…for a supposedly peaceable, “reality-based” community, they sure do have a thing for online puppet shows and overt thuggery, don’t they?
Of course, in their defense, I suppose one can begin to get a bit cocky when one has had the intelligence bureaucracy and the press on one’s side for so very long. Or, you know—so they think.
So. Are we finally reaching that partisan boiling point? Because to me, it sounds a lot like somebody’s threatening to assassinate the Archduke Ferdinand. Metaphorically (?) speaking…
Gee. I sure do hope Wilson arrives here soon in my comments to condemn all of this.
****
(For those of you who haven’t been following this story, some background here and here)
It’s progressed to death threats.
This is turning into an epic of Frischian proportions.
And Don’t forget Larisa of RawStory’s role in all this. She is actively helping the two leftards (Leoplod and Johson).
Violence, threats of violence, and violation of privacy are horrible things that should never be done.
Unless, of course, you disagree with someone politically. Then, all bets are off.
Strike that; I’ve just argued for the use of torture of terrorists. If you disagree with someone who is more conservative than you, then all bets are off.
Strike that; some people like Andrew Sullivan also call themselves conservative, but he doesn’t support the war. If you disagree with someone who is more conservative than you and supports the “war” on “terror”, then all bets are off.
New Logic. Taste the flavor.
The blogosphere looks like a grade school playground lately. It doesn’t reflect well on the blogging community.
It’s not just the blogosphere, Brian. It’s everywhere. The blogosphere is just a public forum where we watch it unfurl.
I just keep writing every mainstream outlet and reporter I’ve ever heard of and trying to get them to check into it.
Former CIA employee with ties to Joe Wilson and Jason Leopold makes threats against an American civilian covering a story about digital brownshirts?
Surely there’s a Pulitzer in there… uh, yeah.
I don’t believe in Violence. Unless it’s against one of those cocksucking Rethuglians.
Reality Based community? No thanks, I just ate lunch.
Sorry, Brian, Larry Johnson has a blog but he represents Veteran Intelligence Professional for Sanity, not the blogosphere.
That’s right, Larry Johnson, the alleged author of threats and intimidation to a blogger, is representative of ex-CIA and VIPS, not the blogosphere.
Let me repeat: Larry Johnson is a former employee of the CIA and uses this appeal to his own authority to criticize the Bush administration from his own blog (perfectly acceptable) and allegedly author threats and intimidation to American civilians (completely unacceptable).
See the scandal now?
No? Let me repeat: ex-CIA allegedly intimidates Amcivs.
Yes, twenty minutes after Seixon gave Larisa his phone number, somone who sounds like Leopold (or Dean apparently) called Leopold and told him he was a dead man. Larisa form Raw story is a good friend of Leoplod (sic). Seixon doesn’t believe that Larisa could have done that but we all saw the Sadly No guys cozy up and defend Frisch.
Brian —
Johnny and w3 are right. We’re talking about a couple of reporters and a former CIA guy who has been an anti-war go-to CIA “source” for the press, particularly throughout the Plame “scandal.”
This has nothing to do with blogging per se. This has to do with intimidation of the basest kind.
I think it is important to cover this, because evidently some in the “unified messaging” community are simply unable to keep their true colors hidden.
And people who don’t follow politics closely need to see beyond the easy “progressive” bromides about supporting “tolerance” and being against “hate.”
These people are filled with hate and will tolerate nothing that doesn’t hew to their idea of what the world should look like. And their impatience is beginning to show.
Best to shine a light on it now then wait until we’re living in another Carter-esque American nightmare.
Because there just aren’t that many Reagans around to pull us back, I’m afraid.
So. This is a glimpse into the future of citizen journalism? Did not! Did too! Did not! Did too!
Sigh.
First of all, I have seen pix of Jason Leopold, I wouldn’t feel threatend by this weasel, unless you have a fear of being slapped to death by a flurry of limp wrists. Secondly, do these these leftards have a life? And why is their existence predicated on how many times they appear on KOS?
Get a F’n life for God’s sakes. And off topic a bit, I like PIE….
Oh, I almost forgot, GO ISRAEL!!!!!
Hey, you dingers! Larry Johnson is a REPUBLICAN! Like GiGi is a right-leaning Lbertarian!
These guys are yours.
/duh
I guess it’s not good enough to “speak truth to the power.” Appearently, you have to threaten the power to get any Kossian street cred. Of course, they seem to have failed to ask themselves the one question that would seem obvious:
If one was part of the large scale Rovian schemes (that rigged elections and planned 9-11 and gave Howard Dean tourettes and personally capped Sheehans offspring and wants to overthrow Hugo Chavez, ect, ect) is it truly a good idea to antagonize it’s members with half assed threats?
It would seem that in the interests of self perservation you’d want to avoid that.
But then, hey, that’s just me being pragmatic. By all means, let the progressives be the digital lemmings that stand in the way of the Bushitler Halliburton Rove death machine. Me, I’m just gonna pop some popcorn and watch the sparks fly.
