Popular right wing blog targets readers with misleading investment "opportunity" in the currency market.
Surf on over to Power Line and you'll see an interesting business opportunity tucked in among the sidebar blogads. BetonIraq.com offers the savvy investor a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase the Iraqi Dinar (IQD) at rock-bottom prices and invest in the future of a free and democratic Iraq at the same time.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments76 - Constant
#62 (Dawn): More contempt for Power Line readers:
"Other than of course they have more rabid readers."
Also on #62: Hypocrisy:
"what I don't like is their editorial implication that BC is a lesser site than theirs."
Well, if Dawn indulges in the same thing, arguing that PL is a lesser site than BC, then that's hypocritical. Which is what Dawn does:
"Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact that implication itself is the richest irony.
"We have over 1400 writers on this site contributing viewpoints of varying degrees of political affiliations. We talk about culture, music, video and everything in between. We are a community of many - they are a community of three.
"In what way are they better than any other conservative blog - and more importantly how are they better than Blogcritics?
"Other than of course they have more rabid readers."
#66:
The excerpt has the obvious role, not of disrespecting Blogcritics, but of rubbing in the key point of the article that Blogcritics is carrying the same ads that Power Line is being blasted for carrying.
77 - Constant
#75:
"Constant, a "minion" is a follower or underling. Certainly the PL readers who found their way here did so because they read about this on PL and felt compelled, because of their alliegance to PL, to come comment here. You guys would not otherwise be reading this post. Am I wrong?"
I read Power Line a few times a week, along with about 20 other blogs. That does not make me either a follower or an underling. Nor does looking at the source article make me an underling: this is the web and it is good practice to go to the source. Nor does commenting make me an underling: the comments section here is for leaving comments, is it not? To call an underling is to express contempt for me. Which I don't mind, I have a very thick skin, that's not the point, I'm not asking for a retraction. I'm merely pointing out that you are in fact doing what you claim you're not, which is expressing contempt for Power Line readers. If you're going to do so, do it proudly, don't do it and then claim you're not.
78 - Leeotis
Pete,
Not that I care particularly, as I consider the personal stuff on this thread (and in the PL piece) to be pretty mild and intended to tweak rather than to inflame (see my post #68), but surely you are not suggesting that the word "minion" doesn't have a derogatory implication to it, are you? A minion may be a "follower" or an "underling" but it is typically used in the sense of an unthinking slave, n'est-ce pas?
79 - Pete Blackwell
Constant, if you're going to get all technical on us, they're not the same ads. They're very different ads. For different companies, even. But that's if you want to get technical.
80 - William
If this is such a stupid investment, why are you guys "hawking" it also? Democrats always seem to end up chasing their tails with circular logic.
powerlineblog.com
81 - Tommy
Pete:
"I have another solution: I offer my services to Power Line. I will write for them as well, and they could really use a liberal voice."
How nice. And I offer my services to CBS News as anchor. They could really use a conservative voice.
You apparently have no Iraqi dinars. Ergo, you could really use some.
So outraged by the thought of people losing money on these dinars. But not outraged enough not to imply them to be fools or simply and easily disassociate yourself from this little website. Your courage and nobility know no bounds.
82 - Paul in NJ
Some of you need to get a grip. Pete Blackwell -- whom I'd never heard of until this morning's Power Line post -- has explained himself, and his position, very clearly several times. If you don't get it, it's not because he hasn't been crystal clear. And if you disagree with him, have the grace to do so nicely.
Pete, this longtime PL reader didn't feel "compelled, because of their alliegance [sic] to PL" to come here; I came to get both sides of the argument, which is what I think most PL readers have done. "You guys would not otherwise be reading this post," you claim. "Am I wrong?" Well, yeah, I think you are.
The cheap "minion" shot notwithstanding, I admire your reasoned (and self-deprecating) response to this brouhaha. I'll read your blog and most likely disagree with a lot of it, but that's what makes life interesting, right?
83 - Pete Blackwell
Can't we have any fun with words? Ok, "minion" has something of a "you're a bunch of robots doing the bidding of John Hineraker" vibe to it. But if Constant can get technical, so can I.
And I agree, this is all pretty mild stuff. Not a habanero in sight. Or even a pepperoncini, for that matter.
I love you all, fans and not. Glad we could have this discussion. Now I have to do some work before I get fired...
84 - Constant
"Constant, if you're going to get all technical on us, they're not the same ads."
