The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Paul Ryan Intern Adam Savader Arrested

Posted on | April 23, 2013 | 77 Comments

Adam Savader, a former intern for Paul Ryan, was arrested by the FBI and charged in a weird sexual extortion scheme:

A 21-year-old Great Neck, New York man was charged in a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan with Internet extortion and cyber stalking, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade. . . .
According to the affidavit, from May 2012 through February 2013, Adam Paul Savader sent anonymous text messages using Google Voice numbers to 15 women stating that he had nude photographs of the women and threatening to distribute the nude photographs to the women’s friends and family members unless the women sent him more nude photographs of themselves. Savader sent some of the victims links to a photo-sharing website where nude pictures of the victims had been posted.
The case was brought to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by detectives from the Ann Arbor Police Department, who received a complaint from a victim stating that she had received threatening messages from a person who had illegally obtained nude photographs of her from her e-mail account. Detectives with the Ann Arbor P.D. partnered with FBI agents to investigate the case and together identified 15 victims in Detroit; Washington, D.C.; and Long Island, New York.
If convicted on these charges, Savader faces a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

Via Adam Steinbaugh who explain the details:

[A] recently-unsealed complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan . . . alleges, essentially, that a New York man — Adam Paul Savader — used a variety of Google Voice numbers to text women under the monicker “John Smith.”  ”Smith” told the women that he had nude photos of them (or, in one victim’s case, her mother) and that he would post more online if they did not send more nude photos.  He allegedly threatened to send the photos to their family members, sorority sisters, and the Republican National Committee, telling one that everyone in “D.C” would see the nude photos.  The unidentified victims apparently attended the same college as Savader.
On Twitter, Adam Savader brags that he was “Formerly @PRyan’s sole intern on @MittRomney’s campaign and a @newtgingrich campaign staffer” and notes that his website is savader.com.  The whois registration for the site lists his abode as being the same Great Neck, NY address as the address affiliated with the IP address used to register many of the online accounts allegedly used in the sextortion plot.

Savader’s Twitter account has not yet been deleted.

UPDATE: Reading the complaint — and trust me, it’s a must-read — I’m wondering: Do all college girls now have naked photos online?

Hey, I could have a great future as a Republican intern . . .

UPDATE II: Welcome, Twitchy readers! It turns out, because I know everybody, I’m just one degree of separation from Adam Savader:

There is a lesson here about the perils of the digital age: Anything you put on the Web — even uploaded to private accounts — can be accessed, if someone with enough skills really wants to get to it bad enough. And naked pictures? Yeah, don’t do those. Ever. Because that boyfriend you’re sending them to may not be your boyfriend forever.

 


Category: Scandal, Sex

Blame Bush: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Does!

Posted on | April 23, 2013 | 26 Comments

Notice the not-too-subtle Washington Post spin here:

The 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told interrogators that the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated him and his brother to carry out the attack, according to U.S. officials familiar with the interviews.
From his hospital bed, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has acknowledged his role in planting the explosives near the marathon finish line on April 15, the officials said. . . .
Dzhokhar and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police as the two attempted to avoid capture, do not appear to have been directed by a foreign terrorist organization.
Rather, the officials said, the evidence so far suggests they were “self-radicalized” through Internet sites and U.S. actions in the Muslim world. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has specifically cited the U.S. war in Iraq, which ended in December 2011 with the removal of the last American forces, and the war in Afghanistan, where President Obama plans to end combat operations by the end of 2014.
Obama has made repairing U.S. relations with the Islamic world a foreign policy priority, even as he has expanded drone operations in Pakistan and other countries, which has inflamed Muslim public opinion.

In other words, the Brothers Tsarnaev shared the Left’s worldview that U.S. military intervention abroad in the wake of 9/11 was illegitimate. And so “they were ‘self-radicalized’ through Internet sites” — maybe DailyKos, Think Progress, MoveOn.org, etc.?

 

 

Category: Media Bias, Terrorism

Why Did Fox News and Townhall Scrub the Todd Starnes ‘Saudi National’ Story?

Posted on | April 23, 2013 | 47 Comments

Let me start by saying that I consider the obsession with the “Saudi national” — a student who was questioned after the Boston Marathon bombing — an annoying distraction from the main story of the terrorist act committed by the Brothers Tsarnaev.

This is not to say that the story isn’t interesting in its own right: Why would authorities be so hasty to turn Abdul Rahman Ali Alharb loose, at a time when the actual perpetrators were still at large and it was impossible to rule out a larger conspiracy?

