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Is This Blaze Story Likely to be Shared on Social Media? This Chart Says Yes

Nov. 2, 2012 9:36pm Becket Adams

Political campaigns and traditional media outlets have only recently come to grips with the fact that social media has become a major player in our nation’s politics. Indeed, thanks to platforms like Twitter and Facebook, major political stories are more likely to break on social media and go “viral” well before newspapers or TV networks even know what’s happening.

But wouldn’t it be interesting see which outlets lead in spreading political news through social media? Wouldn’t be interesting to see the types of stories that get shared by readers on both the left and right side of the political spectrum?

If you answered yes, then you’re in luck.

“Newswhip, which tracks content on Facebook and Twitter, has sampled a week’s worth of news from the ‘leading left- and right-wing news sources’ it tracks using its Spike system to get a sense of what sharing looks like for partisan publications,” writes BuzzFeed’s Matt Buchanan.

You know what they found?

“Glenn Beck’s startup TheBlaze has quickly surpassed its conservative competitors by many measures of sharing, even as it holds a lower profile in the elite conversation,” Buchanan notes.

Boom.

And you better believe TheBlaze is stepping it up. In fact, according to Google Analytics, TheBlaze enjoyed 110 million page views and 14 million “unique” visitors in October (so thank you for that).

As the following chart clearly illustrates, among the limited number of “left- and right-wing news sources” Newship tracked, TheBlaze, though young, is making a name for itself:

A word on the chart [via BuzzFeed]:

The data from Newswhip’s sources, which range from the progressive magazine Mother Jones to Fox News — though Newship says it “deliberately excluded plenty of ‘mainstream media sources’ that people on either side might consider to be biased,” so there are limits to what it’s looking at — offer a complex picture of what goes viral: Some of it is affirmation or good news for partisans, like Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama was for Democrats; some is the mirror image of that — stories casting your foe in a bad light, like a Fox News report accusing President Obama of abandoning Americans in Benghazi.

And while the inclusion of online media giant Huffington Post skews the numbers for biggest social reach, the key figure may be in the middle, the most interactions per story, owned by Maddow Blog on the left and The Blaze on the right.

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Comments (99)

louise
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:41am
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- LIBSALWAYSLIE
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 11:15am
  Login issues are the users settings. I log in once, and it stays that way until I log out.
  
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- cherishedemblems
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:02pm
  I conducted an informal survy on my Facebook page. Out of the 600 friends I Have 165 friends that like Romney 32 like Obama. Fact: I have more conservative friends. Fact: Liberals (I have way less) share more political post then my conservative friends by a margin of 2-1. Conservatives do NOT push their views on people. They vote. Liberals are bullies and can’t keep their opinions to themselves…even when they’re WRONG. It’s no surprise that the HuffPost gets more shares. Libs like to CONTROL lives, conservatives like to SHARE their life.
  
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- VoteBushIn12
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:52pm
  @CHERISHEDEMBLEMS
  
  Fact:
  You cannot label a group with population in the tens of millions because 23 of “your friends” act a certain way and associate with that group.
  
  Conclusion:
  You are dumb.
  
  Report this comment
- mtcountrygrl
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:10pm
  Look at the stories shared…Libs – phoney “war on women” and “look who else likes Obama”, Conservatives “were American’s left to die in Libya” and “Why won’t our president tell us the truth on Libya”. Real issues verses scare tactics and “rock star” persona!
  
  Report this comment
- madasblazes
  Posted on November 4, 2012 at 2:57pm
  What I dislike the most is not popping back to where I was when I commented.
  
  Report this comment
- RobbieTLHughie
  Posted on November 4, 2012 at 6:01pm
  Good to see discourse in America is healthy, that the two most shared sites are the two bat-crap craziest ends of the spectrum.
  
  Report this comment
DangerMike
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:03am
MAKE IT EASIER TO COMMENT!
1. Move this dialog box from the bottom of the page to immediately under the story.
2. STOP asking us to sign in so many damn times. This is a news site, not a bank.
3. Make finding and managing our own posts… manageable. Fix the account UI.

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- Dida
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:15am
  I second that! I hate the hassle of having to sign in to this site to post responses and I hate that you can not edit or manage your own posts.
  The UI needs to be fixed.
  I do like that you can share your posts on FB and Twitter.
  