I wasn't trying to get technical, I don't think my observations are merely technically true while being false in spirit, I think they're true in spirit as well. And anyway, about whether they're the same ad, now you're just splitting hairs. They're the same in the significant sense.
85 - Dawn
I am a crazy bitch - who cares what I say? But do carry on with this indulgent circuitous discussion that will have no end.
86 - Matthew T. Sussman
Dawn, you answered your own question.
(Runs away)
87 - Pete Blackwell
Tommy, I'll write you a letter of recommendation for the CBS gig. I say, go for it! And I actually do have some dinars that a soldier buddy brought home. Not enough to make a difference (unless they go up 180,000%).
William, I'm not a Democrat.
Paul, thanks for the kind words. I admire your open-mindedness, but what's the deal with you pointing out my misspelling of allegiance? That's not nice at all. [emoticon]
88 - Dawn
My point exactly Suss!
89 - Paul in NJ
Sorry 'bout that, Pete -- I was a proofreader in a previous life, and such things still light me up. FWIW, I keep a copy of "Eats, shoots, and leaves" by Lynne Truss on my desk.
90 - Tommy
Pete, what you need to do is concentrate on ads, such as the ones you're concerned about, appearing on liberal blog sites.
You see, being a conservative, I take responsibility for my actions. The buck stops with me. I'm bombarded daily with get-rich-quick ads in my email box and physical mail box (largely as a result of being an investor and subscribing to some investing publications).
I don't pay attention to them. Free will and responsibility. If I risk my money, I know my limits and I am careful. (I'm just a poor government worker.) I do visit the horseraces and Vegas sometimes. I know I'm not assured to win at either. Should Vegas stop advertising?
Stick to protecting your liberal minions. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility.
It is nice, though, to see that the bottomless pit of liberal concern and caring extends to seeing that conservatives don't lose any money in any scams. That was your main motive, right?
P.S. In that letter of recommendation you're writing to CBS on my behalf, let them know I have some documents in my possession that show a certain big-name politician received a bit of favoritism when he was with the National Guard.
91 - Pete Blackwell
Now how's that going to get you ahead at CBS? They already ran that "story".
Point taken on the liberal ads. This particular one caught my eye because it looked like an outright scam. Which it pretty much is. I'll go check out Kos now.
92 - Eric Olsen
well-handled Pete, thanks.
A central concept that some of our new readers don't seem to have grasped is that Blogcritics is a politically neutral forum, an online magazine.
I am certain our dozens of our variously right-leaning, libertarian, and Republican writers would be amused at the assumption that this is a "liberal" site.
But perhaps those coming from a site with such a vertiginous slant as Power Line is reputed to have (I wouldn't know, haven't ever read it), might have trouble with this theme.
93 - The Commissar
This comment is addresses to Blogcritics.org,
You are being hypocritical to attack PL for running ads for a product that you also advertise.
The source of your content (original writing, syndication, or something you found on the street) is irrelevant. The discussion is about content on this site.
(If Pete Blackwell wants to wear his BC hat, he can reply. What he wrote on some other, ad-less, site is also irrelevant.)
You, Blogcritics, have AS MUCH control over your Google Adsense as Powerline has over its blogads.
Here is the Google Adsense 'Ad Filter' URL. Log in to your account and filter 4 URLs:
www.dinartrade.com www.TheDinarGroup.com www.safedinar.com www.newiraqcurrency.com/
Not rocket science.
94 - Tommy
"A central concept that some of our new readers don't seem to have grasped is that Blogcritics is a politically neutral forum, an online magazine."
-- Oh, well, that's nice to know.
"But perhaps those coming from a site with such a vertiginous slant as Power Line is reputed to have (I wouldn't know, haven't ever read it), might have trouble with this theme."
That sounds so neutral, as you say, that you must be an editor here.
Typing in powerlineblog.com in the address bar would take all of two seconds for you to visit the site and check it out. You've heard stories of its reputation ... and are replying in this little brouhaha ... yet you've neither the curiosity nor energy nor interest to spend a few seconds looking at the site. It's not like you have to get up, leave your bedroom, go to a newstand a few blocks away and buy a copy of powerlineblog.com
I came here (it took a few seconds) out of curiosity, and I'm just a dope on his day off with no vested interest.
You do seem to have an interst ... but can't take a few seconds to visit powerlineblog.com (even out of curiosity to see the ad in question), but have the time to write a post declaring this site to be neutral (meaning it reflects your vertiginous neutrality).
Boy, your reasoning and sincerity has me dizzy.
