Got outted yesterday.
Never been outted before.
Not sure who did it, but I have some strong suspicions.
Came home yesterday and got a call from a reporter named Heather from The Miami Herald. She knew my name, my dKos login ID and my place of employment. Heather started asking me questions about negative statements I allegedly made on dKos regarding Dave Aronberg (Democratic State Senator from Greenacres Florida). When I asked her how she got my name and phone number she said, "Someone said I should call you and look into this."
I might be wrong, but that kind of narrows it down.
You never see Republicans argue amongst themselves. You never hear a snarky Young Republican call up AM Talk Radio and point out that in fact Joe Biden didn't invent the graduated income tax system because he hates America. The Right operates on top-down pseudo-thought: Frank Luntz calls Rush Limbaugh and next thing you now, my uncle in Chicago firmly believes Barack Obama has no birth certificate.
Democrats tend to grapple. Consider where we were about a year ago: Obama v. Clinton - remember the PUMAs? We are a raucous bunch, and although it's messy, I would argue that ultimately free thought is a more healthy model for representative democracy.
How many times do you read something on dKos that you disagree with? Happens to me all the time. Sometimes I ignore it, and sometimes I reply, but sometimes being challenged with new info or a different perspective forces me to re-evaluate my assumptions.
That's why I (heart) The Daily Kos.
* * *
I preface the rest of this diary with this clear and unmistakable premise: I can not confirm who provided my personal information to the Miami Herald. I also do not believe that Dave Aronberg, nor anyone directly associated with Mr. Aronberg's Campaign for Florida Attorney General did so.
* * *
On Sunday I posted a diary examining several of Aronberg's votes. Issues included Insurance Deregulation, Insurance Premium Hikes, a controversial Growth Management Bill, increases to College Tuition and a Voucher Bill. In each of these cases, Aronberg voted for the measure. I also included an allegation about a discrepancy in his campaign finance report.
However, I soon discovered that the statement I made regarding Aronberg's Campaign Finances was incorrect. I had made a mistake in the search parameters on the Florida Division of Elections data base. I promptly deleted all reference to this issue, and edited my diary with this statement:
Update:
I did make a mistake about the earlier posted campaign finance issue. I had incorrectly limited the number of records at 500. My aforementioned comments were incorrect. I have deleted them from this diary. I formally offer my apologies to Mr. Aronberg, his campaign and supporters.
My diary posted at 02:17:02 AM PDT. I included a comment regarding this issue at 10:32:59 AM PDT. I made a mistake, and less than 8 hours letter acknowledged my error, corrected it and apologized to Mr. Aronberg.
Never the less, two days later, Heather from The Miami Herald somehow has my home phone number, asking for me by name and refers to negative blogs attacking Dave Aronberg.
I explained to the reporter this diary examined Aronberg's voting record, and I disagreed with those votes. I took great exception to Aronberg's Voucher Bill vote and explained that public education has gotten slammed and vouchers hurt students, parents and teachers. I admitted that yes, I had donated $25 to his opponent's campaign, and even went so far as setting up an ACT BLUE page, amassing a grand total of $70. Heather chuckled and called me a "Real Dynamo."
Yep. That's me. Mr. Big Bucks.
If Aronberg supporters didn't like my take on things they have several appropriate options:
- Don't like it then don't look at it.
- Post Comment and prove me wrong.
- Get of your rump and write your own diary.
- If something is super egregious then Troll Tag it.
However, what's not cool is providing my personal identity to a reporter from The Miami Herald.
After all:
Anonymity
Many people chose to post to Daily Kos under pseudonyms, keeping their real names confidential. There are many reasons why people would choose not to reveal their real names. Revealing the identify of someone who has chosen to remain anonymous is a bannable offense. It is also a morally reprehensible thing to do.
At first I got mad.
Then I thought about the reporter's perspective: "Disgruntled public employee gets on internet and tells elected official he doesn't like the way the guy voted."
I can see the Pulitzer now.
Ultimately, I went back to my diary and added the following statement:
I would like to formally acknowledge and thank the person or people who outted me by providing my personal identity and home phone number to Heather at The Miami Herald. Some people would insist that this is morally reprehensible and technically a bannable offense. I forgive you, and only ask that, in the future, though we may passionately disagree, let us please respect each other's private life.
Cordially,
EAEvans