Repeat It Often Enough
By Mitch Berg
News Flash; the Minnesota Monitor is helping Al Franken circle his wagons by taking an ad hominem attack at Michael Brodkorb. Indeed, other than Katherine Kersten (who earns the left’s ire by transgressing the liberal old-boy’s-and-Lori-Sturdevant’s-club at the Strib), nobody in the Twin Cities arouses more deranged ire than Brodkorb.
Indeed, it seems sometimes it makes them depart the surly bonds of reason.
Disclosure: Michael’s a friend of mine, and my NARN colleague.
Background: Along with many of us on the center-right, Michael smelled a rat when the Monitor – whose operations are underwritten by the “Center for Independent Media” – went live back in ’06. The CIM started life sharing offices with George Soros’ attack-PR firm Media Matters for America – which, many of us felt, was more than just a coincidence. The Monitor’s first editor, Robin Marty, tittered and giggled and obfuscated when Michael and many other local bloggers asked for details about the Monitor’s funding – or even a denial that Soros was involved. Not that it would have mattered, other than as a way of helping the casual reader assess the “independence” of the “Center for Independent Media” from Soros; to the informed observer, being in bed with Soros, whose other activities are to say the least unsavory, might have helped the reader in judging how much and what kind of credibility to assign the Monitor.
But other than a slip of the lip from a contributor (who admitted that the Monitor was “supported by liberals with deep pockets”) and stalled – until former Strib reporter Erik Black let the truth slip out when departing the Monitor for the MNPost last fall.
Now, there’s a reason the left gets all deranged over Michael Brodkorb; if Michael were a fighter pilot and big scoops on DFL shenanigans were enemy planes, the side of his cockpit would look like John Landers’ P51, only with donkeys instead of swastikas and rising suns.
“Surely”, their reasoning goes, “he must be on the GOP’s payroll”, the reasonable among them insist – although nobody’s ever come up with anything, beyond Robin Marty’s hit piece from a few years ago (which made the unsubstantiated leap from “Brodkorb was a paid consultant to the Mark Kennedy campaign” to “the GOP pays Brodkorb to blog”) which served only to give the local deranged left an ad-hominem shrieking point.
And to this day, they’re still hovering out there. Still trying to make that connection.
Today, we got a double helping of fun. We were not only served with the rich irony of Paul Schmelzer (whose writing and editorship I have in the past guardedly praised in this space), a paid employee of a group linked with people to whom the Monitor and the CIM have gone to great lengths to hide their ties, flogging the thin gruel of Robin Marty’s old, debunked accusations about Brodkorb’s blog’s supposed financial ties to the GOP…
…but we got him muffing the basic facts of the story – the AP piece by Pat Condon I wrote about earlier today.
Schmelzer:
The AP neglects to mention Brodkorb’s past work as research director for the Republican Party of Minnesota and a part-time gig as “press consultant” to former Republican senatorial candidate Mark Kennedy; according to Federal Elections Commission reports, he earned $4,500 per month at that job.
He dropped out of college in 1995 to work on the failed U.S. Senate campaign of Rudy Boschwitz. In the late ’90s, Brodkorb worked for state Senate Republicans, where he started to learn how to do “opposition research” — digging up dirt on opponents. He did it well enough to become director of research for the state Republican Party, and served in similar roles for several Republican campaigns…
…and later…
Brodkorb started Minnesota Democrats Exposed anonymously in 2004, when he was still a paid employee of the state Republican Party.
I think that counts as a “mention”, don’t you, Paul?
Schmelzer:
The AP also doesn’t mention the check for $5,500 Brodkorb received on September 3, 2006, for research services provided to the Michele Bachmann campaign.
And for about the thousandth time in three years, I have to ask – so what? Brodkorb gets to have a day job – right? Leaving aside that adding “scare quotes” around “press consultant” doesn’t by itself impeach Brodkorb’s story (right?), I have a question for the Monitor: Given the reputation as a giant-killer that Michael Brodkorb has built up, and the fact that he is not a dumb guy, and that he’s got a city full of leftybloggers and DFL opposition researchers scurrying about like cockroaches on amyl, looking for that magic link that’d discredit him, does anyone rationally think that Brodkorb – who claims not to earn his living from politics today – would risk all of that by trying to lie about his income?
Y’know – like the Monitor did?
And when you get back to us on that, Paul and Robin and your various supporters (heh), please try to use things like “evidence” rather than “innuendo” and “jumping to conclusions that aren’t warranted by evidence”.
UPDATE: Joe Tucci hit the same conclusion at about the same time, noting that Schmelzer has added a “correction”:
The “correction” is even funnier than the “error”:
The AP only mentions in passing Brodkorb’s past work as research director for the Republican Party of Minnesota and leaves out specific reference to a part-time gig as “press consultant” to former Republican senatorial candidate Mark Kennedy… (emphasis mine).
It’s a 1,000 word fucking wire story. Should they have posted a detailed and exhaustive C.V. along with the story? “OMFG – Brodkorb worked at McDonald’s when he was in high school , and they clear cut rainforests!!!”
Is that something they normally do? Is it desirable?
Only if you’re a power hungry partisan hack with an axe to grind
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Mitch, how dare you list the sources of liberal derangement and not mention Michelle Bachmann. If I were able to cause liberals to through tantrums on an almost daily basis, I would want to be recognized for it.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
The thing that pisses me off ( more than most ), is that people can make tax deductible donations to MiniMoni so that partisan hacks like Shmelzer can write this crap.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Indeed, other than Katherine Kersten (who earns the left’s ire by transgressing the liberal old-boy’s-and-Lori-Sturdevant’s-club at the Strib), nobody in the Twin Cities arouses more deranged ire than Brodkorb.
