Concerning Palingates.

I have had a little while to mull things over and have engaged in conversations with many bloggers, ex-bloggers,  and friends who have been impacted in some way by the changes now taking place over at Palingates, or by events that have happened in the past.

Because of those conversations, and the concerns of many that re-opening old wounds will be detrimental to them personally, or the blogging community in general, I have decided to leave the "can of worms" unopened.

Much of my decision has to do with Regina's request specifically that I allow things from the past to remain in the past.  Since she is in a position to be negatively impacted by the blowback that would be generated from my post I will respect her request and let those sleeping dogs lie.

However there are a few left over "worms" that I feel obligated to expose to the light of day.

First off I had NOTHING to do with Regina's decision to remove P and K. At least as far as I know. 

I sent no e-mails, nor encouraged others to send e-mails, nor threatened to write anything damaging.  When the decision was made I was as shocked as anybody else.

Actually when it happened I was very caught up my own drama, which resulted from the post that also inspired Regina's decision.

As many of you know it was the Shailey Tripp piece (since removed) that proved to be the straw that snapped the camel's back over at Palingates. But what you may not know is how that piece caused me to lose credibility, and possibly put the Enquirer story at risk.

You see the gentleman friend of Ms. Tripp, who I will only identify by his initials R.N., was hoping to tell his side of the story concerning the private side of Shailey Tripp, in order to let people know that she was not just a prostitute but a real person who happened to make a very poor decision which has virtually destroyed her life.

However RN is a VERY private person and he was determined to remain so.  He thought he might be willing to tell his story but ONLY if his anonymity was protected.  I was working to make that happen.

Somehow P got a hold of this gentleman's contact information and told him, and I quote "I am working with Gryphen.  Talking to me is the same as talking to Gryphen." Because of this assurance RN trusted P enough to reveal a few preliminary bits of information for which he was rewarded by having his entire life plastered all over Palingates.  Not only was his life put on display, but so were the names of many of Ms. Tripp's friends and acquaintances, some of who had no idea what she had done, and now found their names linked to her on a blog.

Obviously I started to get calls immediately.  Angry calls wanting to know why I betrayed RN and allowed my "collaborator" to do what they did. When the first call came in I literally had no idea what they were talking about.

It took me most of the day to explain that I had nothing to do with it, and to attempt to rebuild the trust that was now in shattered pieces. As of this writing that trust is still badly damaged and may be irreparable.  Which of course could also impact my ability to gain the trust of others in the the near future.

As a blogger, without the deep pockets of a tabloid like the National Enquirer, all I have to use as currency to "buy" information is trust.  Once I don't have that, I don't have anything.

So yes I was very angry.  Especially since this was not the first time this very same situation had played out.

However my anger was NEVER at Regina who I have always considered a true friend.  And now that she is back in charge of running the show, and the offending post has been removed, I am happy to welcome Palingates back onto my blogroll.  I wish I had never felt it necessary to have removed it in the first place.

I am going to be very careful in how I moderate comments coming in for this post.  I am afraid that I will NOT be allowing any mention by name of RN, P, or K, nor any attacks directed at Regina.  If you want to be mad at me that is okay up to a point, but let's not go crazy alright?

I know that some of you are going to feel confused, and betrayed, and even possibly believe that I must be making the whole thing up, but I assure you I am not.

As for P and K, I wish them much success in whatever they decide to do next.  They are a truly gifted research team.

I really hope that the people who were fans of Palingates will stick by Regina.  She is a very good person as well as a skilled writer and researcher.

Good luck Regina!

Update: For those who still feel I am being petty or perhaps even manufacturing a problem concerning P and K, perhaps you should head on over and read Regina's latest post.

And let me address this jealousy issue that keeps coming up.

I have NEVER felt in competition with any other blog for the entire six years this blog has been in existence.

In fact  I have gone out of my way to include new blogs in my blogroll when I have enjoyed their content or hoped that they would be helpful in discovering new information about Palin or other interesting topics.  In the past I have added such "just starting out" blogs as Mudflats, Palin's Deceptions, Bree Palin, Oz Mudflats, Hypocrites and Heffalump Traps, God's Own Party, Alaska WTF, Mercede Johnston, Malia Litman, and yes even Palingates, just to name a few.

I have also been credited with inspiring at least twenty individuals to start blogs of their own.  So no, I have never worried about competition or felt jealous of the other bloggers who are my, very near or sometimes very distant, neighbors on the internet.

Nor by the way have I EVER demanded from anybody that they give me credit if their post, or article, was clearly derivative of mine, or even stolen outright.  I always felt that if more people saw the information all the better.

And by the way ALL of my interactions with my fellow bloggers have been positive and rewarding.  With one notable exception.