Firedoglake
Encyclopedia
Firedoglake is a US collaborative blog
which primarily specialises in covering news from a left-progressive/left-liberal stance. Established by film producer Jane Hamsher
in 2004, Firedoglake has served as a platform for Hamsher, other writers and commenters to engage in debate and activism.
Firedoglake, naming it after her favorite activity at the time, sitting by the fire with her dog while watching Los Angeles Lakers
games. Then published on Blogger.com, Firedoglake won a 2005 Koufax Award for "Best Series" for its detailed coverage of the Plame affair
, while being in close contention for "Best New Blog" and "Best Group Blog".
In late 2005, Hamsher expanded FDL into a group blog, featuring such regular contributors as Christy Hardin Smith (aka "Reddhead"), Marcy Wheeler
(aka "emptywheel"), "TRex", "Pachacutec", and "Siun", who have since been joined by others, and she publishes it utilizing WordPress
, enabling moderated and filtered commenting. In 2008, in a profile of Hamsher published in the Washingtonian
, she states that "FireDogLake has about 20 people who write for it, maybe a dozen site administrators who watch what's happening on the blog."
FDL TV is a video-centric blog which syndicates topical videos relevant to progressive issues.
, Blue America attempts to recruit pro-single-payer health care
citizens to run in as many legislative districts as possible.
, and participants included its author, John Dean
; political and legal blog
ger and Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald
; and former Ambassador Joe Wilson
.
; its first release is a volume about the Valerie Plame
affair by Firedoglake and Daily Kos
contributor Marcy Wheeler
("emptywheel") entitled Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy (Berkeley: Vaster Books [Dist. by Publishers Group West], 2007). To finance the publication of Wheeler's book, Hamsher sought to raise $65,000 in donations at Firedoglake, ultimately raising $29,000 through PayPal
contributions, according to the hyperlinked "dedicated fund-raising page" tracking results.
of TalkLeft, Christy Hardin Smith (aka "Reddhead"), Marcy Wheeler
(aka "emptywheel"), "Pachacutec", and Susan McIntosh (aka "egregious"), Hamsher live-blogged the Scooter Libby trial
from the courtroom for Firedoglake, as she had applied for and been granted two press passes which they all shared to attend and report on the trial in Washington, D.C.
The New York Times
reporter Scott Shane observes: "With no audio or video feed permitted, the Firedoglake 'live blog' has offered the fullest, fastest public report available. Many mainstream journalists use it to check on the trial," and noted that "for blogs, the Libby trial marks a courthouse coming of age." Online donors contributed to defray FDL's trial coverage costs, including travel expenses of the live-bloggers and rental of a Washington, D.C. apartment which they shared.
in his successful run for the Democratic
nomination in the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Connecticut
, against ultimately-successful incumbent senator Joe Lieberman
, who ran independently as a third party
candidate with the support of Connecticut for Lieberman
. Although Hamsher was not on the campaign staff, she was among several bloggers who traveled with Lamont's campaign, and she promoted Lamont's candidacy and helped raise money for him through Firedoglake.
After Hamsher posted an image depicting Lieberman in superimposed blackface
embracing Bill Clinton
created from a graphically-edited
photograph of Lieberman and Clinton in her guest blog in The Huffington Post, she was publicly criticized by Lieberman's campaign and others for doing so. The Lieberman campaign objected publicly that it found the image offensive and racist, with Lieberman publicly calling the use of blackface in the image "one of the most disgusting and hurtful images that has been used in American history, it's deeply offensive to people of all colors, and it has absolutely no place in the political arena today" and demanding that Lamont prohibit Hamsher from traveling with his campaign and to refuse any money that she may have raised for him.
Questioned about the image and his campaign's connections to Hamsher, Lamont responded, "I don't know anything about the blogs. I'm not responsible for those. I have no comment on them," but a spokesman for Lamont was quoted in The Washington Post
as calling the image "offensive and inappropriate." Hamsher removed the image after receiving a request from the Lamont campaign, later posting a statement on Firedoglake "apologiz[ing] to anyone who was genuinely offended by the choice of images," and criticizing Lieberman for using the controversy about the image to score political points.
