Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Let there be snark.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

The willow is too close to the house.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Infrastructure week. at last.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Time For Another Blogger Ethics Panel

Time For Another Blogger Ethics Panel

by | 42 Comments

This post is in: 

Lanny Davis is concerned:

I write columns and post blogs regularly, and I’ve made my share of factual mistakes.



So I do not sit in judgment of someone who goofed. But if you make a factual mistake, there are certain rules of the road that responsible writers and bloggers should follow: (1) immediately correct the error as soon as you find out — and in the same publication; (2) if it was also a personal attack in any way, which turned out to be based on a false statement, then personally apologize — no ifs, ands or buts; and (3) learn a lesson for next time — be more careful.



***

Recently, one of the more well-known bloggers, Markos Moulitsas, founder of the liberal blog The Daily Kos, made a mistake in his Sept. 23 column in this newspaper, titled “Blue Dogs, beware,” and did so in the course of making a personal attack on the integrity of a Blue Dog Democrat, Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.). I met Mr. Cooper only once, just recently, but I have known of him for years as someone with an outstanding reputation for honesty, thoughtfulness and open-mindedness — even if some people, including myself, might disagree with him on certain issues.



I would like all of you to help me with a little project. Use the comments here to document every single lie, every bit of complete nonsense, and all the complete and utter falsehoods and bullshit that spewed out of the mouth of Lanny Davis from the start of the 2008 Democratic primary until now. Every single one, with a link to document it. Once we have compiled our dossier, we are going to do everything we can to demand that the Hill publish it. And then Lanny can spend the next six months apologizing, rather than whoring himself out to foreign interests.

If all Democrats were like Lanny Davis, I’d still be writing at Red State.

Reader Interactions

42Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    You need to aim higher with your demands. In the rest of the column, Davis claims that since Markos’s apology was on his blog rather than The Hill, it doesn’t count. Equally, the phrase “I apologize for my mistake” wasn’t nearly demeaning enough. Therefore, to be truly equivalent, Lanny Davis must go on CNN, MSNBC, etc., and issue groveling sniveling apologies for every half-truth, quarter-truth, and outright falsity that he’s spewed forth across the airwaves over the last several years.

    -dms

  2. 2.

    Crashman06

    Here are some lies Lanny Davis spewed out during a debate on Democracy Now! while defending the recent coup in Honduras:

    #1: Lanny Davis: “I do want to say that I appeared on Democracy Now! with the assurance, Amy, that you would be a neutral moderator, yet your opening is an ideological rant that distorts the facts. For example, you said that Mr. Zelaya accepted the Arias accords. In fact, Mr. Zelaya rejected President Arias’s proposal, and the government of Mr. Micheletti has announced, and has, in fact, said it would continue to discuss.”

    Fact Check: This is not true. On July 19, Oscar Arias made the following statement: “The Zelaya delegation fully accepted my proposal, but not that of Don Roberto Micheletti.” Zelaya reaffirmed his willingness to accept the Arias plan just a few days ago.
    In the face of international condemnation, Micheletti began to backpedal, saying that he would submit the accords to Congress and the Supreme Court. But Micheletti’s own backers admit that this is an attempt to buy time until the November elections: “It isn’t the conversations that will provide an exit for the people, rather, the elections in November,” said one prominent supporter recently. Micheletti himself, on August 1, said he would never allow Zelaya back as president, which is clearly part of the Arias plan.

    Many more here.

  3. 3.

    The Bearded Blogger

    umm…

    I think there’s a non-sequitur here… he says bloggers should apologize for factually incorrect personal attacks… Jim Cooper is an insurance industry stooge, and Lanny Davis’s word is not enough of an evidence to the contrary…

    in fact, it is probably evidence in favor of the claim

  4. 4.

    Midnight Marauder

    This article might be a good start. It’s about the Honduras coup from a few months ago.

    Fact Checking Lanny Davis on Honduras

    #1: Lanny Davis: “I do want to say that I appeared on Democracy Now! with the assurance, Amy, that you would be a neutral moderator, yet your opening is an ideological rant that distorts the facts. For example, you said that Mr. Zelaya accepted the Arias accords. In fact, Mr. Zelaya rejected President Arias’s proposal, and the government of Mr. Micheletti has announced, and has, in fact, said it would continue to discuss.”

    Fact Check: This is not true. On July 19, Oscar Arias made the following statement: “The Zelaya delegation fully accepted my proposal, but not that of Don Roberto Micheletti.” Zelaya reaffirmed his willingness to accept the Arias plan just a few days ago. In the face of international condemnation, Micheletti began to backpedal, saying that he would submit the accords to Congress and the Supreme Court. But Micheletti’s own backers admit that this is an attempt to buy time until the November elections: “It isn’t the conversations that will provide an exit for the people, rather, the elections in November,” said one prominent supporter recently. Micheletti himself, on August 1, said he would never allow Zelaya back as president, which is clearly part of the Arias plan.