Indeed, it seems sometimes it makes them depart the surly bonds of reason.
Disclosure: Michael’s a friend of mine, and my NARN colleague.”
Indeed, Berg doesn’t actually present evidence of this ‘club’ other than the fact that people who pay attention to actions find Kersten’s columns vapid and frequently pointless.
Indeed Bordkob pretends to be an independent blogger while frequently being on the payroll of the GOP – speaking of good ole’ boys clubs..
Indeed, Berg wishes he was on the payroll too – and sucks up to the GOP with this kind of drivel on a daily basis, pretending to be an everyman while sneering at any attempt to throw water on the fire of his ad hominem attacks that issue forth from his mouth and hands daily…
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Hey Mitch, FYI you may want to check Bordkorb’s disclosure page about how often he’s worked for the GOP – it’s just a tad deeper than you relate – but don’t let facts get in your way.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
“but don’t let facts get in your way.”
Cause facts never matter to peev. It’s all about the meme of the hour.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 am
Only in the GOP world does a a donation to an organization, who then funds another organization, who then funds another organization, makes one a puppet of the first. But when Mike receives direct payment from a campaign for Press consulting and then writes screeds based on the information he gathers while on the dole AND pushes the story, as a paid press consultant is suppose to do, and that is an “unsubstantiated leap”
Again, I don’t care where you put the goal posts, but someday you should at least attempt to place them in the same location for both teams, but if you did that, you’d be screwed!
I will never deny the fact that Mike is the BEST at his chosen career path.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 am
None of which changes the fact that Fast Al Franken has demonstrated a pattern of financial corruption, first with Gloria Wise Boy’s and Girl’s Club, now with his taxes.
In the first instance he blamed it on Air America management, in the second, his accountant. His accountant hasbeen ordered not to comment, and the Media said, “Oh. OK.” and walked away.
The “accounting error” has been described as a “rookie” error, so either Al has really, really bad judgment in his staffing decisions, or he’s a crook. Either way, he should not be a US Senator. We have more than enough clowns up there now. We don’t need a new one.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Indeed, other than Katherine Kersten (who earns the left’s ire by transgressing the liberal old-boy’s-and-Lori-Sturdevant’s-club at the Strib), nobody in the Twin Cities arouses more deranged ire than Brodkorb.
Because it pisses the DFL off to get their asses kicked on such a regular basis, John Landers’ style. Like you.
Indeed, it seems sometimes it makes them depart the surly bonds of reason.
Of course, as we have repeatedly seen, you have intimate knowledge of such a departed-from-reason state.
Disclosure: Michael’s a friend of mine, and my NARN colleague.”
So? Whats-a-matter, Peev, you jealous because Mitch doesn’t give Master Meandering Screed Threadjacker such honor?
Indeed, Berg doesn’t actually present evidence of this ‘club’ other than the fact that people who pay attention to actions find Kersten’s columns vapid and frequently pointless.
Yet so much ire and angst over vapidity and pointlessness…just think how mad you’d be if she had substance with a point!
Indeed Bordkob pretends to be an independent blogger while frequently being on the payroll of the GOP – speaking of good ole’ boys clubs..
So upfront disclosure of bias means someone is “pretending” independence (dishonesty), while denying bias while engaging in it is pure honesty.
No wonder Brodkorb kicks your asses so much.
Also, you misspelled “Brodkorb” as “Bordkob”, dummy.
Indeed, Berg wishes he was on the payroll too
You are aware Mitch is gainfully employed at this time? And if he wasn’t, he’d blog about it?
and sucks up to the GOP with this kind of drivel on a daily basis
The only one who sucks drivel is you, you nitwit.
pretending to be an everyman while sneering at any attempt to throw water on the fire of his ad hominem attacks that issue forth from his mouth and hands daily…
Like you NEVER engage in any such attacks yourself, you asshatted jagoff. The entire comment I just fisked is an ad hominem attack, you magnificent imbecile.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Again, I don’t care where you put the goal posts, but someday you should at least attempt to place them in the same location for both teams, but if you did that, you’d be screwed!
Flash, the goal posts are: disclosure of bias.
Michael Brodkorb does.
MinMon doesn’t.
Tell us, what about that has moved or not in the same location for each side?
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Indeed Bordkob pretends to be an independent blogger while frequently being on the payroll of the GOP – speaking of good ole’ boys clubs..
Good ol’ boys who call Arabs “Ay-Rabs”, right?
Would you like to slip in a few more cliches while we have time?
pretending to be an everyman
“Pretending” to be an everyman?
You’re onto me. I’m really an exiled Austrian nobleman.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Actually, I always suspected that Mitch was the Dauphin, or perhaps the grandson of Anastasia.
What really galls the Exposed Dems isn’t so much that Michael exists, but that his posts are accurate. When they can’t attack his reporting, the onlly thing left to attack is him.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
“Only in the GOP world does a a donation to an organization, who then funds another organization, who then funds another organization, makes one a puppet of the first.”
Flash is right. Who would ever attempt to influence somebody with money?
It just doesn’t seem plausible. When has anybody ever done anything for money? Jeez, what were we thinking?