I just got the message today on Huffington Post, as I was trying to post my third comment of the day: "Sorry, but you have been banned from commenting." I'm not the first to be banned, and like JoesGarage my e-mails to HuffPo asking why have not been answered. Why are we being banned?
I'm a long-time and frequent commenter on HuffPo. I have 10 fans. One anti-Blackwater comment I left recently was chosen as a "HuffPo Pick" by the editors. When you go to post, there's a waiting period while the comment is approved. Some comments I've left have not been posted. So my question is, if what I said was so objectionable, why wasn't just that comment screened out by the editors? Why ban me?
But I also wonder -- something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear -- can Cheney be intervening in that secret lever-pressing way of his? I have AT&T internet and it's constantly disconnecting and reconnecting, which makes me wonder if it's constantly redirecting my outputs.
I make up reasons: I have said online that I believe the Bush administration are war criminals who should be impeached and prosecuted, that the war is a lie and that you don't win a lie, that 9/11 should be further investigated and Osama bin Laden should be tried not assassinated, that just before her house arrest Benazir Bhutto said Osama bin Laden was murdered, that debates should be fair and that the corporate MSM should not be able to exclude on-the-ballot candidates (Gravel, Kucinich) from participating, that civics should still be taught in schools, that police should be policed, that mechanical justice (photo red light tickets) is dangerous to a democracy, and that jurors should be informed--be able to be informed!--of their right and duty to nullify law they feel is bad or misapplied. Further, I have made pro-animal, pro-environment, pro-Constitution, pro-Obama, anti-Clinton and anti-Blackwater statements online. I have pointed to this anti-Hillary-Iran-war-enabling comment by Senator Gravel and her ha-ha-ha response as the cause of his being excluded by GE-owned NBC from future debates. We never saw him again after that. I saluted Admiral Fallon for trying to "put the crazies back in the box" and keep us out of war with Iran. Having made those comments, am I too being disappeared? Is that why I'm banned?
Here are the two comments on James Zogby's End It Now blog I left today prior to getting the "You've been banned" notice:
The Clintons' lips were moving. They were lying then and lying now.
Or does it call into question the election results that did not match exit polling? This is America, remember? Steal it at the polls, steal it at the courts.
The third comment that did not post and that brought up the "You've been banned" message was in reply to commenter MATX's statement: "First, Senator Obama suggests anyone that doesn't see the world his way is 'bitter.'" I've lost my comment but I quoted from a Pennsylvania commenter in David Coleman's I Was There blog. Seems pretty innocuous to trigger a ban.
And this is my comment that did not post yesterday (HuffPo message: "already submitted, please wait") on Michael Shaw's Taking on Ayers blog:
NCGuy, I was frustrated that Obama didn't stand up more for Rev. Wright at the time. The fuller context of that sermon is available, video on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/... and transcript in the Chicago Tribune. Rev. Wright was preaching about a specific psalm about payback.
That said, I've tried to play this out if Obama did just what I wanted him to do, and did it as well as I think likely. Rev. Wright was saying something that was obvious and awful to the rest of the world, which is that the US has an incredible nuclear arsenal and is the only country to have dropped nuclear bombs in war. Hiroshima, Nagasaki. WMD R US. And we assume unquestioned right, and we use nuclear fear as a way to start other wars, and run CIA black ops, and the American public doesn't know the half of it. People abroad know more than we do. That's a chunk to convey and even harder to turn into an election-winning issue, especially with this MSM. Instead Obama focused on the black-white aspect, and he gave the Philadelphia speech, which I thought was amazing grace as I watched it. He told both angry whites and angry blacks that they had cause for their anger. Reason starts there. He gave reason a chance and a home and family again. God bless even America. Obama gave us back the high road. And that's what we need in a president.
A note, I am liking the AT&T-Cheney theory even more since I am now getting this new message (http://gateway.2wire.net/...) on checking my profiles page on Huffington Post:
at&t gateway alert notification
The Broadband Link is Currently Not AvailableError
Can’t Contact Internet Service Provider
The system could not contact your Internet service provider to create an Internet connection.
This can occur due to emergency network maintenance or other unforeseen temporary service disruptions. The Service LED light on the front of the system will automatically turn green once the problem has been resolved, typically within a short period.
If this condition persists, you can also try restarting your system by clicking the REBOOT SYSTEM button below.
Whoops, should I now be afraid, be very afraid? I didn't do anything but the message has changed (http://gateway.2wire.net/...)
at&t gateway alert notification
Success Resolution Successful
The error has been successfully resolved. Please close down your browser and restart it to continue browsing online.
UPDATE: REPLY FROM ARIANNA HUFFINGTON:
I am so sorry, this was a technical error. I am cc’ing Michael Francesconi, one of our blog editors, who will be restoring your account very shortly.
Wow!
UPDATE, THE DAY AFTER: I AM UNDEAD!
My missing third comment from yesterday has posted, and I can post again on HuffPo.
By the way, here is the comment that prompted the Banned message:
MATX, you got the first thing wrong: "First, Senator Obama suggests anyone that doesn't see the world his way is 'bitter.'" That's not what he said and not what he was trying to convey before the MSM hijacked and morphed his statement beyond all recogniztion. Start with this first thing: We are all different, and no president is going to be the same as everybody. Obama has cared about everybody, and cared enough to try to empathize with them, to understand their problems and their strengths.
The media shame is that Obama did speak clearly. See elsewhere on HuffPo, David Coleman: I Was There: What Obama Really Said About Pennsylvania - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... See Cenk Uygur on The Young Turks, The Truth Behind Obama's Bitter Comment - http://www.youtube.com/... The truth is out there.
This comment was left on Coleman's blog: "I'm from SW PA, and when I heard the sound bite from the Calif. fundraiser, my immediate reaction was 'What's all the fuss about? He's exactly right'... As I told my wife, 'Obama may actually care about us, if he's taking our story to contributors all the way across the country.' I actually felt as though we were suddenly noticed by someone in power. One can only hope...." posted 04/26/2008 at 11:21:40
Wow.