Before and After

What a difference an hour makes:

The story so far is here and here.

Another One Bites the Dust

In addition to the first article,* another article was just "unpublished" by the "gatekeepers" at Examiner.com. Here is the excuse they used:

The thing is, this person is making that up as a phony excuse to suppress this article-- I never submitted this article by claiming "newsworthy" status, but merely submitted it as a subjective column, which they publish all the time. See? The box wasn't checked and they know it.

Here is what they don't want you to see:
EIN News features ‘unpublished’ Gun Rights Examiner article

The unexplained removal of an article relevant to readers of this column prevents not only them from seeing it, but also journalists subscribing to the EIN News service, effectively suppressing the information from the public.

Screen shots by D. Codrea

“Embattled Hastert was no friend to gun owners despite ‘A’ rating,” one of the linked headlines in the Saturday EIN Newsdesk alert informed subscribers. The service, maintained by professional editors, provides subject-customized news monitoring and distribution “for journalists and other professionals world-wide who are deeply involved in very specific topics. Our vertical niche publications reach industry leaders and decision makers...”

The problem is, any journalists, industry leaders and decision makers clicking on the link will get an “Uh-oh” 404 message (“Not Found”). That’s because, for reasons not yet explained, on Friday, shortly after the article was published, the story was taken down from Examiner.com by unknown company moderators without explaining the reason behind the decision.

“This article has been unpublished by staff,” a note on the publishing/editing tool advised, something discovered purely by chance after I saw the column had disappeared from the Gun Rights Examiner home page. “Contact support with any questions.”

That was Friday, and despite multiple emails, no answer to the query has yet been received, leading to speculation why this was done in the absence of any “official” word. Whatever it was, it did not trouble the editors at EIN News, who, before it had been taken down without notice, thought the story significant enough to include in their alert to industry professionals. Maybe it’s all a mistake, or maybe there’s a technical reason -- or maybe it’s a matter of some arbitrarily-interpreted “standards” violation, except Examiner has featured one of the potential triggers in numerous headlines, not to mention actively promoted regular columns that are NSFW (by a long “shot,” if you care to risk reading the last paragraph). Since they have not responded to queries to explain why the column was pulled, all that’s left is to guess. Or perhaps all that's needed is for someone with an axe to grind to click on the "Report this content!" link accompanying all articles on this site. Pending a response, which I will make available to readers either here or at The War on Guns blog, the article has been reposted in total on that blog so that readers can see it for themselves.

In the meantime, while all the “real reporters/legitimate news media/Authorized Journalists” are repeating salacious speculations about the unfolding Dennis Hastert scandal, and generally parroting the work of others and rewriting (rewording) stories off the same sheet, none of the journalists are likely to see a dimension to discussions about the former Speaker that no one else is talking about: How he promoted ending all private sales at gun shows and denying handguns to citizens old enough to vote, marry, and enlist in the military, and how he was given an “A” rating by the National Rifle Association after doing so.

That means most news consumers, and most gun owners, for that matter, will never learn of it either. What remains to be seen is if this follow-up article will be allowed, or removed once posted. That will tell much to gun rights advocates looking for uncensored information they’re not getting anywhere else.

*Text and link added.

EIN News features ‘unpublished’ Gun Rights Examiner article

The problem is, any journalists, industry leaders and decision makers clicking on the link will get an “Uh-oh” 404 message (“Not Found”). That’s because, for reasons not yet explained, on Friday, shortly after the article was published, the story was taken down from Examiner.com by unknown company moderators without explaining the reason behind the decision. [More]

Today's Gun Rights Examiner report notes you can't stop the signal-- even if those trying are ostensibly there to amplify it. Now we'll see if they "unpublish" this one, too.

"Unpublished" Examiner Article

This is what has been removed from the Examiner.com site. I am posting it here to keep the information from being suppressed. I'm also going to continue tracking down why it was torpedoed in the first place.

---

Embattled Hastert was no friend to gun owners despite ‘A’ rating

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has been indicted on “one count each of structuring currency transactions to evade currency transaction reports and making a false statement to the FBI,” NBC News reported Friday. Further reports citing “two federal law enforcement officials” suggest the politician-turned lobbyist has been paying hush money to cover up sexual abuse accusations dating back to when he was a high school teacher and wrestling coach.

That the charges come now, when Hillary Clinton’s star is rising amidst allegations of her past improprieties, is perhaps to be expected as a politically smart way to take such focus off the presumptive Democrat front-runner. In any case, it illustrates that the greatest danger to Republicans comes not from principled conservatives criticizing betrayals by party elites, but from those elites’ own actions. It also makes it fair to wonder if anyone else in the leadership is similarly vulnerable and compromised – a theory some have suggested as a potential explanation for a succession of seeming surrenders following last November's political polarity shift.

In any case, gun owners with long memories will shed no tears over Hastert being in the hot seat. Many of us still remember May, 1999, when, per CNN, “House Speaker Dennis Hastert entered the fierce debate on gun control ... saying he favored raising the minimum age for owning a handgun to 21 and requiring background checks for all sales at gun shows.”

It was especially “puzzling” at the time, as “[a]n aide from [then-Senate Majority Leader Trent] Lott's office told CNN that ... the gun control issue is not slated to come up in the House of Representatives anytime soon.”

“Where the hell is it within the Constitutional powers of the federal government to enact any kind of gun control legislation at all?” I asked in an angry open letter response to Hastert. “Where the hell do you get off endorsing a handgun ban for a segment of our population that is old enough to vote, to marry, to parent and to go to war and die protecting your sorry politically opportunistic @$$?”

Adding insult to injury, the following month, Hastert refused to use his position of influence “to ‘whip’ members into a unified party line” on guns, The Los Angeles Times noted. “Hastert has spoken favorably of new gun safety measures since the Littleton, Colo., high school massacre.”

Curiously, even after those betrayals, NRA still gave Hastert an “A” rating. Evidently giving them some of what they wanted, including access to his office, was enough to induce Fairfax to overlook the infringements he favored imposing. In any case, with the triumphant attacks on Republicans that are certain to come (and the “progressive” braying has already predictably started), principled “no compromise” gun owners can at least prove a substantial level of separation from the inevitable guilt-by-association conflation.

UPDATE: Indications are the allegations concern sexual misconduct with a student.

SUGGESTED LINKS

• Gun group warns against continuing resolution surrender by Republicans
• Republican 'leaders' block and derail campus carry in Nevada
• Koch money and GOP access may discourage pairing amnesty with gun rights
• Republicans leaving anti-rights restoration provision in appropriations bill
• Precinct Project provides blueprint to ‘take back Republican Party’