Friday, February 18, 2011

What Is An Anonymous Blogger's Win-Loss Record?

There's a relatively new blog in town (that I'll link to only once) called Washington Street Politics. They started up a few months ago, and besides being the "unofficial" voice of the county GOP (similar to the Indianapolis Times being the voice of the county Dems), they take some potshots at Paul Ogden.

I know many of the blogs I regularly read now link to this new blog, but I continue to refuse to. I'm fine with anonymous blogging. The now-dead Indy's Political Stock Exchange was entertaining, and never tried to discredit politicians or other pundits. But when anonymous bloggers use the veil to personally and professionally discredit others, that, in my mind, crosses a line. It just reeks of petty, vindictive behaviour.

Somehow, I doubt that the folks behind this blog will ever have the cojones to stand up and be counted. And I also doubt they'll change their childish antics in regards to Paul Ogden. So until they do, they'll continue to be not linked at this blog. They're an entertaining read, but I can't take them seriously while they keep up these childish antics.

5 comments:

  1. Matt, It's really not too hard to figure out who it is when you think about it.Just look at the timing of when the Mayors last "PR" guy resigned and the new one took over, then look at the dates the site went up.Plus it is a unique style style of writing that is obvious.

    Its purely directed from the 25th floor, they throw us a bone every one in a while trying to throw us off.But their wars with Ogden are very cool

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  2. Excellent commentary! Had they been around during Abraham Lincoln's days of country lawyering, I wonder if they would have criticized his legal losses? They showed themselves to be vindictive and childish. Yes, it's easy to throw stones when you're wearing a mask. They get no respect from me.

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  3. Anon 9:29, I do notice a distinct writing style and while I have no particular person in mind, I do think it's one person despite WSP's constant implication of a group project. IPSE, another anonymous blog, had several different writing styles indicative of a group collaboration. In my opinion, WSP is basically a poor-man's Abdul. You can tell WSP is trying to emulate his style of writing, they are just doing a poor job of it, likely because they have little to no formal training as a journalist.

    Diana, I certainly agree. I especially think the criticism lacks standing if WSP isn't a lawyer. Even though I read Jonahthan Turley and Marci Oddi's Indiana Law Blog daily, a lot of their topics fly over my head. And you certainly won't be reading criticism from WSP when WSP's BFFs like Ryan Vaughn lose in court.

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  4. Well said, Matt. The "legal criticisms" launched at Mr. Odgen are extremely lacking in any substance- legal or policy related. I may not agree with all of Mr. Ogden's conclusions, but I don't find them to be without merit or not worth considering. In fact, I think it's pretty clear that his record of highlighting very real controversies has resulted in changes more in line with his arguments, not against, even if the final resolution falls short of what he proposed. The MC Traffic Court and Civil Forfeiture issues come to mind quickly. Frankly, Mr. Ogden has a pretty good win-loss record from what I can see.

    WSP, on the other hand, seems to think that writing a post calling out Carl Brizzi (after the MCRP publicly disowned him and called for him to resign, I would note) gives them credibility as being objective or willing to "call out" both sides. Nonsense. At this point, a Republican DEFENDING Carl Brizzi would show more independence from the Party line. They so clearly toe the party line of only attacking those out of favor with their current party leadership and never those where it might actually be controversial for WSP. I actually think that their "views" track the IndyStar editorial board to the point of being beyond obvious as to who they are. Just thought I'd throw that out there if others haven't noticed that rather odd coincidence...think about it- gay marriage ban, Delph's immigration law, Brizzi should resign, Lugar over Murdock- they parrot the Star or vice versa to a tee.

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  5. My bet WSP = Robert Vain er Vane

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