We Have An Instant Ignorant Dolt Today - Ed Whelan

Jesus, it's Sunday, for crying-out-loud.

You really have to be working at it, to want it, oh, so badly, to become an Instant Ignorant Dolt on the weekend.

I mean, you have the luxury of five days, to piss all over yourself, and spread your ignorance out, and then kick back over the weekend to bask in it, or to flail away, attempting to explain, or suppress, your shining moment of dunderheadedness.

But Ed Whelan just couldn't wait ... He had to let it explode, to shoot out of the gate, like a geyser of unfettered PartyofNoican bile.

Whelan, who is the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, blogs on the Flying Monkey perch of The National Review, and, also worked in the Bush Grindhouse "From just before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, until joining EPPC in 2004, Mr. Whelan was the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, he advised the White House Counsel’s Office, the Attorney General and other senior DOJ officials, and Departments and agencies throughout the executive branch on difficult and sensitive legal questions."



Hmmm ... Advised on "difficult and sensitive legal questions."

What was going on in the The Bush Grindhouse from 2001, to 2004?

The building of the lies for the invasion and occupation of Iraq ... The building of the Bush (Cheney) Torture Program ... Illegal wiretapping ... The exposure and outing of a covert CIA Agent ...

Which is where we landed today, with IID Whelan.

We'll let Steve Benen set up, succinctly;

On Friday, publius -- Hilzoy's Obsidian Wings co-blogger and someone I've known for several years -- had a blog post criticizing something National Review's Ed Whelan wrote. As blog criticisms go, the piece was acerbic but hardly outrageous -- Whelan made an observation about judges pondering policy outcomes, and publius referenced a Volokh item that took issue with Whelan's assumptions.

Whelan, publius said, is "a smart guy with outstanding legal credentials," adding, "He just enjoys playing the role of know-nothing demagogue." The same post referenced a quote from Anonymous Liberal, describing Whelan as "essentially a legal hitman."

So, what does our Instant Ignorant Dolt Ed Whelan do?

He writes a post, outing and exposing the identity, and employer, of publius, as well as sending him a pissy email.

Exposing an Irresponsible Anonymous Blogger

One bane of the Internet is the anonymous blogger who abuses his anonymity to engage in irresponsible attacks. One such blogger who has been biting at my ankles in recent months is the fellow who calls himself “publius” at the Obsidian Wings blog.

And, this is a good one, even in his hackery, his moment of Ignorant Doltness, Whelan admits "Well, I’m amused to learn that I was wrong about publius’s lack of legal education."

Then IID Whelan goes on to expose publius, where he works, and hits on him a few more times.

TBogg gets the honors for the most descriptive post on this, saying "Bitter out-of-power wingnut welfare recipient Ed Whelan fucks up explaining a joke, gets called out on it, and then goes Full Metal Asshole ..."

The Anonymous Liberal, who got dragged into this, offers;

Whelan responded by publishing Publius' real identity on the National Review website and sending him an email saying "now who's the hitman, you coward and idiot."

Um, it's still you, Ed, but thanks for proving it.

It's really difficult to put into words just how despicable and childish this behavior is. This is a man who was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General. He's currently the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. And he's acting like a six-year-old.

John Cole, on Balloon Juice, points out a bit of irony, noting "Shameful, but to be expected. I mean, after all, Publius was defending a racist latina! He had it coming. Good thing Whelan heads a group that deals with ethics. That kind of experience could come in handy during a situation like this."

And, publius (we'll stay honoring his nom-de-plume), also responded to IID Whelan, in his sardonic "Stay Classy Ed Whelan";

And to be clear – the proximate cause was that Whelan got mad that I criticized him in a blog post. More specifically, he’s mad that Eugene Volokh made him look rather silly – and he’s lashing out at me for pointing that out, and publishing my name.

[snip]

As I told Ed (to no avail), I have blogged under a pseudonym largely for private and professional reasons. Professionally, I’ve heard that pre-tenure blogging (particularly on politics) can cause problems. And before that, I was a lawyer with real clients. I also believe that the classroom should be as nonpolitical as possible – and I don’t want conservative students to feel uncomfortable before they take a single class based on my posts. So I don’t tell them about this blog. Also, I write and research on telecom policy – and I consider blogging and academic research separate endeavors. This, frankly, is a hobby.

[snip]

All of these things I would have told Ed, if he had asked. Instead, I told him that I have family and professional reasons for not publishing under my own name, and he wrote back and called me an “idiot” and a “coward.” (I’ve posted the email exchange below).

How often have we seen this from the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freakshow?

Have a disagreement with their dogma, they don't defend their position, they personally attack the dissenter, the person with a different opinion, a different point-of-view.

