tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-270867808635178932024-03-08T14:57:59.335-08:00Do the Right Thing, BarackDo the Right Thing, Barackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06584859258774178594noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27086780863517893.post-28406853341464071692007-05-05T23:17:00.000-07:002007-05-05T23:21:02.217-07:00Moving to MySpaceThe <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Do the Right Thing, Barack</span> blog is moving to MySpace. There are new updates available. They can be viewed by going to <a href="http://myspace.com/DoTheRightThingBarack">MySpace.com/DoTheRightThingBarack</a>Do the Right Thing, Barackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06584859258774178594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27086780863517893.post-38976458003370744612007-05-03T16:15:00.000-07:002007-05-04T06:29:43.439-07:00Did the Obama Campaign Slander a Mega-Volunteer?[cross-posted to <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=186767946&blogID=260681853&Mytoken=1FF88FD5-9A20-4998-86ED159D24232A0B8510885">MySpace blog</a>]<br /><br />It appears that the Obama campaign has chosen to put out misleading and (possibly) slanderous spin about their mishandling of the BarackObama MySpace incident, instead of simply and clearly acknowledging their misdeed.<br /><br />Whether or not the Obama campaign's spin is intentionally misleading and slanderous is not clear. However, what is clear is that (as of 8:25pm EDT) they have chosen to <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/ObamaHQ/">not issue a correction</a> to a misrepresentation they made in Joe Rospars' blog post, <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CvSl">Our MySpace Experiment</a> concerning a potential <span style="font-style: italic;">one-time payment</span> they had suggested to Joe Anthony.<br /><br />Unfortunately their misrepresentation has started to be repeated on the Internet. <span style="font-style: italic;">Mike (mlmcmull@gmail.com)</span> posted a comment here that is reflective of this:<br /><blockquote>... it sounds to me like Barack DID do the right thing. Guy volunteers to do a job, works with the official campaign, then suddenly shuts out the official campaign and demands $40k?</blockquote> Mike has, actually, done an excellent job of summarizing the misrepresentation:<br /><br /><ul><li>Guy volunteers to do a job<br /></li><li>works with the official campaign<br /></li><li>then suddenly shuts out the official campaign<br /></li><li>and demands $40k</li></ul>However, checkout what <a href="http://techpresident.com/node/8#contributors">Micah Sifry</a>, Editor of techPresident, <a href="http://www.techpresident.com/node/305">has to say about this</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>But what strikes me as odd about it is Rospars' claim that Anthony's "list of itemized financial requests" came unbidden, after the workload on the page exploded and Anthony cut off the campaign's password access to the site. Rospars would have you believe that Anthony was in effect extorting the campaign by witholding access, but <span style="font-style: italic;">my notes of</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> my conversations with Obama staff</span>, which were "on background" <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">make clear that </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>[Joe]<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> Anthony only produced that proposal </span><span style="font-style: italic;">(the $39,000 plus the $10,000 for possible advertising spending by the campaign on MySpace)</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> at the request of Chris Hughes</span>. [an Obama staffer]<br /></blockquote>That is worth repeating:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">my notes of</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> my conversations with Obama staff</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> ... </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">make clear that </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>[Joe]<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> Anthony only produced that </span>[financial]<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> proposal </span><span style="font-style: italic;">...</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> at the request of Chris Hughes</span> [an Obama staffer]<br /></blockquote>So, <span style="font-style: italic;">here is the editor of an independent news source saying that</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">the Obama campaign confirmed the one-time payment was THEIR IDEA</span>.<br /><br />Joe Anthony said this exact same thing in his <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=159248288&blogID=259712152&Mytoken=03BE27FE-1EAA-42BB-A8AE3581F014ED67781936">blog post</a>:<br /><br /><i></i><blockquote><i>In a conversation with Chris from the campaign last week or the week before, </i><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Chris suggested a one-time fee to transfer over the </span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>[MySpace] <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">profile to </span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>[the Obama campaign]<i> </i><i>and that <span style="font-weight: bold;">they discussed this with Myspace and </span></i>[MySpace was] <i><span style="font-weight: bold;">agreeable with any arrangement we could work out</span>. He did not suggest how much, or what sort of a fee. He did say that he needed it by the next morning so we scheduled another meeting and I stayed up all night working on a proposal that I thought would be fair to everyone. This was a positive conversation and he seemed sincere enough.</i><i></i><br /></blockquote>Notice that not only did <span style="font-style: italic;">the idea for the one-time fee come from the Obama campaign</span>, but <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">the Obama campaign had</span>, also, <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">already discussed the one-time payment idea with MySpace BEFORE</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> they presented it to Joe Anthony</span>.