Correcting a leftwing lie about The US Report

I rarely respond to frivolous comments about The US Report. I see such comments on message boards and I receive them in emails. But a comment I found today by backtracking referrers so infuriated me I felt it necessary to register at the forum where it appeared so that I could set the record straight.

Because the fabrication was so outrageous, I felt compelled to post a statement here.

A member at the forum posted a link to a recent column at TUSR: Labor union activists ‘central’ to protests in East. That column featured claims taken directly from the print magazine Solidarity published by the UAW. Every assertion in my column was sourced.

Most of the comments at the forum were rational. Then I saw this:

“for those that don't know, (jsup and roysvet), the U.S. report is a right wing publication funded by the pakistan drug cartel…it has no affilation/association with any reputable publication in the United States such as US News and World report, etc.” [Sic multiple times]

I am accustomed to leftwing personal attacks and even on occasion to rightwing personal attacks. But I will not stand by while someone tells an outright lie.

Here’s the response I posted:

“This is one of the only times I've felt obligated to respond to a forum whose members are discussing something I have written. But the accusation is so offensive, I felt it necessary.

The US Report is an indy blog. I started the site after writing for mainstream media for more than two decades. I brought experience as a journalist vetted by the two top organizations for writers in the U.S. Admittance to those orgs is not a given; your credentials are vetted.

I finance the blog through what can only be described as pitiful 3rd party ad revenue and my revenue from other freelance writing.

I have never received any funding from the "Pakistan Drug Cartel." That statement, by the way, treads into defamatory territory. If I didn't dislike most trial lawyers I've met, I would be talking to one at present.

I have no affiliation with any publication in the U.S. That would topple the independent stature I sought when I began the site. If I'd wanted to continue such affiliations, I would have continued to produce wire service news and general features.

Nor would I consider US News and World Report someone I'd necessarily WANT to affiliate with if I could. That is a distinctly different publication.

It is harmful and malicious to accuse someone of being affiliated with a drug cartel in today's politically driven climate. I ask for a correction of that statement from the poster who, rather than offering genuine debate on the facts I stated, resorted to a personal attack based on lies and fabrication.

And for the final record, note the information about UAW came directly from the org's latest issue of Solidarity, their print magazine. UAW was proud to take credit for the revolts."