Valerie Plame is, certainly, a shining example of this

So Ed Whelan, you join the clown train of The Garlics' growing roster of Ignorant Dolts.

Just remember to change, frequently, as you piss all over yourself.


Bonus Ignorant Dolt Ed Whelan Riffs

A.J. Strata: A Far Right Tirade At NRO Results In Exposing An Anonymous Centrist Blogger

James Joyner: Outing

D. Aristophanes: douche-bag (n.) - see Whelan, Ed

Kevin Jon Heller: Ed Whelan Outs an Anonymous Law Professor/Blogger

Tom Maguire: I Deplore This

Joe Gandelman: Blogging Ethics: You Strongly Disagree With Me I Expose Your Identity

Brad DeLong: The National Review: Taking the Class Out of Class Warfare: Ed Whalen Edition (Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?)

Scott Lemieux: Advocate of Arbitrary Torture Shows Lack of Ethics

And, the last word, to Publius - Thanks All

Standing With Sotomayor

We've done a few posts on the nomination of Appeals Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor (Here, Here, and Here), noting that the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show are in a tizzy, and unloading their smears on Judge Sotomayor.

Well, it seems that a group, supporting Judge Sotomayor, has popped up, and David Neiwert, on Crooks and Liars, has the details.

We Stand With Sonia Sotomayor

The Right is throwing every little bit of ugliness they can at Sonia Sotomayor in hopes of derailing her nomination to the Supreme Court.

They've called her a racist. They've compared the National Council of La Raza to the Ku Klux Klan. They've called her a "lightweight" and "anti-white." They've suggested she lacks the right temperament, since she's just another stereotypical hot-blooded Latina. They've even suggested she's unfit to be a judge because she menstruates.

OK, we get it, fellas. The kid gloves are off.

You can visit Presente, for more information, or to sign up and be counted.

I'll Never Love This Way Again

Or, in Jeffrey Rosen's case, he won't lie, distort, and smear, via blogging, again.

Rosen, writing for the The New Republic, posted a diatribe ("The Case Against Sotomayor") on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, oh, about two-weeks before President Obama actually named her as the nominee.

Glenn Greenwald, at Salon, Brad DeLong, on his Brad Blog, and Brian Beutler, on TPMDC, immediately jumped all over Rosen, for using anonymous smears against Sotomayor, while freely admitting, that he hadn't actually studied any of her cases.

Darren Lenard Hutchinson, in his "Hatchet Job: Jeffrey Rosen's Utterly Bankrupt Analysis of Judge Sonia Sotomayor", delivered the haymaker.

But wait!



Jeffrey Rosen responded to his critics, weakly, to which Greenwald picked apart the non-apology apology.

So, for the fact that he wrote a sloppy, lazy, shoddy post, Mr. Jeffery Rosen disparages blogging, and is throwing in the towel on it;

The article was used to bash the judge's prospects even before her formal nomination. But its author, the noted legal writer Jeffrey Rosen, says he's been burned by the episode, too — enough that he's swearing off blogging for good.

"It was a short Web piece," Rosen says now, sounding a little shellshocked. "I basically thought of it as a blog entry."

[snip]

Above all, Rosen says he's drawn a lesson from how his initial essay was treated by people of both ideological stripes. He won't be blogging any more. He wants to spend more time with the material before hitting "send."

Greenwald, again;

In that grand accountability-free tradition, Rosen blames everyone but himself for what he did, but then melodramatically announces that he will no longer "blog" -- as though it's the medium, rather than his own standards and choices, that are to blame for what he did ,,,

[snip]

Moreover, the excuse that Rosen was merely "blogging" is, just as a factual matter, so obviously false: his Sotomayor piece wasn't on any of the TNR "blogs" (as happens when Rosen is actually "blogging") but instead was presented as a stand-alone article; it was, as NPR notes, "more than 1,000 words"; and TNR touted it as "the first in a series of reports by TNR legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen about the strengths and weaknesses of the leading candidates." Does that remotely sound as though they intended it to be a "mere blog post"?

[snip]

Rosen can give up blogging and every other perceived vice all he wants. But until he renounces the defining practices of what Sullivan calls "standard Washington reporting" -- indiscriminately granting anonymity and thus producing accountability-free claims -- he'll still be the same Jeffrey Rosen producing the same sorts of reckless pieces. The effort to depict Sonia Sotomayor as "dumb and obnoxious" was notable only because of how extreme it was. Otherwise, there was nothing unusual about it. To the contrary, as Sullivan says, the unreliable, misleading methods it used were perfectly common for blogging Washington "reporting."

Well, as we have done, so many times, for those in distress, Jeffery Rosen needs a song to drown his tears of blogging in ...

