Patterico's Pontifications

7/24/2006

Because You Can Never Read Too Much About Sock-Puppetry

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:04 pm



Sock-puppetry is everywhere! Just check out this detailed Seixon post on Jason Leopold and friends. Here’s part of the summary:

This entire story demonstrates that contrary to Leopold’s PR push with his book to promote himself as a reformed journalist, he will go to obscene lengths to defend his fraudulent stories including using sock puppets to levy false accusations and then lie about it. Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story fares only slightly better, being caught lying to either cover up her own fraudulent claims or to protect Leopold. John Dean was their willing pawn, believing every word they said and repeating it to me even when the evidence mounted proving everything wrong. Even after I made it quite clear to Dean that Leopold wouldn’t even admit to knowing who he was, he continued to defend Leopold and concocted vast conspiracy theories to explain everything that had happened.

These people sought to silence a critic by creating false rumors and concocting a fabulist story about him being a DOD hack going after them. They lied and evaded at every opportunity when faced with the facts of their unethical behavior. When caught in lies, they threatened legal action and stone-walled. The fact that the editor of Raw Story engages in such behavior with such people should make anyone question that source’s journalism. If there was still anyone who didn’t know that Jason Leopold is a pathological liar who cannot be trusted for one second about anything he writes, consider this a wake up call.

. . . .

Al Gore, I think I found your digital Brown Shirts, and they’re all firmly planted in the Joe Wilson Truth Movement.

Oh — and did I mention? Seixon’s personal details were divulged at Think Progress, and his parents got a call about him at their home.

Yes, Mr. Greenwald: I condemn this. Do you?

UPDATE: Check out Seixon’s latest post, which shows Jason Leopold posting e-mails from Seixon on the Internet — complete with fabricated portions in which Seixon supposedly threatens Leopold.

I think I’d sue if I were Seixon. Get a computer expert and take Leopold and Truthout for all they’re worth.

[snicker]

Sorry, couldn’t finish that sentence without laughing!

P.S. Some of the stuff Seixon actually did send Leopold was probably not very wise. Read it and you’ll see what I mean.

32 Responses to “Because You Can Never Read Too Much About Sock-Puppetry”

  1. Yes, Mr. Greenwald: I condemn this. Do you?

    I hear that he’s busy diagnosing right wing paranoia, so he might not even notice the need for that particular condemnation. Unless maybe Sadly, No! points it out to him.

    Pablo (08e1e8)

  2. Oh, I think the Seixon story has a little bit more investigating to do –

    Seems like a little “monkey” bears remarkable resemblance to a commentor over at Confederate Yankee – and the “molesting of little boys (w/alleged photos)….uncanny verbiage and content.

    Enlightened (2540bb)

  3. Holy f-in’ zoiks!
    You know, I think that leftards have all these crazy suspicions about other people’s nefarious doings, because they can imagine themselves doing the same.
    Fortunately, apart from often being moral idiots (AnonymousArmy in the Seixon post being a notable exception), they’re often just plain old idiots, and they end up shooting their nuts off.

    Dan Collins (538859)

  4. Thanks for the link Patterico. Leopold is feeling the heat now, he’s going around on my blog commenting under my name. Apparently Leopold didn’t realize that I could (a) see his IP address matches the one he used to send me emails earlier today and (b) that I could change the names on the comments to reflect the truth.

    Doh, foiled again!

    Seixon (3237b2)

  5. Oh, and I would love to take you up on that legal advice. I have no clue about any of that but I would love to hear from anyone who does.

    Seixon (3237b2)

  6. Just when you thought Truthout’s credibility couldn’t sink lower….

    Dean Esmay (86944b)

  7. If ever a person deserved to get in deep, it’s Leopold.

    Nonetheless, with all due respect to Mr. Leopold, Glenn Greenwald came first, and I believe we all owe it to the winner to dedicate to him his own verb.

    I propose:

    To “greenwald” = to use multiple sock puppets

    So Leopold was greenwalding.

    Whadda ya think guys, is it time? Something to immortalize GiGi by?

    Gotta Know (f41eca)

  8. Seixon – I hope you saw my e-mail regarding the uncanny similarities between monkey boy and “phidipides” making threats over at CY – remarkably similar to the asshat over in your comments right now.

    Enlightened (2540bb)

  9. Well, Gotta Know, Jeff just managed to turn Deb into a verb. Maybe an noun this time: (multiple) iGlentities.

    Dan Collins (538859)

  10. Enlightened – I read it but there were no links, and unless the posts were about Leopold I doubt there’s an exclusive contract on using child molestation to smear your political opponents… 🙂

    Seixon (3237b2)

  11. For the lawyers out there, should Greenwald be talking to a patent lawyer? Would he have a good solid lawsuit against Leopold for copying his methods, or does this just have to stay in the realm of extreme sincere flattery?

