Rage, rage, against the dying of the light!
A number of conservative bloggers allege they have been targeted through the use of harassment tactics such as SWAT-ting (fooling 911 operators into sending emergency teams to their homes), in retaliation for posts they have written, and now Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., has stepped into the matter. He has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to investigate the SWAT-ting cases to see if federal laws have been violated.
“I am writing with concern regarding recent reports that several members of the community of online political commentators have been targeted with harassing and frightening actions. Any potentially criminal action that incites fear, seeks to silence a dissenting opinion, and collaterally wastes the resources of law enforcement should be given close scrutiny at all levels,” Chambliss wrote in the letter.
“Regardless of any potential political differences that may exist, threats and intimidation have no place in our national political discourse. Those who choose to enter into that political discourse should not have to worry about potential threats to their or their family’s safety,” Chambliss continued. “While I am certain that local law enforcement is reviewing each of these instances, I am asking you to please look into each of these cases as well to determine if any federal laws may have been violated. Future targets of SWAT-ting, whether engaged in political speech or not, may not be so fortunate as to escape physical harm.”
[…]
[…] several conservative bloggers have been vocal about who they believe is responsible for the SWAT-tings and other forms of harassment — Brett Kimberlin, a man who was convicted of a series of bombings in Speedway, Indiana in the 1980s and made headlines in 1988 when he claimed to have once sold marijuana to then-vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle.
The group of conservative bloggers organized “Everybody Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day” on May 25, during which they urged the blogging community to write about the actions of Kimberlin.
Kimberlin, who is now the director of a non-profit organization called Justice Through Music, told ABC News that he did not commit or ask anyone to conduct the SWAT-ting hoaxes that were perpetrated against Erickson and Frey.
“Of course not, it’s ridiculous. It’s totally irresponsible for them to even say this,” Kimberlin told ABC News. “There is no truth to anything about the SWAT-ting.”
[…]
“I don’t blog, I don’t comment, I don’t tweet on any blogs at all. This is a right-wing attack on me and my organizations and it’s a smear job. It’s a swift boat action against us,” Kimberlin said. “What they’re doing is an obstruction of justice and it’s defamatory. We’re cooperating with the authorities in this matter. They have engaged in a massive smear campaign against us that has resulted in death threats to me and my family and to others associated with us.”
Poor, poor victim. So put upon. But dude, really? A massive smear campaign developed to torture an offline, apolitical philanthropist? That’s what you’re going with? I mean, hasn’t the very idea of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy already become something of a punchline?
Someone should probably tell Kimberlin. Because now that I think about it, there’s a good chance he doesn’t know, his having been in jail all those years. For bombing shit. And for working to have people involved in his prosecution, you know, snuffed.
I nominate Barbara Streisand. Or Teresa Heinz Kerry. Or maybe even Eric Holder his own self.
(thanks to geoffb)
Thank you, Senator Chambliss. In other news, Eugene Volokh has joined the cause, pro bono.
Tick tock, Brett.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. And thanks to Saxby, ABC is now reporting.
It is very good news about Volokh.
You know, maybe ramping things up to “11” isn’t the best way of keeping anonymity.
It is a bit hard to run internet intensive organizations, that live on their own websites, out of your mom’s basement without “blogging.” But then the left always has their own private dictionary for their language. It resembles English until it is parsed.
That’s good to know, Pablo. Eugene has redeemed himself in my eyes.
Oh, so he’s admitting that all the bad things people are saying about him are really true.
mostly this shines a bright light on how miserably local law enforcement has failed failed failed
particularly the lackadaisical and inept LA County Sheriff’s Department
Did ABC News think to ask him why?
Holder, along with his Democrat friends on the House Judiciary Oversight committee, is very busy today attempting to obfuscate and spin his dereliction of duty on a number of matters into a shining example of selfless apolitical government service. He won’t soon be attending to questions of SWATting in any sense.
What? And risk the narrative?