<br /><br />So, the summary for the REAL story of this one-time payment is:<br /><br /><ul><li>Guy gets inspired and sets up MySpace website<br /></li><li>Guy works <span style="font-style: italic;">ON HIS OWN</span> for <span style="font-style: italic;">TWO YEARS</span><br /></li><li>Official Campaign starts to get involved AFTER TWO YEARS of work<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Official Campaign ORIGINATES one-time payment idea</span><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Official Campaign TALKS WITH MYSPACE</span> about a one-time payment<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">MySpace APPROVES one-time payment</span> deal idea<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Official Campaign SUGGESTS one-time payment</span> idea to Guy<br /></li><li>Guy figures out a number he feels is fair<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Guy </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">RESPONDS</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">to</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Official Campaign's Suggestion</span> of a one-time payment</li><li>Official Campaign balks at the number Guy comes up with<br /></li><li>Official Campaign shuts-down talks and does NOT counter-offer or negotiate</li><li>Official Campaign talks MySpace into forcibly transferring Guy's MySpace website</li><li>Official Campaign spreads misleading and slanderous spin about Guy<br /></li><li>Internet picks-up and spreads the misleading and slanderous spin about Guy<br /></li></ul>At least, this is how things appear to have played-out, based on publicly available data.<br /><br />I look forward to seeing any clarifications that are issued on this.<br /><br />Just to be clear, I am not anti-Obama. Actually, up until yesterday, he was my favorite candidate in the race. Now, I'm not so sure. It all depends on how he handles this situation. <i><br /><br /><br /></i>Do the Right Thing, Barackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06584859258774178594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27086780863517893.post-78844640651088860032007-05-03T07:03:00.000-07:002007-05-04T06:28:49.509-07:00Encouraging Barack to Do the Right Thing...I have started this blog, and a corresponding <a href="http://www.myspace.com/dotherightthingbarack">Do the Right Thing, Barack - MySpace page</a>, because I believe Barack Obama and his campaign have not "done the right thing" in how they have treated <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/159248288">Joe Anthony</a> - a volunteer who, since 2004, built an unofficial MySpace page for Barack Obama up from nothing, to having 160,000 MySpace friends. Then, a few days ago, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Obama</span> campaign - essentially - <span style="font-style: italic;">stole the MySpace page</span> from Joe.<br /><br />Myself and others regard this action by Obama's campaign to not only be an affront to Joe, but also to all of those who believe in, and invest ourselves in, netroots activism.<br /><br />Those who feel strongly about this, as I do, are encouraged make yourself heard.<br /><br />Those who do NOT have a MySpace page are encouraged to:<br /><ul><li>Post a comment to this blog, describing what you feel Senator Obama needs to do to rectify this situation.</li><li>Spread the word</li><ul><li>Link to this blog from other websites.<br /></li></ul><ul><li>Invite others to do the same.<br /></li></ul></ul>Those who DO have a MySpace page are encouraged to:<br /><ul><li>Add the <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/186767946">Do the Right Thing, Barack</a> MySpace page as a friend to your MySpace page.</li><li>Remove the hijacked <a href="http://www.myspace.com/barackobama">Barack Obama</a> MySpace page from your MySpace friends.<br /></li><li>Post a comment on the MySpace page, describing what you feel Senator Obama needs to do to rectify this situation.</li><li>Spread the word</li><ul><li>Link to this blog from other websites.<br /></li></ul><ul><li>Invite others to do the same.</li></ul></ul> Since emotions are high on this, I will be reviewing/approving all comments posted before I allow them to be viewable by all. And, since I do have a job, I may only be able to review/approve comments in the evenings. So, please be patient with me on that.<br /><br />More info on this story is available at:<br /><ul><li>Technorati: <a href="http://technorati.com/search/obama+myspace+joe?language=n&authority=a4">obama myspace joe</a><br /></li><li>MySpace: <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&amp;friendID=159248288&blogID=259712152&Mytoken=03BE27FE-1EAA-42BB-A8AE3581F014ED67781936">Joe Anthony's version of events</a><br /></li><li>BarackObama.com: <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CvSl">Joe Rospars' version of events</a> <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/ObamaHQ/"></a></li></ul><ul><li>techPresident: <a href="http://techpresident.com/node/301">The Battle to Control Obama's Myspace</a></li><li>techPresident: <a href="http://www.techpresident.com/node/305">Obama's MySpace Mess: Enter the Shovel Brigade</a></li><li>Wired.com: <a href="http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/05/kumbaya_moment__1.html">Kumbaya Moment Over for Obama Online?</a></li><li>WindsOfChange.net: <a href="http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/009628.php">Why Barack Obama Needs to Study with Paul Van Riper</a></li><li>MyDD: <a href="http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/5/2/132924/8884">The Netroots Should Not Be Fairly Compensated</a></li><li>Greg Prince's Blog: <a href="http://gregprinceblog.wordpress.com/2007/05/02/not-getting-the-netroots-thing/">Not getting the netroots thing</a></li><li>Wilshire & Washington: <a href="http://www.wilshireandwashington.com/2007/05/message_control.html">Message Control</a></li><li>Metroblogging LA: <a href="http://blogging.la/archives/2007/05/barack_obama_steals_myspace_pa.phtml">Barack Obama "steals" MySpace page from Silverlake man</a></li><li>ThatPoliticalBlog.com: <a href="http://www.thatpoliticalblog.com/serendipity/archives/827-Barack-Obama-steals-a-fans-MySpace-page.html">Barack Obama steals a fans MySpace page?</a></li><li>MySpace: <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&amp;friendID=165630815&blogID=260459816">Obama Camp Takes Control of MySpace Page</a></li><li>Big Dogs Weblog: <a href="http://www.onebigdog.net/2007/05/02/obama-becomes-a-myspace-bully/">Obama Becomes a MySpace Bully</a></li><li>John Robb's Weblog: <a href="http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/johnrobb/2007/05/obama_team_crus.html">Obama Team crushing volunteers like Joe Anthony</a></li><li>Conservative Blogger: <a href="http://www.conservativeblogger.com/archives/2007/05/obama_bullies_myspace_page_awa.php">Obama Bullies MySpace Page Away From Supporter</a></li><li>Social Media Optimization: <a href="http://social-media-optimization.com/2007/05/barack-grabs-myspace-site-%e2%80%93-what-is-yours-is-his/">Barack Grabs MySpace Site - What is Yours is His</a></li></ul>Do the Right Thing, Barackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06584859258774178594noreply@blogger.com3