March 09, 2006

I was banned by RedState

I've been posting entries and comments at RedState since July 2004. [1] A few days ago my last entry there was deleted and my posting privileges were revoked. [2] And, despite sending two emails to RS co-founder Mike Krempasky and one to another moderator there, no one has seen fit to tell me exactly who banned me and why they did it. [3]

The entry that initiated the banning was Bush "Gold Card" would open borders to cheap labor. That entry made it into Google News before it was deleted.

Perhaps the reason is because I refered to Bush's "guest" worker program as "un-American". While it's easy to overuse that phrase, and it does have very negative historical connotations, if Bush's plan isn't un-American I don't know what is.

Does the reader find anything in that entry worthy of me being banned?

Obviously, I was one of the few people there who dared criticize George Bush, so perhaps that did it. Perhaps they're trying to be more like Blogs for Bush. Perhaps I should have posted things like the ludicrous "Why I Like George W. Bush (redstate.org/story/2004/7/25/155049/493), which was promoted to their front page. Instead, I concentrated on breaking news or being one of the few people who corrected widespread misconceptions about breaking news.

And, from the irony file, note that DailyKos and Mike Krempasky want you to support free speech online.

I've been banned from both their sites, so I must be doing something right.

1/24/07 UPDATE: I never did receive a good explanation for my banning, but Robert A. Hahn ("Nick Danger") or anyone else from RedState is welcome to leave a comment. And, I've since sent a few requests to RedState - and to EaglePub, their new owners and also the owners of Human Events - asking them to remove my copyrighted content from their sites. They've so far stonewalled me, despite (AFAICT) there being nothing in the RedState.org user agreement giving them the legal right to continue to display my content, to transfer my content to RedState.com and now EaglePub, or to display ads alongside my content. I may end up having to file a DMCA complaint; if anyone else wants to get involved in that leave a comment.

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[1] the-lonewacko-blog.redstate.com

[2] I sent an email using their contact form. A day later I sent one to MK's email address. I can sign in, but there's no link allowing me to post new comments. And, I get the message "Sorry, but you don't have permission to post stories to section 'Diary'" when I try to post a new entry.

[3] What does the reader think it says about a group that won't even respond after banning someone who's contributed dozens of posts? Does the reader think it's ethical to ban me and then keep my copyrighted content? What I'd like is for them to delete the content and set up a redirect from my URL there to this site. Unfortunately, if they won't respond to emails I might have to send a letter.

Posted to Bloggage at March 9, 2006 08:23 PM

Comments

Another example of the authoritarian cultists who demand allegiance to a leader rather than allegiance to a philosophy?

Posted by: Ontario Emperor at March 9, 2006 10:07 PM

I've been banned from so many sites, I still have to keep posting on my own blog to get the message through.

Job well done. You should tell your story to Harvey Silverglate.

Posted by: petty bourgeois at March 10, 2006 01:28 AM

Red(State) Alert! Another victim of a bushbot attack! I don't know if L. Wacko invented the term bushbot, but it sure is an apt description for people like Rush Limbaugh and now, apparently, Mike Krempasky. Do you suppose a blogger has ever accepted money payments for supporting a particular point of view?

Posted by: dchamil at March 10, 2006 06:20 AM

Lone:
Sorry about your being banned. It is really discouraging when conservatives fight among themselves and some act like the liberals. I would hope that conservatives would be able to disagree in a civil manner, remain friends, and return to debate again another day. Thank you for your postings and keep up the good work.

Posted by: LomaAlta at March 10, 2006 09:23 PM

Don't remember your email. I wasn't part of that discussion - but send it again.

Posted by: Mike Krempasky at March 11, 2006 01:32 PM

I was also banned from Red States (redstate.com/story/2006/2/1/164454/1355) after agreeing with another post that "there were too few troops on the ground at the beginning..." Moderator streiff was insulted that I contradicted his predictions of British response in Basra with a factual account of a drawdown in troop levels. The final affront came when I rebutted another of streiff's arguments with yet another facutal account of a State Department warning to CENTCOM in early 2003 about the "failure to address short-term public security."

I've come to the conclusion that "Red States" is not about promoting Conservative or even Republican policy, just about protecting President Bush at all costs.

[Note: I converted the RS link into a plain URL -- LW]

Posted by: Rhampton at March 29, 2006 12:21 PM