  5. 5.

    beltane

    I read somewhere that Lanny Davis writes for Newsmax. Is this true?

    Davis takes hackery to a whole new level. He and Mark Penn and several other likeminded douchebags were the main reason I could not tolerate the thought of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. If all Democrats were like them, I’d be on whatever third party bandwagon was rolling through town.

  7. 7.

    r€nato

    So Lanny Davis is vouching for Cooper because he’s heard good things about him, even though he’s only met him in person once:

    I met Mr. Cooper only once, just recently, but I have known of him for years as someone with an outstanding reputation for honesty, thoughtfulness and open-mindedness

    Is this not the very essence of Villager-ism? “He’s one of us, how DARE you besmirch his reputation, you… you… BLOGGER! Don’t you people know your place?”

  8. 8.

    Stoic

    If all Democrats were like Lanny Davis, I’d still be writing at Red State.

    Sadly, too many of them in Congress are and those that aren’t lost their backbones when Reagan said boo.

  9. 9.

    Zifnab

    I would like all of you to help me with a little project. Use the comments here to document every single lie, every bit of complete nonsense, and all the complete and utter falsehoods and bullshit that spewed out of the mouth of Lanny Davis from the start of the 2008 Democratic primary until now.

    Can we just start with the column itself?

    In his Sept. 24 post, Moulitsas impugned Mr. Cooper’s motives for failure to support the public option due to “allegiance to his insurance company.”


    He added that “Mr. Cooper supports a bill that does NOT include the public option.”



    http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/24/771745/-TN-05:-This-is-how-Cooper-supports-the-public-option

    As a member of the fiscally conservative group, the Blue Dog Democrats, I have been working to see that health reform legislation is affordable, as the President has requested. My preferred approach, the Healthy Americans Act, H.R. 1321, is bipartisan, reduces the deficit, and reduces the cost of health care over time. Unfortunately, House and Senate leaders have not allowed it to be seriously considered although it seems to meet all the President’s goals. Although this bill does not contain a “public option,” I can support one as long as it is on a level playing field.

    Gee, looks to me like he’s supporting a House Bill that specifically excludes the public option. And while it’s all in good fun to “support” a Senate Amendment from your House seat, when the Amendment is unlikely to make it out of committee (it didn’t – http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/29/154454/752), Cooper hasn’t had to make an actual vote on health care in the last 3 months.
    http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/C000754/votes/ So we have no idea what he is for or against in terms of the record that matters. :-p

  11. 11.

    asiangrrlMN

    Concerned Village Troll is VERY concerned. I did a little light research, Cole, but I have only come up with the aforementioned link of Davis and Honduras. I will do more later.

  13. 13.

    Nylund

    I really want to know the secret villager handshake that grants you a lifetime of ass-kissing from all the other villagers after just one single meeting.

  15. 15.

    Trinity

    Davis is a douchextraordinaire! I’m working on a project Cole but I found a few interesting links on his douchetude.

    On EFCA:
    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/written-by-ceos-for-ceos-dems-pan-biz-friendly-compromise-on-employee-free-choice.php

    Glenzilla takes him on:
    http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/03/03/davis/
    (transcript provided at bottom of post)

    Glenzills gets him again!:
    http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/08/18/davis/index.html

  17. 17.

    southpaw

    Are we counting every time he said “Hillary can still win” between the Wisconsin primary and June 2008? Or are we all still playing pretend?

  19. 19.

    Patrick

    Today on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Lanny Davis, who was one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent surrogates during the primaries, said:

    You know, I would consider voting for McCain on character and on the kind of human being he is because I have great–I know him–I have great admiration for him. I would sleep well at night if John McCain is President. But on the issues, Barack Obama is for the issues that I care about.

    from http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2008/08?page=3

    Woe is me. I am set upon by harpies, from the center, the right and the Weh-right. The saddest of these is Lanny Davis’s act of Clintonphilia in the Wall Street Journal, which may set a land-speed record for disingenuousness. The subject again is the infamous Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Third paragraph:

    Clearly Mr. Obama does not share the extremist views of Rev. Wright. He is a tolerant and honorable person. But

    Gotta love those buts

    that is not the issue. The questions remain: Why did he stay a member of the congregation? Why didn’t he speak up earlier? And why did he reward Rev. Wright with a campaign position even after knowing of his comments?

  20. 20.

    EdTheRed

    Glennzilla has already brought the hammer down on Lanny once this year. (h/t Wonkette)

    Glennzilla’s conclusion:

    Lanny Davis is just a face that reflects the grime and sleaze that lies at the core of our political culture. But it’s a rather vivid face for what is typically meant by Centrism (i.e., it’s shrill and irresponsible to suggest there’s anything fundamentally wrong with our political culture); Civility (it’s rude and disrespectful to highlight the oozing conflicts of interests and paid whoredom which animate our leading political luminaries); and Bipartisanship (the same narrow set of corporate forces always prevail no matter which party is in “control” by constantly paying those who control those parties). As unpleasant as it is, that’s why there’s value in casting one’s eyes on how Lanny Davis functions.

