LIVE AT FIVE – 05.23.12

There are a lot of smaller bloggers who’ve heroically covered this. And one big blogger. And another big blogger is very interested (and I imagine that blogger will post soon; I just don’t want to commit this blogger to anything).

I will note them later. Right now, I’m just disgusted. Disgusted at my allies, disgusted at myself.

Cowards die a thousand deaths.

I already died 40 cowards’ deaths this past week. That’s enough for me. I will die no more of them.

Am I to understand only the smallest, least-well-financed bloggers are going to be covering this? While large media franchises with lawyers on retainer all decide “we’d rather let tiny one-man blogs take the lead on this?”

Does that make sense?

comes this:
With Lee Stranahan on the case, and videos like that one, Brett will soon be getting the media attention he deserves.

As a veteran, I didn’t mind having my life in harm’s way over all manner of people: sincere pacifists, vegetarians, homosexuals, Hari Krishnas. Liberty does not discriminate. But when I see a piece of trash like Kimberlin (admittedly, some distant relatives come to mind) I feel a deep anger. Such scum simply do not deserve their American citizenship.

Daily Pundit notes:

I suspect that this Kimberlin whackjob is going to regret taking on Stacy McCain.

Update: Here is a fat roundup of those who linked today’s noon post about bailing out of the People’s Republic of Maryland:
Instapundit
American Power

Brett Kimberlin Death Threats Against Robert Stacy McCain?
I don’t know, actually.
Robert Stacy McCain wrote yesterday that the police had been notified about the suspicious behavior of Brett Kimberlin, so my first thought was that Robert and his family were in physical danger. See: “Never Doubt That God Answers Prayer.”

Stacy made it clear in a phone conversation that the answer to Mr. Douglas’s reasonable question is: No. There have been no specific threats against RSM or his family from Mr. Kimberlin.
An Ex-Con’s View:

For once, we need to rise as a unified voice and say: “NO FARTHER!”
It is scandalous that this saga has gotten this far! Man (or woman) up and ACT!

The Camp of the Saints

I spoke briefly with Stacy a short while ago and he assures me that he and his family are fine.
You can never be too careful, however, when it comes to psychopathic/sociopathic people and Brett Kimberlin is just that kind of person.

HillBuzz

Free speech can be dangerous when you’re dealing with an unhinged terrorist.

Richard Fernandez

How does he get away with it? By getting away with it. The only recorded instance in which Bill Ayers expressed admiration for America was when he realized that he could escape punishment more easily than he thought. “Guilty as sin, free as a bird, it’s a great country”.
Blogger Robert Stacy McCain may have accidentally found stumbled onto part of the reason for impunity. McCain is in hiding after becoming the latest target of Kimberlin. McCain had discovered that Kimberlin is associated with Democratic Party operatives and wrote about it.

Conservatory

I don’t want anybody trying to shame people into publicizing this story, at least yet. It’s reasonable, though, to believe that those whom you support and help to boost might take at least a passing interest in helping to get this awful story the publicity that it so richly deserves. Asses like Brett Kimberlin survive and thrive because people find it to inconvenient to help put an end to their behavior, and that is why they persist in it.

Legal Insurrection

The story is not about McCain as such. It’s about how bloggers, who don’t have large organizations and cadres of lawyers standing behind them, can be the subjects of attempted intimidation through a perceived weakpoint, such as an employer.

Nice Deb

Kimberlin is an evil menace to society, and must be stopped before he hurts someone again. Just as chilling is the fact that there are powerful and deep pocketed entities on the left that are willing to fund his nefarious operations. That anyone in their right minds would want to have their names associated with such a miscreant should be shocking, but we’re talking about institutional left, here. There is apparently no limit to the depths of depravity Marxists will sink to in order to destroy their enemies..

The Tatler

Right now, the terrorist turned activist — who gets money from major Democrats including Teresa Heinz Kerry and Barbra Streisand — is apparently threatening McCain’s family. Given Kimberlin’s history of bombings, harassment and thuggery, Kimberlin is unfortunately a real threat and the state of Maryland needs to step in and stop him.

