Patterico's Pontifications

6/2/2011

#Weinergate: Why Won’t Patriot Talk on the Phone?

Filed under: General — Stranahan @ 8:31 pm



[Guest Post by Lee Stranahan]

The Smoking Gun put up a piece this morning about PatriotUSA76, the mysterious Twitter persona at the center of the @RepWeiner scandal. As I wrote yesterday, one of the reasons I’m very skeptical of ‘Dan Wolfe’ is that he’s refused to speak on the phone with….well, anyone. I’ve talked to 3 people who wanted to have phone conversations with ‘Wolfe’ and he declined. This has led to my speculation could, in fact, be a woman.

There could be other perfectly logical reasons for not wanting to talk on the phone, of course. Here’s what Wolfe said…

Wolfe then went on to state that his ex-wife was suing him for custody of their two children and “for lots of other stuff right now. Her attorneys are after everything I own.” Additionally, he reported that, “I have an ex girlfriend who has mental problems causing issues for me at work. My business is suffering as a result.”

Explaining his hesitation to speak on the telephone,Wolfe wrote that his ex-wife (working in conjunction with a former girlfriend of his) had twice secretly recorded him and that the resulting tapes had “gotten me in a lot of legal trouble.” As a result, he contended that if his ex-wife’s attorney “got a hold of a call recorded with me on it they’d have a field day with that. I want to try to avoid.”

That makes no sense. None.

First off,  how would a phone call with Breitbart get recorded by his ex-wife and crazy ex-girlfriend?

Second, how would this be used against someone in a custody battle? I mean – Andrew Breitbart isn’t THAT controversial.

Third, Wolfe had zero reticence to say a lot of potentially offensive stuff on his Twitter feed – and that could used in a custody fight as well.

This is another point against Wolfe’s credibility as far as I’m concerned.

– Lee Stranahan

UPDATE BY PATTERICO: I don’t think that, in the usual instance, a mere reluctance to talk to people is at all strange for someone who has broken a national story that harms a powerful politician’s career. However, I think Lee’s theory makes more sense if you understand certain points, some of which you know and some of which you may not. The key thing to understand is that nobody is trying to exonerate Weiner — in fact, if Lee’s theory is true, Weiner may be trying to cover up some things worse than sending a lewd picture. Here are some points I want to make sure you all understand:

  • Weeks ago, PatriotUSA76 (whom I’ll just call “Patriot”) said he was aware of compromising photographs of a “big-time Congressman” being in the hands of a top 5 conservative blogger.
  • Patriot has been uniquely obsessed with Weiner, which suggests the “big-time Congressman” was Weiner.
  • Patriot’s explanation of how he happened to see the tweet makes almost no sense. It would take too long to explain why right now; trust me, it requires a pretty big coincidence. Which could happen, of course. I’m not saying it couldn’t.
  • Patriot isn’t simply reluctant to talk; his proffered explanation is bizarre. A private conversation with Breitbart might end up appearing online and somehow be used by his ex-wife, or something? My forehead is lined as I make a very quizzical expression.
  • Many of you claim the yFrog angle has been debunked. What you haven’t been told is that this is not really true. If you sign up with yFrog, and (as they ask you to) agree that yFrog can access your Twitter account, you can indeed have pictures posted by e-mail, if someone knows your secret yFrog address. I confirmed this with George Gooding. The opponents of the theory cite Weiner’s claimed unfamiliarity with yFrog as proof that he didn’t have an account. I say: why believe anything he says?
  • So if Patriot is, or knew, a Weiner paramour who had a compromising photo and knew Weiner’s yFrog e-mail address, they could post it. This is speculation and I am not saying it’s true — but it would explain Weiner’s odd blanket denial of sending the Tweet, but curious accompanying refusal to blanketly deny it’s him.

The main problem with the theory is the Seattle tweet that came earlier in the night, which we know Weiner wrote. Lee’s theory is that perhaps Patriot saw that tweet and seized on it (and the woman’s response) as the perfect time to send off the photo. Could be; also seems like a bit of a stretch.

I say all this, not really to subscribe to the theory, but to show that a) it is not designed to exonerate Weiner, and b) to explain why Patriot’s odd behavior seems potentially relevant. Again, this all hits home much better if you understand how staggeringly unlikely Patriot’s story is that he just happened to see the tweet, which is something that depends upon the mechanics of Twitter that Lee and I experimented with last night. Bottom line is: for Patriot to a) see the tweet on Weiner’s page and not on a Twitter client; b) not have followed Weiner; and c) know that the tweet was up for only 1-5 seconds — all claims that he has made — is just a story that doesn’t ring true. And with him being the source — and having prior knowledge of photos of a big-time Congressman — I can’t help but wonder what is going on.

306 Responses to “#Weinergate: Why Won’t Patriot Talk on the Phone?”

  1. “PatriotUSA76, the mysterious Twitter persona at the center of the @RepWeiner scandal” I thought the Weiner was at the scandal center.

    gp (1e0d91)

  2. this is one of those benefit of the doubt things I think

    Mr. Dan has no duty to Mr. Breitbart or anybody else involved in this sad tawdry affair. This is not as Mr. B would have it an accuser-facing-his-accused thing.

    This is more an omg I just got busted sending
    pictures of my dick to a college kid thing.

    Let dick picture boy send the FBI cavalry after Mr. Wolfe if he wants to. The ball’s in his court I think, not Mr. Wolfe’s.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  3. Wolfe had zero reticence to say a lot of potentially offensive stuff on his Twitter feed

    So if the name Dan Wolfe is a sockpuppet, and he reveals who he is by telephone, then the association of his persona with his twitter would, in fact, have the exact implication you’re claiming he makes no sense to worry about?

    Seems like you’re trying a little too hard to make this point.

    Either Dan Wolfe’s behavior is not a risk, or it is. Pointing to some that is a risk to show that he’s so daring, totally reinforces his fear of being identified.

    This is another point against Wolfe’s credibility as far as I’m concerned.

    So what?

    What does that matter at all?

    Assume he has no credibility. He’s a distraction. Not as big a distraction as the crank who pretends he’s proven via an inconsistent URL display that Weiner was framed, but still… he is not needed.

    Weiner’s penis is in that photo. We don’t need Dan Wolfe to establish it. Weiner’s twitter sent the image to a young girl. We also don’t need Dan Wolfe to establish that. Weiner is the only person who is standing in the way of knowing which IP ordered Weiner’s verified accounts to send Weiner’s skeevy picture to one or more young groupies Weiner has been following for some time. Dan Wolfe’s credibility? Irrelevant.

    If, in fact, Dan Wolfe is a hacker, or somehow gained Weiner’s password or password like hash email upload code otherwise, then all we need is the investigation Dan Wolfe and everyone else expects.

    It’s Weiner who asserts there was a hack. It would take Twitter no trouble at all to back that up, and that it hasn’t been demonstrated thus puts 100% of the responsibility on Weiner.

    —-

    Dan Wolfe isn’t really the accuser anymore. Weiner’s own comments about hacking and the photo are the accusers. They back up the notion that this was weiner in the photo and that weiner’s account sent it.

    This has led to my speculation could, in fact, be a woman.

    Sir, where is your evidence? You have an incredibly convoluted theory, linking another blog with a disproven theory of ‘proven’ framing, and none of it actually shows what Dan Wolfe’s sex is. This is your guess, based on your imagination.

    I admit, I really like that theory. If it’s true, that is a great story. But come on. I know it’s intended in good faith, but you don’t have the facts.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  4. You know, his email has been released. Fear of having a phone call recorded/released doesn’t seem so unreasonable, does it?

    Lee, as I said on another thread- not everyone is as brave as you, Breitbart, and Patterico. Try looking at this from the perspective of someone who is much less brave and has nothing really to gain from all of this. The natural thing to fear is what you might lose by getting more involved. You guys are willing to take a lot more heat and risk than the average bear.

    MayBee (081489)

  5. If this is revealed to be a lie]Which it is probably not] than I have a question how did he get Weiner’s Weiner?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  6. Lee, I think you’re taking this a bit too far.

    The issue has been settled. It was Weiners dick in the photo. He sent it.

    Why keep digging at this point?

    What’s the end game here?

    It’s like following down a lead after the murder has been solved in a case. Do you need more information?

    The questions was, did Anthony Weiner send a picture of his genitals to a 21 year old girl via twitter? Based on Anthony’s own statements, non denials and story changes, I would say yes.

    Case closed, right?

    I’m just not sure what following up on Patriot will accomplish really

    Ben (ad80e4)

  7. Lee – I agree with gp. Weiner is the center of Weinergate.

    An interview broadcast or written up in a custody battle could potentially be much more damaging than just looking at a twitter feed.

    As Verum Serum summarized yesterday,here’s what we know for certain now:

    “1) The tweet came from Weiner’s account.

    2) The photo linked in the tweet was hosted on Weiner’s yfrog account.

    3) Weiner will not deny the photo is of him.

    4) Weiner refuses to involve the police/FBI to find out who “hacked/pranked/spoofed” him.

    5) Weiner is very testy and wants to drop this ASAP.

    It’s really not possible for Weiner to look any more guilty at this point, without actually admitting guilt. He is obviously hiding something.”

    http://www.verumserum.com/?p=25143

    I also subscribe to the theory that Weiner does not want a police or FBI investigation because he could get into trouble lying to them, whereas he can say whatever he wants to or withhold information from a firm he hired or the the media or public.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  8. And I do not mean this as an insult, but Lee Stranahan happily posts his phone number for all to see, despite plenty of jerks not liking Lee.

    That is very unusual.

    I don’t think Lee’s idea of what is normal behavior with privacy is the same as Dan Wolfe’s. Dan is justifiably worried about what happens to him and his reputation. Look what happened to Monica ‘deranged stalker’ Lewinksy.

    I don’t believe his name is Dan Wolfe. He created that persona. A lot of people can understand why. Lee even explains why, noting Dan’s ‘zero reticence’ to say politically incorrect stuff.

    No matter if he’s telling the truth or not, once the world knows who he really is, he’s going to be eviscerated. This guy clearly is not Virginia Thomas or Andrew Breitbart. He can barely figure out where his PC’s internet cache is. He will be used and dropped off. He’ll spend the rest of his time with the notoriety.

    I respect his choice to decline.

    Sure, I’d prefer it if he had the balls to show up on Fox News or Big Government tomorrow on video. But how does that help anything? Even if his credibility is somehow completely proven, how does that help?

    It just shows that a pervy photo was sent by Weiner’s twitter. That’s already established.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  9. Also, neither the comely coed nor Weiner have accused Wolfe of the hacking. Colby Hall was the one inciting the rumor.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  10. my feeling in my heart is that hounding mr. wolfe may have a chilling effect what might prevent other vigilant citizens from coming forward in the future

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  11. Lee is trying to be nice to the people who hate him for being smart.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  12. There are now online, and beginning to spread, the fully detailed expose of the right wing fraud that is the basis of this slander.

    See: New Yorker Magazine http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/06/weiner_theories.html

    Also see: CannonFire blog http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2011/06/weiner-affair-close-to-solution-but-i.html

    It’s pretty persuasive stuff.

    Joe Harkins (f0fd06)

  13. I have a question how did he get Weiner’s Weiner?

    Comment by DohBide

    Lee Stranahan has a very interesting theory. It’s linked, though it’s a little difficult to read if you don’t carefully do so (no disrespect intended, as I’m no clearer).

    But your point is well taken. Weiner got his wiener onto the internet. There are many theories. The one with the least holes is that he accidentally sent a private sexting message publicaly. That explains everything.

    another is that Dan Wolfe is a woman who gained secured access to the verified account (password or the obfuscated email code), and had a motive to harm Weiner (chinese spy? jilted lover?) and did so in a way that he noticed immediately (because she told him?).

    And somehow, this caused Cordova, who received a random crotch pic, to erase her entire online existence, get in contact with Weiner’s staff, and then seek attention online again, in part with a professionally written and weaselly denial. Somehow, Weiner already sent that Seattle timezone tweet (admittedly, game theory helps with that).

    I think the latter theory has more holes than the former one.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  14. when I try to be nice to the people what hate me i make them mashed yams with butter honey pecans bacon nutmeg and marshmallows

    Mr. Harkins why is it so important to protect dick picture boy you think? His job was to – *giggle* – impugn Clarence Thomas’ integrity.

    To say that dick picture boy is no longer fit for duty is something of an understatement, no?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  15. right wing fraud that is the basis of this slander.

    Your links actually are not very convincing that there was a right wing fraud.

    Weiner is refusing to have an investigation, or contact the police over this hacking, but he calls the police if you try to interview him.

    The email uploader theory doesn’t explain the evidence we’ve had very well, such as the lack of text in the twitter (or “none”). The URL issue has been well explained as it only shows up in some browsers and platforms.

    Sorry, the fact things look different on different computers doesn’t prove Weiner was framed. And Weiner’s behavior makes absolutely no sense unless he’s guilty.

    Once again, we see people simply assert a theory shows there is ‘right wing fraud’. Give me a break. You have to prove your case.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  16. Joe Harkins – Are those new theories as persuasive as the ones up at DailyKos that ripped Breitbart to shreds, because those like totally persuaded me dude. I can’t understand why people are still talking about this after the people at Kos ripped the thing apart and exposed the right wing conspiracy, can you?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  17. Note for Trolls – The Clinton’s tried out the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy meme extensively in the 1990s. It wasn’t true then and it’s not true now.

    If you want to talk about the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy, hang around this blog.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  18. One time I did something wrong and my mother said if I ever did it again, she would get a switch a blister my bottom.

