I was going to post this over at Adam's blog, but he doesn't make it easy to post comments. (It says click to register. Is that by filling in my email address, or what? It's not very specific, sorry.)
Anyway, as I expected, Adam had a problem with my posts pointing out how Allen Gorin is part of an organization with extensive ties to Jack Abramoff and, because of that, Gorin may want to think twice before ID'ing himself as Toward Tradition's Idaho rep when he's writing on Sali's behalf. And although Gorin may not be on Sali's payroll, he works very closely with Sali's circle (the Idaho Values Alliance, in particular). He certainly is "part" of the Sali campaign when he writes an op-ed defending Sali against a newspaper columnist.
I didn't say Toward Tradition is a front group for Jack Abramoff. I simply pointed out the convicted lobbyist's long ties to the group. Adam provided linkage to TT's lame rebuttal of the Lisa Rudy situation. Fair enough.
Adam criticized me for reporting the Gorin story in June, saying it smacks of something a desperate campaign would do in October. Huh? What's your point? I didn't wait until the fall; I reported it the day I saw Gorin's column. People deserve to know the associations involved. In fact, I hope people write letters to the Statesman and other newspapers pointing out Sali's ties to such fringe groups as Toward Tradition and the Club for Growth.
With Bubblehead's help, Adam tries very hard to equate Gorin's affiliation with Toward Tradition to my long career of posting on top progressive blogs, but the comparison falls flat. Toward Tradition is a sad-sack group that - probably due partly to its affiliation with Abramoff and partly to its extremist views - has seen its influence crumble. According to the Wikipedia entry I cited yesterday, "In March 2006, it was reported that Toward Tradition had closed its leased Mercer Island offices and laid off most of the staff, and was being run from Lapin's home."
Contrast that with MoveOn.org, a powerhouse group that - as I noted in the comments thread after Bubblehead's complaint - is waaaaaay more centrist and involves millions more people than Toward Tradition. MoveOn.org has worked on hundreds of issues; I did happen to link from the Grant blog to a petition drive it had earlier this year to protest Congress' inaction on the sale of people's private phone records. So? Adam needs to remember the disclaimer we have at the Grant blog that says the campaign does not necessarily agree with everything on linked sites, though I think most of us can agree we do not want our phone records sold.
And yes, I did write on Blog for America in 2003 that we needed regime change at home. The 2004 election campaign had begun, and I was simply expressing that because George W. Bush had led us into an unnecessary war than even then looked like a catastrophe, we needed to replace him at the polls. Half of America agreed with me, remember - and nationally, about two-thirds do now, even though we're stuck with the sorry git for another two-and-a-half years.
It comes down to this: Democrats are looking out for the troops who've been handed a baseless war with no exit strategy, for our rights not to have our phones tapped nor our phone records plumbed, and for Americans' right to a decent living wage for their hard work. Republicans are looking out for their own backsides and a litany of "values" that demean and dismiss people who don't believe and behave exactly as they do. Adam, I respect your right to defend Bill Sali, but I will do my best to be sure my fellow Idahoans know all we can about his real agenda.
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