Da Tech Guy

To my friends on the left who are financing this fellow: Do you have any actual honor left? Have you become so secular, so utilitarian that you have reached this point? I have no problem with redemption and forgiveness, Christianity demands it but the person in question is not behaving in an honorable way, and if you are paying a man so he can force a reporter/blogger, his wife and children on the road to avoid him you have to ask yourself: Have you no decency? Have your totalitarian impulses becomes so strong that this is what its come to?

The Daily Gator

McCain has drawn the attention of one Brett Kimberlin, a Leftist terrorist, and scumbag in general. Kimberlin would love to silence bloggers like McCain, who has dared to try and expose Kimberlin and his allies for what they are.

That Mr. G Guy

Kimberlin is hiding something and people are getting closer to figuring it out. He’s running scared. Funny thing is, he’s just bringing more attention to himself. He’s doing the equivalent of screeching up to the bank across the road from the police station with the intention of robbing it. Way to keep a low profile dude.

The Lonely Conservative

Stacy McCain and his family are still in an undisclosed location. I suspect it will be that way for a while. I have no idea if they’re in Timbuktu or Vanuatu, I only know they aren’t at home in Maryland. He did another post today that does a great job summarizing things to date. For telling the truth about a dangerous man he’s now in hiding. God bless America.

Granite Grok

Well, leftists and terrorists (but I repeat myself) can be vindictive when cornered or exposed, and Stacy had worked over the record of a certain ‘gentleman’ with such sharp prose that you could have gotten paper cuts just by reading the articles!

Film Ladd

Stacy fled because he believed that Brett Kimberlin, convicted domestic lefty terrorist bomber, was overly curious re: Stacy’s geographic location.
This curiosity was most likely generated from Stacy’s very loud reporting on Kimberlin’s money ties to George Soros and Barbara Streisand.
I had a conversation with a political consulting friend about the matter.
“Is Stacy serious?” my friend asked. “I look at this post and he’s rattling his tip jar? I thought he was joking.”
Yes, I said; that’s just Stacy. It’s serious.

Update II: A special shout out to our kosher pal The Lid

Think about that for a second.. most bloggers get nasty emails, even threats and rebukes from politicians and public figures. Heck Steve Israel has sent out at least two fundraising letters pointing out things I’ve written as the reason he needs extra funds. But Stacy didn’t get an overt threat those are easier to deal with–he got the implied threat, the kind that can’t be acted on by the authorities.
I spoke to Stacy McCain tonight and you wouldn’t know he was on the run from a terrorist/sociopath (the guy was accused of killing his Grandma). McCain was calm, cool and determined to see this story through because he won’t shy away from the truth.

Kimberlin may not be wise, but you neglect his low animal cunning at your peril. Thus, while Stacy is playing perhaps a hyper-cautious hand (a wife and five children remaining at home limits flexibility, given Kimberlin’s history) there is also the understanding that Kimberlin’s less kinetic strategies resemble the bad guy in the Scooby Doo episode. Kimberlin seeks to bully and intimidate people, and he’d would’ve gotten away with it, too, if not for that meddling Stacy McCain shining a light into inconvenient history and still less convenient, rich Lefty ties.

Let’s see if those ties, and more recent skullduggery don’t become the focus as this story unfolds. I don’t know much about Kimberlin at all. But if he proves to resemble the dirtbag archetype I have in mind, then it may be that Kimberlin hasn’t really breathed an honest breath in a long, long time. Hope I’m wrong on that call.

via FilmLadd

Category: Terrorism, The Kimberlin Files

Bristol Palin To Get Reality Show; Stacy McCain Content With Surreality Show

Posted on | May 22, 2012 | 14 Comments

by Smitty

Via Memeorandum and Politico:

Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp, premiering Tuesday, June 19, at 10pm ET/PT with back-to-back episodes. Two new episodes will subsequently air every Tuesday, showcasing Bristol’s journey growing into womanhood with her young son, Tripp.
With never-before-granted access to Bristol’s real-life experiences, the show follows her everyday life as a single mother living under intense media scrutiny that comes from her lineage as the daughter of former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

I want to see the episode where she’s out to dinner and Stacy McCain, now The World’s Most Interesting Blogger (mosquitos do not bite him, out of respect), saves her from being accosted by Levi Johnston.