    After that, I made sure that if I did something wrong, Mom wouldn’t find out. But, mostly, I didn’t do any thing wrong.

    Maybe that’s why pictures of my penis are extremely rare on the Internet.

    Ag80 (1bc637)

  19. Daleyrocks, actually, the less lame of Harkins’s links is a big part of Lee’s argument, so Harkins didn’t bother to appreciate what Lee is trying to argue.

    Kos’s attempt to prove a huge conspiracy was pretty silly.

    This entire thing is silly. The truth is that Lee Stanahan has a hunch about Dan Wolfe. He’s curious and wants to somehow get to the bottom of it by identifying Dan.

    It doesn’t really have much to do with whether Weiner’s dick was sent to floozies. Whether Lee’s hunch is right or wrong, Weiner comes out looking like a sleaze.

    And I respect Lee’s interest in explaining what happened, no matter where that leads him, but Dan Wolfe’s credibility only related to this ancillary story he’s working on. Weiner’s embarrassment is based on what Weiner and his staff have claimed, combined with Weiner’s behavior in trying to conceal the truth.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  20. The one character in the Weiner drama who has followed the public relations textbook to the letter is Gennette Cordova, the student to whom the text message was directed. She issued a detailed statement on Sunday that outlined what she knew and didn’t know and debunked a series of specific claims.

    Since then, she has limited her comments to occasional, specific Twitter messages.

    “I’ve denied every single interview request I’ve gotten, … And that includes the ‘Today’ show! And I freaking love Matt Lauer :(,” she wrote.

    Asked by POLITICO, via Twitter, about the source of her apparent sang-froid, in sharp contrast to the congressman’s flailing, Cordova replied: “I think if I had something to hide I might be more freaked out. This really is a nightmare, though.”*

    I don’t know why exactly but it was nice to read that even though I think it’s silly to call her a character in a drama. This is a farce.

    But it was very generous of Mr. Smith to go there I think.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  21. that’s Genette’s sad face, just so we’re clear

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  22. Politico claims two additional witnesses say Weiner sends perverted photos.

    he took or sent a photo or photos like this at some point

    They also claim he was hacked, this time, I guess as an anti Breitbart smokescreen, or perhaps even the off chance that is what happened.

    But he sends pictures of his penis to young ladies, either way.

    We don’t need Dan Wolfe to figure that out. It’s just that Dan Wolfe may be an interesting story all on his own, based on some very imaginative speculation and a hunch. But not based on any hard evidence. And with the chance of harming the life of someone who just wanted to note that Weiner did what he really does.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  23. I think some people read too many novels and see too many movies. I agree mostly with Seixon on Twitter. You agree to give up a measure of privacy when you enter public life. The responsiblity to come clean is held by Weiner, not ‘Dan Wolfe’.

    That said, it’s also fair to ‘punish’ anything ‘Dan Wolfe’ brings to the table that is not backed up by unchallenged facts. But what exactly is that? If he lied about something then throw out everything. It still doesn’t seem to help Weiner – underneath this is scandal and everyone beyond Weiner senses it. Hell, my dog senses it.

    Weiner must have the same lawyer advising him as the lawyer that thought fighting Paula Jones from the White House in a civil trial made sense instead of settling (and that might be the Big He himself – if we’re going wild speculating why isn’t he in the picture? – makes sense to me to call in an experienced hand in this type of situation, even if the student is way over his head).

    East Bay Jay (19f566)

  24. if he was hacked then we need to investigate this dastardly crime

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  25. It’s interesting that ‘in sharp contrast to the congressman’s flailing’ Cordova says she’s able to be calmer about this than he is because she has nothing to hide. Looks like she knows that he does.

    DHM (ea325d)

  26. The Yfrog proves Weiner was framed assertion is wrong.

    Read that BEFORE you read the Cannongate theory. It is very easy to read, in stark contrast to much of the convoluted attempts to explain the various theories.

    Joe Harkins, read that explanation, and then explain how your link is not preposterous.

    People who tried to explain this to Cannon got their comments moderated from Cannon’s blog.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  27. Incidentally, Lee, I don’t talk to people on the phone, either, and especially not people I know on the internet. As others have pointed out, we aren’t all like you.
    I can buy that Dan is a woman based on a hunch you have, but it doesn’t really change anything. The congressman isn’t calling in police on what he calls a hack, but he is willing to call them on a reporter just doing her job. That’s a bigger red flag than the gender of Dan/Dana/Patriot

    DHM (ea325d)

  28. he’s had it
    yeah baby he’s had it
    here’s his penis
    here’s his pyre
    yeah he’s a liar

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  29. BTW, as far as I can recall, Lee did not leap to claiming it’s proven Weiner was framed. He claimed it was his theory. Though then he linked to Cannon saying it’s like the theory of gravity and absolutely the truth, despite his rationale being preposterous.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  30. Dumbass defenders are usually silent when the dumbass exceeds the evidence.

    I still think he will be the next mayor of NYC, despite my earlier predictions of higher office. O’Donnell, a denizen, after all told the chosen that sex doesn’t matter.

    Ag80 (1bc637)

  31. ooh! I know!

    I’ll send her a picture of my weenis!

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  32. Those mashed yams sound pretty good happyfeet.

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  33. they are right proper tasty Mr. Reed and easy plus they have vitamin As or something

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  34. I should’ve said *toasted* pecans though

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  35. In our local paper whenever there is an article about an interesting crime that was committed amateur sleuths come out of the woodwork in the comments section.

    “Sure hope the police are looking at the live-in maid’s biker boyfriend who just got out of prison.” one will helpfully suggest. “I’m kind of psychic and I think the bloody knife may be in the victim’s sock drawer–did anybody think to look there?” another will chime in. “My hairdresser’s sister-in-law lives on that same street and told her there were a rash of burglaries last year. Some one may have gotten a spare key off a hook from one of the burgled houses, tried out which house it fit, and gotten in that way”, another will earnestly opine. There is never a shortage of theories.

    The massive amateur search to solve the Weiner “mystery” has taken on that same sort of sincere nuttiness IMO. Look, something embarrassing definitely happened regarding his crotch and photos. Because he has something to hide he has managed the press very poorly. Tony’s toast. The Dems have been off message all week. That’s good enough for me.

    elissa (cfa4ff)

  36. here’s my theory elissa:

    when she sees this picture it’s gonna

    she’s gonna see it and

    man she’s gonna get this picture and

    this is gonna be so great damn I am

    smoooov

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  37. Remembering what happened to the person who blew the whistle on monica-gate

    This guy is smart to stay out of it

    EricPWJohnson (607b20)

  38. While we’re throwing out theories here:

    I think Dan Wolfe is really former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller.

    Hoystory (d0fa8a)

  39. Communists need to be struck down as a threat to classical liberalism.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  40. Look, something embarrassing definitely happened regarding his crotch and photos. Because he has something to hide he has managed the press very poorly

    Yes Elissa. You’ve got your eye on the bottom line, as usual.

    We have this petty little scandal, and most of us are tired of thinking about it and want to expand onto something else. Lee has this hunch about Dan Wolfe (and I like imaginative speculation). That’s one way.

    But man is that a missed opportunity.

    Who in the hell is this Weiner guy? He’s screaming in the House about doing what’s right, and by right, he means a massive change in the life of my family. Who in the hell is this guy? He’s a prick who has no damn right to pose as this elite expert in how I should live.

    He’s faking his outrage and moral certainty until he gets more and more power, not because he knows what to do with it, but because that’s the path of the elitist.

    And he’s so lacking as a man. He’s got groupies and dick photos. I’m hardly Ernest Hemmingway on the philosophy of manhood, but Weiner is so lacking as a man.

    I am sick of all these crappy people trying to run this country. Not just vote how their constituents want, but to fundamentally control me. Weiner was one of the loudest democrats of that variety.

    These jerks are pouring our kids’ prosperity, via generation long T Bills, into stimulus trying to save the economy in an amazingly short sighted manner. Geithner isn’t even honorable enough to pay his taxes. All they really want is crony loyalty and short term credit. They sincerely do not care about the bigger picture in this country… the long term implications of their spending.

    It’s not just liberals who have this problem. This country has a serious deficit of great people I can look up to with respect, because they are actually interested in something bigger than their dick.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  41. excuse me for that last bit

    Dustin (c16eca)

  42. “And I respect Lee’s interest in explaining what happened, no matter where that leads him, but Dan Wolfe’s credibility only related to this ancillary story he’s working on.”

    Dustin – So do I and thanks for the explanations. I prefer sticking to what we know. Wolfe said he would cooperate in an official investigation. No reason to doubt that I have seen. Anthony, for whatever reason, does not want one. Wolfe does not want the Joe The Plumber treatment, which I completely understand.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  43. Joe the Plumber

    Linda Tripp

    all had their lives laid out before the media

    EricPWJohnson (607b20)

  44. “excuse me for that last bit”

    Dustin – Tell us how you really feel next time.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  45. this would make a great off-broadway musical I think

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  46. this would make a great off-broadway musical I think

    Comment by happyfeet

    The Ballad of the Bulge

    Act I:

    when she sees this picture it’s gonna

    she’s gonna see it and

    man she’s gonna get this picture and

    this is gonna be so great damn I am

    smoooov

    Comment by happyfeet

    Dustin (c16eca)

  47. I was thinking of calling it Insouciance!

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  48. Little did the young congressman know that an innocent penis picture would soon become as toxic as a spanish cucumber, but if he had known, what would he have done differently? What could he have done?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  49. Jimmy Carter hated dictators who didn’t hate jooooooooos but yet Anthony Weiner is a dem when will he call out Jimme?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  50. Mr. Stranahan:

    My lasting monument to history is that I coined the phrase “Sore Loserman” on November 11, 2000 on Free Republic. After making a comment on an FR thread based on a Debra J. Saunders column about the post-election Florida recount, I stepped away from the computer for a couple of hours and returned to find others had picked up on it and created gifs parodying the Gore-Lieberman logo suitable for downloading. Later that week, someone snagged the domain http://www.SoreLoserman2000.com, and the Sore Loserman logo was on the front page of the Washington Post as pro-GWB protesters were holding it up on placards. It was replicated on other websites and before long, bumper stickers and t-shirts were printed up. Before it became known as “going viral,” my brainchild went viral.

    Free Republic regulars acknowledged I was the originator, but most souvenir vendors were claiming they thought of it first (one guy in Cincinnati in particular). Was I angry? Nope — I realized that if I made a big to-do about it, I would have to “out” myself. No way that was happening. Matt Drudge was the first self-made superstar of the internet, and his life was turned upside down. He’s made millions of dollars, but had to spend just about his entire life scanning the web for news. As a result, he’s made millions of dollars, but become an object of derision for millions of people as well. Once ubiquitous, he’s become reclusive, and his formerly anonymous protege Andrew Breitbart has become the target of slings and arrows instead. Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey — formerly the unnamed “Captain” of the blog Captain’s Quarters — similarly had to leave his “real job” to be a full-time online pundit.

    Although I have tried as best I can in my spare moments to make my voice heard on the web for the past thirteen years (first on USENET, then mostly Free Republic, and since 2005 on my own blog), I don’t want it to become my entire life. To that end, other than my online comments in various forums and updating my blog sporadically, there’s nothing but radio silence from me. No name, no pictures, no interviews, no phone calls. I neither want fame nor it’s evil twin, notoriety, to come to my front door. I just want the truth to be told, and sometimes, maddoggit, nobody else wants to do the way I think it should be done. So I do it myself.

    What’s my point? This: At this point in time, Dan Wolfe (if that’s his real name) doesn’t owe anybody an interview. Dan Wolfe doesn’t owe anybody a phone call. He doesn’t owe anybody anything. He caught Weiner red-handed in that tiny interval of time before he and Gennette Cordova could push the handle down on the memory hole. He’s got nothing to answer for except being the guy who revealed the truth, and the truth can speak for itself. The events as we know them exonerate Wolfe until Weiner requests an official investigation that implicates him, which Weiner insists he’s not going to do for altruistic reasons that just happen to also cover the other side of his grey briefs. As a result of Wolfe’s eagle eye, one of the most obnoxious, most arrogant, most infuriating blowhards in my lifetime of watching Washington has slid to the inner edge of self-destruction (we can’t count our chickens; after all, Charles Rangel’s still around).

    Why you want to cause trouble for Wolfe I can’t fathom. The onus is on Weiner, not Wolfe. Unless there’s a real reason besides curiosity to drag Wolfe into the hot spotlight that Weiner’s sweating underneath, don’t. In the words of Ringo Starr, “Back off, boogaloo.”

    L.N. Smithee (4d2a87)

  51. I don’t know if anyone besides me can see the comment I posted at 11:46 pm. It’s not showing up in the right column. If it’s in moderation, watch the space above this comment.

    L.N. Smithee (4d2a87)

  52. Just wait.

    In six months this will be an episode of on eof the Law and Order shows — “ripped from the headlines.” A woman will be murdered because she received a photo and went public. Two possibilities: either the killer will turn out to be the evil Republican politician who sent it, or else a noble Democrat politician who is falsely accused of sending it will turn out to have been framed by an evil Republican activist hacker. If it’s the latter, it will turn out that he coluldn’t just go to the police to clear his name because he was involved in secret, delicate negotiations for World Peace, or something.

    Murgatroyd (fd5fcd)

  53. If that pic isn’t really Weiener’s weiner, one little ol’ phone call to the FBI would solve things immediately. It’s obvious to nearly everyone why that hasn’t happened.

    Dirty Old Man (2e2a43)

  54. Well said, L.N. Smithee.

    PatAZ (f23d3e)

  55. …..this is off thread but as i have been away for some weeks and not reading Patterico, comming here this morning for the first time in awhile i notice how SMALL the text is ( OK, i am getting older).

