The Gawker smear machine: A refresher course; Update: O’Donnell responds
If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you know all about the Gawker smear machine and its misogynist war on conservative women.
Under Gawker Media boss Nick Denton, barrel-scraping blog Wonkette published racist, sexist crap like this:
And manufactured smears like this.
In 2008, it was lying Gawker that published Sarah Palin’s hacked private e-mails, raided her family’s private photos, stolen from the e-mail account, used Bristol Palin’s illegally obtained private cell phone number from her mom’s private account, recorded her voice mail message and posted it on their website, and reprinted her husband Todd’s private e-mail address and son Track’s private e-mail address.
And today, it is Gawker running a filthy, paid anonymous hit piece on Christine O’Donnell that even other left-wingers have disavowed.
Salon: Gawker’s Christine O’Donnell tell-all backfires
Politics Daily’s Jill Lawrence: “Gawker on Christine O’Donnell is absolutely, totally, offensively out of line. Awful. You won’t get link from me.”
Let me repeat again what I said about Nick Denton and his slime businesses in 2006:
There is a time to be tolerant and there is a time to draw lines. If you don’t draw those lines, bullies will be emboldened. The smug Gawker smear machine is all about pushing those boundaries with the expectation that no one will push back. They project their own cynicism, recklessness with facts, intellectual laziness, and bad faith on everyone else.
But outside of Manhattan and Los Angeles, not all of us think blogging is a for-profit enterprise founded solely to tear people down with gossip, rumor-mongering, and damaging lies disguised as “satire.” Funny how some of the loudest voices decrying the lack of civility in the blogosphere are the biggest promoters of the bottom-feeders and debasers at Gawker Media.
***
A few of Gawker’s select advertisers…
***
Update: Christine O’Donnell’s campaign responds…
“This story is just another example of the sexism and slander that female candidates are forced to deal with. From Secretary Clinton, to Governor Palin, to soon-to-be Governor Haley, Christine’s political opponents have been willing to engage in appalling and baseless attacks — all with the aim of distracting the press from covering the real issues in this race. Even the National Organization for Women gets it, but Christine’s opponent disturbingly does not. As Chris Coons said on September 16th he would not condone personal attacks against Christine. Classless Coons goons have proven yet again to have no sense of common decency or common sense with their desperate attacks to get another rubber stamp for the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda. Such attacks are truly shameful, but they will not distract us from making our case to Delaware voters — and keeping the focus on Chris Coons’ record of higher taxes, increased spending, and as he has done again here, breaking his promises to the voters.”
The National Organization for Women (NOW) on Thursday condemned the tabloid website Gawker for publishing an anonymous account: NOW issued a statement late Thursday stating that “sexist, misogynist attacks against women have no place in the electoral process, regardless of a particular candidate’s political ideology.”
“NOW repudiates Gawker’s decision to run this piece. It operates as public sexual harassment. And like all sexual harassment, it targets not only O’Donnell, but all women contemplating stepping into the public sphere,” said NOW president Terry O’Neill.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Who’s funding Brett Kimberlin?
May 25, 2012 01:52 PM by Michelle Malkin
23 CommentsObama’s Land of the LOST
May 25, 2012 01:42 PM by Michelle Malkin
48 CommentsObama’s latest campaign angle: I’ve been saving America from wild Republican debts
May 24, 2012 04:33 PM by Doug Powers
52 Comments
Senate finally passes a budget approves bill striking word ‘lunatic’ from federal law
May 24, 2012 11:22 AM by Doug Powers
193 CommentsStammertime: Jay Carney asked if Chicago protests have soured Obama’s support for OWS
May 23, 2012 07:44 PM by Doug Powers
54 Comments
S.E. Cupp, Hustler, and the four stages of conservative female abuse
May 23, 2012 02:13 PM by Michelle Malkin
142 CommentsPig Maher’s boy Bill Burton mocks my support of Hatch challenger Dan Liljenquist
May 23, 2012 11:37 AM by Michelle Malkin
32 CommentsFree speech blogburst: Show solidarity for targeted conservative bloggers; Update: It’s Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day; Donation fund for targets
May 23, 2012 05:59 AM by Michelle Malkin
112 Comments
Jaczko the Jerk: Harry Reid’s sexist crony gets the boot
May 23, 2012 05:15 AM by Michelle Malkin
31 Comments
Babalu Blog
» U.S. Manned Space Flight in The 21st CenturyVillainous Company
» Must Read Post of the Day. Possibly, the YearRedstate
» Kimberlin’s Associates Caught on Tape?
