POLITICO Threatening Me Again

Well they’re back at it again.

Don’t worry I’m going to keep fighting the good fight and won’t be backing down. I’ll try to keep everybody updated on whats going on. Thanks for all the support though it really helps keep me strong.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out these background posts from a while back.

Sorry I haven’t been writing here as much lately but I’m spending most of my time writing over at my new MRC blog The Blast which has been incredibly successful by the way. It’s reached more than 300,000 visitors in just the past three months or so. It’s also been linked across the blogosphere and the rest of the web.

So you can check me out there and also at Human Events where I get to write op eds from time to time.

A Few Notes On the POLITICO Situation

There’s a couple more things I think I should say about this whole nightmare…

First, I want to take this time to thank everybody for the outpouring of support that I’ve received up until now. I can’t say thank you enough.

Second, I think it’s important to note, as Ed Morrissey and Instapundit do, that POLITICO easily could have taken a much more civil and decent approach to this if they were really concerned about people confusing my site with theirs… I most certainly would have been open to working with them to figure something out. Now, instead, I’m going to have to wait for legal council to advise me how to go forward.

Third, there are some people saying that they want to buy up something + politico domains to stick it to POLITICO. Obviously I can’t control what you do but personally I don’t think its a great idea. They may very well come after you legally as well… Plus there already are many sites which use something + politico that prove the point anyway.

Fourth, there is a growing call to boycott POLITICO. I just want to make sure that everyone knows I didn’t come up with or push that idea. In my view I just want to put out the facts of what’s going on and let people react as they see fit… and I certainly don’t feel that anybody owes me anything or ought to react in any particular way to what’s happening to me.

Five, given that I don’t believe anybody owes me anything I feel like I should thank everybody again for caring about what’s happening to me and showing their support for me in whatever way they can. It has been extremely heartening.

Six, there have been some people who have expressed interest in donating money to help me defend myself against POLITICO. Again I really appreciate the support but right now I’m looking into pro bono representation (which I have some leads on right now) so I don’t feel right taking donations that might not go toward my defense. If I can’t get pro bono representation I will check out prices from other lawyers and give you guys a number to work towards.

I’ll bring you guys more updates on this situation as soon as they happen… again, thank you so much for your support

Fox Business Wins Suit Against Treasury

fox business

Looks like the Treasury will actually how to tell us all how they’re wasting our money. That’s the end result of Fox Business Network’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against them:

FOX Business Network has won a victory against the Treasury Department in its Freedom of Information Act request for details about the government’s bailout plan.

Judge Richard J. Holwell of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said in a decision Friday that the government is directed to comply with FOX Business’s request under the FOIA “within 30 days and to produce a Vaughn index with 45 days.”

That means Treasury must comply with FOX Business’s request by Monday, April 23, and must produce a Vaughn index by Monday, April 6.

A Vaughn index details which documents have been withheld and why.

This is great news for those of us who, for some crazy reason, don’t blindly trust the government to spend our money in a wise or responsible way. Here’s exactly what FBN was looking for in this suit:

FBN asked the Treasury Department to identify, among other issues, the troubled assets purchased, any collateral extended, and any restrictions placed on these financial institutions for their participation in this program.

Not exactly unreasonable. Definitely important.

Good work FBN.