Scott Johnson, Chief Hypocrite of PowerLine Blob, banned Mike Benard (and others) from commenting on PowerLine, the semi-famous conservative blog, for reasons Johnson never explained. In other words, he behaved like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook — which he condemns. There were no violations of Johnson’s posted standards, no profanity, no vulgarity.
Further, there is evidence of increasing censorship of speech despite Johnson’s faux commitment to free speech and “civil comments of all stripes.”
A colleague unfamiliar with the website and Johnson, read his June 22 post on PowerLine standards in “Note to Commenters,” and concluded (emphasis added):
“The inherent arrogance of his written guidelines – especially the cautions about disparaging or embarrassing him and his fellow contributors reveals a deep insecurity. He’s on defense from the get-go. One wonders why he enters the arena of public political discourse if he has such a thin skin. Kind of Nixonian.”
Yet, according to Johnson:
Meanwhile, Johnson says not a word about his own policing of conservative speech. Lying by omission, a Johnson specialty.
More to come on Scott Johnson’s hypocrisy and pomposity — some of it “misdemeanor” level and some of it “felony” level, in a manner of speaking. But it is always entertaining to watch the self-righteous embarrass themselves. Johnson wants to hold Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and so many others accountable. Likewise we want to hold Johnson accountable.
Every week we will post a new report on Johnson’s PowerLine.
This will be fun.
