WaPo Admits Howell Was Wrong

[kpete]

Deluge Shuts Down Post Blog
Ombudsman's Column Had Sparked Profane Responses

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 21, 2006; Page A08

An experiment in open expression and free speech has proved a bit too free for The Washington Post and its Web site.

The newspaper company has temporarily shut down Post.blog -- a section of Washingtonpost.com that invites reader comments -- after receiving hundreds of posts, many using profane or sexist language, responding to columns by The Post's ombudsman, Deborah Howell.


The deluge, which overwhelmed the Web site's screening efforts, began after Howell wrote in a column published Sunday that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties." That is incorrect. As Howell noted on Thursday morning in a short piece on Post.blog, Abramoff did not make direct contributions to Democrats but directed his lobbying clients to do so.

By then it was too late. Spurred in part by various liberal Web sites, readers had begun flooding Post.blog with comments, most of them criticizing Howell. Many of them used language unsuitable for a public forum. Unable to keep up with a stream of more than 1,500 postings, editors of the Web site decided to close it down until order could be restored.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/20/AR2006012001909.html
via:http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/1/21/10242/5002

[spanone]

1. Ms. Howell....don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. Water's only waist deep, but since she's kissing Rove's butt, her head

is under the surface.

[joeybee12]

2. They're still lying! Admitting nothing!

There's no proof Abrahamoff directed his clients to give to Dems--there's proof he directed them AWAY from Dems.

Fucking Washington COM-POST!

[hang a left]

8. Exactly...

We need to get the clients on the record and clear this up once and for all.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. They're STILL getting it wrong.

Abrmoff didn't direct his clients to contribute to Dems--or at least I know of no evidence that this is so, and pre/post ABramoff contribution patterns don't reflect any such thing.

[tularetom]

5. Howell should write something unfavorable to *

If she wants to see "profane or sexist language" and "language unsuitable for a public forum". They still have it wong - how do they know Abramoff directed his lobbying clients to make contributions to Democrats.

[CottonBear]

6. I think she lied in her Thursday statement as well:

"As Howell noted on Thursday morning in a short piece on Post.blog, Abramoff did not make direct contributions to Democrats but directed his lobbying clients to do so."

He did not direct them to give money to Democrats. In fact, Indian Tribes drastically changed their donation pattern from donating mostly to Democrats to donating to many Republicans.

The WP can't handle the truth. NO Democrats received money from Jack Abramoff.

[kpete]

12. Hi CottonBear...

The lying never stops. It is hard to keep up with all of them. The government, the media, the corporations. When will it EVER stop?

[CottonBear]

15. I hope that we can stop it as soon as possible.

:hi:

[Canuckistanian]

7. There's ANOTHER myth to beat down

The latest meme is "OK, he didn't give money but DIRECTED his clients to give to Democtats".

Does Howard Dean need to go talk to Wolfie AGAIN?

[TahitiNut]

9. No evidence whatsoever that he "directed his lobbying clients to do so."

It's bullshit. (And I'm not even a 'Democrat' - merely a liberal who respects the facts.)

[Orangepeel]

16. there is even evidence against it

the emails Abramoff wrote insulting the tribes for being too stupid to spend their money correctly.

[EST]

10. Idiot dumba**es STILL can't tell the truth.

What weevils get into these pea brained idiots?! In spite of all the truth-telling in the posts, the liars still lie in their explanation and excuses for their lieing!
----------------------------------------------------------
IE:
"lobbyist Jack Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties." That is incorrect. As Howell noted on Thursday morning in a short piece on Post.blog, Abramoff did not make direct contributions to Democrats but directed his lobbying clients to do so."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Abram Jackoff conned them out of all their extra money and tried to steal the money that they had planned to contribute to democrats, partially succeeding, which he then used to bribe pethug politicians--furthering the republican culture of corruption! How hard is it for these paid liars to read the facts and report the truth?

The faster these simiam brains and their own corrupt culture go down the tubes, the better.

[kevinbgoode]

11. We need to keep their face in the toilet over this. . .

frankly, this continues to damage their credibility, and they should be held responsible for that. There simply was no excuse for misrepresenting the facts in this case at all. No reporter worth his keyboard would be so reckless in making these kinds of statements, and the Post should be called on that until they figure out what their purpose really is as a newspaper.

Not surprisingly, I discovered that one "conservative" journalism training center apparently is able to place new reporters at the Post. . .one wonders what happened to the old ethical policy that participating directly in political ideology would be grounds for dismissal.

http://www.yaf.org/media/njc/njc.asp

[oasis]

13. Lou Dobbs needs to issue a statement of apology to Democratic leadership.

[acmejack]

14. Consider the odds!

[Reader Rabbit]

17. Official Rebuttal?

Is anyone planning an official rebuttal to the many fallacies contained in this article? The fact that DU has proof that few, if any, of the responses were profane, as is claimed, should provide excellent fodder for questioning the validity of many of the Post's incorrect assertions regarding the Democrats and Abramoff. This article seems to provide the perfect opportunity for someone to expose the Post's hypocrisy, questionable actions, and manipulation of the facts.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?