I have never even heard about her before this, so I don't know what to think. But she did allow all my comments on her blog so that is good. Is there any record of her publicly changing her view?
The thing is we don't have much time and we probably can't afford to be meek. The FDA machine is moving already -- as soon as it builds enough momentum it will be unstoppable.
I've never heard of her before this either but the people at the Huffington post are not automatically idiots. They may be a bit set in their ways having fixed opinions about things such as smoking, but with more information, they're capable of listening.
If anyone has been reading her responses to our comments she is being more conciliatory and it's clear that she acknowledges what we post and takes it as new information.
A lot of us are coming across as firebrands shooting insults and jeering directly at her. That's not going to help us in ANY way, it'll just preclude our defeat because it'll suggest that we're just angry addicts.
It's more difficult to change say, the opinion of Fox News. TV is perceived as "official" for better or for worse and are top down with no discourse between reporter and audience. Blogs (as much as I hate them), put audience and reporter on a more level playing field allowing a discourse.
I'll say it again that I think we should try our best to nudge. We've already lost so many battles with the press in which we have no chance of rebuttal.\
*EDIT*
And for those of us who would take a jab at her being a crazy liberal, remember where we're posting these comments. If the audience reads us as angry conservatives, they have even less reason to care what we say.