Hopefully this sleaze will backfire and swing momentum in Christine’s favor.
By the way, I responded to her campaign’s telephone call last night with another donation. Good Luck Christine O’Donell!
…and thanks for the list of advertisers. I’m through with all of them, not another penny of mine will be spent on their products.
Prius as an advertiser? LOL
Oh, Gawd!!! Not CHEETOS!!!!!
Sorry Hangfire, you’re going to have to take one for the team. Boycott Cheetos!
They printed the story.They knew it was a lie.The lie is out there and the gullible and stupid will read it and believe.They can retract it but the damage is done.I say we go after the sponsors MM has posted.
I can say I slept with Marilyn Monroe and I was 12 when she died but you might believe me anyway.
Hey remember Rush Limbaugh calling for operation reverse chaos?
This is up on Rush’s homepage.
HillBuzz Posts Open Letter to Rush on Reverse Operation Chaos
October 28, 2010
I wouldn’t own a Prius if they paid me big bucks. Now I guess all Toyota products of toast too!
I wonder why Ron White’s skit about Cheetos comes to mind.
Hmmm, gonna have to find another vodka too! Thank the Lord Guinness isn’t on the list!!
THE REVENGE OF THE PUMAS
October 26, 2010
Democrats at DEFCON 1: Is Christine O’Donnell now leading in internals?
OH gads, not cheetos! It was on my grocery list to buy. Our local store has a ‘cheeto’ they make, but not near as good. Cheetos is made by or was by freto lay. Are they on the list also? What to do? The cheeto or not the cheeto?
L
Oh and as for Gawker, I would expect nothing less from them. They have proven their worth to sleeze. And as docflash has said, only the gullible and stupid will believe it.
Sad. Very Sad.
Can they be more specific? Is it the baked, thicker bourgeois Cheeto or the fried, crispy, gnarly-looking but deeeeelicious crunchy Cheeto?
Huh?
This story is trash, and in general, Gawker is trash, but what makes you know, or even think, it is a lie? Don’t the pictures that are obviously her give you some pause that the story might be true?
I’m guessing we’ll be getting a statement from NOW any moment, like we did with Jerry Brown calling Meg a whore and Behar calling Sharron a B#$%h. Oh wait, they have selective outrage.
Now I guess Christine will rake in another 100K. Keep it up lefties, we’ll take all the help you’re wiling to give.
Speaking about political smears, I just heard a new radio ad aimed at Rep. Jason Chaffetz. I laughed out loud when his democratic opponent accused Chaffetz of not being a real conservative because he secretly voted with the democrats to fund the troops. That takes the cake!
Looks like I’ve been inadvertantly boycotting his advertisers already, except for HP. Looks like I need a new printer.
I already won’t do business with anyone on the list, so I guess I won’t change.
I don’t do business with anyone on the list so my rant to them would be moot. But all the posts about Cheetos has me thinking. Oh, nevermind, I don’t want to get into a “discussion” with Chap about the Cheetos.
TigerLady: like the one that goes
“a guy visits his doctor & says ‘doc, why is my tallywacker orange?”…
?
I don’t use any of those products, so I can’t boycott them. Interesting though, that Pepsi, Heineken, Absolut, and Cheetos are products that are not healthy for you, Prius caters to the pious, Universal and Bravo lures the elites, and Alienware, well that’s just foreign to me.
Gilt Group? GILT GROUP is in the Real Estate Agents and Managers industry in BROOKLYN, NY. This company currently has approximately 1 to 5 employees and annual sales of Under $500,000. Um…yeah.
