Forbes Magazine Attacks Bloggers – Coincidence?

If you first read the cover story that appears on the November 14 issue of
Forbes magazine you may think its just a typical article from a publication
that caters to the business community. Further reading into it reveals something
even more disturbing to people like me and other bloggers out there.

The article attacks bloggers around the country. It focuses on some of the
isolated incidents where blogs were used to attack companies or individuals.
Some of the attacks have actually been based on fact and there are some that are
based on lies.

One of the key victims of this attack is Google who hosts the very service
this blog is on.

But even the Constitution doesn’t give a citizen the right to unjustly
call his neighbor a child molester. Google and the like argue they bear no
more responsibility for content than a phone company does for slander over
its wires. But Google’s blog business looks less like a phone company and
more like a mix of reality TV and an online magazine. Bloggers provide the
fare, and Google maintains it for them free of charge, sometimes selling
ads.

Google says ad revenue isn’t the point. The real aim is “to let users
embrace the Web as a medium of self-expression,” a spokesman says. Google
lets them run wild. Yet Google edits and censors blog content all the
time–to protect its own interests. The company, whose portentous corporate
ethos includes the mantra “Don’t be evil,” snuffs out blogs that engage in “phishing”
(tricking people into revealing confidential information) and “spam blogs”
that skew Google’s search results. Bloggers who sign up for its ad program
(Google passes along 79% of sales, on average) must follow firm Google
guidelines that limit references to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling and
even “excessive profanity.”

Click

here for full article (free registration required).

First off, in America today anyone can be named in a lawsuit. During the
litigation defendants are dropped from the charge. Google does offer a great
blog service and there are numerous people who do abuse that service. Yahoo also
offers a great chat service and there are numerous people who abuse that service
and pray on young children, but you don’t see Forbes pointing the finger there.

Secondly, this article makes it appear as though Google is actively editing
all posts on blogs. I have never had a single post edited in the five different
blogspot sites I operate. Also, Google has
a vast number of blogs out there which means it would take an enormous staff to
edit content on every blog or even censor every blog out there (you want edited
content, there is a large scale Hollywood related forum site I can direct you to
that does engage in that activity).

It is no secret that blogs are now a mainstream factor in issues that affect
the American people. Politics have played a big roll in the blog-o-sphere. The
highly successful run of Paul Hackett for Congress in Ohio is living proof of
that. Actually the left has been quick to get a strong hold on the world of
blogs. This will in no doubt provide an extra strong point for the mid-term
elections next November.

The interesting thing is the timing of this article. You might be wondering
what this article has to do with the big news story of the day – the Scooter
Libby indictment. Well, as a blogger, I am going to inform you of the reason for
that and even provide you with links to back up my story (don’t want Forbes
coming after me now).

Scooter Libby was given his five indictments today by prosecutor Patrick
Fitzgerald. This story has been kept high on the public interest with a helping
hand of the blog-o-sphere. Everytime one little piece of information would come
out during the investigation, myself and many other bloggers instantly took to
our keyboards to report on it. We felt this issue was one of great national
importance and there for we would do our part to make sure America stays aware
of the situation. I even have one blog,
PlameGame, which is dedicated to the subject.

Now here is how Scooter Libby and Steve Forbes tie in together. For those who
don’t follow Presidential primaries that closley, Steve Forbes, the president
and editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine, has lost two bids to be the Republican
Presidential Nominee. His first attempt was lost to Bob Dole in 1996 and his
second was lost to George Bush in 2000 (can be verified at
answers.com). Not a big
tie yet but it gets better.

One subject I like to hit one in my blog, as any long time reader will know,
is the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). This is the Washington think
tank that basically designed the reasons for our war with Iraq. The PNAC has a
statement of principals which was put on June 3, 1997. The statement is somewhat
simple yet deadly.

American foreign and defense policy is adrift. Conservatives have
criticized the incoherent policies of the Clinton Administration. They have
also resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks. But
conservatives have not confidently advanced a strategic vision of America’s
role in the world. They have not set forth guiding principles for American
foreign policy. They have allowed differences over tactics to obscure
potential agreement on strategic objectives. And they have not fought for a
defense budget that would maintain American security and advance American
interests in the new century.

We aim to change this. We aim to make the case and rally support for
American global leadership.

As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the
world’s preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War,
America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have
the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United
States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American
principles and interests?

We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the
challenge. We are living off the capital — both the military investments
and the foreign policy achievements — built up by past administrations.
Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of
statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult
to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of
short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic
considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation’s ability
to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that
lie ahead.

We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan
Administration’s success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both
present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully
promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts
the United States’ global responsibilities.

Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its
power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership
or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role
in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If
we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental
interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is
important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats
before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us
to embrace the cause of American leadership.

Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their
consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry
out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the
future;

• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge
regimes hostile to our interests and values;

• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;

• we need to accept responsibility for America’s unique role in
preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security,
our prosperity, and our principles.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be
fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on
the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our
greatness in the next.

Elliott Abrams        Gary Bauer      
William J. Bennett       Jeb Bush

Dick Cheney       Eliot A. Cohen      
Midge Decter       Paula Dobriansky      
Steve Forbes

Aaron Friedberg       Francis Fukuyama      
Frank Gaffney       Fred C. Ikle

Donald Kagan       Zalmay Khalilzad      
I. Lewis Libby     Norman Podhoretz

Dan Quayle       Peter W. Rodman      
Stephen P. Rosen       Henry S. Rowen

Donald Rumsfeld       Vin Weber       
George Weigel       Paul Wolfowitz

Statement
link.

Did you notice something in the signatures there? If not then look again.
(here’s a hint; 2nd row, last name and forth row, third name). That’s right, the
very person who was the center of the news today with his indictments was a
co-signer of this little statement along with the president and editor-in-chief
of Forbes Magazine.

Sure there is a chance this could be coincidence, but as recent history has
taught us there does not seem much that happens in this administration that is
by chance. The very day that Scooter Libby gets indicted, his co-signer has an
article published in his magazine which attacks bloggers – the very people who
kept the news coming on the leak investigation. That appears to be a hidden
motive to this blogger.