Right-Wing Bloggers Kicked Out of ‘For Profit’ Sarah Palin Speech

At a “for-profit rally,” as the Richmond Times-Dispatch described it, two self-described “conservative” bloggers, J.R. Hoeft and Brian Kirwin of BearingDrift, were kicked out a few minutes into Sarah Palin’s keynote address, despite having all-access passes to the gathering at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday. The non-blogging media were permitted to stay, according to Kirwin. (No First Amendment for bloggers at this Constitution-touting confab.)Here’s a snip from Hoeft’s live-blog (via Below the Beltway):

8:28: J.R. Hoeft: Sekulow introducing Palin – applauding her discipline and decisiveness.

8:29: Brian K: Sarah Palin hits the stage to a standing o

8:31: Brian K:  Sarah cheers the Lady Monarchs. Good choice

8:34:J.R. Hoeft: We’re being kicked out. So much for transparency.

Could it be that, because the blogosphere is so identified with progressives, the Freedom Fest 2010 squad presumed Kirwin and Hoeft to be from the other team?

Beyond the issue of whether bloggers are entitled to the same rights as journalists, or what the goons protecting Palin were trying to hide from bloggers, is this: The rally was billed as a salute to members of the military and first responders. And it’s for profit?

Isn’t that a tad exploitive?

The Times-Dispatch does not specify who was to profit from the rally, which only filled Old Dominion’s 10,000-seat Ted Constant Center by a third, but it was billed as a kick-off for a new right-wing radio station, Freedom 1650-AM. The newspaper reports that financial backing for the rally came from Pat Robertson’s Regent University and Freedom Automotive, “which is owned by Scott Rigell, a Republican taking on U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, a Democrat, in the 2nd Congressional District this fall.”

I have a call in to the powers that be at 1650-AM for information on the profit-takers; I’ll update this post when I hear back from them.

Other speakers included convicted felon Oliver North, former Virginia Gov. George “Macaca” Allen and Jay Sekulow of the right-wing American Center for Law & Justice.

On the Web site of The Washington Times, the right-wing newspaper founded by the Rev. Sung Yung Moon, Hoeft recounts his experience, and begs Palin to allow the right’s adoring bloggers to cover her.