If I Could Find Some, They'd Be Full Of Hate

I had an interesting e-mail exchange today with Charles Haynes, from the First Amendment Center, who wrote in this column last week that the right-wing blogosphere is "filled with rants against Islam and warnings that Muslims can't be real Americans."

It started with a simple request for him to substantiate his claim, to which he responded:

I have received hundreds of e-mails in response to past columns that mention Islam or Muslims… In many of them they link to Worldnet Daily and other sites such as Daniel Pipes… I don’t have time to go back and track them all down… But a search will easily turn them up.

Simply listing a couple of "right-wing" sites did not get it done in my eyes, so I sent another request for specific blogs and posts he felt were "filled" with hate for Muslims:

Mr. Haynes,

You made a very specific example of numerous “right wing blogs” that have said a muslim “can’t” be American and you accused them of “ranting” against Islam. In doing so you have painted right wing blogs as anti-muslim and bigoted. Given the nature of these charges one would think you could provide some examples of credible right wing blogs doing what you accuse them of. Given the severity and frequency you note of “right wing blogs” in the column, I would think it would be a rather simple exercise.

I’m still hoping you can provide me with specific examples that demonstrate your allegation.

Thank you

Mr. Haynes responded:

I don’t know what you mean by “credible right wing blogs,” but I do know that anti-Muslim/anti-Islam rhetoric is commonplace on many right wing web sites. The article below is one of many examples of the harm this does.

Here is a link to the article.

Still, none of this answers the question: What blog posts can you point out that would demonstrate that the vastness of the right-wing blogosphere is a bunch of Islamaphobes? So, I tried again:

Mr Haynes,

You wrote a column stating that right wing bloggers (the insinuation being that the practice was blogosphere wide) were “ranting” about Islam and saying muslims could not be Americans. I have asked twice now for examples of the charges you made. First, you noted two sites, but without an example of the rhetoric you were referring too.

Now you give me an article from the St. Petersburg Times that states THREE cases where individual bloggers attacked people. I can give you hundreds of examples of that from both sides. It hardly qualifies as representative of the blogosphere.

It seems clear that, when you wrote the statement in your column, you actually had little to no idea what you were talking about, and were simply taking this Times article or things you have heard at face value to make a sweeping smear against right-leaning blogs.

Since you are unable to provide a single example of what you allege, perhaps a correction is in order?

I await your response, and thank you for your time.

Mr. Haynes responded:

If the examples cited in the article don’t add up to a single example, then I can’t help you. I have read many blogs since 2001 attacking Islam. I don’t have time to track down the various sites I read over the years… But the attacks have been on the sites I cited and on the blogs mentioned in the articles and in many other places… Not tough to find.

I didn't think he was getting the crux of the question, so I posed it one last time:

Tough to find isn’t the point. The point is that you made an allegation and you should be prepared to substantiate. You said the right wing sphere is “filled” with bigotry, but are unable to provide any proof of this, other than anecdotal and your hunch.

I fail to understand, if there is so much of it out there, why you are unable to provide examples of the specifics you wrote about in your column. As a columnist, it is your duty to fill requests for substantiation. If you are unable to do so, than a correction is in order.

Will one be forthcoming?

Mr Haynes responded:

renewamerica.us infidelbloggers alliance thereligionofpeace.com jihadwatch Islamundressed peoplestruthforum etc. etc. I stand by my column. What I have read on various right wing sites over the past five years is bigoted and unAmerican.

For those keeping score, that's three requests for evidence that the right-wing blogosphere is "filled" with hatred for Muslims, with nary a single example given by the author. In fact, for someone who knows his way around the sphere so well, he can't be bothered to provide actual links to the "hate" sites.

It appears now that Mr. Haynes really didn't have any idea what he was referring to, and was simply trying to smear right-wing websites as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I am sure one could find some hatred out there, for many groups, from both sides of the aisle. But that wasn't Haynes point.

His point was to smear conservative bloggers as a whole, which he did well.

My point is to illustrate that he did so dishonestly, which was also accomplished, I think, very well.