During the summer of 2008, as the U.S. presidential nomination conventions approached, Hamsher continued her opposition to Senator Joe Lieberman
's political aspirations in both Firedoglake and other venues, culminating in her The Huffington Post entry emphatically stating her fear that he might be chosen by the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain
for his Vice Presidential running mate: "Obviously, I have an elaborate nightmare where Joe Lieberman gets the VP nod, McCain wins, then dies -- and we're looking at a President Lieberman. At which point I and a host of others bloggers who supported Ned Lamont
wind up in Guantanamo Bay
." After Barack Obama
became President Elect on November 4, 2008, Hamsher unsuccessfully opposed Lieberman's staying in the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate
and retaining his chairmanship of his United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
(both of which Obama ultimately supported), as a consequence not only of Senator Lieberman's prior disengagement
from the Democratic Party, his support of the Republican presidential candidate McCain, and his failure to adhere to promises not to attack Obama during the campaign, but, also, more importantly from her perspective, of what she alleges to be Lieberman's "prevent[ing] Senatorial investigation into no-bid contracts and contractor abuse within the Department of Homeland Security
," urging her readers to sign the "Just Say No to Joe" petition that she posted on Firedoglake.
, then Deputy Managing Editor of Time
, had edited a controversial column by Joe Klein
, published on November 21, 2007. According to Hamsher and several articles by Glenn Greenwald
posted online at Salon, as well as articles in The Chicago Tribune and National Review
, Klein allegedly published false information regarding legislation that amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): Protect America Act of 2007, based mainly upon claims by Peter Hoekstra, a Republican
congressman
who opposed that bill. After Klein had qualified central statements in his article, commenting "I may have made a mistake in my column this week about the FISA legislation passed by the House," Hamsher telephoned Painton and asked her "what the editing process was, and how a piece with so many errors made it into print," to which Painton reportedly replied: "That assumes there are any errors," ending the phone call. In response to Hamsher's account of her telephone conversation with Painton, Greenwald questioned the integrity of Time
and its editor Painton.
. In June 2009, she challenged the Congressional Progressive Caucus
(CPC) to pledge to vote against any health care reform
bill that lacked a public option
. Some of these pledges were videotaped. The CPC
released their own letter shortly thereafter signed by 60 members, although the letter was vague as to whether it applied to the conference report
. Ultimately none of the CPC
members honored their pledge. Hamsher was one of the few liberals who opposed the bill until the end. She co-founded a non-profit organization
, Public Option Please, to continue the fight for a public option
and more generally for universal health care
.
Hamsher and Rep. Anna Eshoo
had an online debate in which Hamsher argued that proposed protections for so-called biologic drugs
were too generous to patent
-holders to the detriment of patients. Hamsher also wrote an open letter
demanding that Hadassah Lieberman
step down as a paid "Global Ambassador" for Susan G. Komen for the Cure
due to her husband Sen. Joe Lieberman's
threats to filibuster
health care reform
. Hamsher was criticized for appearing on Fox & Friends
and asking viewers to sign her petition to "kill the Senate bill." Hamsher responded, "It scares the bejesus out of the D.C. establishment of both parties to think that the left and right might align against the corporate interests."
Hamsher was frustrated that liberal
concerns were not taken more seriously by the Obama administration
. According to her, the administration
has corralled left-leaning interest groups in a virtual "veal
pen." Loyalty is rewarded with access and sinecure
s. Groups which stray from the administration
's message face adverse action on their other priorities and even loss of funding. Within the veal pen there are what she calls "issue validators" such as Planned Parenthood
and NARAL Pro-Choice America
whose silence allowed the anti-abortion Stupak-Pitts Amendment to pass with little public outcry. Hamsher launched the "One Voice For Choice" phone-banking campaign to call voters in districts of House members who voted for the Stupak Amendment.
to call for the resignation of Rahm Emanuel
for an alleged role in the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
) has been applied to members of FDL to accompany allegations of seeking ideological purity within the Democratic Party.
Collaborative blog
A collaborative blog is a type of weblog in which posts are written and published by more than one author. The majority of high profile collaborative blogs are based around a single uniting theme, such as politics or technology....
which primarily specialises in covering news from a left-progressive/left-liberal stance. Established by film producer Jane Hamsher
Jane Hamsher
Jane Hamsher is a US film producer, author, and blogger best known as the author of Killer Instinct, a memoir about co-producing the 1994 movie Natural Born Killers with Don Murphy and others, and as the founder and publisher of the politically progressive blog FireDogLake...
in 2004, Firedoglake has served as a platform for Hamsher, other writers and commenters to engage in debate and activism.
