From Radarsite to Real Clear Politics: Hello? Anybody Home?

Most Voted in Last 7 Days
8 Lawsuits Filed on Obama Birth Certificate Issue It is my understanding that this article was unfairly removed by RCP. I am therefore reposting it under Radarsite's banner. We shall see...
Submitted By Dodgerg - Oct 23, 8:03 pm
62 votes

re: An Open Letter to RCP: More Complaints Radarsite has received additional complaints on this subject, but as of now no replies from RCP.
Submitted By Dodgerg - Oct 23, 5:44 pm
38 votes
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From Radarsite: What could be more ironic than the fact that the article we posted to Real Clear Politics to protest their suspect editorial procedures should presently be the Most Voted article at RCP with 62 votes? And note that the original complaining article is also on the Most Voted page with 38 votes. What can we infer from this inexplicable response from RCP? They adamantly refuse to answer all of our email inquiries, then grant our complaining articles the highest status at Reader's Articles. Does the left hand know what the right hand is up to? Could RCP have at least acknowledged receipt of all these individual emails from their contributors? Could RCP have at least responded with a "We recognize the problem and we are working to solve it"? But no such acknowledgement is given. We are just ignored.

As I have stated before, Real Clear Politics is a vital link in our chain of communication. It can represent the difference between an article having only a few readers, or an article making a major impact around the blogosphere. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we need RCP and we enjoy the relationship we have earned at RCP.
However we must trust RCP. And for whatever reasons RCP has, by its continuing refusal to respond to our legitimate questions, undermined its own credibility.
Are there actually hackers at work here? Is there really an Obama censor behind the scenes at RCP, deciding what gets posted and what does not, what stays up and what comes down? The political term for what you are doing is stonewalling. And by stonewalling us you are letting the rumors continue to grow and proliferate. I cannot believe that you have judged this to be in your best interest.

You can put an end to this whole speculative business with one response, one simple email. But, alas, so far you have chosen to simply continue ignoring us.

But there is a problem with this choice. We are tenacious, and we will not just go away. If anything, this story has become bigger. The first day Radarsite ran this article we had a little over 5,000 readers; the second day, 7,503 -- the vast majority of whom were reading that particular story about RCP. And that is from just one of our blogs. Do you really not care about these numbers? about all these people?

It is my best hope that this is all some big misunderstanding and it will be quickly resolved and we can go back to business as usual. But this can only be resolved if you will talk to us.

Below I have reposted a sampling of the comments Radarsite has received so far on this issue. There are many more.

Respectfully,
Roger W. Gardner
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Anonymous said...
Yes, someone has removed my posted info about 8 states suing for Obama birth documents -- 5 times in 2 hours, and even removed from the 'over 10' list. User accounts are also deleted -- am on my third account now.The first questionable incident I noticed occurred when a pro-Obama video was listed for several hours on the front page of RCP in the Reader Article section -- a post that had received only 4 votes.Who is responsible, do you know?
Thanks,
independentvoter
October 23, 2008 2:54 PM

Findalis said...
And if they really don't like what you wtite they will fool around with your account so you can't sign in. I'm on my third handle there now. But for how long?
October 23, 2008 3:13 PM

Roger W. Gardner said...
I just deleted an anonymous comment critical of RCP. Radarsite will not be accepting anonymous comments on this subject. RCP is an essential part of our blogging network and I do not take pleasure in challenging their integrity. If I can put my name on my comments to or about RCP, then you can too.Roger G.
October 23, 2008 3:14 PM

M said...
Thanks Roger. Heard another had his front page post removed today - Berg lawsuit - and his account was deactivated.The stories are mounting.I appreciate your bringing the issue to light.
October 23, 2008 3:16 PM

October 23, 2008 3:18 PM
S. Roberts said...
About 3AM central time, I captured a PDF of the Webpage for the Most Voted Last 7 Days list where I held 2nd place. I am AmericanUnclassified on the RCP. Go look at that page now, mine and several below it are deleted. I have several days worth of captures showing this problem and I also reported this to the Webmaster at the RCP Website, but have had no response. This is the second time that a series of hackings of this site has gone on in October that I am aware of. I have also seen polling results not be reflected on the home page or electoral page accurately. I am an Internet services provider and I have identified several potential vulnerabilities with the Website design there. The link here is to the Most Voted PDF as of 3:00 AM CT on Oct 23.http://64.37.107.199/rcp/mostvotedlast7days.pdfI feel given these frequent problems, we cannot rely on the RCP Website for an accurate forcast or reflection of reader reactions.Thanks for posting this.
October 23, 2008 3:35 PM

Faultline USA said...
Thank you for keeping us posted about this problem. I certainly hope that RCP will provide an answer as it doesn't look too good.
October 23, 2008 3:39 PM