    I notice most other blogs/sites have this text thingy at the top of page where one can adjust size of text but i dont see one here, how come? and is this a big deal to put on this site.

    James Conrad (17813a)

  56. Dustin,

    Your 10:05 PM is exactly how I feel. The hell with finding someone with the right policies, we need the right ‘someones’ to lead us.

    East Bay Jay (19f566)

  57. Lee – Pusa is not the center of this. Wiener is. Weiner’s wiener is.

    JD (0d01eb)

  58. Lee Stranahan has a very interesting theory.

    Which is complete BS.

    And now he’s attacking a completely peripheral figure in the whole story.

    Who next? The co-ed? Her mother?

    Why not simply accept the obvious explanation: the guy was sending nasty pictures to a select list of young women, and slipped up.

    Rob Crawford (04f50f)

  59. Does it really matter who Dan is as long as the path that he/she started leads to the demise of a smarmy, sanctimonious little hypocrite?

    He/she exposed some despicable truths hidden in a closet of a big mouth annoying politician who was always one of the first to call for the resignation of a fellow politician.

    Whoever Dan is, he/she has done us a considerable service. I just wish that he/she targets a few more annoying big mouth politicians like Barney Frank.

    Canuck (08ef5c)

  60. UPDATE BY PATTERICO: I don’t think that, in the usual instance, a mere reluctance to talk to people is at all strange for someone who has broken a national story that harms a powerful politician’s career. However, I think Lee’s theory makes more sense if you understand certain points, some of which you know and some of which you may not. The key thing to understand is that nobody is trying to exonerate Weiner — in fact, if Lee’s theory is true, Weiner may be trying to cover up some things worse than sending a lewd picture. Here are some points I want to make sure you all understand:

    • Weeks ago, PatriotUSA76 (whom I’ll just call “Patriot”) said he was aware of compromising photographs of a “big-time Congressman” being in the hands of a top 5 conservative blogger.
    • Patriot has been uniquely obsessed with Weiner, which suggests the “big-time Congressman” was Weiner.
    • Patriot’s explanation of how he happened to see the tweet makes almost no sense. It would take too long to explain why right now; trust me, it requires a pretty big coincidence. Which could happen, of course. I’m not saying it couldn’t.
    • Patriot isn’t simply reluctant to talk; his proffered explanation is bizarre. A private conversation with Breitbart might end up appearing online and somehow be used by his ex-wife, or something? My forehead is lined as I make a very quizzical expression.
    • Many of you claim the yFrog angle has been debunked. What you haven’t been told is that this is not really true. If you sign up with yFrog, and (as they ask you to) agree that yFrog can access your Twitter account, you can indeed have pictures posted by e-mail, if someone knows your secret yFrog address. I confirmed this with George Gooding. The opponents of the theory cite Weiner’s claimed unfamiliarity with yFrog as proof that he didn’t have an account. I say: why believe anything he says?
    • So if Patriot is, or knew, a Weiner paramour who had a compromising photo and knew Weiner’s yFrog e-mail address, they could post it. This is speculation and I am not saying it’s true — but it would explain Weiner’s odd blanket denial of sending the Tweet, but curious accompanying refusal to blanketly deny it’s him.

    The main problem with the theory is the Seattle tweet that came earlier in the night, which we know Weiner wrote. Lee’s theory is that perhaps Patriot saw that tweet and seized on it (and the woman’s response) as the perfect time to send off the photo. Could be; also seems like a bit of a stretch.

    I say all this, not really to subscribe to the theory, but to show that a) it is not designed to exonerate Weiner, and b) to explain why Patriot’s odd behavior seems potentially relevant. Again, this all hits home much better if you understand how staggeringly unlikely Patriot’s story is that he just happened to see the tweet, which is something that depends upon the mechanics of Twitter that Lee and I experimented with last night. Bottom line is: for Patriot to a) see the tweet on Weiner’s page and not on a Twitter client; b) not have followed Weiner; and c) know that the tweet was up for only 1-5 seconds — all claims that he has made — is just a story that doesn’t ring true. And with him being the source — and having prior knowledge of photos of a big-time Congressman — I can’t help but wonder what is going on.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  61. And I agree with some comments above that remind us, Lee, of what happens to whistle blowers, especially conservative whistle blowers like Joe the Plumber and Breibart.

    Their lives are dissected in the public spotlight and they are victimized and ridiculed by a large segment of our society, regardless of the truth.

    How many times have I read or heard by liberal media this week that the whole Weiner episode should be ignored and dismissed solely by the fact that Andrew Breibart was involved. They refuse to question or accept that Breibart exposed some ugly truths about ACORN and the NAACP. Let’s disgrace the messenger instead.

    I don’t blame Dan Wolfe at all.

    Canuck (08ef5c)

  62. ok you convinced me PatriotUSA76 needs to explain some stuff.

    Plus that cheesy contrived twitter name does look and feel like misdirection.

    And we know Weiner was among a decided minority of reps what are solidly in Camp Hillary, which is a very distinct camp than the one the obamawhores pitch their tent in.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  63. *from* the one I mean

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  64. This is not about targeting the messenger, though it may seem that way at first blush. It’s about exploring whether Weiner is covering up more than we know.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  65. Patriot isn’t simply reluctant to talk; his proffered explanation is bizarre. A private conversation with Breitbart might end up appearing online and somehow be used by his ex-wife, or something? My forehead is lined as I make a very quizzical expression.

    Really? His emails to Breitbart are online right now. So why is it so crazy for him to have feared the same thing could happen to his phone calls?

    MayBee (081489)

  66. who are the top 5 conservative bloggers anyway

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  67. that’s a good point too – are the emails how I have come to know that Mr. Patriot can’t keep a relationship with a woman together to save his life?

    tmi

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  68. Focus on patriot person is a distraction.

    JD (0d01eb)

  69. Weiner’s odd blanket denial of sending the Tweet

    is that what he’s saying? I’ve heard him saying he didn’t send the picture – by which I think dick picture boy means that if sleepless in seattle never received the picture, then it can’t be said that a picture was ever sent.

    This is how he thinks in his dick picture boy head I think.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  70. Patterico – Thank you for the added context on Lee’s theories. It helps a lot.

    I’m still not as convinced his behavior is as bizarre as you seem to think. I don’t use twitter but I do look at peoples’ twitter feeds occasionally to see what they are saying and I do it exactly the way you describe patriotusa doing it, so to me it does not seem bizarre at all.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  71. Poor dick photo management skills

    JD (0d01eb)

  72. Deep Throat managed to get his important message out but also managed to stay undercover and private for 40 years. Even his family did not know. He used misdirection and denial for many years to keep reporters off the scent. Outing him early on would likely have changed the course of US history. Would that have been preferable? I don’t think so. Did Deep Throat have some professional grudges and personal pettiness which in part drove him to be a whistleblower? Yes he did. But at the end of the day was he mistaken in his facts? Apparently not.

    If there are more arrows in PatriotUSA76’s quiver maybe he/she could use a bit of space to aim them.

    Yes. It does look to me like the messenger is being targeted. Perhaps Dan Wolfe has a Woodward and Bernstein he is already working with, too, or perhaps he is in the process of choosing one for additional collaboration. How would we know?

    elissa (e89bf6)

  73. I’m still not as convinced his behavior is as bizarre as you seem to think. I don’t use twitter but I do look at peoples’ twitter feeds occasionally to see what they are saying and I do it exactly the way you describe patriotusa doing it, so to me it does not seem bizarre at all.

    I’m not saying it’s bizarre to look at someone’s page. I’m saying it’s bizarre to have foreknowledge of a compromising photo of a big-time Congressman, be obsessed with a particular big-time Congressman, and just happen to be on that guy’s page when he hasn’t been tweetimg for hours, at the magic moment when he had a compromising photo up for 1-5 seconds.

    The tweets don’t automatically disappear from a page. You have to refresh. So he would have to have two tabs open and be furiously refreshing at just the right time to a) get a screenshot and b) know it was up for 1-5 seconds.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  74. As far as the yFrog theory goes- I get that it is possible. But so is getting someone’s password.
    Why is the yFrog theory any more plausible/enticing than the idea that someone just passworded his way into Weiner’s Twitter stream?

    MayBee (081489)

  75. btw I’m looking for angel investors to back my securedickphotos.com site

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  76. I’m saying it’s bizarre to have foreknowledge of a compromising photo of a big-time Congressman, be obsessed with a particular big-time Congressman, and just happen to be on that guy’s page when he hasn’t been tweetimg for hours, at the magic moment when he had a compromising photo up for 1-5 seconds.

    But then, don’t we have to ask the reverse question?
    If someone else posted something on Weiner’s twitter feed, how did Weiner know it within 1-5 seconds?

    MayBee (081489)

  77. happyfeet- perhaps a good investor would be Jeff Gannon.

    MayBee (081489)

  78. how did Weiner know it within 1-5 seconds?

    ok now I’m back where i started – I think we let weiner do his splaining first and then later we can see if we have any questions for Mr. patriot

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  79. “I’m not saying it’s bizarre to look at someone’s page. I’m saying it’s bizarre to have foreknowledge of a compromising photo of a big-time Congressman”

    Patterico – The foreknowledge is an assumption on your part, not a claim made by patriot. He claimed he knew Weiner had dirt on him, not that a tweet was coming.

    If you saw a questionable tweet, wouldn’t you screencap it right away on the assumption it would get removed at some point? You have had your own comments removed or altered on other sites and taken screen caps to prove that they were there as evidence. Refreshing the page to see if it is still there does not seem like a big deal.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  80. ==But then, don’t we have to ask the reverse question?
    If someone else posted something on Weiner’s twitter feed, how did Weiner know it within 1-5 seconds?==

    Bingo, MayBee.

    elissa (e89bf6)

  81. But then, don’t we have to ask the reverse question?
    If someone else posted something on Weiner’s twitter feed, how did Weiner know it within 1-5 seconds?

    I’m glad you asked, because the answer is straightforward yet perhaps not immediately obvious to non-Twitter users. Many of us get notifications when people mention us. This can include a “retweet” of something we said. So Patriot retweets the message in the 1-5 seconds it’s up. Weiner is immediately notified and deletes the tweet.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  82. You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead — your next stop, the Twilight Zone.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  83. Patterico – The foreknowledge is an assumption on your part, not a claim made by patriot. He claimed he knew Weiner had dirt on him, not that a tweet was coming.

    A photo, not just dirt. And I didn’t say he claimed to have foreknowledge the tweet was coming. I’m saying that without foreknowledge it would be a big coincidence given his foreknowledge of the photo.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  84. To think there is nothing odd here requires willfully overlooking some large coincidences.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  85. then why did weiner boy immediately claim it was his facebook what was hacked if he had gotten a twitter notification

    I just don’t understand

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  86. nobody tells me antything

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  87. *anything* I mean

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  88. I’m glad you asked, because the answer is straightforward yet perhaps not immediately obvious to non-Twitter users. Many of us get notifications when people mention us. This can include a “retweet” of something we said. So Patriot retweets the message in the 1-5 seconds it’s up. Weiner is immediately notified and deletes the tweet.

    So we have two possibilities:
    Patriot has a lonely Friday night, is monitoring Weiner’s twitter feed (who knows how many others), sees a tweet go up, retweets it and screen caps it in about 5 seconds
    or
    Patriot drops a photo into Weiner’s twitter stream. Weiner is not tweeting at the time. Patriot then retweets under his own id. Within 1-5 seconds of the original tweet (not the retweet), Weiner receives a blackberry notification of the retweet, opens up his Twitter account, and deletes the tweet.

    Those are the choices, right?

    MayBee (081489)

  89. How does the #545 tweet fit into the Patriot Hack scenario?

    MayBee (081489)

  90. did we all see that as of an hour ago Mr. wolfe has deletered his twitter?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  91. “A photo, not just dirt. And I didn’t say he claimed to have foreknowledge the tweet was coming.”

    Patterico – No, you are implying he had foreknowledge of something otherwise it is simply to crazy a coincidence for somebody interested in Weiner to be watching his twitter page on a Friday night. I’m not feelin’ it.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  92. The picture and the tweet go out because of Patriot. The clock starts. We have 1 -5 seconds.
    Patriot retweets it.
    Weiner gets a notification that he’s been mentioned
    He reads the mention
    (Question- is the photo expanded in the notification?)
    He determines what is being retweeted is not something he’d tweeted
    He gets onto Twitter
    He deletes the tweet

    Is Weiner monitoring his blackberry so he can receive notification of and delete a tweet in 1-5 seconds more plausible than Patriot monitoring Weiner’s twitter feed so he can retweet in 1-5 seconds?

    MayBee (081489)

  93. I think it’s most likely that weiner tweetered a photo of his erect penis to west coast snooki and then he said oh crap my facebook got hacked thank god for my trusty toaster

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  94. that is my best understanding of what happened

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  95. I don’t have all the facts but Anthony’s weiner acted dickish…………….Thank you I will be here for another 50 hours.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  96. He must have some mad fast BlackBerry skillz. And 4G. All of that in less than 5 seconds?

    JD (822109)

  97. Occam is getting p@ssed.

    JD (2da347)

  98. JD do you know that the WHO say cell phones cause cancer so does that mean Anthony has weiner cancer?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  99. “Is Weiner monitoring his blackberry so he can receive notification of and delete a tweet in 1-5 seconds more plausible than Patriot monitoring Weiner’s twitter feed so he can retweet in 1-5 seconds?”