History
In December 2004, Hamsher founded the blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
Firedoglake, naming it after her favorite activity at the time, sitting by the fire with her dog while watching Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
games. Then published on Blogger.com, Firedoglake won a 2005 Koufax Award for "Best Series" for its detailed coverage of the Plame affair
Plame affair
The Plame Affair involved the identification of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer. Mrs. Wilson's relationship with the CIA was formerly classified information...
, while being in close contention for "Best New Blog" and "Best Group Blog".
In late 2005, Hamsher expanded FDL into a group blog, featuring such regular contributors as Christy Hardin Smith (aka "Reddhead"), Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is an American blogger who wrote in The Next Hurrah prior to contributing primarily to Jane Hamsher's FireDogLake , between early December 2007 and July 2011....
(aka "emptywheel"), "TRex", "Pachacutec", and "Siun", who have since been joined by others, and she publishes it utilizing WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
, enabling moderated and filtered commenting. In 2008, in a profile of Hamsher published in the Washingtonian
Washingtonian (magazine)
Washingtonian is a monthly magazine distributed in the Washington, DC area since 1965. The magazine describes itself as "the magazine Washington lives by." The magazine's core focuses are local feature journalism, guide book-style articles, and real estate advice.-Editorial Content:Washingtonian...
, she states that "FireDogLake has about 20 people who write for it, maybe a dozen site administrators who watch what's happening on the blog."
Blogs
- La Figa - blog by Lisa Derrick
- emptywheel - blog by Marcy WheelerMarcy WheelerMarcy Wheeler is an American blogger who wrote in The Next Hurrah prior to contributing primarily to Jane Hamsher's FireDogLake , between early December 2007 and July 2011....
- ATTACKERMAN - blog by Spencer AckermanSpencer AckermanSpencer Ackerman is an American national security reporter and blogger. He began his career at The New Republic and currently writes for Wired magazine's national security blog, ....
- Elections - blog by Jon Walker
- Work in Progress - blog about work, unions, and the labor movement by Michael Whitney
- MyFDL - collaborative blog created by Bethany Soule and others
- TBogg - blog written by Tom Boggioni
- Pam's House Blend - blog on women's, LGBT and religious issues written by Pam Spaulding
- Just Say Now - pro-marijuana legalization blog, supported by Students for Sensible Drug PolicyStudents for Sensible Drug PolicyStudents for Sensible Drug Policy is an international non-profit advocacy and education organization based in Washington D.C., with offices in both Washington D.C. and San Francisco, CA...
Other components
News Desk - general news.FDL TV is a video-centric blog which syndicates topical videos relevant to progressive issues.
FDL Action
Formerly known as Campaign Silo, FDL Action is an explicitly-activist portion of FDL which galvanizes readers for causes.Blue America
Not related to the similarly named campaigns by ActBlueActBlue
ActBlue is a United States political committee established in June 2004 that enables anyone to fundraise on the Internet for the Democratic Party candidates of their choice....
, Blue America attempts to recruit pro-single-payer health care
Single-payer health care
Single-payer health care is medical care funded from a single insurance pool, run by the state. Under a single-payer system, universal health care for an entire population can be financed from a pool to which many parties employees, employers, and the state have contributed...
citizens to run in as many legislative districts as possible.
FDL Book Salon
In 2006 Hamsher launched the FDL Sunday Book Salon, in which participants discuss recent books, usually non-fiction political books, with a standing invitation for the books' authors to take part. For two weeks, in late August and early September 2006, the topic of conversation was the book Conservatives Without ConscienceConservatives without Conscience
Conservatives Without Conscience is a book written by John Dean, who served as White House Counsel under U.S. President Richard Nixon and then helped to break the Watergate scandal with his testimony before the United States Senate. The book analyzes the evolution of the Republican Party, and the...
, and participants included its author, John Dean
John Dean
John Wesley Dean III is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel to United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. In this position, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover-up...
; political and legal blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger and Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
; and former Ambassador Joe Wilson
Joseph C. Wilson
Joseph Charles Wilson IV is a former United States diplomat best known for his 2002 trip to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase yellowcake uranium; his New York Times op-ed piece, "What I Didn't Find in Africa"; and the subsequent "outing" of his wife...
