#Weinergate: Going Where The Facts Take Us
[Guest post by Lee Stranahan]
To my mind, not being biased in an unfolding story like #Weinergate means not having a fixed conclusion in mind that you’re trying to ‘prove’. It’s a matter of approach. If you are keeping an unbiased, open mind toward a conclusion, it’s part of the process to come up with theories that explain the available facts. But these are theories. You test them, poke at them and if new facts available that contradict them, you abandon the theory.
A biased process abandons facts, in order to save the theory.
An unbiased process will often have multiple theories. That’s not a flaw or a weakness. It’s a virtue in the investigative process. It’s an acknowledgement during the course of unwrapping an evolving mystery, the facts may point in a few different directions logically. As more facts come out, these possibilities become winnowed down.
I approach this story the same way I try to approach all stories – by keeping a mind open to any conclusion, but in a constant and actively inquisitive process that tries and abandons possibilities based on the facts.
So, let’s talk about Patriot for a moment.
I have suggested that it’s possible Patriot is a woman. The recent interview with Ladd doesn’t provide a single fact that would prove or disprove that. It doesn’t do anything to answer the thing that raises the question in the first place, which is Patriot’s refusal to talk on the phone. Patriot didn’t talk to Ladd on the phone. Ladd asked many times about why Patriot hasn’t spoken to anyone on the phone and Patriot’s answers still don’t make any sense.
What we know for a fact right now is that nobody seems to have ever talked to Patriot on the phone. Not after this story broke and not before. Nobody. Ever.
Am I saying Patriot is a woman? Nope. I never said that. I said Patriot MIGHT be a women. That would explain the reticence to get on a phone call. That’s what I’ve said and so far, it’s still a valid, active theory with no facts that contradict it.
But it’s not the only theory. They might have an identifiable voice or accent. They might not have a phone. They might be a deaf-mute. They might be a paranoid techy who worries about the call being traced.
I raised the ‘woman’ possibility because there are OTHER facts in the story that might lend some credence to it.
Is Patriot a man or a woman? A group of people? I don’t know and I’ve never claimed to know. Nobody I’ve encountered except “Patriot” knows. That is a fact. Nobody knows. There’s a reason for that.
The facts gathered so far tell me one thing I’m sure about: Patriot is a liar and a manipulator. I’m 100% sure on that.
None of this means that Rep. Weiner isn’t hiding something. I’ve never said anything other than that so I’ll say it again so I’m not misrepresented – I believe that Rep. Weiner is hiding something. I’ve written at length about it. And it’s entirely possible that he is hiding something fairly major.
But I can write about more than one thing. I can pursue multiple lines of inquiry. In fact, I feel honor bound to look at the story Patriot is telling with the same skepticism that I look at the story Anthony Weiner is telling.
Both Patriot and Weiner have acted in bizarre ways and made statements that only serve to raise further questions. I reject completely the idea that either story isn’t worth investigating.
Getting to the truth of this story will ultimately require that the truth comes out about both Weiner and Patriot. Until we get to that truth, I’ll continue to examine both.
– Lee Stranahan
Don’t forget alien life form, Patriot could be an alien life form.
Osama's Ghost (118d76) — 6/4/2011 @ 6:28 amRep. Weiner called the Capitol police to throw a reporter out of his Congressional Office.
Did he call the Capitol police to ask for an investigation of his being hacked?
Arizona Bob (aa856e) — 6/4/2011 @ 7:35 amBob – nope. That’s bizarre on Weiner’s part.
Some (on the left) want to ignore that.
Not me.
But Patriot’s behavior doesn’t get ignored by me, either.
Lee Stranahan (708cc3) — 6/4/2011 @ 7:48 amPatriot is not (at least I hope is not) an elected official. Weiner is. Weiner is acting beyond squirrelly as well.
We all know men in power have been known to court impressionable young women. We all know how easy it is in Twitter to accidentally send a direct message as a public one. We all know how you act if you get hacked does not remotely match up with Weiners behavior.
He isn’t going to resign. He hasn’t done anything illegal. Lets just laugh at him for his idiocy and not drag in anyone else.
CAL (85d157) — 6/4/2011 @ 8:42 amDon’t agree with ya Lee bout you consistent…….which is what I expect from you.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 6/4/2011 @ 8:44 ambut your*
DohBiden (15aa57) — 6/4/2011 @ 8:44 amYou’re pathetic.
Wienerdude is the only suspect here.
He won’t file a police report.