McCain takes Johnston to task for being a standing insult to manhood of Obama-esque proportions. Johnston breaks down crying at the description of what McCain would do to him, were one of McCain’s daughters to receive such despicable treatment. Levi eventually requires hospitalization to recover from contusions suffered due to the impact of McCain’s verbal onslaught, and actually sends a thank-you note to Todd Palin for showing more mercy.

Hmmm. I seem to bear some animus toward Johnston.

Meanwhile, I did have a quick word with Stacy, sounded chipper. I haven’t the foggiest idea where he is. Start prepping your material for the 25th, Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day.

Category: Bristol Palin, Nice Deb

Brett Kimberlin Saga Takes a Bizarre Turn, Forcing Me to Leave Maryland

Posted on | May 22, 2012 | 201 Comments

When terrorist Brett Kimberlin was convicted of multiple felonies in 1981,
he could have been sentenced to 230 years in federal prison.

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin on Monday continued his effort to silence those who write about his criminal past by contacting my wife’s employer, claiming that I was “harassing” him. The resulting security concern required immediate relocation if I was to be able to continue writing about the case of Kimberlin, a violent felon, perjurer and admitted tax cheat who is employed as the director of a 501(c)3 non-profit that has collected $1.8 million in contributions since 2005.

Kimberlin was convicted of multiple federal felonies in 1981 and sentenced to 50 years in prison after he terrorized a small Indiana town in a brutal crime weeklong bombing spree. Law enforcement officials told the Indianapolis Star they believed the bombings were committed in an attempt to distract authorities investigating the 1978 murder of a 65-year-old grandmother, a crime in which Kimberlin was a suspect.

In recent months, Kimberlin has used a strategy of legal intimidation and workplace harassment in an apparent attempt to silence his critics, including blogger Seth Allen, Virginia attorney Aaron Walker and Los Angeles deputy district attorney Patrick Frey.

Walker says he and his wife were fired from their jobs because of Kimberlin’s harassment. Walker did legal work for Allen, who was sued after writing about Kimberlin’s criminal career. On Thursday, Walker published a 28,000-word account of how he says Kimberlin tried to “frame” him on a bogus assault charge.

Kimberlin is a known associate of Neal Rauhauser, a Democrat campaign consultant who has described himself as a computer “hacker.” Kimberlin, director of the tax-exempt Justice Through Music Project, is also involved in another tax-exempt group, Velvet Revolution, which has gained national attention by demanding criminal prosecution of high-profile figures including Republican strategist Karl Rove, U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue, and the late Internet news entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart. Kimberlin’s name also surfaced last year in connection with the so-called “Anonymous” international hacker conspiracy. Kimberlin has pursued numerous strategies to harass journalists and bloggers who have attempted to call attention to his criminal past and his notorious dishonesty — a “top-flight con man,” as Publisher’s Weekly called him in a review of award-winning journalist Mark Singer’s 1996 book, Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin.

Convicted of drug smuggling and forging documents as well as numerous violent felonies, Kimberlin claims to have ceased his lifelong criminal career after being released from federal prison in 2000. Yet his habitual dishonesty – Kimberlin was first convicted of perjury at age 18 – appears unchanged. As recently as 2007, Time magazine reported that Kimberlin was gaining notoriety on progressive blog sites by “repeatedly asserting as fact things that are not true.” According to Walker, Kimberlin falsely accused him of assault after a courthouse encounter in which Kimberlin attempted to photograph Walker in violation of court policy. Walker says Maryland officials have refused to investigate his complaints of criminal actions by Kimberlin, and has asked his blog readers to contact those officials to demand action:

Attorney for Montgomery County
50 Maryland Avenue, 5th Floor
Rockville, Maryland 20850 [email protected]. 240-777-7300

* * * * * * *

Until I read Walker’s story Thursday morning, I had never heard of Brett Kimberlin. The story was so obviously newsworthy that I spent the next four days writing about it, including these items:

Particularly intriguing to me was the fact that Kimberlin is the director of a 501(c)3 organization which has received as much as $558,543 a year (in 2008) in contributions, including grants from major philanthropic foundations. Several people who have examined IRS filings by Kimberlin’s Justice Through Music Project and the 501(c)4 non-profit Velvet Revolution have told me they have concerns about the “thinly documented” filings (to quote one person experienced in non-profit work who wished to remain anonymous), that appear “very sketchy” (to quote another person who has examined the IRS Form 990’s for the two tax-exempt groups).

