Ali Busts Some Fools
Ali busts some fools at Iraq the Model.
I’m not going to link to the idiots who are the targets of Ali’s wrath, but I do have two points to make about the Martini people:
1) One of them, Joseph Mailander, very publicly claimed that Iraq the Model is an “obvious Langley-intern project.” (Click here and scroll to joseph at July 6, 2004 06:32 PM.) Omar and Mohammed’s tour refutes that and is an embarrassment to Mailander. So he has to say something nasty about the tour.
2) Truth means nothing to these guys. Mailander insinuated a lie about me once — saying I am a “chronic barflunker” when in fact I passed the bar on the first try. He had no basis whatsoever to say this; it was just something to say. It didn’t matter to him that it wasn’t true.
So Ali, my advice: I wouldn’t dignify these fools with any further links.
The only difference between these guys and a blood-sucking tick is that you can’t ignore the tick.
UPDATE: In an earlier version of this post, I stated that it was Martini blogger Alex, not Martini blogger Joseph Mailander, who had told the lie about me. This was an error which I corrected as soon as Xrlq, in the comments, pointed it out. The fact that it was Joseph only makes my point even more strongly.
I tried to issue corrections through a series of updates, but I finally decided that it would be clearer to simply rewrite the post to make it crystal clear who told the lie about me. My apologies to Alex for the mistake. Make no mistake, however: Alex is a despicable human being who has defended Joseph’s lie. I see little difference between the two of them.
The category here is “trollblogger”
Comment by Kevin Murphy — 12/14/2004 @ 10:47 am
joseph of the above-named blog has been a pest over at Roger L. Simon’s place for some time.
Comment by Dave Schuler — 12/14/2004 @ 3:15 pm
I think you have your martinimorons mixed up. Moron Alex made a stupid comment, but it was Langley Joe who accused you of failing the bar.
Comment by Xrlq — 12/14/2004 @ 5:56 pm
joseph of the above-named blog needs reminding that those who play the circles within circles game should close the circles and not leave them open. Stuff leaks out and one’s score suffers.
Comment by Curtis — 12/14/2004 @ 6:10 pm
IOW — whata buncha marooons!
Comment by Claire — 12/14/2004 @ 6:50 pm
While talking to someone today who knew nothing about blogs, I used the examples of Iraq the Model and Martini Republic to illustrate the highs and lows the blogosphere has to offer.
At one end of the spectrum, courageous freedom-loving men spreading a message of hope and democracy in a war-torn zone.
At the other, pinheads who lie about other people.
Comment by Patterico — 12/14/2004 @ 8:30 pm
See my December 14, 2004, 23:02:56 post:
http://martinirepublic.com/item/iraqi-bloggers-u-s-visit-raise-questions-regarding-propaganda-driven-blog-trolling#cmt915
Comment by Spidey — 12/14/2004 @ 8:35 pm
Claire,
Real Maroons are very brilliant men and women.
Real Maroons speak.
Comment by M. Simon — 12/14/2004 @ 10:50 pm
Left-Wing Academia and the East Coast Literary Establishment Both Hit New Lows (UPDATED)
I have little to add on the recent controversy regarding the hysterically anti-American and anti-Israeli University of Michigan Professor and blogger Juan Cole; a kerfuffle for which all of the relevant links are ably collected here by Roger L. Simon.
Trackback by The Young Curmudgeon — 12/14/2004 @ 10:59 pm
Can xlrq also explain why your so-called ‘correction’ is accompanied by a further insult and no apology to Alex?
Thanks!
Comment by MissManners — 12/14/2004 @ 11:10 pm
Alex doesn’t deserve much in the way of politeness. He has been defending Joseph’s lie in comments, and starting to refer to me using the term “barflunker” (characterizing it as an “insult”) in comments in other places. People should know that Alex is not the one who told the lie, and that mistake has been corrected. But people should also know that he’s a nasty human being who fully supports Joseph’s actions.
It would be interesting to know whether an uncorrected statement that someone is a “chronic barflunker” is a libelous accusation. I suspect it might be. I might ask friends who do that sort of litigation. Not that I’m likely to sue that pathetic guy Joseph. It’s much more effective to whack him over the head with the fact that he lied about me.
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2004 @ 6:38 am
At the same time, Alex, I mean Miss Manners, it’s best not to descend to this guy’s level. Perhaps an apology — but one that makes it clear he supports the lie — would be appropriate.