    Maybee – Perhaps the retweet went to Weiners weiner which is always watching for wayward weiner images. Coincidence? I think not.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  100. Thanks for the clarifications Patterico.

    I just want to mention that when I say the yfrog email claim has been debunked, what I am saying is that it’s not proven that the email uploader was used. So a big reason to suspect PatriotUSA goes away.

    Sure, it’s still possible. But the ‘URL header is missing!’ point does mean anything other than a twitter was deleted (which we knew already).

    With that point gone, the reasons to wonder about Patriot USA are pedestrian. He was watching Weiner so carefully, after claiming he was going to be caught up in a scandal, saw something in the nick of time, and now he’s trying to avoid being identified. Sure, find that suspicious, but it’s a lot weaker than the initial debunked theory, which included ‘And we know for sure someone other than weiner uploaded this picture’.

    Frankly, I think when Weiner’s account posted this picture to the world, with 45k people notified, and anyone watching seeing it, someone was bound to notice. So it only appears to be a coincidence. And among the people who would have noticed, the ones who make the biggest fuss are the ones who don’t like Weiner. Especially perhaps someone who is obsessed with Weiner.

    What if Patriot USA is just the ex boyfriend of one of Weiner’s very young groupies? Or her brother or father? There have got to be a few creeped out people worried for a couple of these girls. Or just insert any of a number of motivations to be obsessed with this twitter page. I think it’s clear enough that Weiner attracts plenty of attention that several people would watch him carefully.

    So that leaves us with the prophecy some congressman will be exposed. And the fear of his behavior affecting his custody dispute. I don’t want to speculate some elaborate explanation. I just think this doesn’t prove anything.

    That doesn’t mean Lee and Breitbart shouldn’t follow these leads. Even if Weiner isn’t hiding something worse, I’m glad they are honest men.

    But my take on this is that Weiner has been compromised enough. His accusations of being hacked combined with standing against anyone investigating the hack, combined with his penis shots and his many young groupies who “love” him and call him “boyfriend”… that all shows what a pathetic little man he is. Just a small person, who uses the power entrusted by the voters like he’s a rock star, focused entirely on his little sexual wishes. His radical shift from hawk and moderate to screaming for single payer… those huge issues were all about his political fame.

    I actually think there’s something to Lee’s theory, but Patterico’s helpful focusing only shows just how this entire theory is a hunch, amounting to a furrowed brow at strange comment. Isn’t it likely that someone obsessed with an opposing politician’s twitter is a little weird? Whatever Weiner is hiding, I’m sure it’s just more of the same selfish petty crap.

    What we do know is more than enough. Sadly, he’ll still have many supporters.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  101. I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his mortified bride but sumpin touched me deep inside the day

    the tweeters

    died

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  102. …..this is off thread but as i have been away for some weeks and not reading Patterico, comming here this morning for the first time in awhile i notice how SMALL the text is ( OK, i am getting older).

    I notice most other blogs/sites have this text thingy at the top of page where one can adjust size of text but i dont see one here, how come? and is this a big deal to put on this site.

    Comment by James Conrad —

    Hold Ctrl and hit + or use your scroll wheel.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  103. How is patriot person any different than kmart? Or timmah?

    Even if you accept that patriot person has a kind of OCD fixation on Teh Weiner, I do not see what bit of difference that makes. Congresscritter Weiner posted a pic of his junk in not at all nice drawers. Focusing on patriotperson really misses the bigger point.

    Compare and contrast Rep Lee and Rep Weinerhole.

    JD (0d2ffc)

  104. I am rather of the opinion that when Eugene Robinson is bustin’ Weiner’s chops in the WP the story has pretty much reached status in the beltway. The Dems obviously have decided to throw Anthony under the bus and put pedal to the metal.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-brief-on-rep-anthony-weiner/2011/06/02/AGqWIZHH_story.html?hpid=z4

    elissa (e89bf6)

  105. patriot seems to be a moot point now anyway he said later losers

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  106. Congresscritter Weiner posted a pic of his junk in not at all nice drawers. Focusing on patriotperson really misses the bigger point.

    Yup.

    Focus should be on Weiner accusing hacking, but then covering up who really sent the picture (Weiner, therefore). He goes around refusing to answer simple questions about his own accusations. His staff are calling the police if you try to interview him, but not on the mythical hackers?

    There are a whole bunch of details that bolster it, and it’s tedious to line them up again.

    What bit of difference it might make to learn more about Patriot USA is the chance of learning more salacious details. Weiner’s still the slimeball, whether that hunch pans out or not. He’s the one offering the lamest more dishonest answers to questions like “Is that your penis in that photo”. He’s the one making serious allegations and standing in the way of the investigation that should oblige him to.

    So is the chance of learning a few more salacious details worth the risk that Patriot USA is what he claims to be: a nervous dogooder who retweeted something? Do we want to establish a pattern where if you want to tip a conservative blogger, they will assume the worst about you?

    His claims panned out. Weiner’s penis and Weiner’s verified accounts sent this stuff, Weiner was there approximately when it happened to delete it, Weiner is covering up the facts while making allegations that would be easily provable (but he doesn’t want to prove them).

    And how did PatriotUSA’s email get released? I don’t think he released it, and I don’t think Breitbart did. Who did that?

    Dustin (c16eca)

  107. Weinertweet is a great word.

    JD (d48c3b)

  108. With Weiner’s reaction time (1-5 seconds to delete a tweet he didn’t post, while he was supposedly not tweeting!), we could make it really good.
    Maybe Patriot is someone known to Weiner, but Weiner doesn’t know who. And at the very moment “Patriot” posted the photo, the real Patriot called Weiner and told him “Hey, I’m about to send you a sexy picture. Check Twitter”.

    Maybe.

    MayBee (081489)

  109. Maybe Genette IS Patriot.

    The grand unified theory.

    MayBee (081489)

  110. Could it be that Weiner isn’t reporting this to the authorities is because he’s afraid of being tagged with a “filing a false report” charge, because he was involved in the “hack”, even if unintentionally, say by sending that pic to someone else?

    htom (412a17)

  111. Where does the “1-5 seconds” come from? Isn’t it likely that patriot’s retweet of the weiner yfrog is what alerted weiner to delete it?

    Patriot’s retweet included an @repweiner mention (I think). This would alert weiner that he’d screwed up.

    In that case, the weiner tweet may have been there for several minutes before patriot stumbled on it.

    Molon Labe (615079)

  112. BREAKING:

    while yesterday’s news is still valid and the tasty ice creams at the James Hotel’s JBar are a definite go today, there’s still a recession on, isn’t there? Yes indeed there is – and that means value is not to be slighted. And while the $5 scoops of ice creams at JBar are certainly value of a kind – what say you to waiting a day for a $2.99 rainbow milkshake? A philanthropic $2.99 rainbow milkshake, no less. Strawberry and orange blossom notes prevail in this tasty frozen treat, set against a symphony of vanilla splendor, and it all benefits the good programs from our friends at Make A Wish.

    Course you want today you can have the tasty JBar ice creams and tomorrow you can enjoy the tasty milkshake. But what’s a pikachu have if he doesn’t have his choices?

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  113. Could it be that Weiner isn’t reporting this to the authorities is because he’s afraid of being tagged with a “filing a false report” charge

    Htom, I think that’s absolutely why he won’t report this to law enforcement.

    What’s annoying is that I’d say he already is reporting it officially. In his capacity as a congressman, he is claiming this hack occurred. That’s serious enough to justify a real investigation.

    Weiner is simply trying to make that claim in places where it is legal to lie. This is a big reason to think he wasn’t hacked. He could report the hack to the FBI and demand no further invasions of his privacy, and have it established that he did not send the picture. He could even just ask Twitter to show he didn’t send the picture, which would be less risky if Weiner wants the real hacker to remain anonymous for some bizarre reason.

    It takes a pretty grand assumption to think he’s not simply hiding that he sent the picture.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  114. Molon- I agree, and that makes Weiner’s reaction time seem possible- because he was already on Twitter, and knew what he *thought* he had just DM’d.

    MayBee (081489)

  115. I can’t imagine huma is gonna just sit there and be one of those.

    She’s the other shoe what hasn’t dropped yet.

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  116. Here’s something that makes you go hmmmmmmmm.

    It seems like the story is, how do you say, evolving again…

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bitter_tweet_affair_has_co_ed_worn_qCnymOy6zYIBGkdJhLyw1M#ixzz1OCl944qy

    According to this article, the porn star Ginger Lee is speculating aloud that perhaps Weiner intended to send her the photo instead of Gennette, and just, you know, effed up. That might explain a lot; like the quick deletion, lack of absolute denial by Weiner, etc.

    Just thought I’d put that on the table.

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  117. when you tweeter from afar
    makes no difference who you are
    don’t show her your dick is hard –
    your tweets will haunt you

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  118. She dropped her classes just before finals, but wants to get back to her normal life.
    She wants to be left alone, but made sure to pose for flattering pictures first.
    She gave an interview, because its been almost a whole week and she’d like things to quiet down now.

    And @patriot76 is the one acting oddly?

    MayBee (081489)

  119. That’s awesome hf!

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  120. Wiener’s real difficulty is that he really does have some sort of pathology of personality that includes a pervy fixation on barely legal girls (or even questionably legal) and he does at least indulge this fantasy/fixation with contacts with live young women even if at a distance.

    The shame of reality, so soon after his Vogue-feted toast of Washington power marriage to a beautiful woman with her own glittering prospects, is an acute embarrassment for anyone invested in the glossy, fawning portrait of that union painted in all the social rags.

    Weiner won’t change and he won’t stop, so that’s going to be a problem over time that makes him a poorer political investment, a liability, even.

    The cover he’s gotten so far doesn’t change that, and it comes at a time when public exhaustion with perverts overlooked “for the cause” is part of the atmosphere. He’s lost quite a bit of edge as a laughingstock, and his poor deflection skills have only damaged him. Everyone realizes his denials have been treated more generously than they ought to, and everyone in their inner hearts admits of doubt in his denials, even if inclined to give his behavior a pass.

    ..Don’t really know what to make of the rather over the top persona of PatriotUSA76/Dan Wolfe.

    It was was easy to account for his behaviour when generally described, but the specifics are NUTS.

    His actions contrast pretty sharply with his earlier bravado. He went from Internet tough nut “BRING IT ON! baby,” unafraid of anything that might come out, to afraid of investigation both by the authorities and anyone else. And his fears as expressed were TMI and completely uncessary to say “no phone” – the “too much detail” thing being the mark of a liar.

    It only make sense as half-truth if any truth, and/or if he is involved in hiding something his exwife has a right to know about, or violating court orders relative to his divorce or custody, or assets. How could he POSSIBLY have gotten in “legal trouble” before from a recorded conversation?

    In the light most favorable to him, he is just making up excuses under pressure. In the worst light, he is some kind of shady character who has had a Burkett-style agenda against his enemy Weiner, in play for a while.

    What bothers me most is the broad hints and tips from several weeks ago, even hinting at the specific nature of the photo (please…”‘Big time’congressman”. That discussion was so very Bill Burkett, it bugs me.

    SarahW (af7312)

  121. According to this article, the porn star Ginger Lee is speculating aloud that perhaps Weiner intended to send her the photo instead of Gennette, and just, you know, effed up.

    Sadly, I think this affair is probably really helping her business, so she may just want more attention.

    But as a cynical partisan, sure, I have no trouble believing Weiner was sending pics like this to people like Ginger. It makes perfect sense. Only a whore, to use Ginger’s term for herself in one of her film titles, would pretend that kind of picture is a turn on.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  122. Maybee, have been agreeing she seems more the natural subject of questions than DW.

    Weiner sends pictures of his lovely liberal lumps to ladies, though (Actually, girls). He’s the real creep at the end of the story.

    SarahW (af7312)

  123. Does Ginger Lee hint he was DM’g her around that time?

    SarahW (af7312)

  124. Weiner sends pictures of his lovely liberal lumps to ladies, though (Actually, girls). He’s the real creep at the end of the story.

    Totally agree, SarahW.

    Unless I’m reading the article wrong, it is Cordova who speculates Weiner meant to sent the pic to Ginger.

    MayBee (081489)

  125. Good point Dustin, it could be an, “extend my 15 minutes of fame thing”, for Ginger.

    And you’re also correct that it’s easier to accept the explanation based on partisan predispositions that Weiner was of poor character or had sketchy intentions.

    I just thought it an interesting “evolution” in the story. It still doesn’t explain the Dan Wolfe angle at all. And maybe it means that it’s un-necessary.

    Maybe Wolfe is/knows Ginger Lee. Anything is possible.

    To paraphrase the character of Sherlock Holmes, “When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the explanation to the case”; or something like that.

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  126. Sarah here’s a chunk of Mr. patriot’s now-defunct twitter stream

    at #21 there’s an ezradulis what says that our patriot friend did NOT single out Weiner as the big time congressman – that he had speculated that it might be Weiner or Frank or Rangel …

    and if you scroll back up to #20 it’s suggested that the rumor started when it was sent across Mr. Patriot’s twitter stream and Mr. Patriot retweeted it – meaning the suggestion is the rumor didn’t originate with him

    WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN???

    I’m so confuzzled.

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  127. Or should I have said, extendz™ her 15 minutes of fame…

    🙂

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  128. Wait a minute. This is ridiculous. Just go to the original BigGovernment post.

    There’s a *screencap” of weinertweet that clearly says “2 hours, 18 minutes ago”.

    So weinertweet *had* to have been live for at least 2 hours 18 minutes, not “1-5 seconds”.