These concerns about Kimberlin’s “non-profit” activities raise intriguing questions, Walker observed Monday, considering what Singer wrote in his 1996 book about Kimberlin:

[Kimberlin] had not not yet turned nineteen when he first sought professional tax advice. “When I first started dealing dope, I went to see a lawyer in New York, who told me how to beat the tax people,” he said. “I had to pay this guy $2,500 or $3,000 for a couple of hours of consultation. Plus I had to fly out there. But it was worth it.” Other than driving an expensive car and owning a small airplane, he avoided ostentation and, along the way, the scrutiny of the tax authorities. Each year, he figured out how much he’d spent, extrapolated the income that would be required to support such a life, added ten percent, and filed a short-form tax return, taking the standard deduction. The tax code did not specifically require him to list his occupation, so he left that space blank. The only money he ever put in the bank, he said, was the money he used to pay taxes. He wrote only two checks a year — one to the Internal Revenue Service, and the other to the Indiana Department of Revenue.

Such boastfulness about his successful federal tax evasion make Kimberlin a very dubious person to be entrusted with the directorship of a tax-exempt non-profit organization that would seem to be his only source of legal income. His recent harassment of those who have written about his criminal career appears to have created renewed interest in Kimberlin’s activities. Major news organizations are rumored to be working on stories about the latest bizarre developments in the strange saga of the violent criminal known as the “Speedway Bomber,” who once falsely claimed to have sold drugs to a college-aged Dan Quayle.

My own encounter with Kimberlin’s attempted intimidation appears typical of his modus operandi, which students of psychology recognize as the habitual behavior of a deviant sociopath: Attempting to distract from his own malevolent actions by accusing his targeted enemies of doing to him what he is doing to them – and to many others. Several sources to whom I have spoken in recent days, who for obvious reasons wish to remain anonymous, have expressed suspicion that Kimberlin is doing this not only to hide his criminal past, but also in a misguided attempt to conceal his current malicious (and perhaps felonious) activities.

These are not accusations I make; rather, these are crucial elements of a newsworthy story that I am attempting to report. Kimberlin seems to be determined to prevent me – or anyone else – from reporting this story. In order to continue reporting it, without jeopardizing the safety of my family and other innocent people, I have been compelled to leave Maryland. Many people have responded to my appeal for prayer and financial assistance in this difficult crisis, but it is important to emphasize that this story is not about me.

This story is about Brett Kimberlin, a criminal of infamous reputation whose recent actions indicate that he fears widespread scrutiny. His attempts to suppress the truth have only generated more of the scrutiny Kimberlin had hoped to prevent, so that Monday for the first time his story merited a thread on the political news aggregation site Memeorandum.

— 30 —

The National Bloggers Club, Inc, a non-profit organization that organizes the annual Blog Bash event celebrating free-market bloggers, is making available a press contact for those interested in learning more about this story:

[email protected]

Update (Smitty): welcome, Instapundit readers!

Category: Crime, Terrorism, The Kimberlin Files

Barack Obama’s Political Career Reduced To A Brace Of Guns`n`Roses Videos

Posted on | May 22, 2012 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

2008: “It’s so easy, easy, when everybody’s trying to please me. . .”

2012: “Funny how everything was roses when we held onto the guns. . .”

Category: Barack Obama, Music

Investing Yourself

Posted on | May 22, 2012 | 48 Comments

by Smitty

An item in the blogs yesterday talked about snooty eating.

