North Star Politics

Since you are so concerned about disclosure, has Michael McIntee every disclosed he is active with the SD 38 DFL? McIntee knows I'm involved with the SD 38 GOP, hence the reason he keeps refering to me as a "thief"

If he is and he hasn't, he should. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, and people who work with or for the DFL shouldn't get a pass on disclosing that.

Um, the point isn't disclosure, it's that you're a thief. Can you read your own nickname? It says "The Thief," not, "The Non-Discloser."

Michael "The Thief" Brodkorb is also a selective listener. On several podcasts I've made it clear that I'm a DFL activist.

I'll point out that I did that from the beginning and also been very upfront of who I am. I didn't hide behind an anonymous moniker.

"The Thief" fills the bulk of his blog with the content of other hard-working journalists who don't see a dime from it. He openly advocates stealing content. He could easily stay within the letter of the law by only linking to stories and paraphrasing what they say. His "free speech" rights would not be compromised by this. He would just have to work a little harder.

However, to build up his reputation and to drive his own traffic up (and any revenue he sees from Google ads)he takes the lazy and illegal way out by wholesale reprinting content.

More and more journalists are being thrown out of work by media consolidation. What "The Thief" does is making a bad situation worse. Over the past three years I've personally helped more than 100 journalists find work when the media company I was managing was shut down because of consolidation. (I was not paid a dime for providing that help.) I've personally seen the pain this type of illegal activity causes.

Real people who live in Minnesota are having real jobs taken away because of what "The Thief" advocates.

Is he the cause of all this? No way. But he's part of the problem, not part of the solution. Fight media theft.

Yes, I agree with the nickname Theif. I would even go as far as to say your views are very shallow and pedantic.