  Report this comment
- TRUTHandFREEDOM
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:41am
  I will second the second! (Or 3rd the comment, what ever it takes!)
  
  I have downloaded THREE different browsers on a new and powerful PC just to find less grief in commenting on The Blaze and I STILL have a hassle OFTEN. I had the issues on the old PC as well. To reply to this, I’ve bounced between all three browsers and had to exit out of the Blaze a few times and return just to get the Blaze to act like ALL of the other websites! For some reason, Internet Explorer kept jamming up, Firefox allows me to comment and when I submit the reply, I get an error (always), Google has various issues and today, I was getting no action on ANY of the browsers, even after waiting quite a while when I pressed the reply button. I doesn’t matter if they are open at the same time or separately. My comments would jump up about 300% if this website was user friendly. If that is the case with everyone, then the math would show a massive increase in comments here.
  
  Report this comment
- TRUTHandFREEDOM
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:54am
  I do expect that some of these issues may be due to lack of corporate funding and the resolution to problems that funding can bring. I do prefer that the Blaze be independent and honest, but the 3 initial user experience posts do at least put all of the user experience issues on the table so that some one at Blaze HQ can have a meeting and start to address them. I have experience all that is posted in all the comments.
  
  Report this comment
- turkey13
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 9:49am
  Untill 2 months ago I had dial-up with AOL and I had to jump through hoops to post. I sign in once on Blaze and just save it on the side while I surf on Wild Blue wireless.
  
  Report this comment
- jcldwl
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 10:06am
  3 great points mike. I couldn’t agree more. I get tired of having to log out to log in so I can post a comment. Now I find this morning it is even worse because now you log out and you have to pick what you want to log into. Then after you log in it takes you to your profile instead of back to the story you were going to comment on. They still have a long way to go.
  
  Report this comment
- LibertyGoddess
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 10:09am
  I agree! I stopped posting because it is so difficult to follow any conversations. Now I just “like” on FB and have the conversation with my friends. Come on Blaze make this site user friendly!
  
  Report this comment
- betterthantv
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 11:16am
  My biggest problem with all of Glenn’s platforms is the fact that they are not Firefox friendly. I don’t understand those who are complaining about signing in. I stay signed in all the time, almost never have to sign in. Another problem is linking to fb. I used to be able to “share” a story but now I have to cut and paste. Not sure what’s up with that?
  
  Report this comment
- Leslie_Benedict
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 11:27am
  Spot on! I haven’t commented on Blaze articles in months, due to the log on difficulties. It just took over 5 minutes to reset my password. On Disqus managed sites, I rarely have to even log in…from site to site.
  Please make commenting/logging in more user friendly, Blaze!!
  
  Report this comment
- Mike Benton
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:04pm
  Make the comment section like Yahoo News; easy sign in…thumbs up/down so we know some agree or not. Also, Yahoo gives you a daily report of your thumbs up/down count. It is a nice site.
  
  Report this comment
- AllAmericanGirl22
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:17pm
  Agreed!
  
  Report this comment
- KIWL-DA-WABBIT
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 2:04pm
  This site has more things tracking you than any other, Try GHOSTERY it lets you know what tracking things are on a website, right now it’s telling me that there are 16 different things, and you can block them though some times you have to disable it to interact with some videos and such. and I love adblock, it removes all the ads, great!
  
  Report this comment
- GETLIFE
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 2:49pm
  I use Firefox and I rarely have any problems commenting here.
  Just make sure you are logged in before you start writing…
  
  Report this comment
- MasterJoshua7
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 6:15pm
  Yes! And I’ll also add that we need a like button after all of that.
  
  Report this comment
- Klingon00
  Posted on November 5, 2012 at 11:01am
  Yes! Fix logins in general! I don’t know how many times I check to see if I’m logged in and when I go to comment I’m told I have to log in to comment and all the hard work I put into the comment is just LOST! theBlaze, please fix this!
  
  Report this comment
1stzookid
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 7:59am
I love TheBlaze and Glenn Beck. I finally got me a Roku and hooking up today.

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- Leslie_Benedict
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 11:28am
  I find it easier to comment on GlennBeck.com than The Blaze.
  
  Report this comment
MOMom
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 7:15am
@TAXPRO4U03
That was excellent. Just excellent. Well put.