After viewing a few organic foods, comfort foods, or control foods, participants who were exposed to organic foods volunteered significantly less time to help a needy stranger, and they judged moral transgressions significantly harsher than those who viewed nonorganic foods. These results suggest that exposure to organic foods may lead people to affirm their moral identities, which attenuates their desire to be altruistic.

Wasn’t A Diabolical, Oldworld, Legendary Fascist also vegetarian? Not that there is any meat on the connecting bone between our Lefty friends and that monster, mind you.

The more interesting point I’ve noted in life is that the more of yourself you invest in, well, anything, the more tedious you can become. I went to a two-week school, years ago, on highland bagpipe. Jimmy McIntosh was instructing on the topic of Pìobaireachd (note how I opted for the most anal-retentive spelling, replete with snooty ‘i’). The musical form is strictly solo. Spitball thrower that I am, I inquired if two world-class pipers such as himself could do a duet. His head ‘sploded. There are less than 200 or so canonical examples of Ceòl Mór. Sure, it’s still written today, but it’s far cooler to decry the loss of the Noble Savage air breathed by the MacCrimmons, know ye not?

Done correctly, it constitutes performance art. You really have to have the instrument and the piper in top shape to rattle off one correctly. Done sloppily (e.g. by me) it’s a dog’s breakfast. Here is Dave Mason working out on The Massacre of Glecoe
You really have to commit to the full tune to understand how, acoustically, it’s like a blurry image that is slowly brought into focus as the variations get gnarlier. By the time it climaxes, the piper is truly getting the most out that instrument.

The thing is that these pieces take years to get any good at playing. Or at least it would me.

But the point of this post is that one of life’s challenges is to pick enjoyable things like the pipe, do them well, but not become insufferable about them. Writing software is another example I could have chosen, but which uses fewer Unicode vowels than Gaelic, proving software’s inferiority. 🙂

Category: Culture, Music

LIVE AT FIVE – 05.22.12

Posted on | May 22, 2012 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

TOP NEWS
Summit Doubleheader Short On Surprises

NATO agrees on Afghanistan roadmap

Obama’s advisers whine about time spent away from campaign trail

Sri Lanka’s Former Army Chief Pardoned
Ex-general Sarath Fonseka released from jail following years of protests

Putin Names Former Ministers As Aides
Move expected to weaken PM Medvedev’s new government, centralize power in Kremlin

POLITICS
WaPo/ABC Poll: Obama, Romney In Dead Heat

Mitt Romney: coming on hard

Poll respondents agree on Surber Rule.

Opening Statements Set In Fort Hood Bomb Plot Trial

Old Bush Administration Feud Resurfaces In Arizona Senate Race

Catholic Dioceses, Colleges File Suit Over Contraception Mandate

Chairman Of NRC Resigns Under Fire

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Music Piracy Case

GOP Senators Slam 9th Circuit Maui Conference Plans

Chicago PD Gets High Marks For Handling NATO Protesters

THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Oil Prices Up On Expectations PRC, US Economies Will Improve; NYMEX $92.57, Brent $108.81
Germany, France Want Greece To Stay In Eurozone
Where Are Facebook’s Friends? Stock Drops After IPO
ROK Looking For Exemption From Iranian Oil Sanctions
Accor Sells Motel 6 To Blackstone For $1.9 Billion
Asian Stocks Up For Second Day As Germany, PRC Vow To Spur Growth
Spain: No Need For European Funds To Help Banks
CFTC Uses JP Morgan Chase Losses As Pretext For More Regulation
Iraq Says Kurdish Oil Deals Need Baghdad Approval
Chrome Overtakes IE (Again)
Cable Companies To Expand Free Wi-fi
Microsoft Quietly Launches So.cl Social Network
Jews Say No To Online Porn, Mormons Applaud
Virgin Mobile Adds $40 Unlimited Talk & Text Plan

SPORTS
Thunder Top Lakers 106-90, Head For Finals

Sad Kobe is sad

Kobe’s 42 not enough to overcome Oklahoma City
Multiple people shot after Thunder game, two suspects being held
Pau Gasol Already Designated Scapegoat In Lakers’ Defeat