The Popehat is looking for pro-bono lawyers in Florida. And in Middle Tennessee. To thwart more of this lunatic’s prison-lawyer filings.
Popehat’s all over this, apparently. And I’d never heard of him until a week or so ago!
Issa seems to have laid the predicate for a contempt of Congress citation of Holder. I’m not privy to the machinery, but would guess we’ll see a citation of Holder emerge from committee within a week, to move to the House floor within two.
The piece appears to be going out to ABC News radio sites too like KGO.
Wow, Holder just attempted to assert Fast and Furious demands greater gun control. What a pig.
Who does Angela Corey think she is? A left-wing activist?
I guess we’re going to find out how lazy these guys were when they hacked and attacked. If they were smug about their own technical superiority, they may have made a few mistakes and left a few bread crumbs.
And of course, there’s the hurdle of relying on investigators who may themselves be lazy.
I think Eric Holder needs a good ole-fashioned ass whoopin’.
Who’s with me?
[…] story, because they are more interested in playing politics than reporting the actual news.Jeff Goldstein mocks Brett Kimberlin’s self-proclaimed victimhood.Obviously, having spoken to Saenz about my own role in the story, I owe The American Spectator a […]
And now the ACLJ is on board. Sweet.
To quote a desk sergeant of my acquaintance:
“Criminals lie. All of them. All the time.”
Man has Linda Sanchez ever ballooned into a whale. Yipes.
Holder wants to claim he couldn’t have known, nor could his subordinates have known the offensive gunwalking “tactical” details of Fast and Furious from the information in the wiretap authorizing subpoenas, but the Bush Administration Justice Department should have.
Up against the wall, motherfucker.
We need the dentist from “The Marathon Man” to take a crack at Holder. ZZZZzzzzzzzttt (sound of dental drill) “Is it safe?” ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzttttTTT!!!!!
[…] Jeff Goldstein mocks Brett Kimberlin’s self-proclaimed victimhood. […]
Up against the wall, motherfucker.
It’s kind of terrible, horrible, not-so-good day over at Justice, yes?
We’ve got Kimberlin and his associates rattled. Let’s keep up the pressure and keep them unbalanced. Chances are they’ll make a fatal mistake.
PS: Thanks for the link, Jeff.
[…] Review, protein wisdom, The Camp Of The Saints, Patterico’s Pontifications, Datechguy’s […]
UP against the wall, motherfucker.
Saxby takes SWATting to the national evening news. h/t TRS.
Up AGAINST the wall, motherfucker.
Scooter Libby on charges of leaking the identity of Valerie Plame which he had nothing to do with? : Special Prosecutor hounds him to conviction.
Leakers in the Obama White House revealing national security secrets to plump Obama’s image, revelations Democrats in Congress say they’ve never seen the like of in their lifetimes? Crickets.
“…fooling 911 operators into sending emergency teams to their homes…”
Christ how sanitized can they make it sound?
Making false reports of violent incidents resulting in an unwarranted armed police response is maybe slightly closer to the truth.
Leakers in the Obama White House revealing national security secrets to plump Obama’s image…
This all sounds like treason to me, y’all.
Up against THE WALL, motherfucker. h/t TRS, again.
So a border patrol agent, Brian Terry, loses his life to murder by means of a gun provided by an agency of the US Government to Mexican drug cartel members and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) does not care a whit, does not want to know how an agency of the US Government came to the decision to put thousands of guns into the hands of criminals.
And the Attorney General of the United States will gleefully grant Cummings his wish, i.e. that he will never know. For this favor, Cummings and his fellow Democrats in Congress will in turn do all they can — even if they should have to proclaim the sky green when Republicans say the sky is blue — to protect the Attorney General who would so deceive the people and their representatives.
Could the Democrats be more loathsome?
[…] the time Jeff Goldstein commented: Poor, poor victim. So put upon. But dude, really? A massive smear campaign developed to torture an […]