Bloggers have been coming and going very rapidly over at Huffington Post since Arianna Huffington sold out to AOL last month. There has been mounting speculation about the death of the once liberal-leaning HuffPo in light of editorial changes. Well, we can now confirm that the old HuffPo is dead and something hideous is sprouting in its place. We know this because of the revelation today that right-wing extremist Andrew Breitbart is now blogging for Huffington.
And what has Breitbart chosen to write about in his premiere post? His friend James O’Keefe.
The latest James O’Keefe success story against NPR has taken a predictable pattern — panicked press releases and firings, followed by denunciation of O’Keefe in a belated attempt to discredit him. Naturally, conservatives are crowing about it, but I wanted to give a little perspective to those Huffington Post readers — whatever your political stripe — who share my passion for free speech, honest debate, and fairness in the media.
Fairness in the media? This from the guy who released a selectively edited video of Shirley Sherrod – which he knew to be misleading – and then labeled the poor woman as a racist. Breitbart’s actions were reckless, mean, unethical and some would say fraudulent. Sherrod lost her job and is now suing Breitbart.
The move to include Breitbart as a contributor to the Huffington Post is the final death blow for Arianna’s creation. Breitbart was one of the primary developers of the Huffington Post when it began five years ago and, now that liberal bloggers and readers have made it successful, the hacks and wacks have returned home to spoil the goods.
From Matthew Fleischer at MediaBistro:
Et tu, HuffPo?
Take note, newspapers. Your biggest online competitor has completely jumped the shark. Start paying young, interesting, hungry bloggers $50 bucks a post to blog to their heart’s content, and theHuffPo marketshare will be yours soon enough. Not only that, but you’ll have the next generation of young writers under your umbrella when they’re ready to step up to the big leagues. Think of it as your farm team. Your grapefruit league.
Did I mention that Veracity Stew is always looking for volunteer citizen bloggers? Drop us a line: admin@veracitystew.com if you’re interested.
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What’s even worse is that a lot of the progressive commenters have left as well, so there’s not even a voice of opposition anymore. Most of the comments to Breitbart’s story were in support of him and I think HuffPo will soon become just another right-wing troll hangout.
Arianna done screwed the pooch on that one and, quite frankly, I wouldn’t trust one thing that comes out of her mouth. You can’t just turn on a dime like that. I think she’s a complete phony
I enjoyed reading HuffPo articles, but I have noticed that the comments section has become increasingly more aggressive – mostly towards “liberals.”
I have been slowly looking for other places because I am disinterested in propaganda like what you find on Breitbart’s sites. I don’t necessarily agree with everything on HuffPo, but I found them to be rather fair and balanced in their reporting…
There are so many good liberal websites where there is interactive response such as talkingpointsmemo.com and alternet.org.
Get away from Huffpo. She’s a poisonous bitch.
There are so many good liberal websites where there is interactive discussion such as talkingpointsmemo.com and alternet.org. I just found out about this site from Planet POV. I am delighted that I can say whatever I want about these disgusting repukes/
Get away from Huffpo. She’s a poisonous bitch.
another good site is balloon-juice.com. they are more centrist but lean left. also the commentors @ steve benen’s column at the washingtonmonthly.com are pretty left leaning as well, tho he gets the occaisional trolll
Thanks Skippy. I like your site.
FYI – readers can also stay here at Veracity Stew and enjoy the progressive atmosphere.
I witnessed the continued bashing of President Obama and the Democrats for a year. It got really intense before the 2010 elections. This does not come as a surprise to me.
A very few negative comments were allowed by the moderator, which is Breitbart himself. I think he allowed them solely because otherwise it was incredibly boring.
Huff Post ran a responding post on 3-14, which simply stated that Breibart didn’t make sense.
NONE of my comments about him and his CONVICTED butt-boy O’Keefe were allowed. My comment about Breitbart reminding me of an aging whore with a disgusting infection was rejected.
James O’Keefe pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years of probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. (May 26, 2010)
They stopped being “the voice of opposition” when the left won the election in 2008!
The Tea Party is the new voice of opposition. Only they are smart enough to oppose both political parties. One directly, and one from within. I suggest the left do the same with the democrats before these oligarchs do us all in.
