Power Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
See Electric power transmission for the more common use of this term.
Gnome globe current event.svg
 This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2011)

Power Line is an American political publication, providing news and commentary from a conservative point-of-view. It was originally written by three lawyers who attended Dartmouth College together: John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff.

Mirengoff left the blog shortly after writing a January, 2011 post on a Tucson memorial service honoring those who died as the result of shootings at a Gabrielle Giffords rally; in his post he criticized the inclusion of Native American rituals. The post was later removed, but days later Mirengoff left the blog, and in announcing his exit thanked Hinderaker, Johnson, and the readers for the opportunity of participating in the blog.[1] When Mirengoff left the site, Hinderaker and Johnson recruited Steven Hayward to replace him. On Apr 20, 2012, Mirengoff rejoined the site, saying "My return to blogging coincides with my retirement from the practice of law. With all that extra time on my hands, I hope to be a better, more productive blogger this time around."[2] The site is published by Publir, founded by Joe Malchow, another Dartmouth College graduate. The site gained wide recognition for its role in covering the Killian documents scandal that eventually led to the departure of Dan Rather from the CBS Evening News. The blog was founded in late May 2002. Audience estimates suggest that the column has eight million pageviews per month, making it one of the largest blogs.

In 2004, Power Line was named Time magazine's first-ever "Blog of the Year."[3] When AOL added blogs to their news website in 2007, Power Line was one of the five blogs included.[4] A 2007 memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee described Power Line as one of the five best-read national conservative blogs.[5]

The authors also write for newspapers and magazines, appear on radio and television. Hinderaker and Johnson are fellows of the Claremont Institute.

Contents

Political positions [edit]

Power Line's authors typically support the conservative agenda, especially the Iraq war and the War on Terrorism. But they criticized former President George W. Bush for being insufficiently conservative on issues including immigration and affirmative action. The blog advocated the nomination and confirmation of judicially conservative judges during the Bush administration and regularly features analysis of court decisions. Power Line often vigorously criticizes Democrats and liberals for dishonesty, lack of morals, bad judgment and disloyalty to the United States. They occasionally attack Republicans for similar shortcomings, such as Senator John McCain for his position advocating the US should not "torture" suspected terrorists or "enemy combatants."([1]),([2]).

The Power Line authors believe the media suffer from systemic liberal bias because too many reporters and editors are partisan liberals. They frequently question the integrity of organizations such as Associated Press, the BBC, Reuters, and the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Power Line authors have repeatedly advocated criminal prosecution of CIA leakers and media outlets that publish national security information. They also frequently criticize the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, home to two of the Power Line authors.

Rathergate [edit]

Power Line gained widespread recognition for its 2004 reporting on the Killian documents controversy relating to a CBS report on George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, starting with a post entitled "The Sixty-First Minute".[6] Conservatives (including Power Line, National Review Online and Little Green Footballs) referred to the controversy as "Rathergate". The blogs and their readers contributed research in assessing the authenticity of the documents, presenting evidence of forgery. After a Free Republic contributor pointed out that the alleged documents used a proportional font, Power Line helped advance the story, triggering coverage by mainstream media outlets. Dan Rather apologized and resigned from the CBS anchor chair. Power Line became identified with the Pajamahadeen when criticized by a former CBS News executive.

See also: Killian documents and Killian documents authenticity issues

Schiavo memo [edit]

Power Line speculated that the Schiavo memo was most likely forged by Democrats as a political dirty trick. When the memo turned out to be written by a Republican aide, Brian Darling, Power Line acknowledged the revelation, but continued to criticize the mainstream media for depicting the memo as "a product of the party's leadership or had an official status."[7]

President Carter [edit]

Power Line frequently criticizes former US President Jimmy Carter. They have called him a "nut"[8] and said in a post about his actions regarding the Iraqi election in January 2005 that he is "on the other side".[9]

Hinderaker later wrote[10] that Carter "started aligning himself with America's enemies", citing the possibility that Carter asked the Soviet Union to expand Jewish emigration to help him in the 1980 Presidential election, and added

In more recent years, Carter has never met an anti-American dictator he didn't like.... [H]e used the occasion of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to attack the current American government.... Jimmy Carter is a disgrace. We've said so before, and we'll continue saying so as long as he merits the criticism. If you want to learn more, read Steven Hayward's book The Real Jimmy Carter.

Judicial nominations [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (August 2010)

The bloggers often comment on nominations of federal judges, especially to the Supreme Court. Mirengoff has suggested that "Republican Senators should feel free to vote against Sotomayor. Half of the Senate Democrats voted against Roberts and a strong majority voted against Alito... for no other reason than their desire not to have another 'conservative' on the Supreme Court.... Thus, non-liberal Senators have every right to vote against her for that reason."[11]

Other coverage [edit]

Coverage and commentary by Hinderaker, Johnson, and Mirengoff, all alumni of Dartmouth College, was instrumental in the 2005 election of "insurgent" candidates Peter Robinson and Todd Zywicki to the Board of Trustees.

The blog also covers some lighter material. Johnson regularly posts historical articles about jazz and other musicians, Mirengoff reported on European soccer teams and Hinderaker covers beauty pageants.[12] Hinderaker also hosts a weekly radio show as part of the Northern Alliance Radio Network in Minnesota (Johnson left the show in February 2005, but is an occasional guest).

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Farewell and thank you, Powerline http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/01/028232.php
  2. ^ One happy Deacon, Powerline http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/04/one-happy-deacon.php
  3. ^ Kher, Unmesh (December 19, 2004). "Blogs Have Their Day". Time magazine. 
  4. ^ Hinderaker, John (February 22, 2007). "Introducing Power Line AOL". Power Line. 
  5. ^ Budoff Brown, Carrie (13 June 2007). "GOP issues rules to avoid Macaca moments". Politico. 
  6. ^ Scott Johnson, Scott (September 9, 2004). "The sixty-first minute". Power Line. 
  7. ^ Hinderaker, John (April 8, 2005). "Real Memo, Fake Story". Power Line. 
  8. ^ Johnson, Scott (March 3, 2006). "Jimmy Carter: Nut". Power Line. 
  9. ^ Hinderaker, John (February 2, 2005). "Administration Critics Keeping Mum". Power Line. 
  10. ^ Hinderaker, John (February 16, 2005). "Jimmy Carter Revisited". Power Line. 
  11. ^ Mirengoff, Paul (May 26, 2009). "How will the Sotomayor nomination play out?". Power Line. 
  12. ^ Hinderaker, John (August 20, 2010). "Once Again, Pageant Queen Outsmarts President". Power Line. 

External links [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Power_Line&oldid=515879734"