Wall Street Journal posts DU thread (links)...both Kerry and Move-On slams

[diamond14]

here's funkybutt's DU thread...which is posted in the WALL STREET JOURNAL...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1974581&mesg_id=1974581



-snips from the Wall Street Journal-
http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/

Great Moments in Democracy

"Funkybutt," a New Orleans-based contributor to the left-wing hate site DemocraticUnderground.org, has an inspiring tale of democratic participation at a MoveOn.org voter registration party (quoting verbatim):

I was dissappointed with this party because:


b. Almost none of us had ANY success signing up a voter. The list seemed pretty bad. Most of the numbers were wrong numbers and sometime it was someone who claimed to already be registerred to vote (which I suspected was a lie in SOME cases)


*One Bite* I called about 50 people and I only had one bite. The guy had a VERY strong french accent. He was mildy rude but when he heard I was working to defeat Bush he became interested. I began signing him up but while getting his address, because of the language barrier, I had to ask him to repeat himself many times. He got irritated with my inability to understand him and hung up on me!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. So the fuck what?

The poster did nothing wrong...if WSJ has to dig this deep to slander us, then their corporate masters must be fretting about Edwards being on the ticket...it is beginning to look as though you are calling a poster out for doing nothing wrong...just posting his experience.

[MUSTANG_2004]

3. It's the French

I think the point is that the bit about the French guy at the end was suspicious in that it played perfectly into Taranto's Kerry/French running commentary, as though it were a set-up.

[funkybutt]

27. thank you! n/t

[Solly Mack]

2. Someone caring enough to point out problems and work to fix them

so getting the vote out is easier is AOK in my book.

You know, it's not damaging to say a system needs fixing.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. "Left-Wing Hate Site"

Wooohooo!

[Mandate My Ass]

7. Does this mean

I can now officially refer to myself as a "hata?"

[bloom]

8. I didn't know it was a "hate" site...

:shrug:

[rfranklin]

10. WSJ is a rightwing hate site...

ne c'est pas?

[bloom]

11. that's what I was just thinking...n/t

[Canuckistanian]

32. They left out "Wild-eyed"

Tsk Tsk.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Wanna Bet

That's the first time the word "Funkybutt" has appeared in the wall street journal.

Anyway, screw 'em. They're preachin to the choir.

[Beacho]

6. I'm going with the 'setup' option

A relatively monor thread at DU suddenly becomes fodder for a national co,umnist and fits in perfectly with his spiel.

Sorry, it stinks. Look for more of this in the coming weeks.

[displacedtexan]

9. Good point, Beacho!

Of course, the replies to that thread weren't included in the WSJ.

[diamond14]

12. set-up: using Move-on Voter Registration AND soliciting for Kerry

is a FELONY and could result in the closure of Move-on and/or Kerry offices....and the FRENCH slam was part of the WSJ on-going French remarks, the perfect set-up to make Kerry/Move-On and Democrats look real bad...with the additional implication that felonies are being committed...


the FELONY -snip- from funkybutt....as posted on DU and in the WSJ

"I'm hoping that such voter registration efforts through the local Kerry Campaign Headquarters will be more productive."

[MrMonk]

13. Thanks for your information on the legality of discussing politics

during a voter registration drive.

However, that doesn't seem to be the point of this thread, or your earlier thread. Are you trying to call out another DUer?

[funkybutt]

28. you nailed it!

[indigo32]

14. I'm in MN and I called FL yesterday afternoon as well

apparently that was the focus.

[diamond14]

18. hope you didn't also MISLEAD the Florida voters....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1974581&mesg_id=1974581
(post 22)

Employers in Florida DO NOT let employees off work with pay to vote...and this MISLEADING Florida voters is very deliberate, just like the set-up for the WSJ.....will end up with Democratic Florida voters leaving work on November 2nd to vote, and THEN finding out that they were MIS-led by someone claiming to be a move-on voter registration volunteer...

IMO, it's a set-up in more than one way....

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. I can't see anywhere that funkybutt told Florida voters

about leave from work. They talked about leave from work in reply to a suggestion that they should have told registered voters to get an absentee ballot.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Why is that soliciting?

It's surely only soliciting if they encourage the voter to vote for Kerry. And since the Bush web site has a 'Register to vote' section (that includes a box "Get your absentee ballot so you can vote for President Bush"), I'd suggest that you can go pretty far in joining your organisation and registration together. Either that, or we can get Bush in a lot of trouble now.

[diamond14]

31. Intimidating voters is a FELONY.....hope this guy doesn't report this

it could destroy MoveOn, and IMO, it's very deliberate...


Post #64 on this thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1974581&mesg_id=1977751&page=

funkybutt:

"would you be interested in getting help registerring to vote?""

the french man asked something along the lines of "is this for Bush?" and I said "actually one of the goals of moveon is to ensure that Bush is NOT in the white house for 4 more years"...that's when he agreed to allow me to send him a voter registration form and other moveon materials but he hung up on me before I could get his address.