    Molon Labe (615079)

  129. Cordova thinks the package-hugging picture — which Weiner “can’t say with certitude” isn’t his — was meant for somebody else and landed in her Twitter account by mistake


    “Her name is Ginger — it makes sense he might have mixed us up,” Cordova said, noting that two of the first three letters of their names are the same.

    Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bitter_tweet_affair_has_co_ed_worn_qCnymOy6zYIBGkdJhLyw1M#ixzz1OEqgQOcI

    MayBee (081489)

  130. I linked that same story at 116 May Bee.

    Interseting, no?

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  131. Good point, Molon.
    The photo screenshot says it was posted 27 minutes, 28 seconds ago.

    MayBee (081489)

  132. Bob- yeah, I got that from you. Thanks for that. Sorry the link was kinda an automatic thing. I do think it’s Cordova speculating about Ginger, not Ginger speculating.

    MayBee (081489)

  133. Bob, it’s interesting.

    I kinda feel like I was rude to call Ginger a whore. She does sleep with men for money, and does lesser things like strip and flirt for money, but reading her blog shows she’s actually a smart woman who has a lot of problems, some appearing to be mental problems, and I don’t want to express a hateful attitude towards her for that. She’s not hurting anyone or breaking any laws.

    But anyway, my point is that Weiner sending his penis tweets out is so pathetic, that perhaps the only people who respond favorably to that are those who professionally pretend ugliness is sexy.

    My guess is Ginger just wants publicity for her business. From what I read, she might actually have a good book in her. Who knows? It’s this kind of assumption that the public will easily accept.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  134. Dustin, Apparently the star of “legal at last” has a stalker, for reals. Anybody know her real name? She (says she) has a restraining order she carries with her at all times. It was a person who was a fixture of her private life, not a stranger stalker. I would like to find out who is named in the order.

    SarahW (af7312)

  135. early on I remember reading “four minutes”

    Weiner deleted the tweet with the link to the photo four minutes after it went out on his public twitter feeds, and claimed he was hacked, blaming the lewd photo on the hacker.*

    take it away Boyce Ave

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  136. MayBee: I wonder why the discrepancy in times?

    Molon Labe (615079)

  137. She says he’s ransacked her computer, goes through her trash, “has blackmailed her and the person trying to date her”.

    SarahW (af7312)

  138. And if it’s just Weiner’s other jealous groupies speculating, that’s also interesting. Weiner’s little e-harem appears to be poorly managed.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  139. You’re right May Bee,
    I mixed up who was doing the speculating. I’ll have to demand a refund from Evelyn Wood!

    🙂

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  140. Molon- maybe the screenshot of the tweet at big government is from the Congressional twitter feed? That one stayed out there a long time. But it looks like the pic stayed up for at least 27 minutes.

    MayBee (081489)

  141. Anybody know her real name?

    I did see her real name, but I think she wants that kept confidential. You can find it if your google.

    Are you speculating that PatriotUSA is this stalker of Ginger’s? That’s as good a theory as any.

    I feel bad for Ginger. Her politics are far from mine, but she wants to be a feminist while staring in films where she’s called “whore” and treated like a submissive object. That’s not good for the soul.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  142. Now in the words of our pal happyfeet, I’m “confuzzled” about how long the tweet heard ’round the ‘nets actually was out in cyberspace.

    Seems like more than 5 seconds from what I’m seeing.

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  143. MayBee: I thought that but when I go to Tweetcongress the tweets aren’t formatted like that.

    Unlikely Patriot waited an hour and a half between capping the yfrog pic and capping the tweet.

    At any rate, the yfrog cap clearly shows weinertweet must have been live for about a half hour. Plenty of time for patriot to happen across it.

    Molon Labe (615079)

  144. I’m fairly certain that Gennete and Ginger aren’t guilty of anything here. But others have followed this closer than I.

    The entire lot comes off as a bit “nicked”, but then aren’t we all in one way or another?

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  145. ohnoes we have a certifiably distracted weiner … that was the last thing anyone wanted

    U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has canceled his speaking appearance at the state Democratic Convention on Friday night in Milwaukee.

    Graeme Zielinski, party spokesman, confirmed the cancellation and said the decision was Weiner’s, and that the party’s invitation to him was still good.

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  146. I think we should be focusing in on the girl. She is absolutely a full blown hoochie. Not coming clean about her relationship to with congressman Tallywacker.

    Also, some more background on the wife/political hack/liability led to convenient marriage in name only angle.
    Something smells bad there.

    About this witch hunt for Mr and/or Mrs Patriot.
    Why? What do you want to do, give em a medal?
    Can we step back and recognize that these people who back Rep Little Dick are ruthless and disgusting thugs, for whom facts are only good as ornaments to distract the public from their thuggery?

    Remember when an entire fleet of Navy Officers stood up to give testimony regarding the true character of one John F’en Kerry?
    Did their obvious integrity, service to our country, unimpeachable character, matter one little bit to lowlifes like Wiener and his supporters?
    Not one god damned bit. The term swiftboat is used as a perjorative in everyday lexicon thanks to scum like wiener and Kos.

    Now you are trying to help them destroy Patriot.
    Doesn’t matter what your motives are, the end result will be a detriment.

    papertiger (e55ba0)

  147. Likely, Weiner intended the dick pic for Porn Princess, Ginger Lee, but screwed up on the address.

    Patriot may also be involved with Ginger (a wild eyed guess) and is keeping track of rivals, which would explain his obsession with Weiner and his reluctance to alienate Ginger by further damage to her Sexy Congresman.

    ropelight (d5403b)

  148. wow that’s a devastating blow against terror – cupcakes are the universal terrorism solvent I think

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  149. My theory is that the “Dan Wolfe” persona on Twitter is nothing but a sock puppet for someone well known, possibly a blogger, who would not want it known they spent all their time obsessing over Weiner’s twitter feed. Or someone close to the GOP.

    East Coast Chris (c31a9b)

  150. Patterico – No, you are implying he had foreknowledge of something otherwise it is simply to crazy a coincidence for somebody interested in Weiner to be watching his twitter page on a Friday night. I’m not feelin’ it.

    Please pay closer attention.

    Yes, I am implying foreknowledge of the impending tweet.

    I am denying that he CLAIMED foreknowledge of the impending tweet.

    He claimed foreknowledge of a photo (not just dirt) of a bigtime Congressman. He made this claim on a Twitter account happy says he has deleted.

    Now go back and read our exchanges on this topic carefully, distinguishing between dirt vs. a photo; foreknowledge of a tweet vs. foreknowledge of a photo; claiming foreknowledge of the tweet vs. HAVING foreknowledge.

    Each time you’re twisting what I said just a little bit.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  151. You guys act like Lee and I are covering for Weiner with this admitted speculation. Can’t you see that we’re theorizing that Weiner is covering up MORE than a simple misdirected DM?

    Patterico (0d653a)

  152. And I don’t buy the victim card for Patriot. If he chose to be the source and give an improbable explanation for how he saw the tweet, I don’t feel bad for questioning it.

    For all Patriot’s statements to be true he would have to have two browsers open to Weiner’s twitter page and be furiously refreshing. At just the right time. Either that, or something he said was wrong.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  153. If Lee’s theory is right, you guys could be the ones letting Weiner off the hook by rushing to declare Patriot’s improbable story off limits for discussion.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  154. SarahW understands the points I am making.

    Patterico (0d653a)

  155. By now you’ve seen Tommy Christopher’s mediate story:
    http://www.mediaite.com/online/andrew-breitbart-did-not-run-weinergate-evidence-which-turned-out-to-be-fabricated/

    While I have new respect for TC’s respect for journo ethics, I am horribly depressed.

    That’s because I don’t buy it. I wish I did, but it reeks – and not of sordid truth.

    It seems that parents have either bought into or carefully stage managed – maybe even with help- what would otherwise be the worst kind of life-altering nightmare for the teens.

    Tommy should know that the parents wouldn’t necessarily know of any and all DM’s. Both sides of the conversation vanish when one side deletes a DM.

    And the ” [Betty was] unfollowed as a favor” (to save her from marauders) doesn’t at all comport with her expressed misery and bewilderment at being unfollowed.

    There is a striking similarity of language with GC’s (seattle girls) early statements establishing the language which we are to associate with goatsred and PatriotUSA76 – they are “harassers”.

    More like “contacters” expressing concern at worst – and persistence complained of isn’t very reasonable if you accept the story told, as told – because Veronica was actually telling them that Weiner was soliciting sexually inappropriate contact with minors.

    Did Veronica REALLY make it all up? That’s their story and they’re sticking to it, it might even be the case. And yet, I feel so depressed, because I’d like to believe it but I don’t really.

    I think “Veronica” would take it all back if pressure were put on her. I think this because I was once a teenaged girl – more worried about being caught telling the truth – once the consequences of that were laid out – than anything else.

    SarahW (af7312)

  156. wow twitter looks more and more like a sleazy sewer of underage sex hijinks by the minute

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  157. it’s like the thailand of the internet

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  158. “Each time you’re twisting what I said just a little bit.”

    Patterico – I am not intentionally trying to twist anything. I understand what patriot said about some big name Dem earlier in the month. I am trying to understand your claim that it is a CRAZEE coincidence for Wolfe to be looking at Weiner’s twitter feed on a Friday night when this went down, because that kind of sh*t just doesn’t happen unless he had “foreknowledge” that something was going to happen.

    Are you claiming Wolfe knew something was going to happen that night?
    We know Wolfe and his buddies were promoting the rumor that there was dirt on a Northeast Dem. Are you suggesting Wolfe or one of his buddies inserted the dic pic into Weiner’s twitter stream?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  159. if you suspect that a weiner is having hot underage twittersex, then it’s sort of your duty to refresh a lot and try to do your part for truth justice and the American way I think

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  160. “Can’t you see that we’re theorizing that Weiner is covering up MORE than a simple misdirected DM?”

    Patterico – Then emphasize that part of the speculation if that is what you want people to focus on rather than whether the odds are a million to one against a person seeing a tweet on Weiner’s page on a Friday night.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  161. Did the MFM cover Weiner’s dick jokes to Emily Miller?

    JD (bc40cd)

  162. Weiner is flaccid.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  163. everywhere that Mary went her lamb was sure to go… until one day Mary went on twitter. Twitter! Her loyal little lamb visibly blanched and said, “Mary you have gone where I cannot follow for you have entered a den of sexual predation.” And Mary said, “Ok whatever but if you tell my mom I’ll effing kill you.”

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  164. Then Mary said “I want to have sexual relations with Anthony Weiner” and he sent me a dirty, dirty DM.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  165. CNN has an article on its website called 9 things Weinergate tells us about Twitter. Here is #3:

    Checking Twitter on a Friday night is the new normal.

    College student Gennette Cordova, recipient of the offending tweet, wrote for the New York Daily News that she first learned about it when logging into Twitter on a Friday night.

    If you think that’s unusual activity for a co-ed on a Friday night, get with the 21st century. A dozen of Cordova’s friends had already seen the Weiner tweet, she wrote.

    According to Twitter tracking firm Sysomos, Friday is the third-biggest day of the week for tweeting (after Tuesday and Wednesday.) Social media, it seems, is how we like to relax after hitting the books.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/06/03/weinergate.twitter.insights/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

    elissa (e89bf6)

  166. “If you think that’s unusual activity for a co-ed on a Friday night, get with the 21st century.”

    elissa – It’s also cheap entertainment for old farts with nothing better to do.

    If Wolfe is the “hacker,” we should be interested in him, but Weiner has effectively taken the hacker story off the table through his actions.

    If Wolfe has information about bad behavior by Weiner then we should be interested in it, but browbeating it out of him is probably not the best way to secure his cooperation.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  167. If you can read that Mary had a little lamb comment by happyfeet and not laugh, there is something seriously wrong with you.

    JD (29e1cd)

  168. For all Patriot’s statements to be true he would have to have two browsers open to Weiner’s twitter page and be furiously refreshing. At just the right time. Either that, or something he said was wrong.

    I don’t think there is any evidence to support that. Or if there is, I’m confused. We see screen grabs of the tweet and the photo showing they were on the internet well beyond 1-5 seconds.
    Also, the timeline you all present for Weiner is no more plausible.

    I’m not trying to argue Patriot’s innocence. I’m trying to figure out, beyond his statement about a sex picture scandal breaking, which weirdnesses really hold up.

    MayBee (081489)

  169. 😯 I guess Weiner had a priapism.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  170. happy is always hilarious

    MayBee (081489)

  171. I think the Rep. was up to no good with the young girls.
    The parents of the one are big fans of his, so they might run cover for him. Other parents have shoved their underage daughters at famous people, so it could happen. The parents also seem to think they know everything about their daughters tweeting activity… which seems simultaneously ambitious and naive.

    My guess is that the private detective agency is going to be sent out with the mission of rounding up all of the dick photos sent out to underage girls and administering the harsh justice of destruction upon them.
    Smiting those photos with great wrath.

    SteveG (cc5dc9)

  172. I don’t know what’s real anymore I’m just depressed.

    TommyX;s highschooler story is bugging me though.

    It’s not really consistent with “Veronica”s stated quest for glory as motive that she was getting a promise from her befriended “harassers” that their names would not be brought into it. Maybe it is but please explain how?

    Betty aka “Miss potty Mouth” was featured by psuedonym over at Stacy McCains if you forget who she is.

    SarahW (af7312)

  173. So does the Tommy Christopher story explain why Patriot thought a story was about to break?

    MayBee (081489)

  174. yeah, Sarah, that “monitoring every single second of internet activity” is balderdash.
    What a weird story.