Paul N Marston said...
As you know, few pro-Obama posts ever get ten votes and make it to the front page. Lately I have seen pro-Obama posts make it to the front page with only two or three votes. I thought it was RCP trying to provide some balance, but given the other posts, I would say that a hacker has gotten into the RCP website. They need to get on this pronto.
October 23, 2008 3:39 PM

MariAnne said...
Wow! I noticed this earlier today when I went looking for the articles I read yesterday in order to get the links so I could get an update today. I thought I was going crazy...Do we still live in America??
October 23, 2008 3:43 PM

thinkinboutstuff said...
I had a few posts deleted. Sent an email asking if it was something I said.. no response. They were all on the same subject (API) so I just don't try to post those articles on RCP anymore. I figure it's their site, their rules.
October 23, 2008 3:44 PM

M said...
We know now that this is just not aimed at a couple of us.I think hacking is a probability. I noticed that at least one of the articles with only 4 votes on the front page was courtesy of "gadfly," and it was a very anti-American, anti-military video.
October 23, 2008 4:05 PM

not a dem anymore said...
I just had my account took away at RCP. My password would not work. I tried to get new one from RCP, got it, it wouldn't work. I had to get a new account under different name and e-mail address.
October 23, 2008 4:17 PM

Gerard said...
didn't Time-Warner buy RCP a while back? If so, does anyone wonder why anti-Obama posts would be delted
October 23, 2008 4:29 PM

October 23, 2008 4:39 PM

S. Roberts said...
not a dem -- try deleting the cookie for the RCP Website. Then create a new account. Here is instruction for Microsoft Internet Explorer:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835/You should find a cookie with a name that includes realclearpolitics in it.
October 23, 2008 4:50 PM

S. Roberts said...
Found other references as far back as a year ago where restrictive and biased content allegations against RCP surfaced but they were resolved a few days later. The contact at RCP is the same one I have communicated to this year, David Russell email address on the Website is webmaster@realclearpolitics.comHe gets a lot of mail, so re-send the request if you don't hear back. Also if you use the same or similar email address to try to create accounts, they may get automatically blocked.
October 23, 2008 5:09 PM

jbjd said...
This explains everything.
October 23, 2008 5:23 PM

Roger W. Gardner said...
Wow. Seems like we have a lot of company, doesn't it?Thanks for your comments. Radarsite will stay on this as long as necessary, or until I am deleted.To S. Roberts: I sent that first email to David Russell. That was yesterday. I'll resend it. Thanks.rg
October 23, 2008 5:27 PM

No Sheeples Here! said...
Roger,On October 11th I posted an article entitled, "Ten Minutes And Fifty-Two Seconds Of DAMNING Truth About Obama: The Game Changer" at 4:29 PM. Between 10:30 and 11:00 PM, after garnering 38 votes at RCP, the article was scrubbed. I posted another article entitled, "Real Clear Politics Scrubbed Article About Obama Birth Certificate Lawsuit" shortly after I discovered the removal. In the wee hours of the morning that article was also scrubbed.My blog has been under attack by an Obama troll named "Gerald" whose IP address indicates "he" is located in Centreville, VA.What in God's name is Obama hiding? What are the PODS afraid of?Thanks for staying on this, Roger. You're a great American!
October 23, 2008 5:48 PM

Ace Tomato said...
Oh crappers. RCP is the one place I found where I was picking up news that isn't kissing Obama hiney from posters with consistent integrity.I wondered what was up with the Pro Obama articles floating up with only 3 votes. I don't care if there are pro Obama articles that get genuine reader attention and response, but something is very weird.Stay on it guys. The games are getting crazier by the minute!!
October 23, 2008 5:49 PM

Angela said...
I'm brand new to this blogging thing, but my experience with RCP is a little curious. The very first article I posted got 10 votes pretty quickly. I thought that was pretty cool for my first time out, not knowing anyone. The next three got no traction and disappeared by the next day. Could certainly be coincidence - I don't think I'm particularly controversial, and there's been a lot of fiery stuff lately. Or maybe I'm just a really crappy blogger.Just thought I'd add my two cents. (If anyone is interested in what they may have missed coming from me, it's at http://nokoolaidjustgoldwater.blogspot.com/)
October 23, 2008 8:04 PM