.
FDL Books
On September 6, 2006, Hamsher announced a book imprint called FDL Books, later adding Vaster Books, in collaboration with Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily KosDaily Kos
Daily Kos is an American political blog that publishes news and opinions from a progressive point of view. It functions as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of netroots activists, whose efforts are primarily directed toward influencing and strengthening the Democratic Party...
; its first release is a volume about the Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
affair by Firedoglake and Daily Kos
Daily Kos
Daily Kos is an American political blog that publishes news and opinions from a progressive point of view. It functions as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of netroots activists, whose efforts are primarily directed toward influencing and strengthening the Democratic Party...
contributor Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is an American blogger who wrote in The Next Hurrah prior to contributing primarily to Jane Hamsher's FireDogLake , between early December 2007 and July 2011....
("emptywheel") entitled Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy (Berkeley: Vaster Books [Dist. by Publishers Group West], 2007). To finance the publication of Wheeler's book, Hamsher sought to raise $65,000 in donations at Firedoglake, ultimately raising $29,000 through PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
contributions, according to the hyperlinked "dedicated fund-raising page" tracking results.
Libby trial coverage
Taking turns with Jeralyn MerrittJeralyn Merritt
Jeralyn Elise Merritt is an American criminal defense attorney who practices in Denver, Colorado. In 1996 and 1997 she served as one of the principal trial lawyers for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing case. In 2002 Merritt founded and is the principal author of the blog TalkLeft: The...
of TalkLeft, Christy Hardin Smith (aka "Reddhead"), Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is an American blogger who wrote in The Next Hurrah prior to contributing primarily to Jane Hamsher's FireDogLake , between early December 2007 and July 2011....
(aka "emptywheel"), "Pachacutec", and Susan McIntosh (aka "egregious"), Hamsher live-blogged the Scooter Libby trial
United States v. Libby
United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby" is the federal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former high-ranking official in the George W. Bush administration....
from the courtroom for Firedoglake, as she had applied for and been granted two press passes which they all shared to attend and report on the trial in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reporter Scott Shane observes: "With no audio or video feed permitted, the Firedoglake 'live blog' has offered the fullest, fastest public report available. Many mainstream journalists use it to check on the trial," and noted that "for blogs, the Libby trial marks a courthouse coming of age." Online donors contributed to defray FDL's trial coverage costs, including travel expenses of the live-bloggers and rental of a Washington, D.C. apartment which they shared.
U.S. Senate election in Connecticut, 2006
Hamsher supported Ned LamontNed Lamont
Edward Miner "Ned" Lamont, Jr. is a businessman and heir and most recently an unsuccessful candidate for the 2010 Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut. On May 22, 2010, Lamont received more than fifteen percent of the vote at the state Democratic convention, and appeared on the...
in his successful run for the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nomination in the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Connecticut
United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2006
The 2006 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman lost the August 8th Democratic primary to Ned Lamont. Lieberman formed his own third party and won in the general election to a fourth term.-Democratic primary:The...
, against ultimately-successful incumbent senator Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
, who ran independently as a third party
Third party (politics)
In a two-party system of politics, the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones. While technically the term is limited to the third largest party or third oldest party, it is common, though innumerate, shorthand for any smaller party.For instance, in the...
candidate with the support of Connecticut for Lieberman
Connecticut for Lieberman
Connecticut for Lieberman is a Connecticut political party created by twenty-five supporters of Senator Joe Lieberman. The party was created to enable Lieberman to run for re-election following his defeat in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic primary...
. Although Hamsher was not on the campaign staff, she was among several bloggers who traveled with Lamont's campaign, and she promoted Lamont's candidacy and helped raise money for him through Firedoglake.
After Hamsher posted an image depicting Lieberman in superimposed blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
embracing Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
created from a graphically-edited
Graphics software
In computer graphics, graphics software or image editing software is a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate visual images on a computer....
photograph of Lieberman and Clinton in her guest blog in The Huffington Post, she was publicly criticized by Lieberman's campaign and others for doing so. The Lieberman campaign objected publicly that it found the image offensive and racist, with Lieberman publicly calling the use of blackface in the image "one of the most disgusting and hurtful images that has been used in American history, it's deeply offensive to people of all colors, and it has absolutely no place in the political arena today" and demanding that Lamont prohibit Hamsher from traveling with his campaign and to refuse any money that she may have raised for him.