Filing a false police report is a crime
Gerry (13e51b) — 6/4/2011 @ 9:46 amI still don’t get why in the world it would matter if patriot person is strange, or how any of this is relevant to weinertweets.
JD (85b089) — 6/4/2011 @ 10:00 amI understand your curiousity, vis-a-vis Patriot76, it’s understandable.
But as many have said, Weiner is the public official, not Patriot76. Weiner only deserves public scrutiny, not Patriot76. Weiner needs to answer regarding why he, a sitting congressman, refuses to bring the FBI into what he contends is a “hacking” of his account…
What more evidence do you need to explain Patriot’s reluctance to “come out” than the complete “Clinton-esque” hit job done on one of his Twitter-Klatch; clearly (S)He wants to avoid the same fate, with it’s concomitant savaging by the port side of the blogosphere.
I think you make a mistake characterizing Patriot76’s fear driven withdrawl as being manipulative and dishonest. There are children involved, and vindictive exes, so it’s really impossible to know what’s going on unless Patriot decides to come out; and from the looks of things, that’s not happening.
Respectfully agreeing to disagree,
Bob Reed (5f2db5) — 6/4/2011 @ 10:07 amMy Regards
No my first name ain’t baby it’s Danny
Miss Patriot if you’re nasty
happyfeet (3c92a1) — 6/4/2011 @ 10:09 am::sigh::
I really don’t see why obsessing over the guy who retweeted the pic is worth pursuing. I understand there are convoluted theories about why he did the retweeting… but I think it’s pretty clear that the guy is weird and just a little, you know, obsessive. He gets his jollies from commenting on every little thing Weiner does. There are a million people like him on the internet. The “but WHY” question is really unnecessary and, frankly, uninteresting.
On the other hand, watching the birth of a bizarre conspiracy theory has been fairly educational. It appears that it takes one part- hope for there to be “more to the story” and one part- peripheral action that slightly contributes to the event.
Jewels (c7b6c5) — 6/4/2011 @ 10:59 amhttp://www.verumserum.com/?p=25282
ian cormac (72470d) — 6/4/2011 @ 11:05 amSuccessful stings usually involve false identities, invented stories, diversions, come-ons and even the insertion of moles/spies into the enemy camp. This is true all the way from small local police stings, to private detectives looking to catch errant spouses, to giant operations involving the CIA, FBI, and foreign intelligence units. Sometimes, good and wholly innocent people do unfortunately get ensnared and used in the process and it can occasionally even turn tragic. Are we ever really sure we know the truth about how and why such stings went down?
This is why Patriot “acting strange” and “manipulating” and being unwilling to talk on the phone may concern some of us much less than it bothers others of you. If Patriot was honchoing a sting then of course he’s being sneaky. Of course he may not be who he pretends to be. Everything he said about his wife and kids and his mental state may be utter BS. I dunno, maybe some of us have just read more spy novels or better understand what really goes into the dirty work of catching and taking down bad actors.
Me? I do not consider Anthony Weiner to be an innocent. I believe he has been caught doing things a United States congressman with a high security clearance should not be doing. I believe probably he is covering up things that are worse and much longer lived than a simple one-time misdirected crotch shot. For many people his actions (and inactions) have made that pretty clear.
What about you, Lee? Do you believe Weiner is an innocent? Are you in possession of facts that he is innocent? Or do you believe that is him in his gray undies out on the internet? Because if you do think that’s him, then your over zealous attacks on “Patriot” make no sense. If you DO think Weiner is an innocent then please, please just step up and say so, and why you think so.
elissa (35276c) — 6/4/2011 @ 11:16 amJust to be perfectly clear about my comment above: I’m not suggesting this was an offical sting of some sort.
elissa (35276c) — 6/4/2011 @ 11:23 amWow, a forensic, scientific approach. Quite refreshing. Can we now use this approach for global warming?
rudytbone (68d983) — 6/4/2011 @ 11:32 amUnderwear Gnome
JD (b98cae) — 6/4/2011 @ 11:38 am1) Congresscritter Weinertweet
2) ????
3) Ridicule/profit
If Wolfe were complicit in wrongdoing, realized the leader of the wrongdoing needed to be stopped and then, wanting to keep his identify secret, manufactured this entire incident he would in effect be a whistleblower. Oddly, since his participation seems for now more ‘lucky stalker’ than whistleblower he doesn’t seem to have any protections from a media/political opposition assault. He should have just played Angry Birds instead.
East Bay Jay (19f566) — 6/4/2011 @ 3:05 pm