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StrongWesternbabeluvinherWesternMAN
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 3:34am
Blaze would have more comments if we didn’t have 2 sign in so many times. I am on the latest mac and want 2 make a comment but after signing in I am directed 2 my profile page…I scroll down and try 2 get back 2 comment page and it takes 3 different tries before I can make a comment, always directed 2 sign in again and the story I want 2 comment on is not there….many times I just give up…

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- kentuckypatriot
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 6:30am
  Same here. It gets frustrating.
  
  Report this comment
- emh1701
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 6:36am
  I completely agree.
  
  Report this comment
- bpodlesnik
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 7:45am
  Why do you have to sign in so many times? I sign in once and have my computer remember my name and password and I never have to sign in again.
  
  Report this comment
- drattastic
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 9:17am
  The blaze really needs to work on some issues with comments .
  #1. It would be really nice to be able to click on your post in your profile and then be taken directly to that post ,so you could reply to anyone who replied to you . Hunting through pages and pages to find a post is ridiculous.
  #2. Being able to edit your post would be nice ,on most sites it is a standard.
  #3. Have a “Like” button so you can agree with posters
  #4. Blaze mobile app is clunky at best and to post on your phone is and exercise in futility
  #5 I think people would comment a lot more if these changes were implemented I know I would.
  I like “The Blaze” and its stories but your comment section leaves a lot to be desired .I’m not in love with “Disqus” but it is much better than “The Blaze’s” current system.
  
  Report this comment
- drattastic
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 9:28am
  If I’d had an “edit” button I could have added to my original post #6 “Disqus” also emails me when someone replies to my post .
  
  Report this comment
- Mike Benton
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:16pm
  The best site for comments is Yahoo News. They keep your comments in a file you can look at to see how many people give you a thumbs up or down. And they send you a daily report of your file. It is a great site.
  
  Report this comment
- SocialistSlayer
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 3:21pm
  Well there’s your problem – You are on a Mac !
  
  Report this comment
Jeetman
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 3:16am
I’m sorry to admit this, but my main source of news before Foxnews went on air, was MSNBC. Then 911 happened and I opened my eyes. While MSNBC was portraying the American offensive in Afghanistan as a joke and saying how “battle ready” the Taliban fighters were, it left me upset and angry. It reminded me of the CNN coverage of the 1st Iraq war where CNN did story after story against our troops and portrayed Saddam Hussein as a victim. Anyway, I was tired of hearing how unprepared or un-battle ready our military was. I started to channel surf and happened upon a new cable station called Foxnews. I saw reporting that didn’t insult out troops and portrayed America as I know it. I never went back. I had made Foxnews.com my homepage. Many years later, Glenn Beck’s show aired on Fox and I LOVED IT!! I was positive that Glenn was so good, that he’d dethrone O’ Reilly. I like Glenn much more than Bill. Then Glenn left and I was pissed. I thought he was run off the network by the progressives. Although he hinted on radio that it wasn’t the case. Then TheBlaze came on. I immediately switched my Foxnew.com homepage to TheBlaze.com and never went back. I occasionally check out Foxnew.com and the other network websites (I will NEVER go to the Huffington Poop ever again) but my main source is now Theblaze.com and I’m here to stay. I love the comments on this site. My only wish would be a better comments set up and less censoring. Other than that, I can see why TheBlaze.com is a bi

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- Jeetman
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 3:27am
  That “bi” is “big hit!” I must have ran out of space although I was within the characters remaining count by 3 characters LOL.
  
  Report this comment
- R.A. Bullseye
  Posted on November 4, 2012 at 12:30am
  Same here…my story exactly. In fact I gave up my DISH and no longer watch TV.
  
  Report this comment
- madasblazes
  Posted on November 4, 2012 at 2:55pm
  BlazeTV is on DISH, now.
  
  Report this comment
pwatkins
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 2:28am
Love the Blaze and read many stories here days before they break other places, although sometimes the Blaze does pick up on some from other sources. I never feel I am going to be lied to intentionally on the Blaze either. If something is untrue I know the Blaze will correct it in time. Thanks to Glenn and all the staff for a great job. However I do read everything I can so I can compare and finally discover the truth, usually on the Blaze or Glenn Beck’s website. I also have a strong opinion and many times until I am proven wrong do indulge in a little conspiring, but don’t we all. One thing I have always found to be odd is I actually started following the writings and listening to Glenn Beck on 9/9/9. I saw the headlines that morning on msnbc and something struck me about how red and black(colors) took over everything. It has calmed a little but it made me think of Michele’s dress at the inaugaration. I found Beck on TV and felt I was led there for some reason. Ever since then he has been a household name…lol. May God Bless Glenn and all that follow him trying to seek the truth, and may God Bless America.