    MayBee (081489)

  175. When Rep Weiner followed her back we were all thrilled.
    When Rep Weiner followed my daughter the one and only message he sent her was welcoming her to his twitter followers and suggested he go to his website for more information. My husband and I were delighted with this message as it furthered our daughter’s interest in learning about government. We were very grateful to Rep Weiner for this and saw nothing wrong or inappropriate with this message.

    If these parents were as diligent as they pretend, they would have looked to see Representative Weiner followed a lot of schoolgirls and not much else. They wouldn’t have been so “grateful”. What creepy parents.

    At least the Foley page parents were more aware when they realized the oddity of a Congressman asking their son about his birthday.

    MayBee (081489)

  176. i trust you took the time to look at what @patriotusa76 was tweeting about previous to the photo. IIRC, he and his friends were discussing how weiner was uniquely obsessed with clarence thomas and the 10 tweets weiner had posted earlier in the day. why would it be so hard to believe he was viewing @repweiner’s page if he was just talking about weiner’s obsession with thomas? for instance, i didn’t follow patterico until last night (i think), but i was clicking over to read his profile when i saw stranahan continuing to reference him.
    i believe the screenshot @patriotusa76 took even showed the tweet being “3 minutes ago.” you and stranahn are jumping on him because he exaggerated how quickly weiner removed the tweet? my guess is he was just emphasizing that the tweet was removed very fast and didn’t mean 1-5 seconds literally. as for not wanting his voice to be hear, my guess is dan wolfe is not his real name. he probably realized the more questions he was asked and the more he put himself out there, the more likely his true identity would be revealed, and the more likely his personal life could suffer as result. @patriotusa76 is a hero in my book, no matter what his real name is.

    razor419 (0fecf4)

  177. Then emphasize that part of the speculation if that is what you want people to focus on rather than whether the odds are a million to one against a person seeing a tweet on Weiner’s page on a Friday night.

    Maybe what Patterico is getting is that Weiner did this more than once. Many times, even. So that, while the odds of PatriotUSA seeing that particular tweet Friday night were low, the odds that eventually he’d see something similar in time were quite high. And that PatriotUSA knew to be on the look-out for such activity.

    Chuck Bartowski (e84e27)

  178. For all Patriot’s statements to be true he would have to have two browsers open to Weiner’s twitter page and be furiously refreshing. At just the right time. Either that, or something he said was wrong.

    that’s just not true patterico. if patriot had weiner’s page open and was reading the tweets he made about clarence thomas, he would have been notified immediately of a new tweet from the feed he was viewing. or even if he had weiner’s page open on another browser, a (1) would have appeared indicating a new tweet had been sent. to say he would have had to be “furiously refreshing” is just false.

    razor419 (0fecf4)

  179. or even if he had weiner’s page open on another browser, a (1) would have appeared indicating a new tweet had been sent. to say he would have had to be “furiously refreshing” is just false.

    That’s true. If I have Twitter open in another tab, the number of new tweets shows up in the tab without me refreshing.

    MayBee (081489)

  180. this is new, yes?

    All Weiner would say is that he hired the law firm of Baker Hostetler.

    they look like they’re on the spensive side

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  181. ohnoes!

    It looks like dick photo boy’s lawyers will have to recuse themselves.

    David Rivkin Jr. and Lee Casey argued for months that the health care overhaul under consideration in Congress was unconstitutional. Now, the two Baker Hostetler partners will have a chance to make the case in court.

    goodness gracious

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  182. It looks like dick photo boy’s lawyers will have to recuse themselves.

    I assume this is a reference to Weiner’s bizarre theory under which Justice Thomas would have to recuse himself from hearing any challenge to Obamacare. Under the same theory, perhaps a conflict exists between these lawyers’ duties to him and to their existing client. But he can waive the “conflict” (which only he perceives), so no problem.

    Milhouse (ea66e3)

  183. Maybee – Dan Wolfe’s skittishness about being recorded suddenly makes some sense.

    If he was communicating with these high school girls, asking them to provide explicit accounts of interactions with Weiner – and getting them, real or concocted….and neither giving parents a heads up nor notifying authorities so that he could gather ammunition against Weiner…

    I could see how his ex-wife’s lawyer could have a field day with that.

    Whatever you think of his actions, they make more sense now

    SarahW (af7312)

  184. So where were the parents’ eyes on every keystroke when her friend was urging her to come up with the goods?

    Also the statements struck me as just a little off in the sense of lily guilding in the wrong place.

    Weiner comes in for a little too much oblique praise. It’s like a spin doctor a little too – just a little -too devoted to burnishing his image guided those statements.

    Everything he does is praiseworthy and generous, down to unfollowing their daughter as a “favor” (she expressed bewilderment and disappointment)

    SarahW (af7312)

  185. Maybee – Dan Wolfe’s skittishness about being recorded suddenly makes some sense.

    Agree.

    So is this what we now know w/r/t the patriot hacker theory?

    -Patriot was told by some school girls they had (something) naughty on Weiner
    -Weiner did follow at least one of these high school girls
    -Patriot communicated with those girls and others, and watched Weiner’s account like a hawk
    -Twitter online indicates when new tweets have been posted if you have a Twitter feed open in a tab. No refreshing necessary
    -Weiner’s infamous tweet was up for what appears to be a substantial amount of time (screen grab on BigGovernment)
    -Weiner’s infamous photo was up for what appears to be a substantial amount of time (screen grab on Big Government)
    -Weiner’s tweet was taken down almost immediately after Patriot’s retweet

    Am I right or wrong on these updates?

    MayBee (081489)

  186. Maybee – You and I are on Patterico’s blog page on a Friday night. Amazingly freakish coincidence or foreknowledge? You decide.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  187. I just read Christopher’s piece. I don’t know that I buy everything in it — when the girl now “admits” she lied, how do we know the “admission” is the truth?

    But . . .

    It kinda sounds like PatriotUSA76 was up to something, and was not just some random dude who just so happened to see the tweet, huh?

    Which is what I was saying, and what Lee was saying, and for which we were both being told that we were harassing the messenger and Joe the Plumbering the guy.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  188. it’s difficult to know Mr. P I think our patriot friend is an enigma wrapped inside a tawdry and shameful dick photo management fiasco

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  189. that’s just not true patterico. if patriot had weiner’s page open and was reading the tweets he made about clarence thomas, he would have been notified immediately of a new tweet from the feed he was viewing. or even if he had weiner’s page open on another browser, a (1) would have appeared indicating a new tweet had been sent. to say he would have had to be “furiously refreshing” is just false.

    I just did this last night, and had Lee Stranahan update his page with a tweet. I saw it appear on Tweetdeck. It did not appear on his Twitter page — until I refreshed.

    Then he deleted it and it disappeared from Tweetdeck.

    Another interesting experiment we ran: he did a “mention” of someone I didn’t follow — and it did NOT show up on Tweetdeck (which shocked me) but DID show up on his page . . . after I refreshed.

    You have to follow both the mentioner and the mentionee to see a mention.

    This is why so many of Cordova’s friends saw the Weiner tweet: they followed both her and him. If you didn’t follow both of them, you wouldn’t see it.

    Unless you went to his page. AND REFRESHED.

    And if it was there for only seconds — which appears quite unlikely based on the archived tweet people discuss above — then you would have to have ANOTHER browser tab open to the same page and refresh THAT one to see whether it disappeared . . . while keeping the tweet in your first browser tab so you could take 6 screenshots, as PatriotUSA76 did.

    So please stop telling me that my claim is that it was unusual for Patriot to have simply logged into Twitter on a Friday night. Because that is not what I’m saying, and if you’re actually paying attention to what I’m saying, you should know that.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  190. Maybee – You and I are on Patterico’s blog page on a Friday night. Amazingly freakish coincidence or foreknowledge? You decide.

    daley:

    You are just not reading what I am writing.

    Less glib sarcasm, more paying attention. Please, I beg of you.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  191. It kinda sounds like PatriotUSA76 was up to something, and was not just some random dude who just so happened to see the tweet, huh?

    Which is what I was saying, and what Lee was saying, and for which we were both being told that we were harassing the messenger and Joe the Plumbering the guy

    I don’t believe PatriotUSA was just some random guy who saw the Tweet. I don’t think most people have said that. I think most people agree he was watching Weiner like a hawk and monitoring who he followed.

    But what you and Lee were saying is he actually dropped the photo into Weiner’s yfrog, no?

    And to me, Tommy’s story explains why Patriot expected a Weiner picture story to break. He was told by these girls that Weiner did lewd things (lies! all lies! they say now).

    It makes that comment less mysterious, and less of a hint that *he* was about to do it.

    MayBee (081489)

  192. SarahW @5:28–

    Agree completely with your analysis of the parents’ statements. There was just a little too much hacky emphasis on Mr. Wonderful and was very likely ghostwritten or at least helpfully and professionally edited by someone who was working to help make him look innocent with respect to all the young female followers. The statement included a few sentences of unequivocal support for both Weiner and the twittery teens’ activities that may end up embarrassing those parents if the truth about the whole sordid episode eventually comes out. As someone pointed out earlier, teen girls can lie through their teeth with a smile on their faces if they think it will help get them out of a jam.

    elissa (e89bf6)

  193. But what you and Lee were saying is he actually dropped the photo into Weiner’s yfrog, no?

    No, I never “said” that. I said he acted oddly, and I speculated — while clearly labeling it as speculation — that his having dropped in the photo was one explanation that fit many of the facts we know.

    Tommy Christopher’s story explains some of those facts too. But . . . not all of them. Which is why I am not sure I believe these kids now when they say they were lying before.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  194. That’s true. If I have Twitter open in another tab, the number of new tweets shows up in the tab without me refreshing

    Are you talking about new tweets of people you follow?

    Because:

    1) Patriot said he didn’t follow Weiner. Patriot wasn’t on his own timeline. He was on Weiner’s page. That’s different.

    2) Patriot also said he didn’t follow Cordova. So he would not have seen a mention of her from Weiner even if he did follow Weiner. I tested this, with Lee.

    Patterico (135ea8)

  195. Well, Patterico, if the whole point of the exercise was to say Patriot76 was a very watchy watcher of Weiner, I think it got very complicated, with the delete times, etc.

    Yes, I agree, patriot76 was a very watchy watcher of Weiner.

    I don’t think I understand the point about the delete time stuff
    . Are we all agreed that it seems likely it was the retweet that made Weiner delete the Tweet, and it also seems it was up for an ample amount of time for Patriot76 to retweet it?
    But I understood the implication to be that the quickness of the post/retweet/deletion pointed to Patriot posting and then retweeting the photo.

    I know I get confused sometimes, so if I am wrong, correct me.

    I do agree with you that the girls weren’t necessarily lying before. Nor do their parents seem to have any real knowledge except they know they love Congressman Weiner.

    MayBee (081489)

  196. Are you talking about new tweets of people you follow?

    No.
    I stopped using Twitter, and I’m not logged into any account. So I’m not following anybody.
    What I have been doing during the past few days is opening a tab (Safari), doing a Google search on the @person I want to read, and then leaving that tab open as long as I’m interested.
    That way, I can see all of their tweets, including mentions (obviously not DMs)

    MayBee (081489)

  197. so what do you think Anthony and Huma are doing now? It’s like 9:15 there I’d bet they’re catching up on tivo and just enjoying each other’s company. It’s been a wacky week what with all of Anthony’s penis photo fallout, and Anthony’s probably picked up some tiramisu to make recompense. Huma’s likely made her famous marzipan which is a gesture of forgiveness in the complex language that is their love. Yum! Later tonight they’ll make love as only newlyweds can and fall asleep to the sound of the other’s heartbeat.

    Life. Is. Good.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  198. 2) Patriot also said he didn’t follow Cordova. So he would not have seen a mention of her from Weiner even if he did follow Weiner. I tested this, with Lee.

    I see mentions when I have someone’s Twitter page open.

    Here, I just copied this from yours:
    Patterico

    @clay_arts Sorry you find asking questions childish.
    19 hours ago

    MayBee (081489)

  199. ==PatriotUSA76 was up to something, and was not just some random dude who just so happened to see the tweet, huh?==

    In thinking about the past several days of comments here I can’t recall anyone saying or implying they think Patriot is just a random dude who happened to catch the tweet, Mr Frey. In fact, I think the accepted conventional wisdom across the blogoshere is that Patriot–whoever he or she or they may be– was totally obsessed with Weiner for reasons unknown. (Could be personal, could be political.) There has even been speculation in several places that Patriot is in fact a group of several people using their generic Patriot handle to take turns monitoring Weiner 24/7 in some sort of whistleblowing exercise. What on earth makes you think people here are not “reading what you are writing”?

    elissa (e89bf6)

  200. I see mentions when I have someone’s Twitter page open.

    Indeed! And that is totally consistent with what I said. “1) Patriot said he didn’t follow Weiner. Patriot wasn’t on his own timeline. He was on Weiner’s page. That’s different.”

    Now go to your timeline and see if you see the message you just quoted.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  201. I will add that you quoted a reply. I don’t know if that operates under the same principles as a mention.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  202. Well, I had switched to someone else’s page who was being more active on Twitter. I saw a little (1) in his tab, and went to his page. It said 1 new tweet on his profile. I clicked that and saw his Tweet.

    But I don’t understand what we are debating. Is there an issue about whether the tweet had already been deleted when patriot found it?

    MayBee (081489)

  203. if the @ is at the beginning it’s a reply and if it’s anywhere else it’s a mention

    but the obvious truth is that God meant for Mr. patriot to find that tweet, and find it he did!

