Media Matters Mistakenly Thought They Had Shut Him Down

[bitterlyclingin]

[But he's back! With a vengeance. Paul the "Dragonslayer". All of a sudden, I remember what had brought me to powerline in the first place. Just like the angst Paula Deen is feeling after getting into a pissing match with our dear First Lady, "Sieg Heil!" remember Inspector General Gerald Walpin, if you dare say or write anything contrary to approved Left Wing Gospel, the watchers will shut you down. Or at least try, as in Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Fox News.
I think that perhaps, when Mr Mirengoff finishes his getting even, David Brock may even find a welcoming spot in the Soprano section of the nearest accomodating choir. Figuratively]

"Paul Mirengoff of Power Line blog no longer is of Power Line blog.

Mirengoff is an attorney at Akin Gump, a big law firm with a large presence in Washington, D.C., where Mirengoff works as a partner in the employment law group.

Mirengoff was one of the founders of Power Line. While I have disagreed with the folks there from time to time, there is no doubt that the Power Line bloggers are among the biggest names in the conservative blogosphere and make a valuable contribution to the conservative movement. Any disagreements I have with them are disagreements among teammates.

So why is Mirengoff no longer at Power Line?

It all resulted from this blog post Mirengoff made after the Tucson shooting memorial service, in which the service was opened with a prayer, of sorts, from an American Indian tribal leader:

.......(and) one of Mirengoff’s law partners, James Meggesto, who issued a sanctimonious statement saying he was “shocked, appalled and embarrassed” by Mirengoff’s “insensitive” “web posting” (emphasis mine):

Meggesto doesn’t say who dropped the dime on Mirengoff. How this even came to the firm’s attention is surprising. After all, the paragraph in question was pretty mild, part of a larger post and not really much different than a lot of others were saying. Perhaps some innocent concerned citizen just happened to read Power Line that night and call Akin Gump, but it’s equally likely the watchers were behind it, directly or indirectly.

The criticism by Meggesto and Akin Gump was disingenuous at best. There was nothing in Mirengoff’s post which was a “criticism of the use of the Yacqui prayer”; Mirengoff was making a point about the absence of a Christian prayer at a memorial service for religious Christian victims. " {Mirengoff is Jewish by the way, so there was absolutely no religious bias intended in his remarks}

» Big Law Firm Takes Down Big Conservative Blogger - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

"Posted on April 25, 2012 by Paul Mirengoff in 2012 Election

“Reign of Terror” Democrat Style

We hear constantly how conservatives are out to purge any elected Republican who fails wholly to embrace right-wing orthodoxy. President Obama’s political point man, David Axelrod, went so far as to call this a “reign of terror.”

In this Democrat/MSM narrative, conservatives are de-civilizing politics. And in doing so, they are ensuring that the system will become ever more polarized, to point that it will barely function.

But yesterday’s Pennsylvania Democratic primaries reminded us of an inconvenient truth – the left plays politics basically the same way. Consider first what happened in the 17th Congressional District, which encompasses the Reading area. Since 1993, it has been represented by Tim Holden, a member of the quickly shrinking Blue Dog faction of the House Democratic caucus.

Holden’s moderation – he voted against Obamcare for example – enabled him repeatedly to be re-elected, almost always easily, in a “Reagan Democrat” type district. In 2004, he defeated one of Joe Paterno’s sons, even as President Bush carried the district handily. In 2010, the year of the Republican rout, he was re-elected with 65 percent of the vote.

This year, however, Holden was forced to run in a radically reconfigured district, with a much more left-leaning Democratic constituency. As a result, he succumbed last night to Matt Cartwright, a wealthy lawyer supported by lefty groups such as the Campaign for Primary Accountability (a nice euphemism for what Axelrod sees as “terrorism”).

Next, consider the newly configured 12th district. There, the primary featured two Democratic incumbents, Mark Critz and Jason Altmire. Critz is a disciple of John Murtha. Readers may recall that in 2010, he held on to Murtha’s old seat in a closely-watched election. Crtiz is a standard-issue liberal.

Altmire is a moderate. Like Holden, he voted against Obamacare. He narrowly survived the 2010 election, winning by a count of 51-49.

Last night, Critz rode the support of labor unions to defeat Altmire 52-48. He did so despite the fact that Altmire currently represents approximately two-thirds of the district. Critz now faces the prospect of trying to win a district whose voters John McCain carried with 54 percent in 2008. His opponent, Keith Rothfus, is the guy Altmire beat by 51-49 two years ago.

These results don’t represent a “reign of terror,” anymore than what’s been happening on the Republican side. Instead they represent politics. As such, the outcomes should be judged pragmatically. The 17th district is now apparently pretty liberal, so Cartwright stands a good chance of holding it for the Dems. Thus, it was probably smart politics for liberals to turn against Holden."

“Reign of Terror” Democrat Style | Power Line

""Reign of Terror” Democrat Style, a footnote

I noted that when conservatives engage in this type of voting, Democrats and their pals in the mainstream media characterize it as ruinous extremism or, in the case of David Axelrod, terrorism.

With this in mind, consider the Washington Post’s treatment of these primary results. The headline in the print edition is “Pa. Democrats face fallout from losses in 2010” (online, the Post opts for the more vanilla “Rep. Mark Critz defeats Rep. Jason Altmire in Democratic primary in Pennsylvania”). The print edition headline refers to the fact that, as a result of the Democrats losing the State legislature, and of the State losing one congressional seat) districts were redrawn to force two incumbents, Altmire and Mark Critz, into one district.

But the real unifying theme of the two races is the defeat of two moderate Democrats by the Party’s electorate. The fallout is less from losses in 2010 than from the votes that year by Altmire and Holden against Obamacare. These votes go unmentioned in the Post’s story.

Does anyone doubt that if the Pennsylvania Republicans had just “purged” two moderate incumbent House members, the Post would be trumpeting the results as yet more evidence that the GOP is being held hostage by right-wing zealots?"

“Reign of Terror” Democrat Style, a footnote | Power Line

 

[tinydancer]

Where did my post go?

I responded to you.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

What does MediaMatters have to do with this?