TW: because cause they can see clearly via the sockspuppet, so that justifies it
Seixon and AnonymousArmy are in their crosshairs for pissing matches on blogs with both Leopold and Johnson.
This thing is as bloggy as the day is long. That said, I don’t think it reflects on the medium. Crazy is crazy, no matter how it gets there. The blogosphere has it’s share like anything else.
The Left, on the other hand…
I prefer the lefts’ giant papier mache protest puppets to this online variety.
Why would the MSM care? One of their own (OK, perhaps a peripheral member) went off on Imus. Jonathan Chait (LA Times) hates GWB. The NY Times actively exposes efforts to win the GWOT. It goes on and on and…
In a rare moment where I’ll speak up to defend Kos, I’d be careful to tar him or DailyKos with this scandal (at least, yet). Since AnonymousArmy has also been targeted by some of these strongarm tactics, I think it’s not unreasonable to say the Leopold/Johnson/etc group are “off the reservation”.
Granted I’m still trying to sort out who did what to whom for how many cookies in this…
Watch out Godstein!
All those closeted ‘Beer Putsch’ liberals who have
forsaken their ideology for the sake of winning
are gonna getcha’.
We know ProteinWife’s real name is ‘HighPockets’ and
is a double agent for the Allies. She has taken down three members of the French Resistance so far
without suffering a scratch.
We recognize the merits of the cross-dressing J. Edgar Hoover and have duplicated his little black book. We have the dirt on you and yours.
We, of the left leaning CIA set up Cheney using
Joe’s wife as bait. Hell, the Wilsons were in on it.
Cheney was just doin’ what he thought was right.
And if a few contacts were liquidated, well, it was worth it. Because we will do anything to stop
BushCo from fightin’ terrorism. Shit, those freaking loons-who-hate-pantaloons have kept us in gravy for the past 35 years. We can’t allow those
righteous fighters for truth and justice to kill
our cash cow. So we joined forces with the enemies of Democracy and Freedom to defeat the Crusaders for Justice and the American Way. If that’s not Patriotism, I don’t know what is.
This’ll all clear itself up in oh, I’d say, about 24 business hours.
Eh, I think I’ll sit this one out. I weighed in on Deb Frisch’s “Decapped Dupes” post at my place, and what it got me was a stream of visitors searching to buy Count Cockula t-shirts.
Turing = and, as in And that kind of clientele I can do without, thx.
It’s about damn time Semi confessed.
Evidently the latter.
Little early in the day be roaring drunk, isn’t it?
Jeff (and Johnny/W3),
I think these guys are deplorable specimens. I’ve engaged Johnson on his blog several times over his comments on another topic, and have experienced first-hand his rabid style. So, I can understand where you’re coming from.
But really, are these guys all that known and/or represented outside of the blogosphere? Larry’s been on CNN, sure, but he’s a minor go-to player. From my perspective, I see a lot of very smart writers (you, Patrick, Seixon, Rick Moran, MacRanger, Ace, etc.) spending gobs of time covering at length the distasteful behavior from a couple nitwits who are no more than hifalutin trolls.
Are these schmucks really all that dangerous?
This subject sure didn’t need that injection of unsurpassed, impenetrable stupidity at 11:37. But that’s that poster’s “A-game,” as demonstrated repeatedly at Just One Minute.
Us wingnuts’ luck still holds.
Cordially…
TW: Seven! What’d I say about luck?
True, although Larry Johnson is a diarist there, and was a Plame panel member at Yearly Kos.
Pay no attention to Cleo…prototype for a blonde joke.
Jumpin’ Jeebus, Semanticleo jumped the shark with a triple-axle double-backflip back-scratcher face plant. And the crowd goes wild…
I’m blonde. And I’m calling you racist.
Wow, man.
Say, how do I get an ex-CIA dickweed to threaten ME in public? I could use some of that sweet, sweet scratchola, yannow?
SB: range
home on the
…for a supposedly peaceable, “reality-based†community
I’ve always taken what they say as sarcasm.
They are “tolerant” too. Just watch them force gay marriage on you…
Are these schmucks really all that dangerous?
Well, they sure as hell try to sound dangerous.
To be a little bit serious, the individual cases aren’t all that significant, but the pattern definitely is. On the Progressive team (can’t really call it Liberal, or even Left anymore) we’re seeing a casual acceptance of the “by any means necessary” ethic. They’re inately morally superior to Rethuglicans, therefore they are justified in using any tactic to dismantle the Wingnut Majority. It’s really a scary phenomenon, and the degree to which it is tolerated by the Democratic establishment (which believes it needs the “Netroots” to win) is even more frightening.
Let’s face it, it’s the true believers who do the gruntwork in getting people elected. Going door-to-door or standing on streetcorners handing out flyers is crappy work that provides little or no material rewards. Eventually the grunts move up in the hierarchies, so by the time they’re in their 50s they actually weild some power. And if the young Democrat grunts buy into the worst of the Kossacks’ behaviors, politics 20 years from now will make today’s antics look dignified and courteous.