Yawn…..
Not the right one. This Gilt Group is basically an invite only club that apparently gives really good deals on high end fashion items. Sounds right up spaceycake’s alley.
A name like that gets the same reaction from me as those worthless rags of sleeze one sees at grocery store checkout stands….and like them, a wastes of precious energy and resources and guaranteed to destroy brain cells for any idiot careless enough to read it.
Let me guess, his name is Will Folks and sacred honor compelled him to come forward.
Guy gets around.
I don’t see why a woman having a one-night stand is a big deal. I don’t believe it anyway, but regardless, even if she did have relations with someone and such interaction didn’t result in a longer term relationship, so what?
I have had relations with woman than lasted 1 hour, never mind one night.
123upnorth#25,
I suggest you don’t go into politics! They will hunt them ALL down to give their view on every msm station. If you picked your nose at kindergarden, THEY will bring this out, did you or didn’t you(you know what they will look and ask).
L
It is a lie and Chap I will bet you a year of your salary that it is.
Ms. O’Donnell is one tough woman, let me empathize woman.
No more pepsi for this guy…my old hp, pc is getting to the point i’ll need a new one shortly. I WAS looking into buying another hp, key word there is WAS.
On top of the fact I recently bought a wide screen hp monitor, it took me 3 hours talking with 3 different people in the Philippines to find out the warranty, the owner’s manual, how to set the screen was on an accompanying disk. That should have taken all of about 5-10 minutes if you can communicate with the other end of the conversation. Not to mention no power cord came with it. I was boarder line as to buying from hp again, NOT NOW, NO MORE!
Yes these support people in Asia are extremely polite, intelligent and they speak English, you just can’t communicate with them.
I don’t know if Gawker’s story is true or not. But here is what I do know…
I see this as Gawker’s attempt to get social conservatives to turn against Christine O’Donnell.
The left really doesn’t understand social conservatives at all. They talk about us clinging to our guns and Bibles. They think that a “one night stand” story will incite us to call for her political stoning. Just like they thought the “witchcraft” stuff would incite us to chant in unison: “Burn her!”
They just don’t get it. They think that Bible-believing Christians are the most hate-filled, judgemental people on the planet. And you know why they think that?
It’s called PROJECTION.
The truth is that we are more loving and forgiving than the left.
And when the left is essentially calling for O’Donnell’s political stoning, we step in to defend her.
You without sin, cast the first stone.
When I called to make some arrangements on my daughter’s student loan, I found myself talking to somebody in India. All the person could do was recite their manual, which had no relation to the problem at hand. Bureaucratic to the max, with no capability for independent thought. I asked for a supervisor, got another Indian, who was a clone of the first. I finally got exasperated and asked for somebody who spoke English as a first language (impolite, I know, but after 30 minutes of frustration I wasn’t feeling polite). I finally got an American, and had the problem solved within five minutes.
Smoking Gun has posted the source of the smear complete with background story.
HP, hmmmm…. Isn’t that the company pro-amnesty squish Carly Fiorina used to run?
Many years ago, Phil. What does that have to do with either her politics or their current advertising strategy?
it may well be, but don’t kid yourself into thinking you have any proof, certainly nothing that can back up your definitive assertions.
Unless…docflash…is there something you want to share? Were you –ahem– “with” Christine yourself the night in question?
You really need to take a refresher course in English comprehension. Fiorina is a pro-amnesty McCain acolyte. She’s a liberal. Capiche? And she is losing to a Democrat that even the Democrats detest.
She is one of the many reasons why the Senate is not important in this election. Too many pro-amnesty, big government, “Gangs of McCain” liberal incumbents and newbies for any small Republican advantage to mean anything.
Time to boycott Pepsi…..AGAIN!
One more thing….I think they mean I wish I had a one-night stand with Christine O’Donnell.
Liberals, if that is how you feel, then vote for Christine in 2010.
I would venture that all of the female membersof the House and Senate combined have had fewer one night stands than Barney Frank.
