ALG Leveled a Serious Charge. Now it's Time to Prove it.

I am reaching the conclusion we on the political Right may have been deceived by Americans for Limited Government (ALG).

As readers of Big Government know, late last Friday, ALG issued a press release claiming it had received an offensive e-mail from Dateline NBC producer, Jane Stone. Within hours, the Rightroots had been mobilized and the story when viral.

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Known as the “Bite me Jew boy” e-mail, both Ms. Stone and NBC were pilloried by the Right. Throughout the weekend, Matthew Vadum chronicled the exchange of statements and press releases here on this site.

So Now What?

It’s been five days and ALG has yet to provide indisputable evidence to prove its claim and NBC continues to back Ms. Stone’s assertion she never sent the e-mail in question.

In making its claim, ALG gambled its credibility with activists and media contacts to help push a story that increasingly looks like a hoax. In at least 2 press releases, ALG very publicly accused a respected media professional for a major media outlet of an explicit act of anti-Semitism; a charge that if true would damage her reputation and destroy her career.

Collectively, the political Right advanced the story and stirred the pot after assurances from ALG that they had their facts straight and had done their due diligence. To date, it appears they had neither.

There are several plausible scenarios, none of which seem to justify a rush to mobilize the troops and publish multiple press releases. These scenarios could include:

SCENARIO 1.) Jane Stone actually wrote an inexplicably offensive e-mail and then followed that moment of stupidity with an outrageous lie to her employer, who then risked the reputation of a major network with an unequivocal denial on behalf of a racist employee. UNLIKELY

SCENARIO 2.) A rogue individual at ALG duped their ALG colleagues by intercepting an e-mail received from NBC, edited the e-mail, and passed it along as legitimate. ALG management then used the same individual or an otherwise unqualified source to complete their “due diligence” efforts. POSSIBLE

SCENARIO 3.) Someone used Ms. Stone’s Blackberry and sent the e-mail without her knowledge. ALG received the e-mail, did its due diligence, and published its claim. Ms. Stone denied the claims made by ALG, confident that she did not send the e-mail in question from her Blackberry. POSSIBLE–MAYBE PROBABLE

SCENARIO 4.) ALG received a legitimate e-mail from Ms. Stone’s Blackberry, decided to edit the text of the e-mail, and began the process of generating publicity with an outrageous and wholly fabricated accusation of racism. The story goes viral, screenshots don’t satisfy the skeptics, and ALG is asked to produce detailed header and server records that do not exist. I PRAY THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN

I don’t pretend to know which, if any, of these scenarios is accurate, but as I tweeted shortly after the story broke, “Someone at NBC or ALG is LYING. When they show the e-mail in question (w/ the complete headers), we will know who.”

Yesterday, I spoke with the folks over at ALG and was told they have no plans to release additional information. And while the release of more information could resolve this issue, they continue to stand behind a goofy screenshot conspicuously missing the only real evidence that could validate their claim. In doing so, they have demonstrated a willingness to behave exactly like those on the left who use baseless accusations of racism to advance their political agenda. By not publishing complete e-mail header information, it also looks like they have a disregard for the truth, the inability to conduct meaningful due diligence, and/or an ignorance of the basic technologies involved.

It is the responsibility of those in each faction of a political movement to hold its own accountable.

Anti-Semitism (and racism) is a serious matter and should never be used by any political organization as a tool in its communications toolbox. As Right and Center-right political activists, our credibility on this issue is at stake when one of our own engages in distasteful tactics. As such, it is incumbent on the Right to leverage its influence and demand ALG produce real proof of their allegations. When and if such proof is not forthcoming, I hope we all use our resources to rebuke ALG with the same level of outrage we had when the original story first broke.

I hope I’m wrong about ALG, but my gut is telling me we’ve been played.

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