It’s always after five somewhere.
Maybee, I’m blonde too!
Poling, you’re on to something. As I’m looking at some interesting material about Progressive funding via the Democracy Alliance, I run into this (emphasis, mine):
Considering that the Progressives left is playing from George Lakoff’s handbook, “Don’t Think of an Elephant”–in addition to the fact that they miscontrue every fact they read–it makes me wonder if there’s a limit to what these clowns will do in their rush to ‘re-frame’ the message so they can conquer the right.
Also, this from Kos is suggestive (emphasis, mine):
So, it’s war?
And this (emphasis, mine):
Anything, I’d imagine.
Ed at Captain’s Quarters has a wonderful post on DA:
The short of it is, I wonder if progressive money has anything to do with this behavior. There are millions of incentives for some of these asses to act this way. Of course, maybe Leopold is just flipping out cause he can’t stand falling on his face in public once again.
Perhaps there is something to fear.
AnonymousArmy asks the pertinent question over at Seixon: Who pays the bills for truthout?
Yeah, who’s paying the bills?
I keep forgetting—does that include lunches and smoke breaks? If so, it could be longer—29, 30 business hours, maybe.
Brian,
If a former CIA employee sends you emails saying you better stop what you’re doing or he’ll call in his contacts at Interpol (or whatever intel agency runs the show where you are), are you going to care how “well-known” he is?
Your objection seems to be that this is all a wasted effort because the intimidators aren’t that famous or important. I say it is important because at least one of them is a former government agent and, according to his threat, “does work” for Interpol and can cash in on some favors or something, Capone-style.
If you read all the details at seixon you find that Larry sent an email to a commenter thinking this person was someone at DoD. In the email he says, “Some good questions, eh “Topsecretk9”? When the story breaks about DOD IO Ops against Amcits should make life even more interesting.”
I say, give Larry what he wants… a little publicity regarding rogue former government employees using intel connections against Americans.
This IS rather Bizarre Behaviour, yet to Threaten
a
“Wetnosed 24 year old Coward” living in Norway, is kind of a safe distance to threaten someone who has little resources to effect consequences. Sounds like Larry Johnson’s highest security clearance was to sort in the mailroom.
When we were Kids my now brother-in-law taught us how to take on school yard bullies who searched out weak vicitims, — his methods worked every time, and they weren’t pretty.
Now Jason Leopold and Larry Johnson will really be impressive when they begin to threaten people like me and my close friends & associates,—Just in my golf foursome a Federal Judge and a retired Head of the Regional U.S. ATF offices (yes they are the ones who busted the shipment to Oakland of the AK-47’s in a shipping container from a Chinese Military Shell corporation).
Mr. Johnson’s via Jason Leopold’s big offer:
Now when they get to Threatening anyone with REAL Resources, that will be impressive, if they can get away with it.
And the consequences Swift and Painful. Extremely.
Who is paying them?
Pay-pal fundraisers for now, it would seem. Bev Harris/AndyStephenson/John Dean/Wilson Legal Fund style fundraisers, where the true believers are fleeced.
If they do not believe anymore, then the money dries up. Seixon and Anonymousarmy seem like a threat to them because they are getting close to shaking the confidence of the flock.
Just my guess.
Of couse, they could be simply all hopped up on troll juice.
I
I saw somebody licking the front bumper of my truck the other night.
@#$!!
That was supposed to be an italics tag, not a blockquote tag.
I took a look at Larry C. Johnson’s resume. There are some interesting questions.
http://northshorejournal.org/index.php/2006/07/larry-c-johnson-expert
My current conclusion is that Johnson wants you, yes, you to think he’s far more important than he really is. He’s been Sheehanized!
Any one catch the Wilson, William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, corruption connection?
MW: truth Joe Wilson wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him where he keeps his cranial attachment.
Noah, you are obviously a self-hating blonde.
This is getting nuttier and nuttier. Nutroots, indeed.
Someone has posted Leopold’s personal info in Seixon’s comments.
WTF is going on? Are they all trying to prove Malkin’s book is right at the same time??
oh come on. Jason or one of his cronies are doing that. Posting his information and setting himself up to play victim.
Hey, if I heard Leopold’s voice one time on the radio and besides that someone told me that Leopold sounds like Dean but it wasn’t Dean therefore it HAD to be Leopold is proof enough for you guys – knock yourselves out.
Seriously, what a joke.
hi there.
ok, I tried to read all this stuff, and frankly my head is spinning.
honestly, if someone had called me with death threats, I would have called the police and gotten a subpoena before I would have talked about it all over my blog.
in any case, the whole thing is ridiculous.
Police did get called.
ESL: Catch the Fever—!
HOLY CRAP, it’s a BLOG!!! Grow up people!!! I can’t believe people get worked up enough to want to kill because of a blog.