95 - Eric Olsen
yes, all of that is correct, except I'm the publisher. I did actually click over to "PL" but the logo hurt my eyes so I retreated in haste.
96 - JK
#62
Dawn, I have reread the PL posting several times and cannot see the implication that BC is a lesser site. Are you projecting that? I see that a lot from liberals these days.
No need for you to insult them or their readers. Perhaps your last line should have read:
Other than of course they have more readers.
97 - Tommy
"I did actually click over to "PL" but the logo hurt my eyes so I retreated in haste."
Some might call that nothing but a first baby step ... but I think it's quite brave, by liberal standards. A giant leap for liberalkind.
98 - Christopher Rose
So Powerline chose to have an advert and we got one via Google auto insertion, is that it?
Let's move on for fuck's sake; this is so boring and I'm trying to get high before the Barcelona-Arsenal game kicks off.
99 - Nils Florman
Pete,
I'm a PL reader and a fan of John Hinderaker. Having just read all the comments on BC as well as on your blog, I want to compliment you on your grace under fire. Because of that, I'm bookmarking you--I like to read intelligent blogs on both sides of the issues.
100 - aaron
Pete,
The dinar seems like a waste of investment money to me too, but I disagree that PL has a moral responsibility to supress its advertisement. I think they should be able to reasonably rely on the ad provider to take care of background checking for them. Is it possible that your condemnation of the PL bloggers is fueled more by political misgivings than based on the lofty desire to denounce the evils of dinar advertising? I don't see you denouncing this evil with the same enthusiasm when it comes to BC, in which case it's excusable merely because it's a smaller ad and requires administrative effort to correct, or Google whose dinar-hawking currency pimping ways, revealed in such a inopportune manner, haven't received the least bit of notice, possibly due to the greater offense by the search engine giant: unknowingly undermining your point.
That being said, as an avid PL reader, and second time badgerer on this comments thread, I sincerely want to convey that you seem like a good natured, decent fellow. I admire your civil handling of all the unexpected hubbub.
101 - Pete Blackwell
Thanks guys. Let's agree: Google is evil!! I also agree that the ad service PL is using shares responsibility. And yeah, of course there's an underlying distaste for PL in my post. That goes without saying. But I am particularly annoyed at them for prominently displaying this ad on a site that absolutely caters to the sort of people who might be predisposed to want to do a good deed for Iraq. (And yes, liberals are less likely to want to do so and should be called out for it, which I actually have done on a number of occasions.) The Dinar scheme is designed to make it look like that's what they're doing when actually it's nothing of the sort.
I think people with good intentions, like many of you PL readers, should not be taken advantage of.
102 - mcg
Hey guys---glad to see the dust settling on this. But it seems that there's some sort of HTML problem around comments #7 and #8---perhaps a tag that was not closed. As a result, just about ever comment afterwards is a link to Powerline.
103 - Tommy
Don't forget to pick up your outrage and take it with you when you know doubt take on MSNBC etc. for the stock "experts" they have. Now there's where a lot of people are exposed to bad ideas. All the sure-thing internet stocks that were hyped a few years ago.
By contrast, I wonder how many people have leveraged their life savings on the Iraqi dinar, thanks to a little ad on a blog site?
If you could find one stupid enough, s/he deserves to lose all their money, because they'd soon be parted with it anyway.
And, what if, in fact, eventually they were to make money. I'm tempted now, because of all this, to stop throwing my money away on lottery tickets (hey, don't forget to take on the states!) for a few weeks, and throw it away on dinars. Probably have a much greater chance of winning!
Is the PL ad illegal, by the way?
104 - Dawn
JL - where do you get they have more readers? That's sheer prevarication.
The fact that we haven't moved on from this whole discussion is an example of the exhaustive nature that fuels arguing about politics to begin with.
Who gives a rat's ass?
105 - Pete Blackwell
I never said it was illegal. It's extremely misleading and it targets pro-war conservatives specifically.
Everybody was hawking Internet stocks in 2000. That's a bit of an old story.
106 - Tommy
The title to your entry, "Powerline Hawks Dubious ..." is misleading.
They aren't hawking it. They don't endorse it. You should be spending your time on investment sites where get-rich-quick promises are everywhere.
Who is losing their life savings on the dinar? Do you think anyone has put more into that than some spare change (figuratively speaking), like they would the lottery (where they have no real hopes of winning)?
It's just a hit piece on powerline, pure and simple.
You do seem like a nice person.