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MAX0O1
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 1:18am
CONGRATS BLAZE! IT is nice to find aplace for HONEST NEWS!

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Guttersmack
Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:01am
I go to HuffPo, but the interesting thing is, that between TheBlaze, Drudge, and DailyCaller, I’ve already seen all their stories except for the junk and fluff. It’s also a fun exercise to read the articles there and filter out the spin…it is out of control. Then if I want to just unload all my frustrations, I comment on HuffPo and stir the excrement. It is a joy to point out their failings from an ideological stand point. I get lots of snarky little meaningless retorts to my comments, but almost NEVER am I challenged on substance.

I rarely comment here because I see no need, and I believe it is the natural tendency of
conservatives to just not comment as much as libs/progressives who need validation.

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- TRUTHandFREEDOM
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:46am
  Local and Yahoo! type news sites bring the same experience. I enjoy dropping some some facts in there, pointing out what is a distraction story, what it is attempting to distract us from and showing the difference between the founders’ quoted principles on a subject vs the comments or news story’s or the Obama/Progressive comments & ideology. It really brings a lot of those snarky, fact-less progressive/ Democrat talking point responses and thumbs downs, but they reveal themselves as flying left without a reason and without truth or any substantive foundation and occasionally, with having full intent of over ruling our freedom and property rights. Obviously, the more you know going in to comment, the easier it is to dismantle their comments and the more fun you can have. Oh yes, it is by the way, great fun! Sometimes I just let a founding father reply. To post ONLY a Jefferson, Madison, Washington etc. quote that responds directly as a counter point to their comment (stating who said it) and STILL see it get numerous thumbs down is quite revealing of what/who many of these people are. They have no passion for our founding principles or the fact that we became as strong and prosperous as we did through adherence to them. We’ve only got a few crucial days to point out the difference between the left and the patriots and between the fact and the fiction, so let’s get busy! Any patriot who frequents this site is knowledgeable enough to be successful.
  
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- LibertyGoddess
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 10:15am
  I love to go to the ‘Effington Post” just to “stir up the excrement” as you put it. I can’t believe the stupidity of their posters and the lack of facts they have. All the headlines and articles are emotion driven and lack basic facts. It is good to see how the enemy thinks and to use it against them. Libs are very thin skinned. The best posts to them are things like, “you have misplaced compassion, you support communist ideology, you are being thin-skinned, etc.” As a bleeding heart it really gets to them.
  
  Report this comment
- betterthantv
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 11:21am
  @TRUTH. I gave up on Yahoo. There are some of the most ignorant people on the planet posting on their news stories. Sometimes it just makes me cry. LOL
  
  Report this comment
- I.X.Pect
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 3:14pm
  The interesting thing about Yahoo is that I’m seeing a lot more conservative commentary and “thumbs up” in the comments section. Perhaps all the Fox News commenters flocked over there.
  
  Report this comment
GoodStuff
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:31pm
Breitbart is better at breaking big stories.

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BigSky
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:06pm
To be fair, Huffpo sold its soul to the larger media establishment, The Blaze continues to be fiercely independent.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:13pm
  And that independence will become the new norm.
  
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Jenasus
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:02pm
I used to attack the left on MSNBC until they banned me from posting there.
I like the Blaze because Glenn Beck is believable.
They tend to base their news on facts even though sometimes they don’t have the facts but Glenn has a keen insight into what is really going on.
Rush Limbaugh is really good at getting to the bottom of the news and bringing the truth into the light as well.

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independentvoteril
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 11:01pm
I don’t fb artiles only use it for family.. HOWEVER I do read the stories on the blaze.. therefore to help GLENN out guess I will be liking things.. will call my cousin so she can start doing it to .. and her 3 grown kids and mine.. ETC.. next month Glenn will beat HUFFY..

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MrKnowItAll
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:55pm
To MSNBC: We are here because we all want to Push Grandma over a Cliff. Hurry! Tell Rachael!

