The Other McCain

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

#TwitterGulag and Anonymous Trolls

Posted on | August 9, 2012 | 45 Comments

After I posted about Jimmie Bise Jr.’s “gay slurry” post this morning and Tweeted it to Jimmie’s attention, he was accosted with vile accusations from the Twitter troll @warpublican (aka “Bloody Leftist”), an anonymous supporter of the Occupy movement who has sent nearly 10,000 Tweets but has fewer than 900 followers.

This is one of the hallmarks of a Twitter troll: A small number of followers and a large number of Tweets. They have few followers because nobody wants to read a Twitter feed that is nothing but a stream of vile attacks and obscene harassment.

The whole purpose of such an account is to “get in their faces,” to annoy, distract and harass the troll’s targets.

It’s a form of psychological warfare, and it is permitted to continue because it has not been taken seriously. Except for the troll account’s comparative handful of followers, nobody sees the harassing messages except the person to whom they’re addressed. The target of this deliberate harassment feels isolated — “Why is nobody coming to my defense?” — and decides to ignore the troll.

Ignoring this kind of troll acount, however, only encourages them to continue their harassment. In their mind, they’ve gotten away with it, so it must be OK, and then they go on to attack the next innocent target and the next and the next.

Conservatives keep getting their Twitter accounts suspended because the Left uses swarming “block and report” attacks against the targeted conservative. The leftists doing the “block and report” attacks are, in many cases, anonymous trolls. And these trolls may actually be sockpuppet accounts created for this specific purpose, so that one person can use multiple accounts to “block and report” the target.

Did you know that, on a social media forum in 2010, Neal Rauhauser casually mentioned that he had created more than 100 different Twitter accounts? Some of those accounts were created on behalf of the Democrat politicians and other clients for whom Rauhauser was working with his Progressive PST consulting firm. But it is also a demonstrable fact that Rauhauser has created multiple sockpuppet alias accounts. When Rauhauser was harassing Andrew Breitbart in 2011, for example, he used the Twitter account @WeOccupyAmerica.

Let’s be clear about a few things in terms of free speech, OK? The First Amendment does not protect deception and libel.

You cannot hide behind a false identity and use that deceptive concealment to defame actual human beings by name.

The fact that Neal Rauhauser has developed, and taught to others, methods of hiding online “personas” even from law enforcement — click here to read all about it — is what emboldens Rauhauser and his associates to imagine they can never be apprehended. This is why Rauhauser foolishly thought he could send e-mails to government officials defaming Brandon Darby and suffer no consequence.

Rauhauser has exhorted others on the Left to emulate his vicious example and so, when we see a troll like @warpublican engaging in libelous harassment of Jimmie Bise, the appropriate name for this phenomenon is Rauhauserism.

Here’s the thing: We know nothing about the person who uses an anonymous Twitter account to engage in these attacks. What we do know is this: You cannot libel an alias.

The unknown person hiding behind @warpublican cannot file a lawsuit claiming that his pseudonym is being defamed. Furthermore, it is a matter of logic that there must be a reason for such deceptive concealment: If the person behind the troll account has nothing to hide, why are they hiding? Therefore, I assume that @warpublican is the alias of a convicted criminal whose heinous reputation is such that, if his true identity were known, this disclosure would devastate his credibility as a participant in public discourse. And speculation about what crimes @warpublican has committed is therefore a matter where the First Amendment provides absolute protection to anyone who guesses that @warpublican is, in fact, a rapist or a thief, et cetera.

Until @warpublican discloses his true identity, his online pseudonym has none of the legal protections against defamation that an actual human being has. His secrecy and deception — an imagined “strength” that emboldens him — is in fact a vulnerability.

Whatever or whoever @warpublican is, he is a lying cowardly creep deserving of no courtesy or mercy so long as he continues his malignant deceitful harassment of honest human beings — including not just Jimmie Bise, but also Michelle Malkin:

Message to @warpublican: You think you’ll get away with that?

You have been permitted to get away with that stuff for so long that you have begun to think you have the right to do it, but you’re about to learn an important lesson, punk.

You got away with your evil only because you never attracted the attention of an Army of Davids. an irresistible force of thousands of people sick and tired of being harassed by cowards who think they’re invulnerable because they’re anonymous.

When nothing remains of @warpublican except a bad memory — when this troll account has been deleted — we will call the Left’s attention to the smoldering online crater, so that they know that this tactic will no longer be tolerated: You can’t use anonymous accounts to attack, smear and harass people.

UPDATE: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power, who has previously written about “The Left’s Underground Online War.” It’s “underground” because you probably won’t notice it unless it’s directed at you. People usually try to avoid calling attention to this kind of harassment, because they don’t want to seem thin-skinned, and because the harassers aren’t confronted and exposed, the harassment continues. 