------------------------------------------------------
To help you understand the difference....any American can log into a web site, Kerry's or bush* and find and download voter registration forms from links to State voter registrar sites or a Federal site for forms)...it is totally voluntary to connect to any web site....look at the sites, and it is LINKS to States/Feds...if you go to the State/Fed link, there is NOTHING to say who you should or should not vote for....

but it is ILLEGAL to imply that you can only register IF you vote the way somebody orders you to....that you can't get the form without supporting certain issues...Voter Registration drives must give forms to EVERYONE, without any questions or comments about issues or candidates....otherwise, it's considered INTIMIDATION of voters...

to prevent voter intimidation (like shown by funkybutt), those handing out voter registration forms CANNOT wear any campaign clothing or buttons, cannot display any campaign materials, cannot mention any candidates, and cannot say ILLEGAL remarks like "the goal of moveon is to ensure that bush* is not in the white house....".....because that implies that YOU cannot register UNLESS you vote against bush*....

I actually doubt that funkybutt worked for MoveOn...because I KNOW that they would NOT tolerate this...MoveOn is actually several separate organizations, and voter registration drives are done through a separate legal entity than the ads....Kerry campaigns do NOT do voter registration drives while representing Kerry, volunteers do voter registration as citizens without affiliation to anyone or any issue...it's totally non-partisan...

[Luminous Animal]

35. I don't know about everywhere....

In California it is perfectly legal to campaign (wear buttons, clothes, carry signs, etc.) and register voters at the same time. Apparently it is okay in CT, as well...

http://www.sots.state.ct.us/ElectionsDivision/Misc/CANDS.pdf

[MrMonk]

36. Giving your argument its due consideration,

it seems to me that you've merely formed a perception, through connotation, of an implication of intimidation, that is largely based on speculation. In other words, you seem to be really stretching to support your position.

[HootieMcBoob]

15. Man, They have decended to the depths of the NY Post

Left wing hate site? C'mon man we're all about love here :)

If they think this is hate they aint' seen nothing yet :nuke:

[Trajan]

16. I must ask ...

WTF does this matter ? ...

ANY way you look at this: it is nearly meaningless in content and effect ....

A whisper in a teacup ...

[HFishbine]

17. Left-wing hate site?

Let's send him some love (no, really): [e-mail]

[Canuckistanian]

33. Yeah, and FreeRepublic is a "love site", right?

They don't even pretend to be impartial, do they?

[mbee]

19. I take issue and feel there are very intelligent thoughts posted

here. Overall everyone here was opposed to the stealing of the 2000 election and the people who did it! Is free speech hate speech?Contrast what you see here with Free-Republic which is real hate speech, mostly by people who can't spell based upon the samples I've seen posted here. Nonetheless, they have the same right to post what they want also. I'm curious though if their website is ever referenced by the WSJ and others in the same fashion as DU?

[NashVegas]

22. Who Cares?

tough shit what the Opinionated Journal thinks.

[Kat45]

23. How did the WSJ guy happen to get this thread?

Does he (or his minions) read DU frequently looking for ammo to slam DU with? Or could there be a paid member with search capabilities that searched for the word "French"?

Sorry, don't mean to get paranoid. :shrug:

[diamond14]

26. that's the question....from funkybutt??

IMO, that's how this relatively minor DU thread got over to the WSJ...it's also started with dissing Move-On, and slamming a French-American voter, and claiming that voter registration was being run through Kerry's campaign offices (a felony).....too coincidental....

[funkybutt]

29. i wonder if it's possible that a member of this board

with some sort of vendetta against me would pass the post on....It sure was picked up quickly. How many of you scan that website regularly? hmmm....yeah..maybe i'm paranoid too ;)

[MrMonk]

34. It's likely that plenty of people scan this site

just to find threads that will make DU, Dems, Kerry, etc., look bad.
Just as there are plenty of DUers who scan free republic, lucianne and other crap sites looking for threads that they can gloat over.

[progressivebydesign]

24. We're a "left wing HATE site"? Wow..

.. I really am surprised to read that. I've been here over 3 years now.. and never really felt it was a "hate" site. Frustrated? yes. Angry? Sometimes. Informed? COMPLETELY!

I explain DU to people as a clearinghouse for factual media pieces. It's like having thousands of pairs of eyes scanning the media (here and abroad) for articles of interest and relevance to our Country. Hate site? That's more like that nutjob Lucianne's site.. We have our moments here on DU, but most of what is discussed comes out of FACTUAL media pieces... I have yet to see Laura Bush referred to as "a pig in a pantsuit", as the Freepers are so fond of calling Senator Clinton. Hate? Bullshit.

[HFishbine]

25. How does Taranto describe Freerepublic?

No adjectives, just "the Free Republic Web site."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110003017

[Lefty48197]

30. The Wall Nut Journal's little "love in" with Vince Foster

didn't turn out so well.

[Bandit]

37. Hey this is great news... Interested people may just check us out

Maybe even some of them are level headed and want to check the facts for themselves. I am sure if they visit this site they will find many things that pique their interest. It is a good thing to have national exposure.