December 13, 2003
"It's true- the news came via a Kucinich supporter, pointing me towards this site. When I first got the news, I was shocked, and then, I hapened to check my hit statistics. I noticed that my hits began to climb at a exponential rate, when these far-right idealogues began their diatribes. When I noticed the publicity that this insanity was generating, I sent a kind e-mail to these folks, thanking them for the publicity. Little did I know the extent to which these people held a grudge. They have since posted, via their site, my home address, my phone number, and elements of my own website that even I was unaware of. It gets worse.... Further elements have been added to the site- a map of my neighborhood, with a red star over my (and my roommate's) building, has been added. In recent hours, a map from Fort Dix to my apartment has been featured, along with posts simply contaning the words "ROAD TRIP!!!!!" Neither I, nor my Roommate felt that such a threat upon our personal safety and well being could be tolerated, without recourse to higher authorities. Legal and Law enforcement resources against this offense are currently being executed, and legal recourse is being sought. The Kucinich campaign has been contacted, in relation to these blatant threats, and Mr. Kucinich has stated that he "has asked for the FBI to investigate." Misha posted Blumrich's address and phone number with these kind words. http://WWW.nicedoggie.net/archives/003462.html#003462 "Here's a hint to you, Eric: The gov't can't do anything to you over that ad, but that's the extent of your protection under the First Amendment. The rest of us, however, aren't the gov't, in case you've forgotten, and quite few of us would be more than happy to wipe that nervous little grin off your traitorous mug - with a belt sander. "Not saying anything in specific, mind you, but we'd be damn careful about showing our face in public if we were you. You just never know who that perfect stranger behind you in that alleyway might be. Could be a sibling or other relative of one of the fallen soldiers that you just took a dump on the grave of, and G-d only knows what might happen then. Eric may not be famous enough to be a pick for the 2004 Dead Pool, but there's another signed Imperial Mug for the first LC to inform me that Eric Blumrich has died in a "tragic" accident. Accidents DO happen, you know, and that's the kind of news that would definitely make my entire day." He posted an update in the same post. [UPDATE: Well, it would seem that Mr. Blumrich isn't quite as fond of publicity as he claims to be. It also seems that his reading comprehension skills are as limited as is his sense of morals, in that he has decided that the above constitutes a "death threat", and has sought legal recourse for the "crime" of publishing publically available information on the Internet. Then, in his second email to yours truly, he seems to regain his composure and decides that he loves publicity after all and backs down from his temper tantrum. While we're waiting for Mr. Blumrich to make up his obviously confused mind, we might as well make a few things clear to him: There is nothing published here that isn't easily accessible by anybody capable of doing a simple /WHOIS search. No private information has been divulged, nor would I publish any information of a private nature even if I DID have access to it. That would be illegal, you see, and I don't walk around breaking the law, no matter what Mr. Blumrich might think about my actions. Second: As to the "death threats", I've read through the above post at least a dozen times by now and, try as I might, I simply cannot locate any threats made by me against Mr. Blumrich's life, unless you call "you're a rat bastard swine and I'd like to kick your ass seven ways from Sunday" a "death threat", in which case I'm sure that Mr. Blumrich will find that rather a large number of such threats have been issued lately, publically and otherwise." Misha posted posted yet another update in another entry. He also stated that it against the Bible to kill. As you can see he certainly comes off as a Christian. Misha has also advocated killing Muslim men and women and people who disagree with George W. Bush. Gee, I think that would be almost everyone in his administration. I also like to know why Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit links to Misha's site. People have e-mailed him about, but he won't give the reason for linking to it.
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Mis(h)a bad monkey, no banana,
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Fan ^ | | | Shit I knew that animation would provide some demagoguery. Bring me some popcorn, the games have begun!
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I hope you don't mind Sullivan, but I tidied your post up a bit by removing the blank lines. It's an excellent post and I think Misha, whoever he is, is right in saying that the information he's posted is in the public domain. But at the same time, he's making it easier for a bunch of angry people (that he riled up) to go and harass Blumrich. If I were Blumrich, I'd sure as hell be worried. Spooky, that animation is quite disturbing, but to be honest it's just another representation of information/propaganda (depending on your political bent) that we've all seen in other forms in other places. It seems like Misha had a pre-existing grudge to me and this was the icing on the cake. And finally, it really bugs me that the government (or whoever) has banned media from showing images of the returning bodies of servicemen/women. In Italy, after 19 soldiers were killed in Iraq, there was a public memorial service and a day of mourning for the whole country. What's with this sweeping the deaths of brave soldiers under a rug? (And don't say it's because the government doesn't want to be held directly and publicly responsible, I don't want to hear it even though it's true.)
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"has asked for the FBI to investigate." Maybe their new surveillance rules will come in handy.
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Orcinus has a lot to say about Misha's threats and about the "dissent is treason" meme in general.