Category: Jimmie Bise Jr., Michelle Malkin

Democrats: The Establishment Party

Posted on | August 9, 2012 | 32 Comments

Liberals love to think of themselves as rebels, mavericks rising up against entrenched special interests. But despite the “Question Authority” bumper stickers on their Volvos, whenever it comes to a showdown — progressive principles vs. political power — the Left usually ends up rolling over for the Democrat Party’s leadership:

In Washington state, Democrats worried the wrong candidate might allow a Republican to steal an open House seat north of Seattle. The entire party establishment waded into the primary on behalf of the more centrist candidate, Suzan DelBene, even though a prominent liberal, Darcy Burner, was already in the race. On Tuesday, DelBene won the right to advance to the November ballot by a wide margin.

Are Washington State Democrats ashamed of liberals like Darcy Burner? Are progressives who backed Burner going to roll over while the Democrat Party establishment forces “the more centrist candidate” down their throats? Backstabbed! Sold out! Betrayed!

Remember the Wisconsin primary, when progressives were supporting Kathleen Falk and the Democrat Party establishment lined up behind corrupt Mayor Tom Barrett? Same deal: The establishment insiders protect their power, and progressives are expected to smile, roll over and take it.

When are liberal idealists going to wake up and realize that Democrats treat them like a bunch of chumps, suckers to be played? You’re no better than the Democrats in Montana who elected a governor who slurs them as racist rednecks. It’s as if liberals keep acting out some sort of psycho-drama as a way of dealing with their self-esteem issues: “I don’t deserve to be respected.”

Category: Democrats, Washington State

Delicious Gay Slurry!

Posted on | August 9, 2012 | 9 Comments

Instapundit crashed Jimmie Bise’s servers when he linked him earlier this week, preventing thousands from reading the shocking truth about Chick-fil-A’s homophobolicious menu:

Dan Cathy’s mills convert hundreds of thousands of gay people a year into a delicious slurry that is then combined with the tears of orphans into the secret and highly-addictive ingredient added to his company’s peach milkshakes.

Now what about those “ugly black babies,” huh?

Category: Jimmie Bise Jr.

‘The Arroyo’ Looks Great

Posted on | August 9, 2012 | 6 Comments

by Smitty

I’ve bee a Declaration Entertainment supporter since inception. Anybody wondering where the cultural renewal starts, follow the link above.

Category: Culture

LIVE AT FIVE: 08.09.12

Posted on | August 9, 2012 | 20 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
Website Scrubbing A Sign For Pawlenty?

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty


As with Palin in 2008, so with Pawlenty in 2012?

Gu Kailai’s Murder Trial Begins
Former PRC party boss’ wife and her aide charged in death of British businessman

Curiosity Rover Ponder Panoramic View, Self-Portrait
Treasure trove of pics coming back from Mars



POLITICS
Panetta Abandons Push For 2013 Base Closings

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta


No budget request for BRAC as Congressional opposition to closings mounts

Census Bureau Wants To Reclassify Race, Ethnicity


Friends Say Petraeus Would Make Good VP, Even As Rumors Denied

Terrorism Expert May Tesify At Major Hasan’s Court-Martial

Hundreds Attend San Jose Vigil For Slain Sikhs



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Futures Mixed After Surging On US Stockpile Drawdown; NYMEX $93.35, Brent $112.14
PRC Reports Slowing Inflation
ROk Central Bank Pessimistic About Growth
Productivity Increases 1.6% In Second Quarter; 2011 Revised Upward
Declining Output Highlights Europe’s Weakness
HP’s Whitman Dismantles Hurd-Era Empire
Foreclosure Filings Drop In July, But New Foreclosures Rose
Freddie Mac Not Keen On Local Governments’ Plans To Use Eminent Domain In Mortgage Takeovers
Google Goes After Siri, Merges Web Search With GMail
Lenovo Rolls Out ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, ThinkPad Tablet 2 For Windows 8
Ouya Kickstarter Ends With Over $8.5 Million In Funding
Samsung Investigating Child Labor Claims
US Judge Backs RIM In Patent Battle With Mformation
Android Dominates Smartphone Market
Metro Whining And Other Windows 8 Madness



SPORTS
American Girls Go Out On Top

Kerri Walsh celebrates getting gold in the finals


Walsh, May-Treanor win third straight gold medal before hanging up the bikinis

Yankees Barely Manage To Avoid Blowing 12-8 Win Over Tigers

Dodgers Hold Off Rockies, Avoid Sweep

Stanton, Reyes Lead Fish To 13-0 Humiliation Of Mets


Johnson’s Debut For O’s A Beauty: 9 K’s In 9-2 Win For Sweep Of M’s

Giants Stomp Cardinals 15-0

…And Then Some Other Stuff Happened At The Olympics

Gio Goes The Distance, Goes Yard In 4-3 Win Over Astros



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Buck Naked & Drunk: Randy Travis Busted Again For DWI