*Christine may still pull off a victory on 11/2, but in any case, she has done a fine job in this Senate race in spite of all the nonsense from the MSM and the left.
*And if she loses, so be it; Let McCain, Grahamnesty, Snowe, Collins, and all the other rat bastard RINO’s caucaus with the Bearded Marxist; She would have none of it; Not so with Castle!
hmmmmm I have a couple thoughts.
One, we can all agree the guy’s a douchebag. It’s not cool to kiss and tell, especially when the other party stands to lose something as a result.
Two, if you take him at his word, he has to be gay. What straight man turns down sex because a (good looking) woman has a full bush?
Three, again taking him at his word, even if he’s a jackass, you have to admit that’s not exactly the kind of behavior that we expect from a United States Senator. Even if you don’t believe him and all you have to go on are the pictures, just tell me there’s nothing weird or unseemly about a 38 year old woman getting cozy with a 25 year old man.
Four, you can criticize Gawker all you want, but at the end of the day, the same celebrity culture that feeds on TMZ and Perez Hilton is going to demand this crap, and if Gawker didn’t run the story, another site would. Sad but true.
This is a little OT but couldn’t find another story that it fit under. There is a story out here in NC that needs national attention.
Election Workers Fired After Speaking To WITN
Apparently, 2 workers were fired for speaking to WITN television reporters about problems with touch screen voting machines. The NC GOP wants some answers about these machines and are questioning the firing of the workers.
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Craven_Co_Election_Workers_Fired_After_Speaking_To_WITN_106132669.html
I thought dems/libs/communists did not care what one did in the bedroom? /sarc
time to use our Leverage in $$$$$ and BOYCOTT Gawker ADVERTISERS!!
C-CS
At this point, the only sensible things to do are cough up a few bucks toward her campaign, make a phone call or three to friends in Delaware, and stop supporting Gawker’s advertisers.
We may not be able to pull O’Donnell across the finish line unscarred, but we can damn well get her there in one piece. I pray Delaware voters get it right on November 2nd.
ummm…
David Vitter
John Ensign
John Edwards
Larry Craig
I’d say we’ve come to expect a lot worse from our Senators than a random hook up between an unmarried, of age, woman and an unmarried, of age, guy.
This makes so much sense I assume you’ve given up the practice of law.
Quite the contrary, since your rant (as usual) failed to address my question. She may be as liberal as you claim (although I doubt it), but you implied a connection between that and her tenure as CEO of HP, which I doubt.
Looks like self-justification for your disinterest in whether Boxer retains her seat. In fact, control of the Senate is important, even with the RINOs, since it’s entirely possible that another SCOTUS justice may retire, many other federal judges will be named, many of whom should not be confirmed, and the majority party gets to set the legislative agenda, RINOs or not.
It may be unseemly, but it certainly isn’t rare.
You seem to have overlooked a Kennedy or two.
Does “being run out of town by an angry mob with pitchforks” count as “giving up”?
I was trying to be a bit more contemporary, but sure. Throw them in as well.
Only sort of. More like a Sabbatical – unless you’re French, in which case it’s a “stunning victory followed by retirement.”
Awesome. I think I have my new euphamism for after next Tuesday. “The Democrats didn’t lose. They just went on Sabbatical.”.
Thank, Aloha!
I’ve mentioned this guy before.
Since when does someone have the burden on them to disprove baseless stories about them? Seems to me the author of the smear should assumed to be a liar until he or she can prove what they say is true.
I see nothing indicating this is anything but a lie. Someone got some picture of her at a party. Those pictures could have come from anyone at the party. They mean nothing. Ever look at candid party pictures taken with crappy cameras in crappy lighting? They look like the pictures shown. And I see nothing troubling in these pictures. They look like shot taken at a halloween party of someone having a nice time.
You’re welcome!
Don’t worry, Chapotier, it looks like there are no manufacturers of hand lotion or lollipops on the boycott list.
How long before Gawker gets gawked?
