When I criticized the New York Times in my last column, that really, really, really ticked off the Random Pixels blogger.
Not only did he blast me in the comment section of my own blog, but he went on a mad rampage attacking me on his website and in a barrage of insults on Twitter.
Apparently, the article about the “amphibious” pitcher was not published in the New York Times, but in the East Oregonian.
OKAY? ARE WE FREAKING CLEAR ON THAT?
Random Pixels obviously, and very deliberately, missed the entire point of the blog. But was my mistake that freaking egregious?
Seriously! WTF?
It’s not as if I used a personal email server to conduct official State Department business from my home, and then deleted my emails to avoid Federal records laws.
I didn’t even form a tax-free charitable foundation to accept foreign donations in exchange for influencing State Department policies.
And I certainly didn’t aid and abet the sale of uranium to Russia!
So what could I have possibly done incur such wrath?
Apparently, because I mistakenly claimed that the newspaper blooper was published in the New York Times (even though I read it on the internet, so it MUST be true!*), Random Pixels completely disregarded the rest of my post and tried to make that the entire point. (*Note: That was #SARCASM!)
He started his unrelenting blitzkrieg by calling me a racist because – get this – I DIDN’T CORRECT MY POST!
It only got worse from there.
He started blasting me on Twitter and demanding I publish a correction. When I tweeted back to him that I figured he already did that for me, he responded with “If you post bogus shit, it’s YOUR job to correct it. That way your “readership” can see what a fraud you are.”
Okay, so now I’m a racist AND a fraud.
Anything else?
Yeah.
I’m a “nutty right-wing blogger,” an “imbecile” and I have zero readership.
After spewing his venom at me on Twitter, he then blocked me from his account.
Alrighty then.
That was freaking weird.
I certainly hope he feels better now.
If the headline I incorrectly credited to the New York Times were the point of the blog, it would have been a gross misrepresentation of the truth. I included it because I thought it was funny as hell. Even without that lede, the rest of the blog would still have been written.
Judging by Random Pixels’ reaction, however, I may as well have committed capital murder!
With one rare exception a few years back, I have not attacked other bloggers. At the very least, I consider it a “professional” courtesy to keep any negative opinions to myself. I have the utmost respect for other bloggers, especially local ones, many of whom I consider my mentors. I had even put Random Pixels at the top of that list.
You might be asking what I ever did to this dude to warrant such a vicious attack?
Beats me.
If anything, I’ve always been extremely deferential to Random Pixels, even to the point of being ingratiating. In fact, one of my closest friends once asked, “What’s with your fawning over Random Pixels all the time? Just stop!”
I guess no good deed really does go unpunished.
In any event, although the funny headline is not to be credited to the New York Times (which publication is apparently as humor challenged as Random Pixels), I stand by my original opinion that Marco Rubio was unfairly and unnecessarily attacked. I also stand by my opinion that he’s being targeted because of all the Republican contenders, he poses the biggest threat to Democrats.
Even stranger than the New York Times’ exposes of Rubio’s four <GASP> traffic tickets and his “spendthrift” ways, is that the NYT posted a picture of his home in West Miami.
This morning, the caption under the photo inferred that Marco’s “mansion” was the most lavish house in the entire neighborhood.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take a screen shot of the caption, because for some reason the wording has since been changed. It now merely states, ” Mr. Rubio’s home in West Miami. Credit Ryan Stone for The New York Times.”
(You’ll just have to take my word for that. Even though Random Pixels would probably call me a liar.)
Anyone who lives in the Miami area would agree that Rubio’s house is hardly a “mansion.” In fact, it’s not much bigger than the guest houses of real South Florida mansions.
The New York Times quoted Marco Rubio as saying, “I’m not poor, but I’m not rich, either.”
On the contrary, the Clintons, who allegedly made over $160 million since leaving the White House, claimed to be “dead broke” last year. I wonder if the New York Times criticized Hillary for her “financial troubles.”
