Filmmaker
Filed Under: Propagandists
The devil reads Pravda, and is astounded when reality blows up in his face.
This whole Social Media Gate thing is more labyrinthian than anything Borges could hope to write. It's been a busy week for me since the National Blogger's Day of Silence. Y'know. I have a life. So I haven't had much time to weigh in on the latest goings-on.
But one post on the subject caught my eye today by Paul Lemmen, consisting of a series of emails between himself and Neal Rauha-ha-hauser.
Background: Paul is an ex-con-man who has tried to turn to the straight and narrow as a conservative blogger. Neal is a self-described hacker and left-wing activist. He's written for the Daily Kos, and apparently has performed consulting for a range of clients, including Democrat congressmen and now Brett Kimberlin, otherwise known as the Speedway Bomber.
A few days ago, Lemmen decided to cry foul on the National Blogger's Club, when the bad guys at Brietbart Unmasked discovered that its founder Ali Ackbar had a felony conviction and other crimes in his recent past. Lemmen called for Ackbar to step down from his position:
...as someone with a great deal of personal experience in unethical behaviors, I find the public explanations, hidden criminal activities and apparent lack of honesty from the National Bloggers Club's President Ali Akbar troubling...
...I do believe that there should have been more effort expended on Mr. Akbar's part to be honest and upfront about his past. His political clients, the conservative community, and those who donated to the organization he founded deserved the truth at the very beginning of their relationships with him.
...Conservatives should not be in the position of having to argue that "our" convicted felon's crimes aren't as bad as "their" convicted felon's crimes. Unfortunately, until Ali Akbar steps down, this is the sort of defense that they are forced to mount. It is, in the end, a dangerous distraction to the entire story.
This led Neal Rauh-ha-ha-hauser to reach out to Lemmen. As Lemmen states:
Apparently Neal felt that by writing that post, I was somehow defecting from the conservative cause. I have not.
The exchange of emails between the two is fascinating.
This is the sort of thing that takes weeks to absorb, so I'll not get too deep into the weeds. A couple of things stuck out for me in the exchange, however, that bears mentioning. Neal writes:
Weinergate is a puzzle, but here is my studied opinion on the matter. Mike Grimm, former FBI undercover, now Congressman for NY-13 attempted to extort a Jewish congregation on Staten Island. The rabbi went to Weiner, he reported it, and that got the investigation rolling. A couple of weeks later a crew started following Weiner online, presenting porn stars, hookers, fake underage teens, trying to get him sexting. They fabricated some teens, leaked it, and we almost broke it up before he was forced to resign. Weiner finally came out about the stuff with Grimm in May - he waited until the primary was done, then saddled the GOP with a guy that may get indicted.
Worst. Detective. Evah. This is almost as bad as Brietbart Unmasked's amazing discovery that Ace of Spades is actually a woman in disguise, or some such.
And then there is this, in regards to Brett Kimberlin, the Speedway Bomber:
More on Brett - locked up for bombing, freed early, received a massive false imprisonment settlement, details are sealed. The only evidence it was him was collected under hypnosis - not a valid source of evidence. They wanted it off the books and quickly, he was a convenient target.
No mention that you're friends with Kimberlin and he's your client, Neal? False imprisonment settlement with details sealed? In what bizzarro universe does this happen?
I've heard that when the Soviet Union fell apart, some writers for Pravda were totally clueless that their beloved communism was such a miserable failure. They wandered the streets, dazed zombies with no more brains to feed upon...
The danger for any propagandist is to fall prey to their own bullshit (don't get high on your own supply). To do otherwise is to risk becoming both liar and lied-to. Yes, while the devil may indeed sprinkle bits of truth across the meals he prepares for potential victims, the arsenic renders the entire meal ultimately unpalatable.
The comforting part for those who have been scared and intimidated by this entire affair is this: no one is omniscient or omnipotent. Not even the devil.
contact ladd @ filmladd dot com