    Can I get an amen?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  204. I see this:

    Patterico
    @clay_arts Sorry you find asking questions childish.
    19 hours ago

    MayBee (081489)

  205. Ok, I see mentions, too. Stranahan’s twitter stream is full of ’em.

    MayBee (081489)

  206. If mentions are as happyfeet defines them, with the @ not at the beginning.

    MayBee (081489)

  207. do u get alerted to the mentions without refreshing?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  208. What on earth makes you think people here are not “reading what you are writing”?

    daleyrocks keeps slightly shifting my argument before refuting it. More than one person seems to think my point is that Patriot was checking Twitter on a Friday night. That’s two reasons right there.

    Also, barely anyone seems to understand my argument concerning the potential relevance of Patriot’s unusual behavior and seeming lies. I keep getting variants of shut up and stop causing trouble for the messenger.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  209. I think Mr. patriot was genuinely startled to find himself under such scrutiny.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  210. Mentions are with the @ at the beginning.

    Like the controversial tweet in question.

    Pick someone you don’t follow and I’ll prove it right now.

    This is why Cordova’s friends saw it and almost nobody else did. They followed both her and Weiner.

    But I’m repeating myself.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  211. happs- yes.

    MayBee (081489)

  212. How hard can it be to get someone to write a program that hits refresh every two seconds and that then does a screen grab and sounds an alert when there is something new?

    SteveG (cc5dc9)

  213. I don’t follow anybody, Patterico. I see the tweets on your stream with @ at the beginning.
    Show me what you are talking about.
    Tweet a mention.

    MayBee (081489)

  214. Mentions are with the @ at the beginning.

    oh. Then which ones are replies?

    But yeah what you’re saying if I’m tweetering and I mention @leestranahan – he’ll see it, and people what follow me and lee together will see it, but if you only follow lee you won’t see it… is that right?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  215. but what if you just follow me? you’ll still see it right?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  216. No, if you are on someone’s twitter profile page, you see what they send. Mentions, replies, general tweets.

    MayBee (081489)

  217. So please stop telling me that my claim is that it was unusual for Patriot to have simply logged into Twitter on a Friday night. Because that is not what I’m saying, and if you’re actually paying attention to what I’m saying, you should know that.

    i appreciated the clarification on the need to refresh. i have, among many others, exchanged many DMs with @patriotusa76. for the record, although he was obviously being careful with his words, he seemed very sincere and honest throughout. most of his DMs were to thank me for continuing to advance the story and debunk false accusations. if the emails that TSG published were authentic, then i stand by the comments i made above at 177. i don’t believe patriot has lied, other than possibly using an alias. and his statement that he never followed weiner actually lends to your theory patrick, because if he was talking about what weiner said earlier to his friends, he was likely bouncing back and forth to his profile because it wouldn’t have appeared in his timeline.

    razor419 (9f0b7d)

  218. got it… that’s how I usually do it.

    I just dabble you know.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  219. Oh when I said “I see this”, I didn’t mean I see that from my Twitter feed. I don’t have a twitter feed. I see it from Patterico’s profile page.
    I’m doing what Patriot said he did, leaving someone’s profile up.

    MayBee (081489)

  220. I hgihly doubt it’s hacked I mean who can photoshop such a flaccid weiner?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  221. And when you have my page up, you see tweets automatically appear without refreshing????

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  222. Well, I’m confused about what Patterico and I are disagreeing about.

    I agree with him that patriot had Weiner’s profile up. When I have someone’s profile up, and am working in another tab, a little number (1) shows up on the tab of the twitter feed as soon as that person sends out a new tweet. These are not people I follow.

    MayBee (081489)

  223. I don’t know if I see tweets automatically appear. I see the number of new tweets. That automatically appears in the tab.

    MayBee (081489)

  224. No, if you are on someone’s twitter profile page, you see what they send. Mentions, replies, general tweets.

    Precisely what I said. Why does your sentence start with “no”?

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  225. Ok, when I’m on someone’s page, without refreshing, a little banner shows up at the top of their twitter stream that says “1 new tweet”. I click that, and that tweet joins the timeline.

    MayBee (081489)

  226. That no was to happy feet, in the comment above mine.

    MayBee (081489)

  227. “So please stop telling me that my claim is that it was unusual for Patriot to have simply logged into Twitter on a Friday night.”

    “daleyrocks keeps slightly shifting my argument before refuting it. More than one person seems to think my point is that Patriot was checking Twitter on a Friday night. That’s two reasons right there.”

    Patterico – As I said previously, I am not deliberately misstating your argument. You need to read what I am saying.

    I don’t think it unusual for Patriot to be watching Weiner’s twitter page on a Friday night given what we know about his background so far. For reasons that remain unconvincing to me and others on this thread, you find his Friday night activity unusual and not a mere coincidence. Perhaps you are holding cards you are not showing.

    I am not expressing an opinion one way or another about whether Patriot was “up to something” with Weiner, only that to me, his presence on Weiner’s twitter page on a Friday night is not prima facie evidence of that.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  228. I’ve had the same experience as MayBee, Pat.

    When I’m looking at someone else’s stream that I don’t usually follow, and they tweet something new, I see the little (1 new tweet) message at the top of the stream. I think this happens regardless of whether I’m following them or not, as long as it’s their stream I’m looking at.

    Does anyone else see the irony of discussing “watching someone’s stream” in the context of Weiner-gate 😉

    Sorry, I couldn’t resist…

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  229. I know nothing of this business of a number 1 showing up when a new tweet goes out. Without refreshing? I am not at home and can’t test it right now.

    Maybee, open my profile page and pick a user you don’t follow. I will mention them now. Tell me if it automatically shows up. OK?

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  230. Precisely what I said. Why does your sentence start with “no”?

    This no. This no was to happyfeet, who asked:
    But yeah what you’re saying if I’m tweetering and I mention @leestranahan – he’ll see it, and people what follow me and lee together will see it, but if you only follow lee you won’t see it… is that right?

    MayBee (081489)

  231. Ok, Patterico.

    MayBee (081489)

  232. are you using the old or new version of twitter? lol

    razor419 (9f0b7d)

  233. 231.I know nothing of this business of a number 1 showing up when a new tweet goes out. Without refreshing?

    It works that way with the “Twitter” software they provide. I can’t speak to “Tweet deck” or any of the other programs available. But I’m not so sure about mentions…

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  234. not everyone has a sense of huma in this situation Mr. Reed, least of all her

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  235. Patterico: daleyrocks keeps slightly shifting my arguments before responding.

    Daleyrocks: I am not DELIBERATELY shifting your argument.

    I say one thing and you respond to another. I did not accuse you of doing this deliberately.

    But you are doing it, albeit not deliberately. Again and again and again.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  236. Patterico, I don’t follow anybody. So mention whomever you wish.
    @AaronWorthing would work.

    MayBee (081489)

  237. oh. Everyone should download tweetdick­ today and start getting the most out of their twitter experience… it’s so easy!

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  238. i don’t believe the old version of twitter updates like the new version. have you switched over?

    razor419 (9f0b7d)

  239. Twitter is of the devil. Weinertweet is a great new word.

    JD (318f81)

  240. oh. Everyone should download tweetdick today and start getting the most out of their twitter experience… it’s so easy!

    It can be dropped in. It can be manipulated.

    MayBee (081489)

  241. Patterico – Now would be a good time to lecture your audience that they are too dumb to understand what you are trying to say.

    Take a page from Sen. John Kerry.

    Go

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  242. Okay, Maybee. Tell me if you saw that without refreshing.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  243. how is that even remotely cordial Mr. daley

    here someone needs a summer anthem

    yeah you Mr. grumpypants

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  244. Daley,

    I can cite numerous examples in this thread where I have made a point and you have responded to something that’s just a little different.

    Do you deny this? I can count four times it’s happened.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  245. OK, I stepped away for a second. I see a (1) on the tab for Patterico’s twitter stream. I’ll go look.

    MayBee (081489)

  246. And it’s frustrating. Which is why I sound frustrated.

    Your little jokes implying that I argued it’s odd for Patriot to be on Twitter on Friday night are frustrating. Because that’s not my argument.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  247. On Patterico’s profile page I now see, in a box:

    1 new tweet

    (I’ll click it)

    MayBee (081489)

  248. 236.not everyone has a sense of huma in this situation Mr. Reed…

    Dude! This is awesomely witty, no wonder you work in marketing/advertising 🙂

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  249. And I get this:
    Patterico

    @AaronWorthing Test to see if this updates automatically for Maybee.
    6 minutes ago

    MayBee (081489)

  250. Wiener wants a huma.

    JD (318f81)

  251. this is kinda like watching Marie Curie discover radiation

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  252. that didn’t end on a real great note for her

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  253. Let’s hope it ends better for MayBee than it did for the Curies.

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  254. amen Mr. Bob

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  255. Interesting, Maybee. That refutes the idea that it took furious refreshing. Very helpful.

    You did have to refresh/click to see it, though?

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  256. This is also why nobody wants to see sausage being made.

    elissa (e89bf6)

  257. When I was in my 20’s, I knew an older man whose father had been an early adopter of radiation. Dad gave the man I knew radiation treatments for his teenage acne. That did not turn out well, either.

    MayBee (081489)

  258. Patterico – I’m not denying that as I have already said.

    Here is your argument this morning, where you called Patriot’s story staggeringly unlikey:

    “Bottom line is: for Patriot to a) see the tweet on Weiner’s page and not on a Twitter client; b) not have followed Weiner; and c) know that the tweet was up for only 1-5 seconds — all claims that he has made — is just a story that doesn’t ring true……..

    Comment by Patterico — 6/3/2011 @ 7:27 am”

    I don’t understand the difference between a twitter page and a twitter client, there remains debate currently on this thread whether you would see a new tweet if you were not following Weiner, the 1-5 seconds has been blown away as a time line.

    I remain unconvinced of your initial premise that “Patriot’s explanation of how he happened to see the tweet makes almost no sense. It would take too long to explain why right now; trust me, it requires a pretty big coincidence. Which could happen, of course. I’m not saying it couldn’t.” I’m not saying something shady could not have happened. I’m just saying you have not explained your assumptions clearly enough to convince me. Starting with an assumption that it is unusual for Patriot to be watching Weiner’s twitter feed on a Friday night, which I am not the only one to have jumped on, was not a convincing starting point.

    I would love to see Weiner linked to some salacious sex scandal, so you know I’m not raising questions out of spite or anything.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  259. Yes, Patterico. I had to click the 1 NEW TWEET box to see the actual tweet once I was on your page. Then it looks like it adds the new tweet to the top of your timeline.
    Thanks for working through that with me.

    MayBee (081489)

  260. It kinda sounds like PatriotUSA76 was up to something, and was not just some random dude who just so happened to see the tweet, huh?

    It sounds like that. Either his behavior was obsessive and zealous, or he’s somehow hiding something. Sure.

    Which is what I was saying, and what Lee was saying, and for which we were both being told that we were harassing the messenger and Joe the Plumbering the guy

    I’ve followed Lee enough to know that yes, he’s leapt to conclusions and linked unfair assertions, such as the ‘proof’ of framing. That’s a little worrisome. And I hope it doesn’t turn out that someone affiliated with breitbart leaked that private email from PatriotUSA, because that too is ‘Joe the Plumbering’ in my book.

    I know Patterico well enough to not be worried about how he will treat ‘Dan Wolfe’. But he probably doesn’t. Anyway, when I mention Joe the Plumber, it’s primarily my concern about how the left will treat him.

    All that said, I can’t escape the fact that Dan Wolfe knew there was a dirty photo of some kind apparently of Rep Weiner, before the twitter of a dirty photo was sent. Perhaps this is a coincidence, but it would be unfair to say so given my assumption level of Weiner is slightly above zero (enough to where I know it was his penis in the shot).

    Bottom line is that whatever Weiner is covering up is enough for him to be satisfied if everyone thinks he sent his penis photo to a young lady among his groupie cadre. And to be clear: who cares? We know enough. I doubt it’s anything worse than an affair, or a worse pattern of sexting.

    Is learning more salacious crap worth the precedent that if someone informs bloggers of an issue, and it generally checks out, that we will hunt that person down after they have pleaded to stay anonymous.

    I want whistleblowing dogooders to have some confidence they won’t be exposed if they don’t want to be.

    Who sent PatriotUSA’s email to Breitbart out to the Smoking Gun? That fact is more important to me than who Dan Wolfe is.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  261. the 1-5 seconds has been blown away as a time line.

    Which confirms that I was right to be suspicious of that claim of his.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  262. “Because that’s not my argument.”

    Patterico – Yes it is frustrating because your argument is not clear, at least to me. See #260 where you say it would take too long to explain.

    Notice again, a minimum of four other regular commenter picked up on the same unusual Friday night claim I did, yet you choose to blame me.

    Usually when the argument is unclear to enough people it is the argument’s fault rather than the readers’, but it’s your blog.

    I’m glad the ongoing dialog is trying to work through the kinks in the theories.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  263. Maybee: don’t refresh. See if the mention is still there.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  264. “And I hope it doesn’t turn out that someone affiliated with breitbart leaked that private email from PatriotUSA, because that too is ‘Joe the Plumbering’ in my book.”

    Dustin – Ladd Ehlinger published some of his email exchanges with Patriot yesterday. I think they had some of the background stuff. It was sort of a slimy move.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  265. Ok Patterico. I didn’t and it is.

    Patterico

    @AaronWorthing Test to see if this updates automatically for Maybee.
    30 minutes ago

    MayBee (081489)

  266. here is Mr. Ehlinger’s interview with Mr. patriot

    it has stuff like…

    danwolfe7676 (4:40:54 PM): But if they were so harassed, why not report us? We didn’t harass the girls. The thing was about shaming Weiner for following young girls.

