"The world was damaged by hisbeing, his passing is a gift."
"His mother made the wrong choice. The world would have been a better place today had she 'chosen wisely'."
"As slimy as they come. Good riddance."--- A sampling of the user comments that HuffPost reviewed, approved and decided to publish --- in violation of its own explicit rules --- in response to news that Sec. Eagleburger passed away. See many more examples below, after we prove that not a single comment appears anywhere on HuffPost without its OK.
"We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to abusive or hateful language or comments... [W]e decided that it was worth the substantial effort and expense to have human pre-moderation on both blogs and news."
--- Arianna Huffington
On the morning of June 4, 2011, former Sec. of State Lawrence
Eagleburger passed away at age 80.[At right: One of his last public appearances, on Feb. 11, 2011, accepting an honorary doctorate of law from Washington College.]A distinguished lifetime public servant who worked under five presidents, Sec. Eagleburger was the only career foreign service officer to rise to the top position at the State Department. He was a patriot, deeply respected by both Republicans and Democrats. President Obama described him as:
“A statesman who devoted his life to the security of our nation, and to strengthening our ties with allies and partners… [He] helped our nation navigate the pivotal days during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.”
About Sec. Eagleburger --- and why he was respected and beloved as a patriot by both Republicans and Democrats
Here is a compilation of comments about Sec. Eagleburger by top national figures from both political parties. A central reason why he was so respected was due to his willingness to present his candid, informed assessments and advice in any forum --- though only when invited to do so. Here he is from August 2009, when he sat down for a full hour with Greta van Susteren, to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions, and how the U.S. should deal (and have dealt) with it:
See part 2 of this interview here.
Another reason Sec. Eagleburger was so beloved was his biting sense of humor --- which he often employed at his own expense. Here are excerpts of his last appearance, on May 18, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the State Department's Operations Center, a 24-hour communications and crisis management facility upon which that he and other Secretaries of State relied:
See the full video of the event here.
See some of Sec. Eagleburger's TV appearances in recent years here, here and here.
Huffington Post decided to feature the story of Sec. Eagleburger's death, and to allow user comments on the thread --- but only those that it reviewed and approved, before they were published
HuffPost published the AP story of Sec. Eagleburger's passing on its front page, in the late morning of June 4:
Note that HuffPost didn't even include Sec. Eagleburger's name in the headline, as it does when a leftist public figure dies. Also note how, when the story is an Arianna Huffington puff-piece, HuffPost dedicates three lines to the headline (right). Note also that the photo HuffPost selected of Sec. Eagleburger was of many years ago, when he was significantly overweight --- not one of him in recent years, as shown in the above video appearances. This is consistent with how HuffPost uses pictures to disparage individuals that it views as enemies. (Example: Benjamin Netanyahu)
One might think that given the strong bipartisan respect for Sec. Eaglebuger, HuffPost would try to live up to its claims that it is a "nonpartisan" newspaper --- and take extra care to ensure that the user comments it allowed to be posted do not violate its rules, or basic decency. After all, HuffPost is the #1 most-read blog on Earth and a top-ten U.S. “news” site, whose operations are entirely dependent on revenue from its roster of top-flight advertisers.
Actually, HuffPost claimed there was no chance of comment "accidents." Why? Because HuffPost announced up front that not a single comment would appear on its Eagleburger death thread until and unless it has been reviewed and approved by one of its Moderators:
"Our moderators screen these comments before they are published"
Above: In this screencap, taken about an hour after the thread was posted,shows that HuffPost had reviewed, approved and decided to publish 22 comments,
and it was reviewing 12 (in "pending"), deciding what to do with them.
And we know for a fact that HuffPost can and does enforce strict prohibitions on certain kinds of comments --- particularly relating to Arianna Huffington herself. For example, in January, after she was kicked off of a plane for refusing to stop using her Blackberry, HuffPost issued an order to all its Moderators to not permit any user comments to appear anywhere on the site that have anything to do with this incident.
Returning now to Sec. Eagleburger's passing, what types of comments do HuffPost's rules say it does not publish? A sampling:
"We do not allow comments that celebrate the death, illness... of any person... or hate speech... or ad hominem attacks of any kind... or speech that is vile... [...]..."