But don't be as disingenuous as those ubiquitous "Peace is Patriotic" bumper stickers which make me want to shout, "Yeah, and Appeasement is Super-Patriotic !!!"
107 - Stellar
Have the Google Ads been turned off on the site now? If so, why?
I appreciate the commenters who pointed out that the AdSense/Google Ads can be blocked just as simply here at BC as the Blogads on PL. Blogcritics.org just chooses not to out of policy (Comment #36 Eric Olsen) or, what, apathy/ineptitude (Comment #45 Phillip Winn, technical director)?
108 - Stellar
Now if only someone would write an article denouncing the various diet-scam ads that show up on places like this and the websites that allow them.
109 - Tommy
And look at the (refrehingly straightforward) language of the PL ad:
Place a Bet on Iraq. You know, like place a bet on a horse.
Doesn't even say "Make an investment in Iraq."
That's what it would say if I were writing the ad copy.
But no. It says place a BET on Iraq.
110 - Pete Blackwell
The ad implies that the dinar is set to get back up to the $3.22 value of the Saddam years, which was an entirely fraudulent value and there's absolutely no reason to believe it will do anything of the sort. Sure, the ad doesn't say "you are guaranteed to make money." These ads never do. But it spins quite a yarn to make you think it might be a good idea. It's not.
Let's put this to bed.
111 - Christopher Rose
mcg: thanks for that, fixed now.
112 - Papagresh
I haven't laughed this much in ages. I've copied this entire thread -- it is priceless! A typical liberal cheap shot (undeniable: the headline says it all) blows up in the moonbat's face, whereupon he immediately announces that he owes no apologies and begins to obfuscate profusely.
As if he is genuinely concerned about those poor, dimwitted pro-war conservatives whom, without Mr. Blackwell's discerning intellect to save them, might fall prey to this unsavory financial con which probably ranks somewhere near ... oh, let's just say 1,786,677,912th on the internet scam charts.
In classic liberal fashion, lacking the wits, logic, facts, or evidence to actually take on Power Line in any meaningful debate, he chooses rather to nitpick over a silly advertisement that appears in stereo on his chosen venue alongside his arrogant and petty codswallop -- at once effectively demonstrating both his lack of sophistication and small-mindedness.
And there can be no weasling: If his focus were truly the dubious investment itself, as he would now like to pretend, there would have been no reason to include "Power Line" in his headline ... in fact, his piece, while pathetically weak, would have actually been strengthened had he chosen to make a more accurate statement such as "Dubious Investment Scheme Invades Blogosphere" ... but no, Blackwell's intent was clearly to tar Power Line; the investment scam was simply his chosen brush. Too bad he fell into his own kettle of tar headlong.
Liberals are nothing if not predictable, pedantic, and preposterous.
Thanks for the chuckle, Mr. Blackwell, you've made my day!
113 - MCH
Dawn,
Have you ever seen Shelli's eyebrows? I mean...whoa!!
114 - Andy
As another avid Powerline reader, I just wanted to add my compliments to Pete. I disagree with your original post, but you handled this tempest with a lot of grace and humor. Kudos.
115 - Alex
Peter, I'm curious as to the technical control you have over your website. Can't you just remove the code that adds the Google ads to this one page since they are obviously generating the ads based on its content. Several of my clients do this for pages that generate ads they disagree with...I don't really buy that there is nothing you can do...
Frankly, though, I'd tell everyone on this page to click through - force the advertiser to pay for the click ;).
116 - Phillip Winn
Thanks to The Commissar in #93: I've added those four URLs, though I note that AdSense was already not displaying those ads by the time I checked back today. They're not our "competition" as the appropriate AdSense page indicates, which is why I missed it on my initial scan.
Some people still aren't seeing the difference between an ad program that requires action before an ad appears and an ad program shows ads without any user intervention, but that's okay. Some people never will, and besides, I suspect we'd approve the ad if it came our way, too. And Pete would be free to call us out on it, as people have when we've run other ads.
For all of the ranting and raving by moonbats, there are also some thoughtful PL readers recognizing Pete's commendable grace under fire. Kudos to those who read long enough to not make already-refuted accusations, or who recognize that Blogcritics is not Pete's blog, or that Blogcritics isn't even a "liberal" blog.
For the record, Eric Olsen is generally a "pro-war" liberal, I'm generally a "pro-war" conservative/ liberatarian, and our third partner is generally an "anti-war" liberal, but our two political editors (Dave Nalle and Mark Schannon) hail from opposite sides of the political fence, and we like it that way. Pete happens to represent the left, while other represent the right. We've got a writer who was a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, and an editor who was a Green Party candidate in the U.K. It's fun!
