Allahpundit

Allahpundit (born September 5, c. 1972) is an anonymous blogger and the senior editor^[1] for the conservative commentary website, Hot Air.

Hot Air

The persona of Allahpundit first appeared through a parody blog, Allah Is In the House, which rose in popularity circa 2003 by being referenced throughout the conservative and anti-jihadist blogosphere. In March and April 2006,^[2]^[3] Allahpundit guest-blogged for Michelle Malkin before becoming the most active contributor to Malkin's Hot Air news website. Hot Air is widely referenced by political bloggers and news reporters^[4] and Allahpundit's commentary has become a reliable source for those seeking a conservative-libertarian take on the political news of the day—such as The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who has cited Allahpundit as one of the bloggers he reads for show preparation.^[5] In February 2010, Salem Communications purchased Hot Air from Michelle Malkin and it was said Allahpundit and his co-blogger, Ed Morrissey, were a central part of the deal.^[6] Salem is known for its hard-right social conservatism, but Hot Air has maintained its more social libertarian tone.

Viewpoints

Allahpundit's prominence on Hot Air has been a contentious issue for some of the site's ardent Christian conservative readers, as he is often criticized by his own readership for his atheism and for his frequent disagreement with "hard-right" political opinion, especially on social issues. But his viewpoints are not easily characterized; for instance, he is in favor of same-sex marriage^[7] but does not support amnesty for illegal immigrants.^[8]^[9] Allahpundit's overall writing tone is learned but conversational, deadpan humor, and he is known particularly for his self-deprecating humor and general lack of enthusiasm, for which he has earned the nickname "Eeyore" or "Eeyorepundit."^[10]

In September 2004, Allahpundit was key to debunking of the Killian documents controversy. Mary Mapes, producer of 60 Minutes, blamed Allahpundit, among others, for "working anonymously in what appeared to be huge numbers, in unison, to destroy the Bush-Guard story."^[11] Largely due to this controversy, the website was among the Top Blogs Cited in Political Postings for the United States presidential election, 2004.^[12]

Allahpundit's moniker harkens back to his original blog, Allah Is In The House, which was a highly irreverent parody of "a jihadist's version of Allah" and a way to vent frustration about geopolitics in a post-9/11 political climate. He did note on his original blog a disclaimer to the effect that his moniker was not "anti-Muslim" and that he differentiated between extremists and peaceful practicing Muslims. Despite his relative fame, Allahpundit has managed to remain anonymous "in an era when most bloggers treat their names like precious branding manna, his insistence on keeping a pseudonym has an anachronistic, early 2000s feel to it."^[13]

Allah Is In The House Blog

Allah Is In the House began on August 27, 2003. The author wrote using the name of Allah, using similar language to that of terrorist organizations but assuming the viewpoint of Allah. The blog specialized in written and Photoshop-based political satire. After a hiatus in May 2004, the blog reemerged, continuing its satiric nature while largely abandoning the "Allah voice". However, after October 2004 the blog stopped being regularly updated and abandoned the web address allahpundit.com without explanation. After occasional entries at allahakbar.blogspot.com, the blog shut down altogether.

The blog's approach and humor caused it to become mocked days after its inception, though it was cited by many of the top conservative bloggers^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17] and many blog-sympathetic writers ^[18]^[19] of the time including Roger L. Simon, who wrote, "These days I learn more from Allahpundit, where I found this link, than I ever do from Meet the Press."^[20] Posts from Allahpundit's old Allah Is In The House blog are archived at the Internet Archive, although the image files, which include the Photoshopped pictures for which the site was quite well known, are not.^[21] Allahpundit has stated that he is unlikely to do PhotoShops in the future due to a grueling writing/posting schedule.

Ranking

"Hot Air is one of the biggest, most influential conservative sites on the Web" and has been since its 2006 founding.^[22] In 2007, Michelle Malkin credited AllahPundit with "turn[ing] the site into a must-read," thus causing it to rise in popularity "from nowhere to a top-30 site on Technorati's Top 100 list."^[23] To this date, Hot Air regularly places in the top ten rankings of politically conservative commentary websites.^[24]

References