Wes – I disagree with one big point — the Tea Party is not the new voice of opposition. They are the voice of the Koch brothers and other fat cat industrialists.
Tea Partiers have been brainwashed into acting against their own best interests.
“he ‘new’ to be misleading”? How about, “he knew to be misleading…”?
Even we progressives need to use spellcheck, sometimes.
LOL. Many thanks “M Richards” — Of course, spellcheck didn’t catch it because it was a valid word after all.
Many thanks for catching our goofs and bringing them to our attention! We appreciate it.
Huffington has been the biggest most protected phony on the Left for far too long.
Not even the Daily Kos diaried about her sell-out, nor her relations with Breitbart.
And Bill Maher will continue to suck up to her too.
Hopefully her empire will fall.
I’ve been banned from posting at huff-po since my joke about bush squeezing tony snow’s colostomy bag to make him fart. as classless as that was seeing breitbart posting there lowered the bar even further. adios to another limosine liberal.
Well, we’re happy to have you here Jimbo! You can leave tasteless comments about Republicans here anytime you wish.
Breitbart worked for Huffington Post years ago. It’s where he got his start. Ariana was a conservative before she was a liberal. There was a huge article including this fact in “Vanity Fair” a couple of months ago. Get your facts straight, please.
Liz – I’m not sure who you were directing your comments to. But if you bothered to read the post, you would know that it clearly states Breitbart helped to start HuffPo 5 years ago. Yes, we read the Vanity Fair piece also. This post wasn’t about that. It’s about the fact that Arianna has shed her sheep’s clothing and revealed the right-wing advocate that she’s always denied she was. The inclusion of Breitbart back into the HuffPo family is the final insult to the liberal base that helped build Huffington Post.
Those are the facts. They are included in the post. If you’re going to “troll” sites looking for liberals to attack, you’re going to have to be a lot smarter than that. This isn’t Fox News.
Oh please.
Arianna has no political ideology. She’s out for herself and will ride any boat she thinks will help… herself. Besides, “right-wingers” hate Arianna Huffington more than a vampire hates garlic. She’d run into a wall if she went right.
Perhaps your reading and comprehension skills need some brushing up on.
I just left Huffin’blow, looking for my friend Andrew Breitbart. So far, there’s nothing on the front page.
Oh well. I’ll check back later.
(You LeftLibProggTards didn’t really think your anti-capitalism pro-moocher ideology was actually commercially valid, did you? The lesson of Air America bounced off your scaly hides? Go take a bath, assholes~!)
One look at your blog tells me all I need to know. The image of the president dressed like a pimp is very telling. TeaPublicans like yourself should really study and gain some IQ points before you take on others. You claim you checked HuffPo and didn’t find Andrew Breitbart on the front page. I realize you’re lazy after having your propaganda spoon-fed to you by Fox, but you actually have to maneuver through a site to find stuff.
And Air America went under because of mismanagement, not lack of financial support. HuffPo was actually a successful venture built on the backs of liberal bloggers and readers. So, you’re juvenile comment about “commercially valid” is as empty as the space between your ears.
Bravo!! I love this site.
Wow. What a miserable human being you must be.
I feel sorry for Dan Froomkin, who was fired from Fox on 14th (WaPo) and ended up at Huffpost. Can he tolerate being associated with the likes of Liebart (Breitbart)? I couldn’t. I hope he ends up at a better place like TPM, Prospect, M Jones, the Nation, Wash Monthly, etc. I can’t see him staying for long….
And Steve, with respect to your post about Huffpo, you forgot to mention the hiring of Howard Fineman, the guy who never takes a stand and punts on the issues. What a bunch of phonies.
CatLady – I agree with you about Fineman’s loss of neutrality. I didn’t mentioned him in the BreitFART post because Fineman had already started writing for HuffPo previously and the recent staff changes was just a promotion for him. I didn’t feel like congratulating him by mentioning him in the piece. But I do get your point.
Froomkin was no advocate for liberal positions. At least not at HuffPo. He played right into the hands of those who wish to split the Dems. He was awful, IMO.
Amen on Fineman! Major hackery there.
Because this post has gone viral and there are such varying comments, we decided to open a new category on HuffPo/Breitbart in our Stew Forums.
How’s the nola tonight kids?