Rangers Stumble Out Of Gate In Game 4, Can’t Recover

Bass Erupts For Celtics In 101-85 Rout Of Sixers

Peyton Manning Looks Good In First Workout With Broncos

King Felix Outduels Darvish As M’s Beat Rangers 6-1

Paulino, Royals Shut Out Yankees

Magic Make Coach, GM Disappear

Nats Hold On For 2-1 Win After Rodriguez Immolates In 9th

FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Katy Perry Splits From Robert Ackroyd, Sings About Divorce

Katy & Bobby at Coachella

Yep, she’s back on the market again; romance with Florence & The Machine guitarist not serious

Pink, Carey Hart Bash Chris Brown’s Billboard Awards Performance

Justin Bieber Takes High School Student To BMA

A&E Cancels “Dog The Bounty Hunter”

Three Networks “Very Interested” In Arsenio Hall’s Talk-Show Comeback

Masseurs’ Original Lawyer In Travolta Groping Case Sues Allred

Lindsay Lohan’s Taylor Biopic: Still No Dick In “Liz & Dick”

“Chernobyl Diaries” Horror Flick Ripped By Victim Support Group

“Smash” Shakes Up Cast, Adding Three Regulars

FOREIGNERS
Yemen: Al Qaeda Behind Blast That Killed 100 Soldiers
UN Nuke Monitor Strikes Deal With Iran?
Lebanon Sunnis Call On Hezbollah-Aligned PM To Resign
Celebrating The Queen’s Jubilee With Tea
Malaysian Opposition’s Anwar Charged Over Protest
Egyptians In Street Say Israel Treaty Will Be Upheld
Newly Elected Serb President Reaffirms EU Integration
US Warns Norks About Another Nuke Test
Exposed South African Presidential Portrait Stirs Controversy (NSFW)

BLOGS & STUFF
WyBlog: Dharun Ravi Gets 30 Days And 300 Hours Of Homosexual Indoctrination
American Power: Big Bain Backfire
NRO Corner: RNC Starts “I Stand With Cory” Petition
NewsBusters: Furious Chris Matthews Explodes – Cory Booker “Betrayed” And “Sabotaged” Obama
Power Line: NYT – Businessmen Are Psycho! No, Wait…
Sister Toldjah: Country Club Liberals Say “Hell No” To Low-Income Housing In Their County
Jammie Wearing Fools: Deranged NC Teacher Suspended With Pay After Telling Students Not To Criticize Dear Leader
Gateway Pundit: NBPP Leader Says “Be Thankful We’re Not Hanging Crackers By Nooses…Yet”
Lonely Conservative: WaPo Finally Notices All The Lobbyists Visiting The White House
Daily Pundit: Throw The Book At Them
JustOneMinute: Extending The Annals Of Dumb

Category: Live at Five

The Kimberlin Files–Fresh Mint Juleps Requested Anonymously

Posted on | May 21, 2012 | 12 Comments

by Smitty

A certain person requested I flex my SQL-fu and produce a special FMJRA for him in his anonymous location where he may or may not be enjoying refreshment with Dick Cheney, IYKWIMAITYD. That’s OK. I’m going to get my pound of flesh in the form of some editing on a writing project I have in mind.

Thank you to all the readers and bloggers who recognize the value of this blog. Apologies in advance to those who did link us, but are getting rooked by the pingback/trackback mechanism. I blame Zuckerberg. Read more

Category: Blogging

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The Other McCain

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

LIVE AT FIVE – 05.23.12

Brett Kimberlin Has A Friend In Lee Stranahan, For ‘Worst Nightmare’ Values Of ‘Friend’

Bristol Palin To Get Reality Show; Stacy McCain Content With Surreality Show

Brett Kimberlin Saga Takes a Bizarre Turn, Forcing Me to Leave Maryland

Barack Obama’s Political Career Reduced To A Brace Of Guns`n`Roses Videos

Investing Yourself

LIVE AT FIVE – 05.22.12

The Kimberlin Files–Fresh Mint Juleps Requested Anonymously

THE FULL METAL JACKET REACH-AROUND AWARD

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!

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