    You have to think Greenwald is pretty frustrated about now, his license having lapsed and everything.

    Gotta Know (f41eca)

  12. Enlightened…

    I see what you mean.

    topsecretk9 (89bfbd)

  13. Gotta know–
    I’m not sure that the method itself is copyrightable. I think that he might have a case against those pesky sockpuppets for plagiarism, though.

    Dan Collins (538859)

  14. Dan you’re right. It could get ugly, I believe there was one instance in which the tail wagged the dog. The courts would have to establish who was greenwalding who. Whom. Whatever.

    Gotta Know (f41eca)

  15. TS9 – If you notice on Seixon’s – Leopold has fabricated nasty comments that he purports Seixon wrote.

    However, the comments about Confederate Yankee being a child molester (link orver st Seixon), and Seixon being one (the Digital Brown Shirt post), and then he says AnonymousArmy likes little boys (Good Luck Jason comments at Seixon)-

    For a freak like Jason, the only real way to bring down a detractor armed with facts – is to lie about them. In the exact manner of what he fabricated in the fake e-mails ascribed to Seixon. And what is one of the number one accusations of worthless weasels that try to destroy their foe – sexually molesting children.

    I think Jason has been very very busy indeed. And he is doing it seemingly on Glenn’s behalf over at CY. So, ring around the IP it looks like to me.

    Enlightened (2540bb)

  16. The legal ramifications are fascinating. Could Greenwald sue his own hand for plagiarism? Yes, in effect it might be seen as robbing Wilson to pay Ellison, but it would certainly be seen as a moral victory, and a way for Greenwald to escape from this endless morass, this utter ennui, this dreary, monotonous weltschmerz?

    And what of the larger picture? Might this not be seen as a vindication of Greenwald himself, a rags to riches story of a man who took matters into his own hand, who rose up and triumphed against the conservative politics of personal humiliation? A man who put his hand down and said, “I’m sick and tired of it, I am not a puppet! I am a MAN!”

    This is going to be huge, I see a screenplay. Pee-wee Herman is going to want the lead, and frankly, who would deny him.

    Gotta Know (f41eca)

  17. Enlightened-

    I could swear i saw a comment he left that accused Murray Waas of the same thing (CM) – wish i could find now.

    topsecretk9 (89bfbd)

  18. “You don’t want to pick a fight with someone who knows their way around the Internet”

    Fred (a02a89)

  19. There he told the New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff that he was the special envoy who had traveled to Niger in February 2002 to check out allegations that Iraq tried to purchase uranium from the country. He told Kristoff he had briefed a CIA analyst that the claims were untrue. Wilson said he believed the administration had ignored his report and had been dishonest with Congress and the American people.

    When Kristoff’s column was published in the Times, the CIA official said, “a request came in from Cheney that was passed to me that said ‘the vice president wants to know whether Joe Wilson went to Niger.’ I’m paraphrasing. But that’s more or less what I was asked to find out.”

    In his column, Kristoff Had accused Cheney of allowing the truth about the Niger documents the administration used to build a case for war to go “missing in action.” The failure of US armed forces to find any WMDs in Iraq in two months following the start of the war had been blamed on Cheney.

    What in the previous months had been a request to gather information that could be used to discredit Wilson turned into a full-scale effort involving the Office of the Vice President, the National Security Council, and the State Department to find out how Wilson came to be chosen to investigate the uranium allegations involving Iraq and Niger.

    “Cheney and Libby made it clear that Wilson had to be shut down,” the CIA official said. “This wasn’t just about protecting the credibility of the White House. For the vice president, going after Wilson was purely personal, in my opinion.”

    Cheney was personally involved in this aspect of the information gathering process as well, visiting CIA headquarters to inquire about Wilson, the CIA official said. Hadley had also raised questions about Wilson during this month with the State Department officials and asked that information regarding Wilson’s trip to Niger be sent to his attention at the National Security Council.

    That’s when Valerie Plame Wilson’s name popped up showing that she was a covert CIA operative.

    http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071406J.shtml

    A, Possibly The CIA Agent (538859)

  20. This is like standing on the corner of Aviation and PCH and watching the tourists miss the signal. The near misses and inevitable crashes, just like real life.

    Pat Patterson (5b3946)

  21. I’m sorry, I didnt follow what in Seixon’s emails would be a legal problem for Seixon…

    IS it that Seixon asked him to tell the truth in exchange for Seixon not reporting on the threatening emails?

