Has Matt Drudge Been Effectively NEUTRALIZED?

[Beetwasher]

Polier emphatically denies the allegations and says it hurt her and her family. I hope Polier sues him. Now THAT would be the kicker.

What does this do to Drudge?

[Skidmore]

1. Turns him into another first class

RW whiner, like Limbaugh and all the other outed liars, who whine incessantly about being picked on by the left.

[trumad]

2. It certainly put a serious ding in his er...cred

We on DU know that he never had any credibility... Now it's out in the open to those who thought he was legit.

[ThePittsburghKid]

4. Hopefully

this gaffe turns Drudge into a non-entity, but as long as he keeps feeding tripe like this intern thing to the RW and keeps telling them what they want, he'll have an audience.

[newyawker99]

30. Hi ThePittsburghKid!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

3. Don't his readers thrive on lies?

I've never read or logged onto his site, so I won't be affecting his numbers, but since his site is dedicated to the politics of personal destruction, I suspect that he will simply try harder to get his shit to stick next time.

[diplomats]

5. Makes him look like an ass

I think he was set up by someone who knew the allegations were false, so when he tries to smear Kerry in the future, non-wingnuts will be less likely to believe him.

[Beetwasher]

6. I'd Prefer to Think It WAS A Set-Up

That gives me hope. It would mean we've got some very clever people doing some real thinking for a change.

Hmmm, Rush neutralized, now Drudge....Hey Hannity, YOUR NEXT!

[Solomon]

15. It was a set-up. and brilliantly done. This is the kind of

fighting that democrats do. Clean. Kerry is now innoculated from personal attack. And Drudge is, well, er, drudge.

[Az]

7. Drudge has always been a tool for the repukes

I remember some time back we wound up doing a trace on some photo he had posted and it linked back to a secured Repuke server. He is just a mouth peace for the right. He will continue to post dirt and go on as though nothing had happened.

It has nothing to do with cred. It has to do with keeping the message flowing. Hit a person with the same nonsense repeatedly and eventually they will buy it.

Repetition works.
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Repetition works.

[fearnobush]

10. Repetition does work. ABB

Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
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Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.
Anybody But Bush.

[Beetwasher]

11. Yes, but see the post below. The Smear Machine of Which He's an Integral

part has now been compromised, or so I hope.

They'll continue to try, but I think it will be harder to get the mainstream to bite.

Intentional or not, the fallout out from this incident may have negative consequences that derail the efficacy of the smear machine...

[renegade000]

28. hey...u know that repetition?

i hear it works...

[Robbien]

8. The only one hurt in this last GOP smear campaign was the GOP

Drudge announces a drudge sludge smear campaign which was immediately picked up by Rush and his dittoheads. The right wing radio talk shows are all abuzz. Murdoch's international foreign tabloids screamed the rumor in their headlines. The GOP online team swung into action through FreeRepublic, Townhall, and NewsMax. DU and other non right wing sites were inundated with posters hyping the story and saying how doomed is the Democratic Party. Then the GOP print media whore, kindly labeled the Moonie Times, ran with the rumor.

Mainstream press stayed far away because they knew the footprints of a GOP smear campaign. They can now pat themselves on the back about how right they were. (and of course they will)

Now that the story is false, the only thing that is clear is that the GOP rumor mill has been outed. They sit out there is plain sight for everyone to see. The next time it will be even harder. I wonder how many phone calls Cheney's and Rove's office will have to make before someone runs with a story.

[Beetwasher]

9. It Was Actually Quite an Amazing thing to Watch

The smear machine in action. It's like clockwork, but it's now completely exposed and possibly neutralized.

Good post summating the entire thing. You've got the chain pretty much exactly.

[buycitgo]

12. don't count on it

the most (or second-most) popular Chicago drivetime outlet is putting out the Drudge defense that Polyer was dating Kerry's finance manager as a BEARD, and they're still asserting the affair was real, quoting other staffers.

they defended his story accuracy in the past, as well !!!!!!

they also carry his sleazy show on Sunday nights

not saying anything about the accuracy of said assertions......it's what they're discussing at this moment.

of course, not ONE word about how the thugs treated the Schwarzenegger fiasco, and were able to turn it to their advantage by crying "gutter politics/journalism"

I was going to call in to take them to task for this, but that would've meant listening to this BS, and I could only take listening as long as I did to get grist for this post.

this is how the shills will be treating this for as long as they can

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. I always thought the term "Beard" referred to

A gay guy dating a woman as "cover". Think about it and the imagery works.

[buycitgo]

19. refers to anyone substituting for anyone else to keep the heat off

sort of like Bush BEARDING for Cheney!

