Washington Post "Obama girl" Danielle Allen; the mystery woman in her own words
Andy Martin with explosive new commentary on Senator Barack Obama. Martin provides exclusive new comments from Danielle Allen, and new embarrassment for the Washington Post.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN HEARS FROM WASHINGTON POST "OBAMA GIRL" DANIELLE ALLEN; THE MYSTERY WOMAN IN HER OWN WORDS
MARTIN'S NEW BOOK, "OBAMA: THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK," IS AT THE PRINTER AND WILL BE ON SALE NATIONALLY WITHIN DAYS.
"YOU BE THE JUDGE OF L'AFFAIRE ALLEN," SAYS ANDY
(NEW YORK)(July 2, 2008) Many readers are familiar with the firestorm created by my columns on Senator Barack Obama's religious "roots." My new book, "Obama: The Man Behind the Mask," is now at the printer; we are awaiting delivery momentarily. "Mask" provides more insight into my thoughts about Barack's troubled childhood and how it has influenced his adult life.
The controversy triggered by my research over the past four years culminated in an extraordinary story Saturday, June 28th in the Washington Post, in which a University of Chicago "researcher," Danielle Allen, sought to "uncover" e-mail attacks on Obama's religion. Ms. Allen never contacted me during her research but apparently ended up at my doorstep. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703781.html
It is a little unfair to say someone has "uncovered" or "discovered" my writing; my columns are out there in the open, all under my name, and have been for the past four years. While "hard left" media supporters of Obama such as Christopher Hayes of The Nation and Ben Smith of Politico.com claim to have exposed me, you can't really "expose" something that is not in hiding, and that is sitting right out there in the open. No one has been able to challenge my research or my conclusions, which is why frustrated left-wing writers and web sites resort to personal attacks and smears as a substitute for informed debate on my writing.
Despite all of Obama's manufactured pseudo-events defending his patriotism and religion this week he has not gained the trust and confidence of the American people. The questions I first raised four years ago, remain.
We are also left with the obvious questions about Danielle Allen: who is she, what relationship did she have to Obama and how did the article about us come to be published in the Post?
Ms. Allen contacted me with her responses on July 1st, and I thought the best way to handle the issue was to simply publish our correspondence and let you, the reader, be the judge. Then I will comment.
Dear Mr. Martin,Thank you for sharing your press release with me. I am happy to provide you with the same information I provided to the Washington Post:(1) I am a donor to the Obama campaign.(2) I volunteered full time for the Obama campaign as a field organizer in California from the end of December through the Feb. 5th primary.(3) I have met Mr. Obama once (in a shouted greeting across a parking lot) in Chicago.I conducted the research entirely on my own steam motivated by broader research purposes.Best wishes,Danielle Allen
Thank you for your response and information.
I am going to do a story update, and I will release your information, correcting the record and updating my own suppositions. I assume what you sent me is not confidential.
I am still at a loss to understand how Mr. Mosk found you, given your seeming lack of connection to the Obama campaign and the fact that there was no way to find your project through any Google link (am I wrong in these beliefs?). If you care to tell me, I will add that to my update.
You can understand that people would wonder how Mr. Mosk found you, since there is no public record of your activity and you were not referred to him by the Obama campaign. Given the Byzantine (classical?) machinations of the Obama campaign, I think it is a fair line of inquiry. It is a pretty wide hole, given the Post wrote a full page about someone who was previously unknown as operating in the area. Any connection to your California activity?
As for myself, I am in my command and control bunker deep underneath Midtown Manhattan. That is where the liberal media fantasize that I operate from.
We strive for accuracy and fairness, notwithstanding my own point of view. I will report what you send me in that spirit.
If you would like to receive updates, just let me know. I won't add your name to the Obama list without your permission.
Best wishes and thanks for your response.
Andy Martin
Dear Mr. Martin,Yes, the information I gave you in my last email is public information. I presume you will quote me accurately and I would be grateful if you would add me to any list on which you are likely to use the information so that I may confirm that.People commonly ask me what my current research project is about. I am always working on more than one project at once. Since last fall one of my answers has been "the impact of the internet on American politics." In the course of my professional activity I often cross paths with journalists so I have been mentioning the general research with some regularity. This word of mouth brought Mosk to me.Best wishes,Danielle Allen
In her initial comments Ms. Allen told me that the she was giving me the "same information I provided to the Washington Post." Why didn’t these basic facts about Allen make it into print? Ms. Allen "volunteered full time for the Obama campaign as a field organizer in California from the end of December through the February 5th primary." It would seem to me that instead of seeking to embellish Ms. Allen with hyper rhetoric, Mr. Mosk should have provided his readers with the details about her extensive involvement with the Obama campaign. Almost two months of full-time activity, during the same period of her research, is a substantial connection. Mosk failed to do so. I believe the Post published a misleading and incomplete article.
Ms. Allen's second response is somewhat less complete and satisfying. She said her initial e-mail contained "public information," but as near as I can determine the information about her campaign work was not available through public means, the very means she was using to research Obama's detractors. If anyone can find news about her full time campaign work for Obama on the Internet I would be pleased to receive it.
Second, although Ms. Allen said Mr. Mosk was led to her by "word of mouth," the obvious questions remain unanswered: whose words and whose mouth? It is simply not believable that a person whose links to the Obama campaign were not in the public domain became the topic of a full-page story in the Washington Post on the basis of serendipity or mere happenstance. The full story remains to be disclosed.
Ms. Allen has been kind enough to provide me with her version of the Post's inquiries. I remain unsatisfied. But I think the best way to get at the truth is to let the actors tell their own stories. I await Mr. Mosk's explanations and Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell's inquiries into the matter of "L'ffaire Allen."