    Could someone clear that up for someone a bit slower than the rest?

    Dustin (1443c2)

  22. As a small time hobby blogger I’m not in the habit of lodging self-promotional comments; drawing attention to myself is not purpose here. (If my comment is out of order I have no problem with its removal.) That said, having read Patterico’s comment at Deltoid, I would like to point out that Tim Lambert, a liar, is in no position to defend Greenwald.

    J F Beck (c94ab7)

  23. I can’t see that I ever told anyone that I would do anything in exchange for anything. I asked Mr. Leopold to set the record straight since I was going to publish what I had found so far and it would seemingly be a good idea for him to do so.

    In other words, I had Leopold lying to me on the record, and I gave him another chance to admit that he did send those emails before I went to publish.

    Now Leopold has gone on a binge around the internet posting personal information about me and my family, while Larry Johnson has been getting in on the fun as well. I’ll be doing another post later about this. Ah, and Larisa Alexandrovna is trying to scare me with trumped up legal charges as well. This is one merry bunch.

    Seixon (3237b2)

  24. “Sock puppetry” doesn’t adequately describe this horseshit. These people are nuckin futs.

    Dwilkers (a1687a)

  25. I see borderline harassment, and even threatening behavior on the part of Leopold, Johnson and Co.

    Also legally actionable.

    Good Lt (cf8676)

  26. The really scary thing is Johnson worked at the CIA for all those years, and now what is his major focus, harassing a some 20-something blogger. I’m terrified that this guy had a TSC. Leopold should be “Jayson Blaired” by now, but Truthout has no legitimacy so it really doesn’t matter. Nice to see they hitched their wagon to yet another fabrication reporter.

    I’m still waiting for that Rove Indictment. Oddly enough Truthout still sticks by Leopolds “stories”. Pathetic.

    Gabriel Chapman (6d7447)

  27. Johnson worked at the CIA for all those years

    He actually wasn’t at the CIA for very long… What, ’85 to ’89? I’m not knocking what he did there, but his length of service wasn’t in gold-watch territory.

    DrSteve (21d5e0)

  28. I’ve always considered sockpuppets to be more than a bit gauche and sad, so based on ideas brought up over at Protein Wisdom’s coverage of the Greenwald affair, I decided to do my own small part in trying to discourage it.

    I wrote a couple of snippets of PHP code that add a hash of the commenter’s IP address to each post, so users can see at a glance if multiple usernames are posting from the same IP address (without having to publicly reveal the addresses of legitimate posters).

    Hopefully, if the idea catches on, people will be more reluctant to engage in sockpuppetry overall, and we can move on to more substantive discussions.

    Hope this helps.

    VekTor (1828d0)

  29. […] The background on this increasingly insane situation is here. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » Larry Johnson Returns (421107)

  30. […] are “liberals” making up for lost time as children? […]

    Strangely Silent: De Doc`s Ventures » Blog Archive » Am NOT… (48930a)

  31. You know……

    …For a supposedly peaceable, "reality-based" community, they sure do have a thing for puppet shows and overt threats, don't they? Of course, in their defense, I guess one can begin to get a bit cocky when one has had the intelligen…

    protein wisdom (4dbdc8)

  32. […] Allah over at Hot Air has the run down of some of the biggest blog scandals, how they happened, and what resulted. For those of us trying to actively take a role in the spinning world of the blogosphere, it’s neat to see that if you have one small bit inspired observation, you can take down Dan Rather. The new “Sock Puppet” scandal of Greenwald also has potential. The hard left leaning editorialist has (allegedly, news to be released later by Patterico) been posting responses in support to his own blogs and posts under different names. People seem to forget that to look someone up on the internet, even based on an anonymous post, isn’t that hard to do, and you should never have to fabricate an individual to seem more supported…In other news…Ahmadinejad sent letters to Merkel of Germany, and Chirac of France, which (unlike the letter he penned to the US) have yet to be released for review by the general public. The man is a serious nutter…hard to negotiate with someone who is so heavily into the 12th Imam belief. People can scoff at it but: World leaders had expected a conciliatory proposal to defuse the nuclear crisis after Teheran had restarted another part of its nuclear programme in August. Instead, they heard the president speak in apocalyptic terms of Iran struggling against an evil West that sought to promote “state terrorism”, impose “the logic of the dark ages” and divide the world into “light and dark countries”.The speech ended with the messianic appeal to God to “hasten the emergence of your last repository, the Promised One, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace”. Something to think on… […]

    stoutrepublican » Blog Archive » Sock Puppets and Such (9f9139)


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