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- TelepromoterNChief
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:20am
  My grandma is already dead.
  I’m comfortable with push Rachael and that butch haircut over a cliff though.
  
  Report this comment
Coded-Dude
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:54pm
The Blaze has certainly gone through its growing pains(its still growing through a few), and while it has a long ways to go, I love coming here for stories and look forward to coming back. Glad to hear it is doing well with Social Media Marketing(among its other recent successes).

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bitterclinger
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:46pm
Hahahahahahaha! Glenn, you sly dog! Didn’t you hire one of the former head honchos at Huff Poo to run The Blaze? Just a little more time…Bwahahahahahahahaha!!

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KEELHAULUM
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:33pm
Never been to the Suckington Post and I’m never gonna go. You know me gang I’m all about low stress. Glad to help push the Blaze over the top with a post or two though.
Congrats Blaze.

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Revolut10nary
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:30pm
I can’t even stand reading the huffington post. It’s a bunch of angry bitter little whining brats. I never was much a fan of early-teen snark, even when I was in junior-high myself. So I’m clearly not in the huffpo’s target demo.

I can also honestly say I’ve never even visited Maddow’s ‘blog.’ What a shitstain that must be.

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- 338lapua
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 2:25pm
  Shitstain needs to be a category for next month. Daily Kos gets my vote!
  …..wait, where is @dora to tell me that I am stupid,delusional,drunk…..or just plain……….CONSERVATIVE!
  
  Report this comment
zjak
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:28pm
Interesting, I try to tweet everything I find interesting from the Blaze, including many other outlets out there. However when I want a fight, I show up at Huffington post only to be called a Liar, a cheat countless times after presenting facts without trying to diminish my audiences intellect. Problem 101 with Progressives, they don’t understand the fundamentals of economics 101, or even life outside their bubble. I’ve lived in many countries overseas, and I’ve never found a country as exceptional as ours.

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slade37
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:15pm
I shared alot more on Twitter. Not reflected here.

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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:10pm
Never go to any but the Blaze on this list maybe once a month Fox. So, You’re my winner Blaze.

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Agent P
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 9:58pm
Huff-Po had a 6 year head start….Good Job Blaze!

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- RepubliCorp
  Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:17pm
  I and others use Huff-po to aggravate the libs…… so are we in those numbers?
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on November 2, 2012 at 10:27pm
  Hi RepubliCorp,
  
  I wonder if there are more trolls on The Blaze than on HuffPo?
  
  Any ideas? I’ve never been there.
  
  Report this comment
- Look4DBigPicture
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 12:13pm
  I went on Huff-Po one weekend to defend Glenn on something and I’ve never seen such hateful offensive language in my life. Two days was all I could take and I haven’t been back since.
  
  Overall, I think Glenn attracts a much more sophisticated and informed audience, because most of us are seeking and sharing facts in search of the truth.
  
  Huff-Po on the other hand reeks of negative energy and appears to be an outlet for people in need of anger management.
  
  Report this comment
steve-in-pa
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 9:53pm
I never hit “like” on any news / election story on Facebook because I never know what Facebook will do with that information. Being a conservative I am also conservative with the information I put on Facebook and the internet. I am sure I am not alone on this fact. I am betting liberals are liberal with their use of the “like” button. Just the nature of the beast, I don’t even like Facebook.

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- taxpro4u03
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 6:00am
  That’s why God ‘invented’ the natural law of probability. Civil discourse requires people with the WILL to be logical and reasonable –. Cognitive dissonance is NOT acceptable. Sunlight is still nature’s best disinfectant – One HAS to call out intellectual dishonesty at first recognition. Opinions vary — Perception is the single variable which preludes RATIONAL thought. Speak TRUTH to power, but do not incite nor provoke with the agenda to EVOKE a response which is in and of itself — dishonest. Understand ‘who you are,’ when it comes to matters which have a direct affect on your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
  
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- woodyee
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 7:24am
  Well said, TaxPro!
  
  Report this comment
- want2stayfree
  Posted on November 3, 2012 at 8:13am
  Bravo… well said taxpro!
  
  Report this comment
gyro
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 9:46pm
remember who bought the Huffington Post — that is the difference

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dickdastardly
Posted on November 2, 2012 at 9:43pm
I can’t believe a word on the Huff-Post…

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