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Debunking the Latest Carol Shea-Porter Smear

by: Dean Barker

Tue Jun 07, 2011 at 20:18:44 PM EDT
Patrick Hynes, paid consultant for Tim Pawlenty's presidential run, tried to tie Carol Shea-Porter to Anthony Weiner today on the right-wing website New Hampshire Journal (emphasis mine):
Before she was voted out of the first Congressional district in 2010 elections Rep. Carol Shea-Porter formed the self-styled "Middle Class Working Group" with Weiner and the two reportedly were good friends in Washington.
Patrick Hynes has a history of unsourced online attacks in New Hampshire.  Two of the top ten bogus hit pieces against Carol Shea-Porter, for example, are from him, while another two are connected to him.  He's even earned enemies on the right: Skip from GraniteGrok called him the "master of dirty tricks."

Of course, this guilt by association nonsense is exactly that, nonsense.  But given the lack of credibility of Hynes' past attacks on Shea-Porter, I thought I would reach out to her anyway for an on-the-record comment as to whether there was any truth to the allegations that she and Weiner were "good friends."

Carol responded simply "No, not true. Never socialized."

I think the takeaway from all this is that the right is (correctly) worried about Frank Guinta's re-election prospects now that he's voted to end Medicare, and so any distraction, however untrue, is going to be pounced on.

UPDATE: Hynes follows up with plenty of vapor, yet unable to prove claim that Shea-Porter and Weiner "were good friends."

(find me > 140 on birch paper; on Twitter < 140)
Dean Barker :: Debunking the Latest Carol Shea-Porter Smear
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Debunking the Latest Carol Shea-Porter Smear | 9 comments
"Hey, kid!" (4.00 / 2)
"Yeah?"

"Ever heard of Carol Shea-Porter or Anthony Weiner?"

"No."

"Whatever. Now, say 'They were good friends in Washington.'"

"They were good friends in Washington."

"Now scram." [Turns back to keyboard, taps away with self-satisfied smirk.]

Okay but even if it had been true...so? (4.00 / 1)
Would it be so terrible to have once had a cordial relationship with one of 541 members of Congress who, to everyone's surprise, ended up being kind of an internet weirdo?

As if any of Weiner's friends or colleagues were aware of that?

--
Hope > Anarch-tea
Twitter: @DougLindner

The man thirsts for attention, any attention (4.00 / 2)
it is best to ignore him.

Have you told a stranger today about Bill O'Brien and his Tea Party agenda? The people of NH deserve to hear about O'Brien  and his majority committed to destroying New Hampshire and remaking it into a armed survivalist preserve.  
The title of this post is misleading. (0.00 / 0)
If one is looking for a subject and a verb, the subject is Carol Shea-Porter and the verb is smear. Even if all there is is a compound object, the issue is being addressed in terms of the victim, rather than the perpetrator.  

My suggestion?

"Republican operative perpetrates smear via guilt by association."

While it is good to have our Carol mentioned in the press, repeating Republican gossip should be avoided.

Emphatically disagree. (0.00 / 0)
Hynes has a history of spreading smears up the right-wing funnel, and from there they have gone to right-wing news and some to traditional media.

Remember the "CSP had cop removed from town hall" nonsense?  That was on FOX all morning.  Guess who pushed it from the start?

Rapid response to false claims is necessary.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

[ Parent ]
And Fox is going (0.00 / 0)
to publicize any correction?  We can't fight that, and anyone who believes what Fox says now will probably never be on our side.  Their ratings are dropping and they are rapidly getting down to the base who will believe anything.  

Whatever you think, but I am still going to believe that all this is a distraction.  At least we could watch how we use Carol's name, and follow hannah's suggestions, making the perpetrator of the smear the subject of the title.

[ Parent ]
Goal is not to get a correction from FOX. (0.00 / 0)
Goal is to prevent mainstream media from taking non-credible local sources seriously enough to mention in the first place.

This is an ongoing battle, as the those with the least scruples in the online right are always scheming ways to look like "real" media to the unknowing DC set.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

[ Parent ]
Yes, but the phrase (0.00 / 0)
"Carol Shea-Porter smear" does not accomplish what you intend. It puts the focus on the victim, rather than the perpetrator.
Hynes makes a living being a political operative scum bag. Such people ought to be ignored.  But, if they're not, they need to be called out.
[ Parent ]
Geez, Dean, (4.00 / 1)
mostly I agree with you, but I really think hannah is correct, and we don't do our candidates any favors by spending our and their time on gossip.  This whole Weiner thing has "distracted" (in quotes because I am not sure how much our media loves to be distracted from that boring and scary serious stuff) from Clarence Thomas' conflict of interest re healthcare reform.
We should not let the other side drive the conversation!
Debunking the Latest Carol Shea-Porter Smear | 9 comments

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