An interesting question, and Tiffany Gabbay at the Blaze reports that Glenn Beck is trying to get some answers about it:

While Alharbi has gone from a person of interest, to a witness, and now to someone deemed unimportant to the case, sources have told TheBlaze that there is more to this story than is being told by the media or the government.
“We let everyone have all of the other information because we care more about the truth, more about you getting the news,” he said before explaining that since he owns TheBlaze outright, readers and viewers needn’t worry about the network being beholden to outside interests or foreign (i.e. Saudi) money.
“There is not ever going to be a member of CAIR crossing this threshold to have a private meeting with me to tell me exactly what would be in my best interest. I’m not taking the meeting. We move differently here. We are an American network, owned by an American. I am sick and tired of being told there is nothing left to see, move along,” he added.

Ah! This is it, you see? Glenn Beck (and others) believe the “Saudi national” story is being suppressed because Certain Unnamed News Organizations — which might sound like Nox Fews — are beholden to Arab money  and being intimidated by Muslim Brotherhood pressure groups. And who am I to say they’re not?

More likely, however, I think the bosses at Nox Fews and other organizations share my newsman’s instinct that this “Saudi national” angle is a distraction, a detour from the main story, and quite possibly a snipe hunt — a complete waste of time and energy. But if you think the Saudi national story is important, your paranoia about it being deliberately suppressed by a CAIR-directed conspiracy is likely to be stoked when you discover that a Certain Unnamed News Organization deleted Todd Starnes’s article about it.

Fair and Balanced. We Report, You Decide. IYKWIMAITYD.

Category: Conspiracy Theories, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Media Bias, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism

The Blair-Glass ‘Sleeper Cell’ — British Tabloid Fabricates a Phony Scoop

Posted on | April 21, 2013 | 43 Comments

Here’s a quote from the New York Times, about Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s trip to Russia last year:

Kevin Brock, a former senior FBI and counterterrorism official, said, “It’s a key thread for investigators and the intelligence community to pull on.”

On the top of Memeorandum last night was this headline from the British tabloid, the Mirror:

Boston bombers: FBI hunting
12-strong terrorist “sleeper cell” linked
to brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Somebody sent that story to me and so I looked at it. After reading the wild-ass quotes from a “source close to the investigation” and finding nothing else in the story to back up that claim, I  noticed something else in the Mirror story:

Yesterday senior FBI counter-terrorism official Kevin Brock said: “It’s a key thread for investigators.”

Whoa! You’ve got a “source close to the investigation” feeding you this big exclusive about a “sleeper cell” — a claim that no other news organization has been able to verify, I hasten to point out — and yet you also resort to cribbing quotes from the New York Times, while failing to note Brock’s status as a “former” FBI official? Does anyone else detect the fragrance of bovine excrement here?

So I e-mailed my friend:

It’s important to evaluate stories like this on the basis of sourcing and how it’s put together: Notice that the Mirror leads with an outrageous headline claim — decidedly important, if true — about this alleged “sleeper cell,” but that this is based on a single “source close to the investigation” who is never even characterized: DOJ? CIA? NSA? Some cop eating donuts?
We have nothing in the description of the quoted source that would allow us to evaluate the credibility of the outrageous claim, nor does there seem to have been any effort to verify this claim with any official source. There isn’t even so much as a “no comment” from a named source. Instead, after leading with this seemingly far-fetched “sleeper cell” claim based on a blind-quoted source, the Mirror then goes on to tell the reader about (not-really-related) details that could have been — and may actually have been — culled from the morning newspapers and TV coverage.
And the quote from Kevin Brock, FBI counter-terrorism official? Cribbed from the New York Times!
This isn’t journalism, it’s complete bullshit. If I were the editor of a newspaper whose reporter turned in a story like this, I’d fire any son of a bitch who let it get into print. Hell, when I was working for the Washington Times, I’d have gotten my head bitten off by Geoff Etnyre if I’d let a mess like this get as far as the copy desk.
There are two bylines on this story. I checked to make sure it wasn’t co-written by Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass.

This isn’t even good phony journalism — Blair and Glass actually managed to get away with their fraudulent impostures for a while, but this exercise in dishonesty is apparent at first glance.

There is too much good reporting about this story — like this excellent recap of the investigation by the Washington Post — to waste time on bogus garbage about a “sleeper cell.” Want something really interesting? Check out Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s Amazon Wish List.

UPDATE: To clarify — as there seems to be some confusion among commenters here and in the Twitter reaction — what I’m disputing is the Mirror‘s “source” quoted here:

The FBI was last night hunting a 12-strong terrorist “sleeper cell” linked to the Boston marathon bomb brothers. . . .
A source close to the investigation said: “We have no doubt the brothers were not acting alone. The devices used to detonate the two bombs were highly sophisticated and not the kind of thing people learn from Google.
“They were too advanced. Someone gave the brothers the skills and it is now our job to find out just who they were. Agents think the sleeper cell has up to a dozen members and has been waiting several years for their day to come.”