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  267. Who sent PatriotUSA’s email to Breitbart out to the Smoking Gun? That fact is more important to me than who Dan Wolfe is.

    that is a question i have yet to see answered as well. breitbart tried, for lack of a better phrase,”smoking out” patriot by tweeting for patriot to call him because he was ready to run a story on biggovernment at 2:00. no story ever ran… then TSG had a story of their own.

    razor419 (9f0b7d)

  268. oh. I think this is new stuff what is very on point to what you good people are discussing

    danwolfe7676 (6:44:41 PM): So bringing us to that night

    danwolfe7676 (6:44:51 PM): I got home

    danwolfe7676 (6:44:57 PM): logged onto twitter

    danwolfe7676 (6:45:04 PM): Saw the 5:45 retweet

    danwolfe7676 (6:45:13 PM): And thought this is weird even for Weiner

    Filmladd (6:45:15 PM): Ahhhh

    danwolfe7676 (6:45:30 PM): I was never following Weiner or Gennette

    Filmladd (6:45:31 PM): So you were watching because of the seatle 545 tweet?

    danwolfe7676 (6:45:37 PM): Right

    danwolfe7676 (6:45:43 PM): It seemed like a code.

    danwolfe7676 (6:45:47 PM): It honestly did.

    danwolfe7676 (6:46:09 PM): So I thought ok – let’s just see what he tweets next

    danwolfe7676 (6:46:19 PM): maybe there is some pattern here/code to someone

    danwolfe7676 (6:46:28 PM): I didn’t obsess on it

    danwolfe7676 (6:46:44 PM): I wasn’t going to kill myself if I didn’t see somehting

    danwolfe7676 (6:46:51 PM): But something happened

    danwolfe7676 (6:46:54 PM): That tweet of his

    danwolfe7676 (6:47:01 PM): And I was shocked

    it says this interview took place *after* Mr. patriot disappeared

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  269. Filmladd (6:47:53 PM): So you just stared at the screen?

    danwolfe7676 (6:47:56 PM): No

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:00 PM): That was not necessary

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:02 PM): Remember

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:06 PM): I neverr refreshed

    Filmladd (6:48:09 PM): Dm’ing people and other stuff?

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:15 PM): Yes,

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:17 PM): reading tweets

    Filmladd (6:48:33 PM): Ok. In other tabs and stuff?

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:53 PM): If that seems weird or doesn’t fit into STranahans sun howl at the moon theory, too bad.

    danwolfe7676 (6:48:59 PM): Yeah in other tabs

    Filmladd (6:49:11 PM): No I can buy the 545 tweet got you curious.

    danwolfe7676 (6:49:23 PM): It was just really strange.

    danwolfe7676 (6:49:25 PM): Even for him

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  270. I have a half dozen or more twitter streams open right now in separate tabs. Each tab is identified by the name of the Twit who is twittering. The name is preceded by a number in parenthesis indicating how many tweets have been written of retweeted by that person since I last updated their page. If I go to the tab there is a banner at the top of the stream saying x new tweets. Currenntly Patterico shows 1, Lee Stranahan shows 15, Tommy Christopher shows 4, Simon Templar shows 2, Andrew Brietbart shows 13, Robert Stacey McCain shows 49, and Ms Cordova shows 1.

    Ace of Spades shows none but I reloaded his just about twenty minutes ago.

    Have Blue (854a6e)

  271. I had already deleted it.

    So he had to open a new tab and refresh to see how long it was up.

    Which we already know he was wrong about anyway.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  272. Usually when the argument is unclear to enough people it is the argument’s fault rather than the readers’, but it’s your blog.

    When you repeatedly refute an argument different than the one I make — which I THOUGHT you admitted doing — that would be your fault and not mine.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  273. It could well be that people weren’t seeing eye to eye with me on this because I didn’t understand the mechanics Maybee has shown me here.

    That still does not excuse repeatedly changing my argument before responding to it. Denying that x claimed to have foreknowledge is not the same as denying x HAD foreknowledge, to cite one frustrating example among many.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  274. I had already deleted it.

    So he had to open a new tab and refresh to see how long it was up.

    Are you saying to see that it was deleted? Yes, if I refresh the page I already had opened for you, I now see it was deleted.
    BUT, until I refreshed, the tweet stayed up and the X minutes ago clock kept updating.

    MayBee (081489)

  275. If a witness were to tell me that, “I saw this thing pop up and like five seconds later it was gone,” I would not necessarily take it as gospel that that was the time line. Not with out a lot more probing, and questioning about it.

    And some people have absolutely no time sense at all. I had one employee once who had no concept at all that time segments shorter than 5 minutes existed. If you asked her how long it took her to do any task or complete any action no matter how minor the shortest answer you would get is ‘5 minutes’ even if you had just watched her do it in 45 seconds.

    Have Blue (854a6e)

  276. I still don’t buy that this is a coincidental discovery by Patriot absent some explanation of his claim, weeks ago, to know a compromising photo of a bigtime Congressman was in the hands of a top 5 conservative blogger.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  277. is anyone gonna click on my link at #268

    it’s very very on point

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  278. BUT, until I refreshed, the tweet stayed up and the X minutes ago clock kept updating.

    Well, that is very interesting too, because it shows the argument that “Weiner’s tweet must have been up for x minutes because the screenshot says so” is based on faulty assumptions.

    Looks like we don’t know how long it was up after all!

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  279. I have some stuff to return at Lowe’s and I need a white sheer for my new double curtain rod thingy – they didn’t have white ones at The Great Indoors so I got sorta burgundy ones but looking at them here at home I think it’d be like living inside jeannie’s bottle

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  280. I don’t know what retweeting would do. If he clicked through to his own account to retweet, then went back to Weiner’s page, that would refresh Weiner’s page. If Weiner had already deleted the tweet, it would be gone.

    MayBee (081489)

  281. “When you repeatedly refute an argument different than the one I make”

    Patterico – When your argument consists of it was staggeringly unlikey for this to have been a mere coincidence but it would take to long for me to explain – essentially the argument you made this morning – how can you legitimately claim somebody is restating something you have not advanced except in skeletal detail?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  282. Well, that is very interesting too, because it shows the argument that “Weiner’s tweet must have been up for x minutes because the screenshot says so” is based on faulty assumptions.

    Looks like we don’t know how long it was up after all!

    True, although it’s really up until the last person who loaded it finally refreshes. For whoever took the screencap at BigGov, it was up for 2 hours.

    MayBee (081489)

  283. I still don’t buy that this is a coincidental discovery by Patriot absent some explanation of his claim, weeks ago, to know a compromising photo of a bigtime Congressman was in the hands of a top 5 conservative blogger.

    he talks about that at the link what everyone is averse to clicking, Mr. P

    Filmladd (4:49:08 PM): “How did he know that a “top 5 blogger” had some sex scandal on Weiner, two weeks before this incident? I know he says it was a retweet; but what did he know of this? Who floated this, and did he have further details about it? If no details, what did he suspect?”

    danwolfe7676 (4:49:48 PM): A rumor came floating around the net and I am actualy surprised more people didn’t get it

    danwolfe7676 (4:50:02 PM): I don’t know where the original source was

    danwolfe7676 (4:50:15 PM): It got forwarded of a forward of a forward of a forward to me

    danwolfe7676 (4:50:57 PM): It looked like it was spreading around for a while so I’m actually surprised others weren’t talking about it

    Filmladd (4:51:01 PM): ok.

    danwolfe7676 (4:51:02 PM): That’s all

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  284. I still don’t buy that this is a coincidental discovery by Patriot absent some explanation of his claim, weeks ago, to know a compromising photo of a bigtime Congressman was in the hands of a top 5 conservative blogger.

    I think that claim came about because of the girls Tommy Christopher wrote about. The girls who now say they were lying about such things.

    MayBee (081489)

  285. ok I’ll just be at lowe’s for a bit

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  286. Happy:

    You know what I like? Black-eyed peas and corn bread. It’s good. Especially with salsa. I don’t know why, but the salsa makes it better.

    Ag80 (1bc637)

  287. Situational Friday night music.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  288. Maybe if there was an organization that could be set up to investigate the hacking of interstate communications accounts of United States Congressional Representatives. They could send a piece of paper to Twitter and ask for all of their records. We could call the piece of paper a subpoena. And as to the organization I’m leaning towards something officially sounding like maybe, Federal Investigating Bureau.
    No that would be FIB, better make it Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI just seems to roll off the tongue better.

    Just a thought.

    Have Blue (854a6e)

  289. you can chopper up a jalapeno and bake it right in the corn bread and don’t let Martha Stewart tell you any different

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  290. Happy’s link at 268 is indeed outstanding.

    MayBee (081489)

  291. thank you!

    I was feeling sorta left out

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  292. I saw that too happyfeet, it fills in a lot of my mental blanks regarding this Dan Wolfe person.

    I’d have said so earlier, but I just got back and was catching up on the thread…

    Have fun at Lowe’s.

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  293. Happy:

    Lowe’s has a nice cordless Black and Decker trimmer with two batteries. Check it out.

    Ag80 (1bc637)

  294. I will! I just have to wait for a friend to pick me up cause he has to take back some shades

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  295. oh I meant I will for Mr. Bob – I don’t need a trimmer the building has people what trim things they just came and put in some color for summer

    they’re not real big on sweeping

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  296. A little twitter FYI

    Easiest way to “watch” someone you are not following would be to run a search column on their twitter handle…any post with that in it will then show. On twitter you would still have to refresh to see new tweets, on Tweetdeck, Tweetgrid,and a few other the updates are automatic

    Time stamp on twitter home page is a little deceptive…under an hour you do not get an “exact” time, you get some like “about 3 minutes ago”, “about an hour ago”….(yeah it gives “about” for every minute, but I’m not convince that really means when it was posted,but when it could show on your page…so it could have a different time on someone else’s page if their twitter/download speeds are faster)

    On tweetdeck you will get a time stamp given for your time zone,but…the “time” is when it shows up on YOUR TD,not necessarily when it was posted by the sender…TD sometimes has real problems with “real time”,sometimes posts will show in one column, but not another for several minutes(the “times” will match on TD,but if you went to the twitter home page, the time is different…sometimes by several minutes in actual time)

    Anyway no matter how long it was up, Weiner deleted it after seeing the RT which came to his “mention/@” column/page. Patriot should have been smart and modified the tweet by putting a space between the “@” and “repweiner”, then it would never have shown on Weiner’s page, unless he was running a search function on his own name…

    I spend most of my time on TD, but if you look on either your or someone else’s home twitter page it does give notifications of new tweets, and then you can refresh to see those. Heaven help you if you have hit the “more” button on the bottom several times to read older tweets since when you refresh it brings it back to the latest most current tweets(including the ones you just refreshed to see)

    TD automatically refreshes & drops “older” tweets off the bottom of your columns,where you can’t see them anyway.

    You can “see” tweets from folks you don’t follow in mentions/replies(terms are pretty much interchangable for twitter as when you send a “post” to someone that is called a “reply”,even though you aren’t necessarily “replying” to that person.Except on TD, where those are called “mentions”. Any post with your handle will show either in your “mention” column on TD or on your “@” page on twitter home page. Even folks that you have blocked will show if they are grouped with your handle. As well as blocked folks will show in a hashtag search column. If someone has blocked you,and you did not return the favor they can send you a “reply”, but you are not following that person(when they block you, you automatically unfollow them)And obviously you can’t “reply” to them…except in a search column, where yes they can now read tweets from folks they have blocked.

    Oh, you can save tweets that folks delete from their page(before they delete of course)…either click on time stamp & copy & save the window that opens, or if you had favorited that tweet it will be saved on your favorites page at twitter(the reason I know the later is a friend wanted me to see a tweet another person had already deleted from their page…but it was still available on my friend’s favorite page…go figure!)

    You can see tweets on TD from folks you follow who are tweeting someone you don’t follow by going to settings & changing your settings to “see” all messages your follow is tweeting. All of the tweets the folks you follow will then show in your TD column of choice.

    Don’t know how much help any of this is, but Weiner is a creep & patriot is more than a little weird(& I’m a Twitterholic working on my 12 Step Program…snicker…).

    The whole subject smells in too many ways to list, even though you and Lee have tried. And yeah, there could be a whole lot more that is wrong in the “story”.

    flicka47 (ca8c67)

  297. Okay, I read happyfeet’s link. I am convinced. Wolfe sounds genuine. He is also annoying as hell and doesn’t realize how he contributed to the impression that he was hiding something. But ultimately, once you get past all the “LMAO” and “LOL” and “fools” and other annoying bullshit, he has a good point and is convincing. He should not be the issue. His explanations make sense.

    Jesus what an annoying fuck he is though. In my opinion.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  298. Agree w/your 8:58, Patterico. Absolutely.

    MayBee (081489)

  299. I love learning things from my readers. Those who listen to what I am saying and don’t twist and mock help me get closer to the truth, which is a great thing.

    Patterico (a41bb9)

  300. Oh my goodness, I read the link from happy, too.

    Patterico has it right and maybe happy is at Lowe’s.

    Ag80 (1bc637)

  301. xoxo all y’all

    MayBee (081489)

  302. Re: 299 Goddammit Patterico I thought sure you’d cemented your feet in concrete on this but you surprised me.

    Stranahan’s analysis was excellent but for the leap at the end accusing Patriot. Better to have laid it out there for discussion.

    But it’s all good.

    Molon Labe (615079)

  303. An empire replacing the republic. Slavery sold as liberty. Excellence and virtue traded for mediocrity. Socialism to save capitalism.

    Honestygate (d93732)

  304. The world is overpopulating you fascists we have more important things to worry about

    /Lefty murderers off

    DohBiden (15aa57)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.1947 secs.