The Other McCain

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Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt

Posted on | July 22, 2013 | 71 Comments

Bill Schmalfeldt: Victim of a right-wing smear job?

“Attempting to convince a madman that he is out of his mind is a hopeless task . . .”
— Robert Stacy McCain, June 16

Bill Schmalfeldt can never seem to comprehend that the main cause — if not the only cause — of his problems is Bill Schmalfeldt.

Let us agree that a troll must cross a high threshold of obnoxiousness to be deemed Too Disgusting for Daily Kos, yet Schmalfeldt cleared the mark with surprising ease, thanks to his extraordinarily perverse discourse about butt sex. (C’mon, click this link. Double-dog dare ya.)

Banned from DKos in May 2012 as “Bill Schmalfeldt,” he attempted to return to DKos as “Patriot Ombudsman,” reposting something tedious he had published elsewhere about his legal battle with John Hoge. Schmalfeldt prefaced this weird tale (referring to himself in third-person) by describing it as a “story of a reputation ruined beyond repair by right wing nut jobs for no reason other than they wanted to.” Schmalfeldt claimed to be the victim of “a coordinated smear attack by the blowflies that buzz around the dessicated corpse of Andrew Breitbart.” And he included a screen-cap of my July 12 post, “Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt Inspires Epic ‘Downfall’ Parody Video.”

What he was attempting to do, as any psychologist would recognize, is blame-shifting: Bill is not responsible for the bad thing that happened; Bill is a helpless victim of what they did to him. (For those not familiar with mental health problems, it may help to read about “Locus of Control,” and also to understand that a disturbance in the sense of agency is typical of schizophrenia.)

Only examination by a trained clinical specialist, of course, could determine if Bill Schmalfeldt is suffering from mental illness, but you don’t need a Ph.D. to conclude that he is nuts, wacko, berserk, demented, zany, bonkers, batshit crazy and cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Insofar as Bill Schmalfeldt had his “reputation ruined,” it was he who ruined it, not any “right wing nut jobs.” There were no “coordinated smear attacks,” but merely a series of responses to Schmalfeldt’s own obnoxious actions. If Schmalfeldt imagined that he could insult, disparage and harass others without the targets of these attacks ever reacting to defend themselves, well, he’s crazy.

But I think we’ve already established that, eh?

The origins and history of this episode are easily determined. On June 3, 2012, four days after Brett Kimberlin had Aaron Walker briefly arrested at a hearing in Maryland, Bill Schmalfeldt popped up on Twitter trying to bait Walker into commenting on Kimberlin. This coincidence — the judge on May 29, 2012, ordered Walker not to write about Kimberlin — escaped my notice until Walker pointed it out.

Was this “coordinated”? Had someone acting at Kimberlin’s behest urged Schmalfeldt to interrogate Walker, in an attempt to get Walker to violate the judge’s order, so as to provide Kimberlin with a new pretext for legal action against Walker? I have never claimed that this was the case, although Walker himself is certainly suspicious.

Let others speculate about motives, I merely describe what happened. Over the course of several months, Bill Schmalfeldt’s online harassment escalated, and always directed at antagonists of Kimberlin.

At one point (during Thanksgiving weekend), Schmalfeldt sent me more than 200 hostile Twitter messages in the span of 48 hours. But certainly the worst was Schmalfeldt’s maniacal online attacks against Lee Stranahan, a hateful spree that included shockingly vile writings about Stranahan’s wife and children. Stranahan eventually filed charges of harassment against Schmalfeldt, but the charges were dismissed. However, because John Hoge had given Stranahan a ride from the airport (Stranahan flew from Texas to Baltimore to file charges), Schmalfeldt then turned his obsessive rage against Hoge, which led eventually to Hoge getting a peace order against Schmalfeldt.

Schmalfeldt initiated the conflict, Schmalfeldt escalated the conflict, and at any time Schmalfeldt could have ended the conflict simply by ceasing his relentless attacks against Kimberlin’s enemies. For Schmalfeldt then to use Daily Kos to claim that he was victimized “by right wing nut jobs for no reason other than they wanted to” expresses a belief so far from reality that it can only be called delusional.

And what do we call people with delusional beliefs? Crazy.

Schmalfeldt has now been banned again at Daily Kos, and some of the comments by the DKos regulars are enlightening :

Anyone wondering why this troll was banned the first time should read [Schmalfeldt’s May 2012 post about anal sex].
He posts stupid attempts at humor, often offensive, and gets pissy when he is not heralded as a comedic genius.
When Tree Climbers objected to the language of the POS excerpted above, merely asking for a trigger warning, he mocked them and tried to “out” their charity.
Cried about it in another diary as well.