That last sentence in particular reeks of rancid bullshit. I am not for a moment discounting the likelihood that the Brothers Tsarnaev had accomplices, or that Tamerlan’s trip to Russia was connected to this attack, which may indeed be part of a larger conspiracy.

What I am saying is that there is no way on God’s green earth that two reporters for a British tabloid could have a “source close to the investigation” who could describe with such specificity a “12-strong terrorist ‘sleeper cell,'” and yet none of the national-security reporters in America — people who regularly cover this beat and have relationships of trust with top sources — could match that scoop.

Even if someone “close to the investigation” actually gave those quotes to the Mirror reporters, which I am inclined to doubt, that’s not the kind of exclusive you run as a headline — not on a story this important — without getting some corroboration from other officials, and at least a “did not return calls seeking comment” from the responsible agencies. This story presents no hint that the Mirror reporters even tried to corroborate their lead.

So I’m calling bullshit.

 


Category: Journalism, Terrorism

Fractious Methodist Jihadists Raging Against. . .Dryer Lint

Posted on | April 21, 2013 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Wombat is on the prowl, and, as he does once or twice a year, he asked me to return to the FMJRA beat. Been a long time since I rocked and rolled, and I really should do some maintenance on the piece that generates this report. Lots of Twitter & Facebook links these days. You should follow/like all of the social media friends of this blog below.

Looking over the news, its West, TX, Boston, and Planned Parenthood’s own Kurt Gosnell dominating the news. Three variations on the theme of death. In protest for a week of foul news, I’m planning a party for next Saturday-ish. The details will be made known as the moment approaches. The location will be Stacy McCain’s timeline on Twitter. So stand by.

Meanwhile, the excellent Wombat will be back to doing the chores next week.

Stop the Killing. Stop the Crying.

Anybody Else Starting to Suspect @AmandaMarcotte Eats Dead Babies?

FMJRA 2.0: Sunday Morning Edition

MSNBC: The Network America Turns to for Irresponsible Speculation About News

GO, NICK SEARCY, GO!

Teenage Girls on Trial in Canada for Running Prostitution Ring

How the Left’s Online Meme Machine Helped Create a Murder Myth in Texas

The Hope Industry

When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’

Terrorism, Journalism and Other Crimes of ‘Workplace-Related Violence’

Shorter @DylanByers: ‘Hurry Up, FBI, So We Can Start the Media Blame Game!’

LIVE AT FIVENINE: 04.17.13

Rule 5 Wednesday: Once More Into The Bleach

Pressure Cooker: In Hunt for Bombing Suspects, Speculation Runs Rampant

BREAKING: Cable TV News Airheads Screwed Up a Major Story, Again

LIVE AT FIVE: 04.18.13

TV Won’t Show You the Pictures, But the Reddit/4Chan Guys Have Apparently ID’d the Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects

Joe Biden Invents Phony Gun Statistics — Because SHUT UP HATERS, That’s Why!

At a Loss for Words Now

Category: FMJRA Award

EVIL SHALL NOT PROSPER

Posted on | April 21, 2013 | 19 Comments

Neal Rauhauser was a speaker at the 2010 Netroots Nation conference

“Kimberlin’s associate Neal Rauhauser recently admitted in a complaint to my office that he introduced [Nadia] Naffe to attorney Jay Leiderman . . .
“In the same document, Rauhauser declared that if Naffe is successful, he believes it will put an end to my career as a Deputy D.A.”
— Patrick “Patterico” Frey, Oct. 4, 2012


This is indeed very happy news, my friends:

Ken and I in particular got to face, not just criticism, but “vapid and dishonest partisan hacks” who criticized both of us for standing up for free speech — including “the greasy, demi-literate, demented Hutt who wrote an extended quasi-sexual fantasy about a mob murdering Patrick and me.”
Hi, Bill Schmalfeldt! I understand you were curious about the result of this case. I’m happy to be sharing that with you! And, your sick, twisted fantasies notwithstanding, nobody has yet beaten me or Ken with baseball bats or tire irons. No group of men has thrown us in front of a moving truck as part of a conspiracy to cause our deaths.

Now, it was actually Ken at Popehat who described Bill Schmalfeldt as a “demented Hutt,” but I read it at Patterico‘s so . . .

Why is this such happy news? Because this nuisance suit against Patterico was self-evidently part of a deliberate vendetta against one of Brett Kimberlin’s chosen targets, an attempt to silence Patterico and intimidate others, as I explained in October:

I can’t imagine any court finding Patterico guilty of anything, but this lawsuit is just another typical product of the Kimberlin-Rauhauser “accuse the accusers” strategy. Once they target someone, the accusations proliferate endlessly as part of an orchestrated effort to discredit anyone who might accuse them of wrongdoing.