Facts Are said...
Thank you for posting all of this information, Roger. I'm quite new to RCP, so I certainly don't know how everything is really supposed to work yet. I've had a couple of posts deleted, also, but thought they somehow violated RCP policy. I wasn't sure how that could be, as they weren't salacious and I always put many links in my posts so I'm not just spouting off without facts to back me up. I can't remember what the first post was that disappeared, it was a couple of weeks ago. I do know that the post I put up about API definitely got deleted. The dumb part is, it wasn't an outright blast or swallowing of API's claims, it was more of questioning of that organization's legitimacy and a straight summary of the article with links to it and a couple of other skeptical bloggers' posts on the subject. I just find it odd that another person here posted that they had API articles deleted as well. I didn't have the wit to think to take a screen shot of that article posted, so I can't prove it. Does anyone know if RCP archives any Reader Articles after seven days? I did a search of my most recently popular article, which was #3 in the last seven day period and the article summary comes up at the top of the search results, but when it's clicked on, I'm taken to the recent seven day most popular, not the article itself. S. Roberts' screen shots shows my article (Lynn De Rothschild) in the #3 spot when she took that shot. My article may have disappeared because it was the seventh day (it was posted Oct. 16). If anyone else knows the ins and outs of when these things are deleted, that would help track it down. I know that both the API story and the Lynn de Rothschild posts were very popular, and quite honestly most of the readership came in off users' google searches or tag words on Wordpress and elsewhere, not RCP. It would interest me, though, if that de Rothschild article should have stayed up there for the rest of today. It would help me to know whether I should also contact the webmaster. For now at least, I'm going to take screen shots whenever I post an article in case it disappears. This whole thing is just another in a long line of creepy censorship and foul play that seems to be multiplying exponentially. Thanks again, S.
October 23, 2008 9:30 PM

jim.carroll said...
As a former librarian, all I can say is Thank G_D for Special Collections and Archives! These incidents prove how easily a Ministry of Truth can change the truth. I've heard time and time again in different fields, "If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen." What happens when the paper you write it on (the blogs) can be changed or removed without your knowledge or permission?I've noticed a couple of the articles regarding Obama's past mention that "such-and-such a newsletter by this-and-that socialist/communist organization at this time isn't available on the web." It's because these newsletters were printed/ xeroxed/ mimeographed (try explaining a "mimeo" to anyone under age 19) and were then sent to different people and organizations. Some of the organizations were libraries, who preserved them for later research. We need to work out a way to have these blogs and online newsletters converted to hard copy, something that cannot easily be tampered with or altered.I hope all of you are keeping MULITIPLE printed copies of your blogs and seeing that they get archived with some organization, such as a local library or historical society. If you can arrange to have about 20 copies in geographically separate locations, there is almost 100% guarantee that at least one copy will survive any purging effort. Two examples of that:1. We know about the discussions surrounding the implementation of the Final Solution as proposed at the Wannsee Conference, because of a copy of the Wannsee Protocol was found after the war. Of the 15 copies that were made, the other 14had been destroyed by the participants, but this one copy was overlooked.2. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria was a cultural disaster. It was one that did not have to happen. Rather than having different books and scrolls copied, the Library bought entire collections. They saved money this way, but it often meant that sole copies of some works were only available at the Library. If their purchases included works the Library already owned, the extra copies were destroyed. When the Library was destroyed, so were the works.Keep up the good work, people. And remember ... be careful out there.<>< October 23, 2008 10:58 PM


Stanford Matthews said...
For the second time in as many years I have been what equates to banned from RCP as my account has been rendered inactive for the 2nd time and two recent 'Obama' posts have been removed from RCP.The first was 'Obama and DNC Fight Citizenship Inquiry' and the second was 'Worth Repeating: Obama Citizenship Still in Dispute'Some have attributed these actions to hacking and others to RCP and now I see the Obama agent allegation. I simply view it as intentional. I also lay the responsibility on RCP to which I add it is their site and they can do what they want but silence on the matter annoys me to no end. A fellow blogger has encouraged me to continue posting through a new registration et.,, but I have not decided.I'll monitor this site to keep up with the news on this topic as well as other places.Just thought I'd add my two cents. Okay there's a financial crisis, would you take a CDO aka, collateral debt obligation.
October 24, 2008 8:53 AM

Susan Duclos said...
Hey Roger, great piece.I also had a piece removed from RCP, and when I tried to resubmit it, I recieved a message saying it was submitted by two others and was waiting moderator approval...it was never put back up.http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/10/not-all-blacks-are-voting-for-obama.htmlSeems that RCP does have someone using their own agenda in deciding what can and what cannot be shown.
October 24, 2008 10:40 AM

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Radarsite: re: An Open Letter to RCP: More ComplaintsNote From Radarsite:Below is a copy of an email which I sent to the editors of RCP on 22 October. I have yet to receive a reply. Now, after reading two articles about this same problem on RCP -- one of them on the Front Page! -- I have decided to make th... Dateline: 2008-10-23 3:19pm PT (422 words)