He was horrible in the comments and deserves no mercy this go round.

i recall he wanted to do a story on a fellow kossack (something about exposing things at her place of work). he harassed and pressured her, and clearly ‘stalked’ her. demeaned her…because she wouldn’t give him the story that would likely elevate him to the levels of woodward/bernstein…or something.
creepy.

Oh shit! Did anyone’s creepy meter go off? Mine sure did. Writing about yourself in third person should automatically come with a warning label.

These are comments from stalwart progressives, not “right wing nut jobs,” not by anyone with any political sympathy for Aaron Walker or Lee Stranahan or any of Schmalfeldt’s other targets. The fact is that Schmalfeldt’s online behavior has been atrocious enough that he has made himself persona non grata even among his own ideological allies. No “coordinated smear” was involved. Bill Schmalfeldt is just crazy.

But I’m pretty sure I mentioned that earlier . . .




 

 


Category: Bill Schmalfeldt

Comments

71 Responses to “Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt”

  1. BobBelvedere
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 4:45 pm

    RT @rsmccain: ICYMI: Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt http://t.co/ppLWEPdLre #tcot #p2 #uniteb…

  2. BigGator5
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 4:58 pm

    Nasty Troll #BillSchmalfeldt Gets 2nd #DailyKOS #BanHammer …OF DOOM!! http://t.co/FqCdG0y9Qo @rsmccain @dailykos #tcot #p2

  3. jakee308
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 5:00 pm

    You mean even LEFTIST, COMMUNIST SCUMBAGS have standards too?

    Who’d a thunk it.

  4. nofixedabode
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 5:53 pm

    RT @rsmccain: “Bill Schmalfeldt is just crazy. But I’m pretty sure I mentioned that earlier …” http://t.co/ppLWEPdLre

  5. David R. Graham
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 7:42 pm

    Wasn’t there a phrase for that in the “Old South”: Johnny No-Neck? Referring to inbreds? I’m from the Mid-West and West.

  6. David R. Graham
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 7:48 pm

    I’m illiterate. Neal who, who dat? Not kidding. Neva hoida da bum. I tink. You mean Rauhauser?

  7. bet0001970
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:06 pm

    I feel a case of LMFAO coming on…

  8. bet0001970
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:11 pm

    McCain, you forgot to include the block about how Kimberlin was grooming a child bride back in his dope smuggling days. You can’t tell this story without that.

  9. bet0001970
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:13 pm

    And put some damn lasers on those eyes. It’s just not true photoshop job without lasers.

  10. bet0001970
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:16 pm

    Well, it’s official.

    10 out 10 Kossacks agree. Blogging with Schmalfeldt will cause brain decay.

  11. thatMrGguy
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:19 pm

    Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt http://t.co/tlj5YOcDyt

  12. rsmccain
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:19 pm

    RT @dellabenghazi: Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt : The Other McCain http://t.co/lq3PMsfeSY

  13. rsmccain
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:20 pm

    RT @thatMrGguy: Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt http://t.co/tlj5YOcDyt

  14. rsmccain
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:20 pm

    RT @BigGator5: Nasty Troll #BillSchmalfeldt Gets 2nd #DailyKOS #BanHammer …OF DOOM!! http://t.co/FqCdG0y9Qo @rsmccain @dailykos #tcot #p2

  15. rsmccain
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 8:21 pm

    RT @stayoffinternet: Epic New Failure: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt http://t.co/OtmN6oEJW0

  16. OwainPenllyn
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 9:45 pm

    DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker #BillSchmalfeldt http://t.co/TxpBDo3V8L via @rsmccain #breitbart #tcot #tgdn

  17. cupsdaddy
    July 22nd, 2013 @ 9:50 pm

    RT @OwainPenllyn: DailyKos Re-Banishes Deranged Cyberstalker #BillSchmalfeldt http://t.co/TxpBDo3V8L via @rsmccain #breitbart #tcot #tgdn

  18. K-Bob
    July 23rd, 2013 @ 2:00 am

    There had to be a floor, eventually. I wondered if we’d ever see it.

  19. K-Bob
    July 23rd, 2013 @ 2:06 am

    Costume Proposal

  20. OwainPenllyn
    July 23rd, 2013 @ 12:16 pm

    DailyKos Re-Banishes Pregnant Baboon Bellied Space #BillSchmalfeldt http://t.co/hbuUGGo7R3 #bretibart #tcot #tgdn

  21. Bill Schmalfeldt Finally Gets His Reply : The Other McCain
    July 28th, 2013 @ 1:38 am

    […] Well, you know what they say about karma, right? About five months later, in May 2012, Bill Schmalfeldt put up a genuinely vile rant about anal sex at DailyKos and was banished. (He attempted to get back on DKos last week and was re-banished.) […]