Hit it, Dionne!

Dionne Warwick - I'll never love this way again

Latin Lady

Sorry Garlic Fans, another light post this evening.

We continue to be pummeled by allergies, to the point, I fear, we would be creatively-challenged to write out a shopping list.



It has become a Sonia Sotomayorpalooza out there, with cable news settling into what will be their programming for the next number of weeks.

And, as we noted yesterday, the Flying Monkeys are running around today, with their hair on fire.

Judge Sotomayor has been attacked, and smeared, over;

Her education

Matt Corley - Rove: Attending top schools doesn’t mean that Sotomayor is smart, but it proves that Bush is

Joan Walsh - Buchanan on Sotomayor: "Not that intelligent"

How she handles her finances

Brad DeLong: "Most Unfair Attack on Sonia Sotomayor" Contest Entry: Greg Mankiw

And, what is the Headline-of-the-Day;

Nate Silver: Grandmother of World's 23rd Best Economist Posthumously Offended by Sonia Sotomayor's Spending Habits; Will Obama Withdraw Nomination?

Even, that she is pronouncing her own name wrong

Amanda Terkel: Krikorian: People should stop pronouncing Sotomayor’s name correctly

What she eats

Wonkette: Sotomayor’s Magical Bean Foods Make Her Hate White People More

David Kurtz: Parody?

And, not surprising, Paul Krugman has a good finger on the pulse of things (A note on identity politics);

The thing that is really driving conservatives crazy, I think, is that their identity politics just isn’t working like it used to. Their whole approach has been based on the belief that Americans vote as if they live in Mayberry, and fear and hate anyone who looks a bit different; now that the country just isn’t like that, they’ve gone mad.

We may need to, having thought we'd have to wait for the confirmation hearing, shout out a "Help Me Mr. Wizard!", to help us all get through this.

So, with that kind of garbage being thrown at her, we just have to throw out another musical treat, as nod to the pending first Latino Supreme Court Justice.

Carlos Santana & Gato Barbieri - Latin Lady

Ella Fue!

Azucar Sonia Sotomayor!



If you caught, even only, a fleeting glance at cable news today, you, no doubt, heard the anchors, or talking heads gushing over the historic nomination of Federal Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor, by President Barack Obama, to the Supreme Court.

This, from an email received today, from the President;

I am proud to announce my nominee for the next Justice of the United States Supreme Court: Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

This decision affects us all -- and so it must involve us all. I've recorded a special message to personally introduce Judge Sotomayor and explain why I'm so confident she will make an excellent Justice.

Judge Sotomayor has lived the America Dream. Born and raised in a South Bronx housing project, she distinguished herself in academia and then as a hard-charging New York District Attorney.

Judge Sotomayor has gone on to earn bipartisan acclaim as one of America's finest legal minds. As a Supreme Court Justice, she would bring more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any Justice in 100 years. Judge Sotomayor would show fidelity to our Constitution and draw on a common-sense understanding of how the law affects our day-to-day lives.

A nomination for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land is one of the most important decisions a President can make. And the discussions that follow will be among the most important we have as a nation. You can begin the conversation today by watching this special message and then passing it on.

You should also read;

Al Giordano: From the Bronx to the Court

Jack Balkin: Why the Sotomayor Nomination Makes Sense

Jane Hamsher: Obama Ignores Smear Campaign, Nominates Sotomayor for High Court

Glenn Greenwald: Obama's choice of Sotomayor deserves praise

Of course, no matter who Obama nominated, the PartyofNoicans, and the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show would be lighting their hair on fire, shouting it's the end-of-the-world, and they, surely, hit their marks, on cue.

Alan Colmes: It Didn’t Take Long For the Right-Wing Mob To Attack Sotomayor

Joe Sudbay (DC): Get ready for an onslaught of right wing attacks on Sotomayor -- aided and abetted by the traditional media

Blue Texan: Conservatives Already Screwing Up Opposition to Sotomayor

David Corn: Will Sotomayor Split the Right?

Nate Silver, and Eric Kleefeld have the counts, from the past two times Sotomayor faced Senate confirmation

Want more?

Talk about serving up a big slice of the American Dream, Sonia Sotomayor saved baseball!

More Bonus Riffs

David Neiwert: Obama cites Sonia Sotomayor's life experience in naming her to Supreme Court

dday: Sotomayor

John Cole: The Sotomayor Pick

Steve Benen: RNC 'TALKING POINTS' ARE 'ACCIDENTALLY' LEAKED...

And, of course, we have a tune to go with the title, from the Fania All-Stars

It seemed quite appropriate, and fitting, for the day.

Ella Fue (She Was The One) - Fania All-Stars