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
Andy Martin with explosive new commentary on Senator Barack Obama. Martin provides exclusive new comments from Danielle Allen, and new embarrassment for the Washington Post.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
AUTHOR ANDY MARTIN HEARS FROM WASHINGTON POST "OBAMA GIRL" DANIELLE ALLEN; THE MYSTERY WOMAN IN HER OWN WORDS
MARTIN'S NEW BOOK, "OBAMA: THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK," IS AT THE PRINTER AND WILL BE ON SALE NATIONALLY WITHIN DAYS.
"YOU BE THE JUDGE OF L'AFFAIRE ALLEN," SAYS ANDY
(NEW YORK)(July 2, 2008) Many readers are familiar with the firestorm created by my columns on Senator Barack Obama's religious "roots." My new book, "Obama: The Man Behind the Mask," is now at the printer; we are awaiting delivery momentarily. "Mask" provides more insight into my thoughts about Barack's troubled childhood and how it has influenced his adult life.
The controversy triggered by my research over the past four years culminated in an extraordinary story Saturday, June 28th in the Washington Post, in which a University of Chicago "researcher," Danielle Allen, sought to "uncover" e-mail attacks on Obama's religion. Ms. Allen never contacted me during her research but apparently ended up at my doorstep. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703781.html
It is a little unfair to say someone has "uncovered" or "discovered" my writing; my columns are out there in the open, all under my name, and have been for the past four years. While "hard left" media supporters of Obama such as Christopher Hayes of The Nation and Ben Smith of Politico.com claim to have exposed me, you can't really "expose" something that is not in hiding, and that is sitting right out there in the open. No one has been able to challenge my research or my conclusions, which is why frustrated left-wing writers and web sites resort to personal attacks and smears as a substitute for informed debate on my writing.
Despite all of Obama's manufactured pseudo-events defending his patriotism and religion this week he has not gained the trust and confidence of the American people. The questions I first raised four years ago, remain.
We are also left with the obvious questions about Danielle Allen: who is she, what relationship did she have to Obama and how did the article about us come to be published in the Post?
Ms. Allen contacted me with her responses on July 1st, and I thought the best way to handle the issue was to simply publish our correspondence and let you, the reader, be the judge. Then I will comment.
Dear Mr. Martin,Thank you for sharing your press release with me. I am happy to provide you with the same information I provided to the Washington Post:(1) I am a donor to the Obama campaign.(2) I volunteered full time for the Obama campaign as a field organizer in California from the end of December through the Feb. 5th primary.(3) I have met Mr. Obama once (in a shouted greeting across a parking lot) in Chicago.I conducted the research entirely on my own steam motivated by broader research purposes.Best wishes,Danielle Allen
Thank you for your response and information.
I am going to do a story update, and I will release your information, correcting the record and updating my own suppositions. I assume what you sent me is not confidential.
I am still at a loss to understand how Mr. Mosk found you, given your seeming lack of connection to the Obama campaign and the fact that there was no way to find your project through any Google link (am I wrong in these beliefs?). If you care to tell me, I will add that to my update.
You can understand that people would wonder how Mr. Mosk found you, since there is no public record of your activity and you were not referred to him by the Obama campaign. Given the Byzantine (classical?) machinations of the Obama campaign, I think it is a fair line of inquiry. It is a pretty wide hole, given the Post wrote a full page about someone who was previously unknown as operating in the area. Any connection to your California activity?
As for myself, I am in my command and control bunker deep underneath Midtown Manhattan. That is where the liberal media fantasize that I operate from.
We strive for accuracy and fairness, notwithstanding my own point of view. I will report what you send me in that spirit.
If you would like to receive updates, just let me know. I won't add your name to the Obama list without your permission.
Best wishes and thanks for your response.
Andy Martin
Dear Mr. Martin,Yes, the information I gave you in my last email is public information. I presume you will quote me accurately and I would be grateful if you would add me to any list on which you are likely to use the information so that I may confirm that.People commonly ask me what my current research project is about. I am always working on more than one project at once. Since last fall one of my answers has been "the impact of the internet on American politics." In the course of my professional activity I often cross paths with journalists so I have been mentioning the general research with some regularity. This word of mouth brought Mosk to me.Best wishes,Danielle Allen
In her initial comments Ms. Allen told me that the she was giving me the "same information I provided to the Washington Post." Why didn’t these basic facts about Allen make it into print? Ms. Allen "volunteered full time for the Obama campaign as a field organizer in California from the end of December through the February 5th primary." It would seem to me that instead of seeking to embellish Ms. Allen with hyper rhetoric, Mr. Mosk should have provided his readers with the details about her extensive involvement with the Obama campaign. Almost two months of full-time activity, during the same period of her research, is a substantial connection. Mosk failed to do so. I believe the Post published a misleading and incomplete article.
Ms. Allen's second response is somewhat less complete and satisfying. She said her initial e-mail contained "public information," but as near as I can determine the information about her campaign work was not available through public means, the very means she was using to research Obama's detractors. If anyone can find news about her full time campaign work for Obama on the Internet I would be pleased to receive it.
Second, although Ms. Allen said Mr. Mosk was led to her by "word of mouth," the obvious questions remain unanswered: whose words and whose mouth? It is simply not believable that a person whose links to the Obama campaign were not in the public domain became the topic of a full-page story in the Washington Post on the basis of serendipity or mere happenstance. The full story remains to be disclosed.
Ms. Allen has been kind enough to provide me with her version of the Post's inquiries. I remain unsatisfied. But I think the best way to get at the truth is to let the actors tell their own stories. I await Mr. Mosk's explanations and Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell's inquiries into the matter of "L'ffaire Allen."
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. His columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
posted by Andy Martin | 8:55 AM
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