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tracicle, I wasn't trying to imply that the kucinich ad was the prime cause of all the ruckus. Merely that it was, as you point out, the straw that broke the pundit's back. As for the media blackout on the returning casulties, I think it's because, at least in the US, there is a lot of ambivelance about the war in Iraq. Many moderate USians who supported the invasion on the basis of WofMD and threats of terrorism now feel like the victims of a bait-and-switch ad campaign. The Bush admin realizes that mass media coverage of soldier's corpses does little to shore up the resolve of those who are already wavering. Countries like Poland or Italy aren't in the same position as the US and the UK. It wasn't their leaders in front of the UN talking about imminent nuclear and biological attacks. If the political climate goes south for any of the coalition leaders they can always say "the americans/british made me do it." Also, a lack of corpses in the media fits in nicely with a "main hostilites are over, now we're just cleaning up" mentality.
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Sorry, Spooky, I misunderstood. What you say is all true. It seems so...disrespectful to essentially smuggle them back into the US with no public fanfare. I wish Bush/Rumsfeld/whoever would just admit that a) the war is not over, despite their best efforts to prove otherwise, and b) they're not overthrowing Saddam's regime as effectively as they thought they would and so c) people are dying for a bunch of lies. (Not that I expect them to admit to c, of course.)
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Orcinus says very succinctly what I wish I could. But more interestingly, I and didn't think of it earlier, is the fact that Misha is using blatant intimidation against Blumrich. Even if Blumrich isn't murdered or physically harassed, he now knows that hundreds or thousands of people opposed to his political views know exactly where he lives. What better way to shut a guy up? And I apologise for my derail in my last comment...and hey, I love Orcinus's eulogy to Keiko.
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I'd be much happier if people here didn't link to these hate sites. Or pretty soon we'll be picking Little Green Anti-Idiotarian Rotties out of our own hair, and it won't be funny.
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Wait until it happens. Until then, I see nothing wrong with posting links to things like this. I mean, that's what we do.
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I agree with tracicle. We can't really be limiting ourselves to what we link to and look at, out of fear of idiot reprisals and comment spamming from the angry and disgruntled.
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It's a membership call, obviously. Just my 2 centavos.
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dng I agree - I don't live in fear.
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*sees dog, pisses trousers*
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Hmph. Hate is hate, whatever fancy-ass talk it's cloaked in. I am a conservative and a supporter not only of the "troops" (as those who oppose the war often claim to be) but of what I believe the aim of the war to be - the eventual defanging of large-scale middle eastern terrorism. Although I may disagree with what Kucinich and Blumrich say and purport to believe, publishing a thinly veiled threat of this nature is both ridiculous and cowardly. Please do not assume, because a few professed conservatives post this sort of cringing filth, that we all are of similar opinions or approve of such missives. Good men and women on both sides of the argument can discuss and debate without rancor, and certainly without petty, craven threats, implying and perhaps instigating the actions of other men. It is the worst sort of abuse of the First Amendment, and I find it appalling. Beyond that, both of these insects respresent, on first glance (which is all I'm going to give them) of their rather pathetic sites, the very worst impulses of both sides of the political spectrum - hatred, personally held animosities, irrationality, unwillingness to consider even for a moment the other side has a valid - or even intelligent - point of view. They have always been with us, and will always - but we, as pragmatic and cordial, if disagreeing, people can eschew the bright temptations toward divisiveness that they represent.
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Additionally, I find Orcinus' ideas on the idea that Republicans have purposefully created a meme implying that dissent is treason specious. Barring the idea that declaring one's philosophical opposites borderline traitors is an ancient tactic practiced by both sides, the crime of treason is adequately and succinctly defined in current US federal law, a quick Googling will reveal. Truth is, their is a vigorous and respected anti-war movement in this country that grows in strength and popularity with each Bush blunder, one that has been in operation since before the start of the war in Afghanistan (let alone Iraq) and one that has not been harassed or troubled by the government (indeed, a great many of them are in the government) in any way, despite the possibilities, such as they are, afforded them to do so by the Patriot Act. Despite the grandiose Wonka-esque claims of the Republicans and the similarly Captain Renault-esque declarations of the Democrats, there has been little, if any, governmental suppression of dissent that I've seen - surely, a lot of hooting on both sides, but little actual action. Which is to say, business as usual.
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"...he now knows that hundreds or thousands of people opposed to his political views know exactly where he lives. What better way to shut a guy up?"
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I throw a question out there to everyone. Why does Glenn Reynolds link to Misha? Is it because Misha is such a great wordsmith. The guy has a horrible grasp of the English language. If I was a Professor at a college I certainly wouldn't want anyone to know that I read Misha's site. He could end up with a student group asking the school to fire him. As for Misha, I think we are dealing with a boy inside a man's body. He couldn't insult someone with Triumph the Insult Dog on his hand. Let alone be man enough to fight his own battles. However, his readership is scary. And entirely male. It's like a circle jerk at a Klan rally. Thanks for cleaning up the post, Tracy.
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Ah, Sullivan's Travels one might say. (I wouldn't, but you might) Very political post. Some great comments from all sorts of simians.