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2004 @ 6:51 am
And I’ll remove the “like there’s a difference” language.
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2004 @ 7:34 am
You know what, I am just rewriting the post to make it clearer. As despicable as Alex is, it’s a shame that my mistake got him caught up in this, since he didn’t tell the lie. I don’t usually rewrite posts, but I think it’s warranted here. In an update I’ll explain that it was rewritten and why. No covering up mistakes. . .
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2004 @ 9:59 am
Patterico, I am not completely sure what you’re referring to, but it is obviously bothering you, and I came here to find it out. Looks like it had something to do with retaking the bar, perhaps a snide comment I made in a style that didn’t look obvious enough as a joke.
If you passed on the first time, good for you, and if I said you didn’t, I apologize. Really, I mean it. I meant my original comment as sarcasm, not as fact. I’ll ask you to forgive my sarcasm–some days if I am on the Internet I rarely see any other kind of figure of speech than sarcasm, and it is easy to slip into, like a drawl when you’re touring the south.
Anyway, as I’ve followed the links fracas this morning that my post on the good brothers became, I saw your name on quite a few boards, saying that I was a liar about you regarding something. I hope you will now consider it no longer true in this particular case.
Comment by joseph — 12/15/2004 @ 12:42 pm
I was on the verge of accepting the apology, since you *seem* to be making an effort. I even started writing a comment accepting it.
But then I read your comment again. And I still don’t think you’re being completely forthright.
First of all, what do you mean by this:
What do you mean, “if”?
Joseph, did you make the comment or didn’t you?
And I gotta say, I saw it as a lie rather than sarcasm. In fact, I don’t even begin to understand how it could be understood as sarcasm.
Were I in a cynical mood, I’d reject the apology as motivated by the fact that, having told a flat-out lie about someone, you now realize that it’s going to dog you until you apologize. That your credibility will be zero until you do, because I’ll point it out every time you get any attention.
(After all, you do still have me calling myself a “useless bitch” on your site — a little more inflammatory than what it responds to (an assertion that Alex was adding nothing to the discussion).)
Yeah, maybe you’re just trying to restore some of your credibility because you know you have little choice.
But I don’t know you. So, even though the cynical reason is a possibility, you may have had a real change of heart. I like giving people the benefit of the doubt. And I’d like to accept a sincere apology.
I just have a hard time accepting an apology that says: I apologize *if* I said it.
By the way, I still think your “IRM is a CIA project” theory is laughable. I would have loved to see you put your questions directly to Omar and Mohammed.
In fact, I would love it if people like you who opposed the war would still contribute to Spirit of America. The anti-war crowd is welcome to pitch in. Surely you don’t *want* us to fail over there, even if you disagree with why we went in. A donation to help their blog project would be a great way to help out.
Let me know if you’re willing to “man up” and fully acknowledge the undeniable fact that you made the comment, and that it was something you said with no basis in fact. You can plead anger; that’s fine. People get angry and say stupid things. You do it, I do it, everyone does it. Admit it, fully, and apologize — and I’ll accept.
Comment by Patterico — 12/15/2004 @ 2:38 pm
The Blogosphere’s Fascist Apologists
I love it when so-called “liberals” make themselves the enemies of human rights.
Case in point: Iraqi human rights activist Ali of Iraq the Model has some
Trackback by Dean's World — 12/16/2004 @ 5:02 am
The Blogosphere’s Fascist Apologists
I love it when so-called “liberals” make themselves the enemies of human rights.
Case in point: Iraqi human rights activist Ali of Iraq the Model has some
Trackback by Dean's World — 12/16/2004 @ 5:03 am
Patterico, he’s a bozo. Anybody willing to see it, sees it already; anybody not willing, never will (P.S.: He’s not willing). Any further discussion is a monstrous and obscene waste of your time.
Comment by Aarrgghh — 12/16/2004 @ 9:23 am
[sound of crickets chirping]
If he’s not going to admit making the comment, but instead he is going to play the “I’m sorry *if* I did anything wrong” game — then I don’t consider that a true apology and I don’t accept it.
Comment by Patterico — 12/17/2004 @ 10:16 am
And, relatedly, without any convincing explanation of how this could be considered “sarcasm,” I will continue to call it what it was: a deliberate and baseless lie.
Comment by Patterico — 12/17/2004 @ 10:30 am
I’m banning this fellow today. If he wants to issue a *genuine* apology then he can e-mail me.
Comment by Patterico — 12/23/2004 @ 9:41 am