    Call it a hunch, but I don’t think Glennzilla is planning to apologize to Lanny anytime soon.

  22. 22.

    JGabriel

    But if you make a factual mistake, there are certain rules of the road that responsible writers and bloggers should follow: (1) immediately correct the error as soon as you find out — and in the same publication; (2) if it was also a personal attack in any way, which turned out to be based on a false statement, then personally apologize — no ifs, ands or buts; and (3) learn a lesson for next time — be more careful.


    ***
    Recently, one of the more well-known bloggers, Markos Moulitsas, founder of the liberal blog The Daily Kos, made a mistake …

    Wait, Davis is calling out calling out Kos, but has no words for John Perry’s call to coup d’etat?

    Everyone’s knows this already, but it really can’t be said enough: What a fucking douche.

    .

  23. 23.

    CT Voter

    Would you support that candidate if, after knowing of or hearing those sermons, he or she still appointed that minister to serve on his or her “Religious Advisory Committee” of his or her presidential campaign?

    Read more at: Lanny’s response to the “race” speech by Obama

    I thought this was rather clever. He implies that Obama knew about the sermons and appointed Wright to his advisory committee, ANYWAY.

    Nicely done, hack.

  24. 24.

    Dr. Squid

    Uh, what was the mistake? Lanny Davis looked into Jim Cooper’s soul after one meet and just knew that the Great Orange Satan had to be wrong?

  25. 25.

    BDeevDad

    Al Giordano had a good article:

    n March 2, 2008, Lanny Davis claimed:

    One in five white Democrats (20%) would defect to Senator McCain if Senator Obama were the nominee.

    Mr. President, you won 85 percent of that group last November.

    In that same tome, Lanny wrote:

    When the phone rings in the middle of the night at the White House, isn’t it valid for voters to ask whether Senator Obama tends towards indecisiveness, given his past record of ducking votes, voting “present,” or saying “I don’t know” when asked how he would have voted on the war — all the while criticizing Senator Clinton’s “judgment” for voting for the resolution at the time?

  27. 27.

    Chris

    I’d post a few, but I need to save them for my new political biopic, “Danny Lavis: Douchebag for Money” about a liberal Democrat who whores himself out to any client or cause with enough cash, all the while trashing other liberals and Democrats.

    Now, if only I can get the rights to that Seinfeld episode where Jerry suspects that guy of converting only to crack jokes about his new faith and its adherents…

  29. 29.

    SFAW

    BDeevDad –
    Lanny’s an asshole, but predicting a 20% defection rate, and then only getting 15% defection, is not that bad as prognostication goes.

    And as to the request to find Lanny’s Lies: GMAFB. It’s not like any of us has enough time to find them all. Might as well ask us to catalogue all the stupidity that Pantload has written.

  31. 31.

    Cat G

    And…he’s soooo whiny. He’s the Eddie Haskell of politics. He’s just a creepy, lying, smarmy, double dealer. He’s willing to sell himself to whomever’s got the coin.

  32. 32.

    bob

    Cheeseburgergate

    Lanny Davis, Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2006 (Election Day):

    A friend of mine just returned from Connecticut, where he had spoken on several occasions on behalf of Joe Lieberman. He happens to be a liberal antiwar Democrat, just as I am. He is also a lawyer. He told me that within a day of a Lamont event–where he asked the candidate some critical questions–some of his clients were blitzed with emails attacking him and threatening boycotts of their products if they did not drop him as their attorney. He has actually decided not to return to Connecticut for the primary today; he is fearful for his physical safety.

    Fearful for his physical safety? Here’s somebody else who was actually there to see Lanny’s “friend” Richard Goodstein in action, trying to provoke violence. Reporter Kenneth in GQ:

    Most of Joe’s supporters in Ted’s are kids, but there’s one big bald guy, the only adult among them, who starts a loud, frenzied inquisition right in Ned’s face. “Are you a Bill Clinton Democrat or an Al Sharpton Democrat?”

    They’re not mutually exclusive,” Ned says.

    “No, I’m asking. Answer me! Clinton or Sharpton?” Ned tries to answer, but the guy interrupts: “I worked for Abe Ribicoff. He couldn’t play golf at your country club in Greenwich!” When Ned starts to turn away, the guy says, “Don’t turn your back on me, Ned!”

    “Let’s keep this civil for the last five days of the campaign,” Ned says, and he starts making his way among the Lieber kids, shaking their hands again.