Or if they published a picture of her humble abode in Chappaqua, New York.
Across the pond, however, last year the Daily Mail noted that the Clintons were “slumming it” and “downsizing” by only paying $100,000.00 to rent their summer home as opposed to the $200,000.00 they usually shell out.
Poor, poor Hillary! Maybe Marco can lend her his “luxury sports car” for the summer so she can let the chauffeur go, too.
Now that’s a ride!
And let’s also not forget Marco Rubio’s “luxury speedboat.”
Here’s a photo of Marco’s $80,000.00 off shore fishing boat as advertised by the manufacturer.
I’m quite sure this isn’t what Miami’s Beautiful People would call a “luxury speedboat.” Not by any stretch.
In the interest of avoiding any further wrath of Random Pixels, let me clarify for the record that I have nothing against wealth or the wealthy. I do not disparage people for wanting to make money or, even more importantly, wanting to spend it.
On anything they want!
Good for them!
My beef is with the mainstream news media, which is supposed to be unbiased and nonpartisan, but never is.
Bloggers, on the other hand, are not reporters. We’re supposed to have opinions. Why else would we do this?
This is not the first time Random Pixels has criticized me. Sometimes it’s justified, other times not.
But when he attacked me so viciously for something so inconsequential, I was literally stunned.
In this instance, I did make a mistake. I admit I incorrectly credited the New York Times with a funny story.
They don’t do funny. I get it. I take it back.
My sincere apologies!
I do not, however, apologize for the point I was making in the first place. The decidedly unfunny New York Times unfairly and continuously attacks Marco Rubio for the most ridiculous of reasons, while giving a pass to certain other politicians who do much worse.
Obviously, Marco’s biggest “problem” is that he’s a Republican.
Even more obviously, where Random Pixels is concerned, it’s also mine.
Stephanie Kienle
“Spreading the Wealth”
WOW! That’s it in a nutshell.
Yeah. Wow. I’m still SMH.
I was under the impression that you were friends or knew each other. Your previous posts have a complimentary air about them when referring to Mr. Random Pixels. I began reading his blogs because of your recommendations and references to him.
There are many who get abusive and angry if you don’t share their political opinions and lash out. It seems to me that this is the case and not a matter of a simple error in crediting the correct source. The RD Pixels blogger came across as juvenile, pedantic, and somewhat unbalanced. I won’t be reading his blogs anymore because I can’t help but picture a raving lunatic now. Not that he would care about losing one person from his “readership”. This reader prefers more levity and less lunacy. Is it possible that Obamacare doesn’t provide for Zoloft or lithium with their healthcare? RP could use something to level out those outbursts.
You must be mistaken. According to RP, I don’t have any readership.
Which he knows because he doesn’t read my blog.
Not surprised. I have liberal friends who foam at the mouth when I express opinions that don’t line up with theirs.
I usually get the same reaction. One time I posted an article on Facebook by the Jewish Republican Coalition. A childhood friend of mine commented, “Jewish? Republican? Is this a joke?” When I replied that it was not, she promptly de-friended me.
That’s when I realized Jews are not allowed to be Republicans. I’m such a rebel!
I am apparently not alone in my condemnation of the New York Times’ attack on Rubio. HuffPo columnist Ryan Grimm chided the NYT for calling Rubio’s fishing boat a “luxury speed boat.”
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/rubio-speedboat-fishing-boat_n_7554138.html)
Politico.com’s Rich Lowry wrote:
“The candidate treated most unfairly by The New York Times is in a coveted slot in the Republican presidential field, owned, at least for the time being, by Marco Rubio.
The self-styled newspaper of record ran two extensively reported stories about Rubio and his wife that were so laughably tendentious and unfair that they earned mockery and eye-rolling across the political spectrum.
According to the Times, Marco Rubio is basically a scofflaw who has spent much of his life tottering on the brink of financial ruin, and his wife is his partner in crime.”