Questioned about the image and his campaign's connections to Hamsher, Lamont responded, "I don't know anything about the blogs. I'm not responsible for those. I have no comment on them," but a spokesman for Lamont was quoted in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
as calling the image "offensive and inappropriate." Hamsher removed the image after receiving a request from the Lamont campaign, later posting a statement on Firedoglake "apologiz[ing] to anyone who was genuinely offended by the choice of images," and criticizing Lieberman for using the controversy about the image to score political points.
During the summer of 2008, as the U.S. presidential nomination conventions approached, Hamsher continued her opposition to Senator Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
's political aspirations in both Firedoglake and other venues, culminating in her The Huffington Post entry emphatically stating her fear that he might be chosen by the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
for his Vice Presidential running mate: "Obviously, I have an elaborate nightmare where Joe Lieberman gets the VP nod, McCain wins, then dies -- and we're looking at a President Lieberman. At which point I and a host of others bloggers who supported Ned Lamont
Ned Lamont
Edward Miner "Ned" Lamont, Jr. is a businessman and heir and most recently an unsuccessful candidate for the 2010 Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut. On May 22, 2010, Lamont received more than fifteen percent of the vote at the state Democratic convention, and appeared on the...
wind up in Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
." After Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
became President Elect on November 4, 2008, Hamsher unsuccessfully opposed Lieberman's staying in the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate
Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate
The Senate Democratic Caucus is the formal organization of the current 51 Democratic Senators in the United States Senate. In the 112th Congress, the Democratic Caucus additionally includes two independent senators who formally caucus with the Democrats for the purpose of committee assignments...
and retaining his chairmanship of his United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland security concerns, as well as the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and...
(both of which Obama ultimately supported), as a consequence not only of Senator Lieberman's prior disengagement
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
from the Democratic Party, his support of the Republican presidential candidate McCain, and his failure to adhere to promises not to attack Obama during the campaign, but, also, more importantly from her perspective, of what she alleges to be Lieberman's "prevent[ing] Senatorial investigation into no-bid contracts and contractor abuse within the Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
," urging her readers to sign the "Just Say No to Joe" petition that she posted on Firedoglake.
Time Magazine, November 21, 2007
In Firedoglake on November 27, 2007, Hamsher posted that she had determined that Priscilla PaintonPriscilla Painton
Priscilla Painton is an American journalist and book editor. She was Time magazine's deputy managing editor until 2008, and is now the editor in chief of Simon & Schuster.-Personal:...
, then Deputy Managing Editor of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, had edited a controversial column by Joe Klein
Joe Klein
Joe Klein is a longtime Washington, D.C. and New York journalist and columnist, known for his novel Primary Colors, an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. Klein is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a former Guggenheim...
, published on November 21, 2007. According to Hamsher and several articles by Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
posted online at Salon, as well as articles in The Chicago Tribune and National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, Klein allegedly published false information regarding legislation that amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): Protect America Act of 2007, based mainly upon claims by Peter Hoekstra, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
who opposed that bill. After Klein had qualified central statements in his article, commenting "I may have made a mistake in my column this week about the FISA legislation passed by the House," Hamsher telephoned Painton and asked her "what the editing process was, and how a piece with so many errors made it into print," to which Painton reportedly replied: "That assumes there are any errors," ending the phone call. In response to Hamsher's account of her telephone conversation with Painton, Greenwald questioned the integrity of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and its editor Painton.
Health care reform debate
Hamsher is known as a strong advocate for a public health insurance optionPublic health insurance option
The public health insurance option is a proposed government-run health insurance agency which competes with other health insurance companies. It is not the same as Publicly-funded health care. Called the public insurance option or public option, for short, it was a proposed health insurance plan...
. In June 2009, she challenged the Congressional Progressive Caucus
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus is the largest caucus within the Democratic caucus in the United States Congress with 83 declared members, and works to advance progressive issues and positions....
(CPC) to pledge to vote against any health care reform
Health care reform in the United States
Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
bill that lacked a public option
Public health insurance option
The public health insurance option is a proposed government-run health insurance agency which competes with other health insurance companies. It is not the same as Publicly-funded health care. Called the public insurance option or public option, for short, it was a proposed health insurance plan...