[Jade Fox]

21. Sounds like desperate preaching to the choir

The people who will continue to believe this regardless are not going to change their agenda. They will, however, start to look pretty stupid to everyone else.

I hope the smear machine has at least taken a serious hit.

[Az]

13. Memory

Memory is a tricky thing. Long term memory even trickier. In numbers it virtually disappears. This is a blip. The only way to capitalize on it is to take the leadership away from the right. But this is not on the agenda of the planners behind the Democratic party. Theirs tactics are to play to the middle. Get the win instead of get the people. This simply plays into the rights hands.

People seriously distrust the Democrats. It is because of this tactic of playing to the polls. They do not know what we stand for. They will vote who they trust.

The leadership behind the candidates needs to get its act together and stop trying to be everyones favorite. Either we stand for some ideals or we will not bring the people to us.

As things stand now people will be dismayed at Bush and company. But in the absense of a Democratic champion offering them a different vision they will lapse back into their topur and allow themself to be lead by whoever is willing to tell them what to believe.

[KharmaTrain]

14. No Law Suits, Please...Let Snopes Be Our Witness

The last thing we need to do is give this goon any more limelight than required. Drudge was fairly marginalized as it was...and this non-action just shows how far down he's slid. By putting out this bogus crap, he's shot the last vestiges of "credibility" to hell. Even if he comes up with something "earthshaking" and "Developing" now, it'll be easily remembered his latest screw up.

Let's avoid being like the GOOPs on this one...let's keep focus on the corruption and immorality of this regime...lord knows we have so much to work from.

I hope this young lady and her family are left alone now.

[sendero]

17. How could anyone...

... in a ridiculous hat like that have any credibility? :) It makes him look like a .... well never mind.

Let's hope he keeps posting bs and loses the 1% cred he has left.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

18. I thought the best thing about this was

the fact that, for the MOST part, the big broadcast and print media didn't touch this, to their credit.

I was listening to some stupid RW show a couple of nights ago, I think it was Hannity, and he was saying "WHY DON'T THEY RUN WITH THIS STORY!", (referring to the TV networks including FAUX) citing Drudge's success with the Monica story as something that should make him the bulletproof beacon of truth forevermore instead of a hi-tech rumor monger. LOL. We should call up Hannity and bring this up with him. "Because they're supposed to verify facts and have journalistic standards. And what about those rumors about you and child pornography, Sean?" LOL.

But seriously, I hope the flameout of this story seriously diminishes the effectiveness of this sleazy tool for the rest of the campaign. When the next anonymous sleaze floats out there, we can say, "look at the so-called intern rumor. Why should we give any credibility to this?"

[Beetwasher]

22. Actually, CNN Just Ran a Report About the Smear and Exposed It as Such

The story is actually now about how these vicious false rumors start and get spread around. This is serving to expose the smear machine. This is not the first story I've seen like this. This is a good thing.

[Mountainman]

27. Hanity is still talking about it.

He has the wing nut talking points on Kerry committing atrocities in Vietnam and is complaining that the media is spreading lies about Bush's military time but not about Kerry and his mystery woman.

I think the wing nuts are learning that their stunts don't work anymore because of the credibility gap Bush and all those who spread the WMD lies have.

[buycitgo]

29. exactly right

see post 12

Hannity is also on this POS station......right winger followed by right winger followed by fascist followed by nazi

one after the other

WLS

leavened only by Nate Clay and the Ski and Skinner replacements, plus reruns of Dean Edell

oh..CNN has run stories twice in the last hour on Kerry, naming names, playing it up quite a bit, concentrating on the assertion rather than the denial

surprised?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

20. The next Dem administration

needs to take serious action to break up the media monopolies. There is a strong constituency for this, and even includes some conservatives like William Safire.

[annxburns]

23. My opinion ...

... is that this is really going to help Kerry AND inoculate him from further attacks. Real good week for Kerry.

[Jade Fox]

25. Yes, by the way...

love your name. I fell all over the floor laughing when I first read that phrase.
B-)

[Taeger]

24. BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR DRUDGE

Drudge is a gossip queen, he isn't a journalist. He will print ANYTHING that gets him web hits.

This is par for the course for Drudge. If he gets on in 30 stories right, it's a personal best ;-)

Beyond this, Drudge never actually CLAIMED that Polier had an affair. He simply claimed that UNNAMED SOURCES CLAIMED that Polier had an affair.

Drudge is the first step on a ladder of unsubstantiated gossip becoming "news".

[tom_paine]

26. Was Julius Streicher ever neutralized until the very end?

www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Streicher.html

You have your answer.