Off the top of my head, I could name a half-dozen people who have been targeted in this manner by either Kimberlin or Rauhauser or the various sociopathic trolls in their online mob. This is not merely harassment and cyberstalking — although it is that — but it is in fact political terrorism, and this lawfare harassment of Patrick Frey was an effort to silence him for having said so:

Keep in mind that Rauhauser, by inciting Nadia Naffe’s lawsuit against Patterico, has obligated Patterico to avoid writing about this subject on advice of counsel . . .

Well, how’s that working out for you, Neal Rauhauser? Patterico promises to tell the truth — the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help him God — on Monday. Meanwhile, go hit Patterico’s tip jar, and encourage him to plunge the knife of truth as deep as it will go.

Evil shall not prosper, nor will the wicked triumph. Selah.

 

Category: Bill Schmalfeldt, Patterico, The Kimberlin Files

A Picture That Will Warm Your Heart

Posted on | April 20, 2013 | 20 Comments

What a week, huh? The most outrageous image of the week — and it still makes me angry just to think about it — was the picture of “Suspect Number Two” (19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev) placing his backpack bomb next to 8-year-old Martin Richard.

But not every photo to come out of this week’s Boston Marathon bombing crisis was hateful. Are you ready for your “awwww” moment?

CLICK THIS LINK NOW. (Trust me, this is going viral and will be on your wife’s Facebook page by noon Monday at the latest.)

Category: Terrorism

The #BlockedByDavidSirota Club: Membership Is Growing Rapidly!

Posted on | April 20, 2013 | 40 Comments

“Philadelphia mayoral candidate Dwight Evans yesterday accepted the resignation of his campaign manager and fired the deputy manager after learning that the deputy was linked to a bogus Web site apparently intended to hurt a rival candidate.
“Evans, a state representative from West Oak Lane, denounced the phony Web page as an example of ‘dirty tricks’ . . .
“[Evans] apologized to the target of the ruse, John White Jr., a rival for the Democratic nomination for mayor.”
“Evans said yesterday he had learned that his deputy campaign manager, David J. Sirota, of Huntingdon Valley, was ‘associated’ with the person who registered the site . . .”
— Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 27, 1999

In a comment on my post this morning about the capture of the Boston bomber — “We Got Him” — Leather Penguin mentioned that Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom “was smacking the ever-loving crap outta Sirota yesterday.” Investigating, I then discovered that David Sirota had blocked Goldstein on Twitter.

As everyone with Internet access almost certainly knows by now, David Sirota won the coveted 2013 “Douchebag of the Year” prize — it was awarded early this year, because the prize committee realized no one else could hope to compete — after writing a Salon column entitled, “Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American.” (Here are safe links to Robert Spencer’s reaction at Jihad Watch, and Mark Steyn’s reaction at National Review, if you don’t want to give traffic to Salon.)

We know what kind of person David Sirota is: A man whose career as a partisan political hack included getting fired for his involvement in dishonest dirty tricks aimed at a Democrat rival, a cruel and deliberate smear campaign intended to inflame racial animosity.

An infamous liar undeserving of trust, Sirota’s preferred method of “argument” is to defame people he hates — see his notorious 2011 column, “Why Many Evangelical Christians Are More ‘Un-American’ Than US Muslims” — and then to accuse them of being either too stupid or too cowardly to engage his “arguments.” Watch this four-minute clip in which Sirota, who gives every appearance of being in the grip of a bizarre psychiatric disorder, calls KOA radio host Mike Rosen a “motherf–ker” and repeatedly hectors Rosen with demands to “answer the question,” which Rosen is certainly willing and able to do, if only Sirota would stop his angry interruptions:

No honest person could admire or respect a hateful bullying liar like David Sirota. His anti-social behavior on Twitter and elsewhere is typical of Our Moral and Intellectual Superiors™ — mistaking their leftist ideology for virtue, they bask in their narcissistic self-admiration while lashing out at scapegoats onto whom they externalize blame.

Facts do not confirm their worldview, so they find themselves compelled to lie. Dishonesty becomes habitual — indeed, lying becomes integral to their identity –and when called out on their lies, they attempt to silence truth-tellers by accusing them of “hate.”

Every decent human being abhors the liar David Sirota. Many covet the prestige of being blocked by him, so do this:

  1. Send a Twitter message addressed to @DavidSirota;
  2. Include some facts about the Islamic terror attack in Boston (because David Sirota hates facts); and
  3. Include the #BlockedByDavidSirota hashtag.

He can’t block the entire Internet, although he seems determined to try.

UPDATE: Profiles in Douchebag Courage:

 

Category: Intellectuals, Rule 4
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