117 - Phillip Winn
P.S. According to the AdSense page, it'll take "a few hours" for those four URLs to be blocked.
118 - Tim McDonald
Look at the bright side, it has to be doing nice things for your page views.
119 - Papagresh
Mr. Winn: First let me say that I will vouch for the superb level of intellectual diversity (the only kind of diversity really worth championing, in my opinion) that generally resides here. I have two small nits to pick with you, however, and then I will happily withdraw from this discussion.
First, just because people do not attach much significance to the "difference between an ad program that requires action before an ad appears and an ad program shows ads without any user intervention" does not necessarily mean they are blind to it. Some of us just happen to think that a prostitute is a prostitute, no matter how well she's dressed or how much she charges.
Second, while I give him an A+ for tap dancing, I cannot agree that Mr. Blackwell has come anywhere close to anything resembling "grace under fire," his admittedly gregarious persona notwithstanding. The truth is, he carefully crafted a smear piece targeting another blog and its readership, using feigned interest in a sleazy advertisement as his fulcrum. As luck would have it, when he allowed his article to appear here, blind justice (or was it just desserts?) materialized and hoist him on his own petard.
True grace under fire would have come into play had he mustered the testosterone to to say something like, "Boy, did I shoot myself in the foot. I was horribly unfair to Power Line and its readership, for which I apologize." Both his headline and his summary make clear that his real purpose was to besmirch Power Line and its readers, but when the wheels came off, he conveniently fell back to disingenuously focusing on the advertisement itself. Such tactics more nearly resemble cowardice than grace.
To suggest that much of anything Mr. Blackwell keyed is truly commendable tends to support and validate journalistic bomb throwing, which we would all be better off without. Mr. Blackwell's article was despicable on its face, and I hope that henceforth you and your associates will be more selective when choosing material to showcase.
Strongly stated opinions and directness when differing are healthy and thought-provoking. Demagoguery and cheap shots are, I believe, benath the standards you ascribe to.
Thanks for your time and concern.
120 - Pete Blackwell
I'd like to thank many of you for your kind comments.
Papagresh, I was highly impressed with your use of the word "codswallop", which is tragically rare on these comments pages.
The intent of my article was to both criticize the ad, and to criticize Power Line for running it, since it is the #4 blog in the universe according to TTLB. I'm under no obligation to go uncover every instance of said ad on the Internet (although it was a sucky surprise to find a similar scheme, in a different format, here). The only way that would be logical is if you subscribe to the idea that if "everyone's doing it" then it's ok.
OK,
America's Next Top ModelC-SPAN is on. Gotta go.PS. I agree with your comment on diversity of opinion Papa. If you look at some of my other posts, you'll certainly find that, while there's an obvious slant, we probably agree on a number of things. Thanks for the comments.
121 - DavidP
Pete, you seem to have good writing skills, but you seem to be unwilling to take anything but the easy way out. Saying google is evil, splitting hairs between blogads and adsense, and arguing that an associate with blogcritics is different than powerline's use of blogads/adsense are all splitting hairs.
You made a bunch of inflammatory remarks about dinar ads appearing on a blog. Turns out a blog you are associate with does the same thing. This makes you hypocritical.
Solutions are to remove your association, get the ads removed, or simply say, "I was wrong, I shouldn't have criticized PL." End of story. I've found in my life that when I make a mistake, it is a lot easier to just admit it than try to split hairs and endlessly justify why it wasn't really a mistake. Admitting one made a mistake also tends to garner a lot of credibility, as people realize that a person who does that is mature enough to admit it - which is something a lot of people don't seem to have within their capacity.
122 - Allan
Pete: great job ginning up controversy.
A worthy article on a dubious investment- so boring!
Blame Powerline (and only PL) for running the ad- and now you get clicks, links, and comments galore.
And people say Powerline distorts and exploits.
123 - Deano
I'm sorely tempted to beat up on Powerline and Iraqi Dinars myself...I could always use the traffic on my site.
124 - Nicelady
Pete Blackwell, who enjoys amateur geology and getting bitch-slapped by Power Line readers (not at the same time), lives in Indiana, near, but not too near, a whole mess of cornfields.
somethings rotten in Denmark
125 - Pete Blackwell
Don't you mean "in Indiana", Nicelady? BTW, I changed that profile yesterday because I have a sense of humor about this whole thing.