(http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/living-it-up-with-the-rubios-118854.html#ixzz3ckt0nbyO)
Somehow, according to Random Pixels, I must be a racist because I have the “wrong” opinion of the New York Times.
Someone please let me know when the PC Police enacted an official “State Opinion.” Just wanna make sure I don’t cross that line again!
Just as I suspected, the NYT disparaged Rubio for having a “mansion!” The Politico article went on to say:
“Another extravagance, the story suggests, is the Rubios’ 2005 purchase of a home twice the size of their previous one. The Times fails to note that the Rubio family was growing at the time — they have four kids — but does stipulate that the house is more expensive and newer than other homes in West Miami, featuring an in-ground pool, a nice driveway, well-maintained bushes and big windows.
What of this manse? Well, it’s one thing to have one of the nicest homes in, say, Coral Gables; it’s another to have one of the priciest in West Miami, a largely Latino working-class community. When a Sun Sentinel journalist went to check it out, skeptical of Rubio’s claims about its ordinariness, he wrote a piece titled, “Rubio tells truth about neighborhood.”
I don’t care for Rubio and probably would not vote for him. But, a 24 Edgewater is not only not a speedboat, it is not even a mack-daddy center console. Don’t get me wrong. It is a nice boat. New, it is more than 80k. Most boats in that size and power class are more than 80k so it sounds to me like he got a deal!! Unfortunately I have to admit that the reporting media is obviously trying to tarnish the guy with inaccurate facts
Thank you, and thanks for seeing my point. Whether or not you (or anyone else) likes Rubio, these attacks are unfair and unwarranted. That’s all I’m saying.
Steph, please publish RP’s twitter account so we can push his buttons like you did, and then he can block us too. There’s nothing more satisfying then bringing a Liberal to their knees in utter frustration by using FACTS to do it.
Oh, dear. Please leave the poor guy alone. I have no interest in tormenting him. There are plenty of corrupt politicians to go after in earnest!
Jon Stewart shreds The New York Times for its Marco Rubio coverage
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-shreds-the-new-york-times-for-its-marco-rubio-coverage-2015-6#ixzz3cn6Tob45
Jon Stewart savages New York Times reporting on Marco Rubio’s finances
“Oh sh—! Marco Rubio got … 4 tickets! In … 17 years! I assume The New York Times obtained this damning information from Marco Rubio’s plaque in the ‘Hall of Best Miami Drivers Ever,’” Stewart cracked.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/jon-stewart-savages-new-york-times-reporting-on-marco-rubios-finances-118867.html#ixzz3cn77DMyt
I guess I’m not the only one mocking the New York Times “coverage” of this “breaking news.” What say you now, RP?
I’m a Republican and a member of the Miami REC and while Rubio is not my candidate the fact they unfairly targeted him and lied about his home is wrong. Rubio is not that poor but at the time of my comments he no longer represents a threat to beat Hillary. I’m not going to comment about that but Rubio is far from being a saint. We at the REC who are for another candidate I will not mention are ignored because we will not carry the water for him or his lobbyist buddy that is the head the REC. Rubio is not a conservative or libertarian he just has an R in front of his name.If you are happy with the status quo than Rubio is your guy but ask the VP of the REC how he was attacked because he supported another candidate not named Rubio. They where viscous and unfair I know because I was at the meeting to sensor him. Who are they to sensor a person. They talk about the left but they are just as bad. No difference between Hillary and Rubio they are both compulsive liars and will do anything to win. At least Bernie Sanders is honest. Rubio and Hillary no way. Sanders is not my candidate but I respect his honesty. Rubio has no chance anyway but Hillary will win even if Bernie Sanders gets more votes.
Here’s a bit of ancient blogger wisdom that might help avoid such kerfuffles in the future.
Con-fucious say: Beware of pompous, prancing pipsqueaks who wear monikers like Random Pixie.
Good one.