    The big bald guy is right in my face now. I ask him where he’s from, what his role is here, and he shouts and wags his finger and demands my credentials, yelling to the crowd that I’m not a legitimate reporter and I must be with Ned. Suddenly, I realize the goal here is to provoke Ned into overreacting on-camera. And if not him, then someone on his staff. And it’s working; I want badly to take a swing at this lunatic, and I’m not even on the campaign. I flash back to yesterday and the Banana Man and the thug yelling at Tom Swan, “Hit me! Do it!”

    Today’s poll shows that Ned has surged ahead by thirteen points, and it dawns on me that this is their Hail Mary tactic. This race carries substantial implications for the future of our Iraq policy. Which means it’s not an exaggeration to say it has real bearing on our national destiny. And it all could come down to someone throwing a punch at one of these idiots.

    Matt Stoller captured video

  33. 33.

    mclaren

    Silly rabbit. Apologies are for Democrats. “Being a Republican means never having to say you’re sorry.”

  34. 34.

    Batocchio

    It was <a href=”http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10614_Page2.html”>”A proposed solution for Fla. and Mich.” that really showed that Lanny wasn’t just an obnoxious, disingenuous scumbag, he was one crappy lawyer at selling “fair”:

    In Michigan, Clinton received 55 percent of the vote. According to Thegreenpapers.com, she thus should receive 73 pledged delegates based on that percentage.

    What about the 50 remaining uncommitted delegates, and 7 collectively cast for Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, who were also on the ballot? __Some of those 50 delegates might have been for Clinton as a second choice to candidates other than Obama, so it would be totally unfair to award all 50 delegates to Obama…

    The Rules Committee has several options. The fairest would be to allocate those 57 pledged delegates, to Clinton and Obama by the same ratio of their standing to one another in the average of the most recent Michigan statewide polls prior to the Jan. 15 primary. Or perhaps one Solomonic compromise, more generous to Obama than to Clinton, would be to divide the remaining delegates approximately 50-50 between the two of them, 28-27 (giving Clinton the extra delegate since she led in all the latest statewide polls prior to Jan. 15)…

    Is it worth risking the White House in November by not accepting this fair solution?

    I don’t think so — too much, such as the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade, hangs in the balance.

    I don’t mind Davis advocating for his client, but pretending to be “fair” with such obviously contorted reasoning – and capped with epic fail concern trolling – is just insulting and pathetic.

    Wonkette has more links in “Lanny Davis Continues Remarkable Streak Of Douchebaggery,” but summarizes that Lanny Davis “decided it would be fair to give Hillary 77% of Michigan’s delegates.”

  36. 36.

    benintn

    Davis claimed the following on May 31, 2008: “After the votes are in from Puerto Rico tomorrow and South Dakota and Montana on Tuesday, neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton will be able to make a facts-based case that they represent a significant majority of grass-roots Democrats.”

  37. 37.

    benintn

    Of Fox News’ coverage during the 2008 campaign, Davis said the following:

    “Fox, no matter how much you might criticize an ideological bent, in this campaign, they have been religiously middle-of-the-road, point-counterpoint,” Davis said.

    This despite the relentless coverage of Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, etc. that typified Faux Noise coverage during the latter part of the 2008 primaries.

  38. 38.

    benintn

    Davis blamed the Obama campaign for angering Clinton supporters. This after Davis and other Clinton supporters played up the Tony Rezko connection (repeatedly debunked by Chicago journalists), the Jeremiah Wright connection, etc., etc., in order to destroy Obama’s credibility. Don’t know if this qualifies as inaccurate but it does make him a douchenozzle.

  39. 39.

    benintn

    Greg Sargent (then with TPM) noted that Lanny Davis showed up on MSNBC’s Morning Joe (the same MSNBC that Davis said was unfairly biased toward Obama) to argue that “it’s very hard to criticize Senator Obama without being accused of playing the race card”.

    Sargent’s analysis:

    “It would have been fair if Davis had said that there have been times where people were too quick to tar Clinton criticisms of Obama as playing the race card, rather than suggesting that this applies across the board.”

  40. 40.

    benintn

    Davis created a straw man of President Obama and Jeremiah Wright by insinuating there’s a moral equivalence between a white preacher supporting the KKK and someone like Jeremiah Wright trying to support equality for African-Americans.

    Seems to ignore the reality of racism and centuries of American legal and cultural subjugation of blacks. Again, maybe not inaccurate, but it kinda smacks of douchebaggery.

  42. 42.

    benintn

    And Lanny Davis helped out Whole Foods CEO John Mackey in writing an anti-healthcare reform editorial in the Wall Street Journal.

    He defended Mackey in an interview with TPM’s Brian Beutler.

    Davis says the dust up over Mackey’s op-ed is “an example of how we on the left start to mirror the extreme tactics on the right.”

    Again, false equivalence…

Comments are closed.