It's Hard Out There...

There's a whole lot that I want to write about today. It takes time, of course, to read through what others have written, and then to think about something new and different to say. That's what's happening on this New York Times piece on Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, "Right-Wing Flame War!" There are quite a few responses at Memeorandum, and I'm going to spend some time looking over these later. Meanwhile, I thought I'd share this bleg I found at HillBuzz, "Help Keep This Site Alive," plus the follow-up essay, which has some of the background, "Thank You For Your Support."

I'm not quite sure if extreme flamewars are the best fundraising cause (especially since Haiti's in the news, not to mention R.S. McCain's ongoing tip-jar needs), but the content of these is worth highlighting:

We just wanted to take this moment to thank all of you for your solid support in what’s been a difficult week here.

Most especially, we want to thank Cynthia Yockey for being such a big sister to us and getting the word out on what the Left, in the form of Daily Kos, the Democratic Underground, and Moveon.org, was doing to attack and defame us. Michelle Malkin, Conservatives4Palin, Riehlworld, Instapundit, LegalInsurrection, and many other sites we enjoy came right to our side and said, clearly, that when the Left attacks people using the Alinsky playbook, moderates, conservatives, and independents will not sit idly by and allow them to get away with it.

All of the attacks originated, from what we can tell, at a site called StupidPumas.com. We never heard of this site before this weekend, but it appears to be in business for the sole purpose of going after PUMA sites and people like Darragh Murphy and Will Bowers personally. We find it interesting that whoever runs StupidPumas does so anonymously, while simultaneously attacking people like Murphy, Bowers, and ourselves, libeling, defaming, and maligning us, but not stepping into the light and revealing who they are themselves.

We’d appreciate any information you can find revealing exactly who these people at StupidPumas.com are, so that we can begin legal proceedings against them. This site attacked one of us personally, called him a racist, and sought to destroy his livelihood here in Chicago. This site was picked up in a coordinated effort by Daily Kos, Democratic Underground, and Moveon.org, instanteously, with calls to commit physical violence against us. The Left used StupidPumas to launch its attack, then used the rest of the Leftist sphere to echo and amplify it.

This is classic Alinsky.

If we sit back and don’t do anything about this, and let the Left get away with doing this to us, then what’s to stop them from doing it to others as well? The Left’s favorite tactic is calling someone a RAAACIST, but they don’t realize that the American public is waking up to this trick. The more people who stand up to these trolls and prosecute them, the less effective they will be.

This attack cost one of us a few contract, freelance jobs — so, in that respect, StupidPumas was successful. They took money out of our pockets and hurt a small businessman. But, as we understand it, that action amounts to tortious interference with a contract, whereby a third party (StupidPumas) costs an individual employment, and is thus liable for those damages.

Whoever runs StupidPumas, and whoever they work for in the Left, is going to get a wakeup call, let us assure you.

There was much debate here at Buzzquarters on what we should say or not say about any of this. But, honestly, the damage is already done. StupidPumas, Daily Kos, Moveon.org, DemocraticUnderground, and their flunkie sites are defaming us, costing us employment, libeling us, and literally taking food off the table here. Why shouldn’t we publicly stand up to them, and use this as an example to teach all of you how you can fight back against the Left when the Left’s stormtroopers and brown shirts come for you.

And, more likely than not, if you continue to oppose the socialist takeover of this country and the reckless, naive, and dangerous policies of the current president, then the Left will at some point in the future come for you too.

I've been getting back up to speed on blogging this week, and normally I like to see all sides in the debate. Stupid Pumas has this post up now, and perhaps that's some insight: "Darra$h:Bigot." That post link to Booman, who in turn is pissed at Corrente ... So, I guess it's intra-ideological wars that have taken over leftists, not unlike what's happened on the right: Purity tests everywhere.

As for HillBuzz, well, I know what it's like to have your livelihood threatened. E.D. Kain's not much different from Daily Kos, DU, and MoveOn in that respect. I can say though, that it's hard out there for a blogger. And not everything that happens is justiciable, especially libelous attacks. I'm definitely having more respect for those who insist on blogging pseudonymously. But my advice is don't be counting on a lot of help from others. It's nice if the heavyweight bloggers throw some support, but most of us can't count on it.