come up behind you, real quiet like, and stick the knife into your back. Remember the "newsletters" article in Reason? Remember his coverage of the Rally for the Republic?

He's a Cosmo and like all Cosmos he wants to be in with the in-crowd and that sentiment affects his job, supposedly reporting on the Right (notice WaPO doesn't have a similar blog on the Left, which I would find more fascinating). Imagine the Beltway as one giant high school and then imagine the nerdy brownoser who wants to get invited to all the cool parties and you've got...David Weigel.

[Matt Collins]

Even when I talk (especially write) about people I don't like in private, I still don't call them names in almost all cases. When I do it, I do it in public it's usually rare and insignificant. Name calling lowers the level of debate and discussion when what we need is intelligent discourse within the political lexicon.


That being said, who is this assclown??



.

[TigerPrwn]

Weigel resigns


Washington Post Communications Director Kris Coratti emails: "Dave offered his resignation and we accepted it."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0610/Weigel_resigns.html

A conservative kick on the way out the door


The ubiquitous movement conservative PR man Greg Mueller emails:

Weigel's resignation was the right move. He made his personal disdain and hostility against conservatives abundantly clear. His numerous actions and comments over the past month against those he was assigned to cover were unbecoming of anyone calling themselves a journalist. There are a number of reporters at the Post who have a long record of covering the conservative movement fairly. We are hopeful that the Post keeps this column but assigns it to someone willing to cover the movement, not trash it.

Weigel, meanwhile, seems to have found a temporary sanctuary (physically at least) at Huffington Post. Here's hoping (and predicting) he finds a more comfortable home for his work soon as well.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0610/A_conservative_kick_on_the_way_out_the_door.html

Chalk another libtard up for the Huffpo, lord knows they are in short supply.

[Agorism]

Where's the video of Drudge endorsing Ron Paul?

[axiomata]

Wiegel, like Tucker Carlson, wants you to make you think he's your friend so he can come up behind you, real quiet like, and stick the knife into your back. Remember the "newsletters" article in Reason? Remember his coverage of the Rally for the Republic?

He's a Cosmo and like all Cosmos he wants to be in with the in-crowd and that sentiment affects his job, supposedly reporting on the Right (notice WaPO doesn't have a similar blog on the Left, which I would find more fascinating). Imagine the Beltway as one giant high school and then imagine the nerdy brownoser who wants to get invited to all the cool parties and you've got...David Weigel.

Wiegel never was a libertarian, he just liked to hang out with Beltway libertarians.

[sailingaway]

Wiegel never was a libertarian, he just liked to hang out with Beltway libertarians.

Yeah, maybe, and I don't like him, but he was still better than the guy replacing him. Also, I just don't like people getting fired for PC, even for us, and particularly when it involves opinions expressed privately in private emails.

[specsaregood]

Also, I just don't like people getting fired for PC, even for us, and particularly when it involves opinions expressed privately in private emails.

On the otherhand, anything that exposes the media for being biased is good in my book. I have a hunch or hope rather that wiegel is not the first to be exposed from this listserv. I would venture it is a virtual treasure trove of potential career ending emails.

Personally, I want to see what was said on it in regards to Ron Paul and his campaign during the 2007 election year. Was his campaign purposefully shutout by the media? did they discuss it?

Or, I wonder what these "leftist" "journalists" said in private about the obama birth certificate issue.....

[Badger Paul]

"Weigel never was a libertarian, he just liked to hang out with Beltway libertarians."

Like I said, he wants to hang out with the supposed "cool kids". In DC one of those groups is the Cosmotarians.