I have a feeling that this smear on Christine O’Donnell is going to make her the ‘upset of the night’ on tuesday in a manner not unlike the voter outrage expressed by the Dems perverted funeral for Sen. Wellstone in 2004.
In any event, the Dems face one of two political alternatives on Tuesday night:
‘Crispy or Grilled’
I see that Gizmodo has shown once again that, instead of being a site talking about new electronics gear and creations, they are nothing more than a liberal organization, a mouthpiece for the less than sane. They first linked to the gawker piece, then later switched it to a link at Jezabel. I don’t know if anyone besides me looks at this site, but I guess it’s time to add them to the list above. Thank God I don’t buy anything from those advertisers anyway; ESPECIALLY HP!
DCM
Let me get this straight:
Barney Frank gets his gay lover a key position at Fannie Mae and is paid millions in sham bonuses = (crickets chirping)
Someone claims to have slept with Christine O’Donnell once years ago = NEWSFLASH-STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!
Since when did I say anyone had to prove or disprove anything? I didn’t. All I said was it is absurd for anyone here to say they outright know this story is false. It’s not like it is that crazy of a tale. You all are acting like the guy claimed she crawled into bed with him, whistled, and in walked a midget, a horse and zombie Ronald Reagan to join in the romp. And it’s not like O’Donnell would be the first person to talk one way and act another. Also, some other sites have been trying to figure out who this guy is and, to the extent they can tell, the background details check out. None of this means he DID’NT make up the story. But it certainly doesn’t indicate he did not.
But, really, it should be enough that everyone can agree that, true or false, the guy is scum and this “story” (I use that term loosely) should have never seen the light of day without yourself risking credibility on making definitive claims about it’s veracity.
Indeed. Thank goodness. With that dry winter air just around the corner it is more important than ever to keep your skin properly moisturized.
And with Halloween in just 2 days, access to lollipops is critical as well. Thanks for reminding us all.
Bad move on Christine’s camp to acknowledge NOW as a legitimate organization representing women. Their true acronym is “NOT”… National Organization of Transgenders. None of their members have physical or psychological attributes associated with the female gender. If you ran one of their members through a TSA body imaging x-ray machines, you would see estrogen medical patches and donkey tramp stamps.
It looks like I will be looking to drink a diffrent light beer from now on… Heineken Light is now off my shopping list.
Crap. I just replaced my dead Gateway with a $1000 HP.
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but RSS, I couldn’t agree more.
One wonders if the immoral left could ever win an election if the lying corrupt media was not on their side trying to rig the game.
Are persons “needs” different? Will the black millionaires have different needs than the Asian busboy? Or the Hispanic steelworker? Or the white Financial advisor? Or the black McDonalds employee? So far all the TARP, Stimilus Funds, Education Funds etc have went to mostly people who already have good paying jobs. Banks received billions, Wall Street etc. As a young married man I learned early you do much better and have more clout when you pay cash. Wish Obama, Reid, Pelosi, McConnell, Boehner and co. come to that same conclusion.
can anyone corroborate the following comment from the Gawker comment section?
…
If this incident happened in 2007, why is O’Donnell standing in front of a Philadelphia Eagles poster that was not issued and distributed until 2008?
Perhaps another example of the opposite worldview-holding, America-hating elitists’ “false but accurate” meme?
I don’t even understand why Gawker would present such a smear. O’Donnell is already trailing by such an enormous margin that it’s largely irrelevant.
You can’t be “intellectually lazy” if you have no intellect.
Well, the poster itself says 1933 to 2007, not 2008. So I would be curious to know why this commenter thinks it wasn’t issued until 2008. From all the accounts I can see, they celebrated and publicized it in summer/fall of 2007.
I think someone just added 75 to 1933 and didn’t account for the fact that 1977 would have been the start of their 75th season.
oops. I meant 2007.
All I need to see is that “3rd Generation Prius” is one of this clown’s advertisers to know the level of credibility to assign …
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
I just went out on a limb and took a look at the piece.
Not a thing in it that is anyone’s damned business, even if it did happen (which I doubt).