Randy Travis


Also threatened police after being stuffed into police car

Another Fine Mess: Joan Rivers Arrested At Costco

K-Dash Spawns Daughter



WB Eyes Ben Affleck To Direct “Justice League”

Ryan Lochte Fielding Multiple Reality Show Offers

Super-Slim Jennie Garth Talks “Adult Adolescence” Post-Split



FOREIGNERS
Murder Trial Of Former PRC Party Boss’ Wife Ends Quickly
Rebels Pull Back From Parts Of Aleppo
Egypt Aims To Rein In Militants
Libyan Transitional Council Hands Over Power To National Assembly
Philippines Ramps Up Flood Relief Efforts
Underground Muslim Sect In Russia Charged With Child Abuse
Belarus Orders Sweden To Close Minsk Embassy
Taiwan, PRC Sign Investment Protection Pact
US Starts Agent Orange Cleanup In Japan



BLOGS & STUFF
WyBlog: Camden Surrenders – City To Lay Off Entire Police Force
Rush Limbaugh: Obama Ad Claims Romney Is Murderer
Power Line: Has The Obama Campaign Finally Gone Too Far?
Moe Lane: Collusion Between Obama For America, Priorities America On “Their” Lying Soptic Ads
Viallainous Company: Apparently We Womynfolk Have Good Reason To Fear Mitt Romney
Allahpundit: Obama Campaign Now Pretends It Didn’t Know Details Of Soptic’s Story – After Featuring Him In Two Ads
Joshuapundit: Obama Claims “Romney Wants To Take Women Back To The Fifties
James Pethokoukis: The Anti-Stimulus Study The Washington Post Ignores
Jammie Wearing Fools: Massachusetts Mails Out 500K Voter Registration Forms To Welfare Recipients In Effort Led By Former ACORN Honchos
PJ Tatler: A Bill To Repeal Everything Obama Has Signed Into Law?
Lonely Conservative: The Expanding Welfare State – Over 100 Million On Some Form Of Federal Assistance
Fox News: Documents Show White House Told Police Not To Crack Down On Occupods
Veronique De Rugy: “Les Riches” Are Leaving France, And Recession Is Moving In

Category: Live at Five

‘It Was the Cake That Got You Dead’

Posted on | August 8, 2012 | 22 Comments

Back when I was working at the Washington Times, I’d log onto Ace of Spades and say to myself, “That’s what I want to do.”

Because Ace and his merry band of Morons had fun.

Anyway, four years into this thing, I’m still trying to have as much fun as Ace. Blogging doesn’t have to be — and should not be — a grim, remorseless all-or-nothing political battle. There are other things in the world besides politics, like girls.

Cute girls.

Cute girls with really nice boobies. And some dude named “Ryan” who deserves to be beaten to death with a ball peen hammer.

Having that girl was bad enough, Ryan. The cake? Too much.

Die, Ryan. We all hate you. For the cake.

Category: Ace of Spades

HotAir Misses The Larger Point In The Fauquier County Tea Party Protest

Posted on | August 8, 2012 | 22 Comments

by Smitty

Mary Katherine Ham has her facts straight about why the protest occurred on 02 August in support of farmers from Paris, Virginia:

Farmers and their supporters rallied August 2 at a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, where Boneta’s lawyer asked for reconsideration. She did not prevail, but the fight’s not over. Fauquier farmers believe the zoning rules are a violation of the state’s Right to Farm Act.

Her post is fine as far as it goes, and I won’t even veer into realms of butthurt over the personal resources this blog spent covering the event in question, and not even get a winky of the lovey-linky from Hot Air:

There are more blogs out there than anyone could possibly read. I wouldn’t want to distract Mary Katherine from her better effort spent taking Bill O’Reilly to the woodshed:

Bravo, MKH! That Fauquier County zoning board is as daft as Bill O’Reilly. Both think that the Holy State is always correct, and there is no individuality remaining to discuss, to say nothing of an agricultural tradition rooted in liberty and property rights. Yet there is a broader pattern well worth researching at work here. Follow the links above, and watch the videos. Our problems are not a lack of laws, but rather, a lack of character.

Category: Hot Air, Virginia

Steady There, Erick

Posted on | August 8, 2012 | 95 Comments

Mitt Romney’s spokeswoman Andrea Saul said something phenomenally stupid on TV today, inspiring Erick Erickson to pronounce doom on the entire Romney campaign.

Needless to say, this strikes me as a bit premature. Grant that such a tactical blunder is not encouraging. Factor in the Romney campaign’s generally standoffish attitude toward much of the conservative movement, including the fact that lots of conservative bloggers are getting jerked around on their requests for Tampa convention credentials.

Still, we’re three months away from Election Day, and there are yet reasons for optimism. If Romney picks Paul Ryan as his VP, it would go a long way toward restoring confidence.

Let’s wait and see what happens going forward.

Category: Uncategorized
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