Fact Checking

Wednesday, Andy Birkey at the Minnesoros “independent” wrote about an episode involving an angry caller leaving a profane, uncivil message at a local AFSCME office.

Birkey:

[AFSCME’s flak] forwarded audio of the call along with the identity of a person she says the calls were tracked to.  That individual, a local business owner, she says “claims to be an organizer of the Tea Party protest at the State Capitol tomorrow.”

Birkey ran the “organizer” claim uncritically, without any fact-checking; apparently AFSCME flaks are considered unimpeachable sources.

But since I was on the stage with every single one of the Twin Cities’ Tea Party’s “organization” last night, I asked around if anyone had heard of the alleged caller, “Ed Motch”.  Was he an organizer?  Was he even prominent enough among the Twin Cities’ small community of non-major-party tax activists that anyone even knew the guy’s name?

Nobody had ever heard of the guy.  A casual google of “Ed Motch” shows that most of the references to him come from…the Mindy.

To be fair to the Mindy, the rest of the Twin Cities media – Fox9, WCCO and MPR – repeated AFSCME’s claim that this…:

“Hey you [expletive] piece of [expletive]. Your days are [expletive] numbered sucking at the public tit. This [expletive] is over. I saw that [expletive] ‘Tax the Rich’ ad again. We don’t you come and visit tomorrow at the [expletive] little party we’re going to have on the 15th at the capitol. Why don’t you show up there with your [expletive] union signs. That’d be just [expletive] wonderful. Come you you gutless [expletive] wonders, show up!”

…was a “threat”.   An uncivil. profane tirade, certainly, and not an invitation in good faith to the event, but “threat?

Apparently it is, if AFSCME, like Steny Hoyer, Rep. Cleaver, Rep. Lewis and Nancy Pelosi, say so.

12 thoughts on “Fact Checking

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  3. “…claims to be an organizer of the Tea Party protest at the State Capitol tomorrow.”

    That’s a direct quote. So no error by Andy there. Are there any other facts you’ll be checking in this post entitled “Fact Checking”? Or are you just going to offer you’re abundantly clever epithets for the Minnesota Independent? (“Mindy”? A laugh riot, I tell you. “Minnesoros ‘independent'”: The fusion of George Soros’ name with airquotes: Move over Victor Borges!! Take that Jon Stewart!)

    Also, where’s your post on the fact that Motch, who is obviously a tea party “supporter,” as the Minnesota Independent headline said, is “sucking at the tit” of government by accepting tax dollars for printing work. One of your people is threatening unions, promoting your event, and then building his business with my tax dollars?

    Also, are you ok with those among your ranks harassing folks like this? Would you consider it a threat if I started making phonecalls to you, cussin’ up a storm, and telling you your days, “cocksucker,” are numbered?

  4. That’s a direct quote. So no error by Andy there.

    Yep. It was a quote. And it was left unquestioned, in an attempt to get the audience to believe that a mover and shaker in the movement is the one leaving the call.

    Are there any other facts you’ll be checking in this post entitled “Fact Checking”? Or are you just going to offer you’re abundantly clever epithets for the Minnesota Independent? (”Mindy”? A laugh riot, I tell you. “Minnesoros ‘independent’”: The fusion of George Soros’ name with airquotes: Move over Victor Borges!! Take that Jon Stewart!)

    Ooh. Sarcasm. Never run into that before. Well played.

    Also, where’s your post on the fact that Motch, who is obviously a tea party “supporter,”

    “Obviously?” Well, yeah – he said so. So what? The intent of the piece was to create the impression that “Mr. Motch’s” phone message was indicative of the tenor of the Tea Parties – which is part of the left’s current narrative, albeit not really factual.

    By the way – did I miss something, or has it even been confirmed that it WAS “Ed Motch?” Nobody’s confirmed that it wasn’t Larry Pogemiller claiming to be “Ed Motch”. Absurd? Maybe – but the left did promise to run false-flags to discredit the Tea Party. Your side sowed the wind…

    And the other “fact” I “checked” was the idea that it was a “threat” in the first place. It was a profane, dim little rant; so wash the guy’s mouth out with soap; nobody got their legs broken! Where is the “threat?” That’s all I asked. In response, Birkey said “other media called it a threat”, to which I replied “No, other media said that AFSCME called it a threat”.

    Care to respond to that, or can I just expect more sarcasm?

    as the Minnesota Independent headline said, is “sucking at the tit” of government by accepting tax dollars for printing work.

    Why should a business turn down a customer?

    One of your people is threatening unions,

    For starters, WHERE WAS THE “THREAT”?

    Secondly – was he one of “my people?” Leaving aside that I’ve never heard of “Ed Motch”, and I’ve always condemned crude incivility (have you ever read this blog?), the Tea Party is the most ideologically-diffuse “group” of people in American history. You’ve got everyone from McCainiacs to Alex Jonesers, Libertarians to Pat Robertson Socialcons, gunnies to union DFLers. Calling him “my people” – indeed, trying to blame the Tea Parties as a group for any one person’s actions, especially someone that the vast majority of us disclaim – is kinda like me calling the left-identified thug who broke Ally Butsch’s leg, or the people who egged the Boston Tea Party, or the Searchlight rally, or the guy who crashed his plane into the IRS office, or the guy who shot the cops at the Pentagon “your people”.

    Sound fair?

    Also, are you ok with those among your ranks harassing folks like this?

    What part of “foul, dim rant” did you not get?

    Would you consider it a threat if I started making phonecalls to you, cussin’ up a storm, and telling you your days, “cocksucker,” are numbered?

    Nope. That’s why I specifically asked the Mindy who the guy was, so I could find out if he was an “organizer” – since Birkey’s story left that implication utterly unquestioned.

    But words matter, “lix”; he didn’t say “their days were numbered” – that’d be threatening their lives. He said their “days as [government employees]” were numbered. Kinda aggressive, and not very civil, but a whole ‘nother implication, doncha think?

    One thing I would NOT do if I got such a phone call is claim that it was representative of, say, all Obama supporters. Because I AM better than that.

    Birkey clearly wanted to imply, as you do, that Mr. Motch’s outburst was indicative of the Tea Party’s mentality as a whole.

    That’s just stupid.

    And by your leave, I have the right to say so. So far.

  5. I am awaiting Lix’s reply but i doubt we will see one ofter the thrashing fisk delivered by our host. One of your better ones mitch.

  6. Lewis and Cleaver are mostly being quiet about the alleged spitting and alleged racist shouts. They are allowing proxy’s in the MSM say that those things were said and done.

  7. There is another possibility, one that parallels Charles Alan Wilson in Washington; the guy making the offensive phone call may identify with the Tea Party, without the Tea Party members reciprocating this guy.

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