I’m still trying to figure out why liberals can’t differentiate between people enjoying their sex lives and lying about it under oath.
Stupidity is the only answer.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
As much as I applaud NOW for FINALLY condemning this type of attack, I have to ask, “where ya been?” No response to Behar calling Sharron Angle a b##$H, halfassed/semi retracted response to Meg being called a w#$re.
Won’t even get into the names that Malkin, Coulter, Ingram et al have been called with no response from an organization created to stand up for women.
Touché.
Site traffic? As much money as Christine O’Donnell has raised for her campaign, she must be responsible for untold more riches for Gawker, SNL, Letterman, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, the Huffington Post, and pretty much all of the American media. You’d think the only open seats this year were Delaware and Nevada.
…. one other thing…
Any man that would pass up sex because of an excess of, er, hirsutitude, in the tendernethers clearly purchases his loafers from the “light in” section…
This attack is different than the others. The other attacks were just name calling and general humiliation and the like.
Since the women of NOW are all skank sluts, they can’t abide the attempt of this smear to make a woman ever engaging in casual hook ups any kind of bar from public office.
It isn’t the smearing and sexualization and the attempt to demean and humilate a conservative woman that they mind. It’s the moral content.
Probably because their polling has it a lot closer than advertised. The same reason that her opponent ducked out of the last two debates and Obama is going back in to campaign for him again.
Chap spoke of being current with behavior of US Senators but I would bet that the old lion Teddy K was getting tanked and making “waitress sandwiches” right up until he got too sick to do so. Ted where are you, any comment?
For those who don’t know, Alienware is a division of Dell, much like Buick is a division of the federal government.
I’m done recommending Dell laptops, workstations and servers to my friends and enterprise customers.
Question:
If Christine O’Donnell is such the non-entity that is going to get pummelled and whitewashed by Chris Coons, WHY DOES THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND OTHER PRO-LIBERAL OUTLETS CONTINUE WITH THE SMEAR AND THE FLUFF?
Seriously, folks, she is supposed to be done in Delaware, taking on a Democrat Machine that has seen Biden and other Democrat Senators in place for nearly four decades. She is supposed to be the naiive, young, inexperienced, roll-her-over-in-any-debate, ignorant-of-the-Constitution candidate that Castle shold have defeated handily (sound familiar?) who is set up to be rolled, tarred, and feathered by the “experienced” “pet” Coons…….yet the MSM and liberal blogesphere simply cannot leave her alone! Why?
For the same reason Sarah Palin is castigated and maligned in similar fashion: SHE IS A LEGITIMATE, BONA-FIDE THREAT TO THE LIBERL ESTABLISHMENT THAT SIMPLY CANNOT BELIEVE A WOMAN WOULD NOT BE FOR LIBERAL ****AHEM**** “VALUES”. Think on it, folks: if O’Donnell weren’t such, what kind of play would she be receiving in even the papers? Possibly as Daniel Inouye’s Senate opponent in Hawaii is getting? Perhaps less?
Here it is, folks: the klibs are in full panic mode, and candidates like O’Donnell are a severe threat to their dominance currently in D.C., and anyone like O’Donnell and Palin are prime targets. Trust me when I say this: no matter if she loses or wins, O’Donnell will be attacked as long as she is a perceived threat by these people.
She is going to win, and when she does, libs will be eating crow this time next week…
They’re already going to lose that dominance this week, no matter if O’Donnell wins or loses. I seriously doubt that they, or even her specific opponent, considered her a real threat at any point since she was nominated. Hell, they probably hoped she’d speak more often publicly, as every time she has, her polling numbers in Delaware have dropped. Regardless, why would they consider her a threat to dominance they already know they’re going to lose anyways? If that was the reasoning for attacks on her, you’d see alot more press on the races that are close enough that there’s a reasonable chance that the Dem candidate could actually, you know, lose. It’s the ridiculous things she says, not some imagined threat she poses, that keeps her in the press.
Jason, you’re setting yourself up for a major disappointment, I ‘spect. We’ll see pretty soon.