. Some of these pledges were videotaped. The CPC
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus is the largest caucus within the Democratic caucus in the United States Congress with 83 declared members, and works to advance progressive issues and positions....
released their own letter shortly thereafter signed by 60 members, although the letter was vague as to whether it applied to the conference report
Conference report
In the United States Congress, a conference report refers to the final version of a bill that is negotiated between the House of Representatives and the Senate via conference committee. It is printed and submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval...
. Ultimately none of the CPC
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus is the largest caucus within the Democratic caucus in the United States Congress with 83 declared members, and works to advance progressive issues and positions....
members honored their pledge. Hamsher was one of the few liberals who opposed the bill until the end. She co-founded a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, Public Option Please, to continue the fight for a public option
Public health insurance option
The public health insurance option is a proposed government-run health insurance agency which competes with other health insurance companies. It is not the same as Publicly-funded health care. Called the public insurance option or public option, for short, it was a proposed health insurance plan...
and more generally for universal health care
Universal health care
Universal health care is a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.-History:...
.
Hamsher and Rep. Anna Eshoo
Anna Eshoo
Anna Georges Eshoo is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, which includes part of Silicon Valley, includes the cities of Redwood City, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto...
had an online debate in which Hamsher argued that proposed protections for so-called biologic drugs
Biologics
A biologic is a medicinal product such as a vaccine, blood or blood component, allergenic, somatic cell, gene therapy, tissue, recombinant therapeutic protein, or living cells that are used as therapeutics to treat diseases...
were too generous to patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
-holders to the detriment of patients. Hamsher also wrote an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
demanding that Hadassah Lieberman
Hadassah Lieberman
Hadassah Lieberman is the wife of United States Senator Joseph Lieberman .-Biography:She was born Hadassah Freilich in a refugee camp in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her parents were both Holocaust survivors. Her father was Samuel Freilich, a lawyer and rabbi from Munkács, in the Carpathian Ruthenia...
step down as a paid "Global Ambassador" for Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the US....
due to her husband Sen. Joe Lieberman's
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
threats to filibuster
Filibuster in the U.S. Senate
A filibuster in the United States Senate usually refers to any dilatory or obstructive tactics used to prevent a measure from being brought to a vote. The most common form of filibuster occurs when a senator attempts to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a bill by extending the debate on the...
health care reform
Health care reform in the United States
Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
. Hamsher was criticized for appearing on Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends is an American morning television show on the Fox News Channel.-History:The show begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the latest Fox News Live headlines and analyzes the news of the morning...
and asking viewers to sign her petition to "kill the Senate bill." Hamsher responded, "It scares the bejesus out of the D.C. establishment of both parties to think that the left and right might align against the corporate interests."
Hamsher was frustrated that liberal
Liberalism in the United States
Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process...
concerns were not taken more seriously by the Obama administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
. According to her, the administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
has corralled left-leaning interest groups in a virtual "veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...
pen." Loyalty is rewarded with access and sinecure
Sinecure
A sinecure means an office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
s. Groups which stray from the administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
's message face adverse action on their other priorities and even loss of funding. Within the veal pen there are what she calls "issue validators" such as Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
and NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America , formerly the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, then National Abortion Rights Action League, and later National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, is an organization in the United States that engages in political action to oppose...
whose silence allowed the anti-abortion Stupak-Pitts Amendment to pass with little public outcry. Hamsher launched the "One Voice For Choice" phone-banking campaign to call voters in districts of House members who voted for the Stupak Amendment.
Financial regulatory reform debate
In December 2009 Hamsher teamed up with Grover NorquistGrover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
to call for the resignation of Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama...
for an alleged role in the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Community
Firedoglake, whose administrators often refer to their most frequent commentators as Firepups, has run into controversy within progressive or pro-Democratic Party circles, particularly in its criticism of President Obama's administrative shortcomings on progressive campaign promises. As a result, the derogatory term Firebaggers (a portmonteau of Firepups and Teabaggers, the latter of which is a derogatory term used by critics of the Tea Party movementTea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
) has been applied to members of FDL to accompany allegations of seeking ideological purity within the Democratic Party.