--- HuffPost Comment Policy
HuffPost's Moderators are tasked with enforcing its Comment Policy,
and maintaining the "civil commenting environment" that Arianna has repeatedly - "We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to abusive or hateful language or comments." (3/20/08)
- "If you're looking for the usual flame-throwing, name-calling, and simplistic attack dog rhetoric ... don't bother coming to the Huffington Post." (5/6/05)
- "From the beginning, I would have established a policy of pre-moderating all comments on the site. [...] Our comments on the news site were originally post-moderated (i.e., objectionable comments were removed only after our moderators were alerted). We eventually decided that it was worth the substantial effort and expense to have human pre-moderation on both blogs and news." (7/08)
So what kinds of comments do you think appeared on the Eagleburger death thread? Let's take a look.
HuffPost reviewed, approved and decided to publish one hate-filled, libelous comment against Sec. Eagleburger after another --- up to and including insults against his mother, celebrations of his death, and predictions of his eternal damnation
The following are just some examples of what we clipped from the thread within the first few hours. Note how many of these users have more than 100 "fans," meaning that HuffPost has been enabling them for a very, very long time (see special report here on how HuffPost enables, protects and emboldens the most egregious violators of its comment policy --- invariably radical leftists).
somsoc, 292 FansIf you can stomach any more, go and see what other types of hate comments HuffPost allowed to be posted, before it goes back and retroactively sanitizes the thread, then claims that it was all a "mistake."
No great loss, too bad his mother made the wrong choice. The world would have been a better place today had she 'chosen wisely'.
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earthboy, 159 Fans
A little less evil in the world now.
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North2011, 128 Fans
Another rat seeing his fate.... Good riddance!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Howard53545, 74 Fans
He should have been in jail for stealing state secrets. He was lucky.
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somsoc, 292 Fans
The world was damaged by his being, his passing is a gift.
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StuckNReality, 7 Fans
I remember him being as slimy as they come. Good riddance.
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Pero, 40 Fans
[...] A criminal in the Kissinger rank
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Cailleach Echo, 224 Fans
[...] good gawd. He was three feet across. He dug his grave with a fork. Look at early photos of him. This man was an eating machine.
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thoreau101, 179 Fans
Bush Sr. appointed him in the final days of his administration so LE could go around calling himself an ex-secretary of state. He was always a phony and he used the title to promote himself.
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ConsensusReality, 747 Fans
So long, Mr. Eagleburger...if you're really judged at the pearly gates, you're in big trouble
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tburke1932, 2 Fans
[...] It is just unfortunate for us that his loyalty was more towards Israel than the USA.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
bbbbmer, 309 Fans
Wow, THIS puff piece sure whitewashed Eagleburger's record.... Perhaps the most polite thing that could be said of him is that he was NOT well liked... and in his later years, he was NOT well regarded...
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Rock Fossil, 8 Fans
No Biggie, just another ancient ReThugliCon. R.I.P.....Rest in Poverty, Mr. Eagle Burger, as you have helped us all rest in poverty, as we live! [...]
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Again: There is only one thing that enabled these comments to appear: HuffPost's roster of top-flight advertisers. Do you think they know what they are enabling, and are publicly associated with? You might ask them --- see Action Items, below.
ACTION ITEMS
If you share our view that HuffPost's actions in regards to this story are outrageous, and are opposed to its long, long history of enabling and even protecting most egregious violators of its comment policy to remain active, we urge you to do three things:
(1) Make your voice known to HuffPost's senior management here
(2) Consider writing or calling one or more of HuffPost's top advertisers, to let them know your thoughts on what their ad dollars are enabling.
An easy way to approach this is to scan our easy-to-use directory and find one or two corporations that you are a customer of, or have stock in. Your concerns will automatically be given considerably more weight. Also, request a follow-up after they've had a chance to review the evidence; don't let them off the hook, or sweep this under the rug.
(3) Forward the link to this story along to friends and journalists who you think might be interested in learning what HuffPost really is, and does --- and how long this has been going on:Users unleash hatred for, libels against Tony Snow --- on the day he died (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")
VP Cheney hospitalized; HuffPost approves users to unleash death wishes
HuffPost libels former American soldiers (again); users unleash death wishes against them (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")
HuffPost approves Moderators, users to vilify, wish death upon ailing Billy Graham
Special Report: HuffPost MODERATOR: "Hey, let's murder Boehner, the Kochs and others!!!" (HuffPost: "Approved, protected!!!")
"Hey, let's go murder energy industry executives!!!" (HuffPost: "Approved, protected!!!")
Ignoring Hamas outrages, HuffPost breaks own rules to allow hate-fest against Ariel Sharon
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