The Eternal Game of Telephone

One of the reasons I always liked being a solo blogger (until Johnny Roosh joined the staff last summer) was that miscommunications among contributors were pretty rare.

Of course, with bigger blogs, it’s not always quite so easy.

Over at True North, I comment on a flap between two of my favorite regional bloggers; my friend and NARN colleague (for the rest of the week, anyway) Michael Brodkorb, and Col. Joe Repya. The flap grew into a few questions about how True North does business – partly with the prodding of some Twin Cities leftybloggers who, like addled kittens who see a shiny bit of foil, are trying to romp and cavort about the “story”.

I try to answer them.

Posted

January 14, 2009

Center-Right AltMedia, True North

Mitch Berg

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Comments

41 responses to “The Eternal Game of Telephone”

tolowen

January 14, 2009

I love to read the comment threads in your blog, Mitch, especially when you bitchslap your detractors. but Dayum! I guess I need to look true north more often. 😀
Mr. D

January 14, 2009

Good post, Mitch. MB and Joe both have roles to play, but we have to pick our battles. And getting internecine is never a good idea.
penigma

January 14, 2009

Wow are there some whoppers in your post, but I’ll agree with D, it was well written.

Whopper One – you don’t engage in rumor mill mongering – yeah – tell that to your little bird, or for that matter, the little bird that uses reposts from other not-so-center-right hate blogs.

Anyway, I hope your troubles get sorted out – sounds like they have. I know Joe Repya from the Reserves if I recall correctly- and I like him. I hope he’s not upset – sounds like you didn’t mean to cause offense, though often what we mean, and what we do, don’t align. The question then becomes, should we have reasonably seen that what we did was likely to NOT result in what we wanted?
Mitch Berg

January 14, 2009

Tolo: Yes, you do! (And I don’t byotchslap…do I?)

D: Exactly.

Peev: please try to distinguish between Shot In The Dark – which, superior product that it is notwithstanding – is a personal with all that implies – and TN, which is a group blog that has an agenda and some standards.
Yossarian

January 14, 2009

If there’s one thing Peev continually proves, it’s that he has a broken distinguisher.
J. Ewing

January 14, 2009

Mitch, I would have thought that a simple “our blog, our rules” would have been sufficient. I don’t care who it is, even me, we owe it to try to stick to the facts or, at least, what is clearly stated as personal opinion.
tolowen

January 14, 2009

“(And I don’t byotchslap…do I?)”

okay, maybe just a flick with your middle finger to the forehead, haha!
Master of None

January 14, 2009

You (TN editors), did the right thing.

No disrespect to Repya, but that post sounded childish, and only served to diminish him.
Badda

January 14, 2009

Peev,
I demand (DEMAND!) that you actually point out to evidence, quotes, links, etc. to what ever in the flaming hootie-hoo it is you are talking about.

After all, if you want to call Mitch out on telling lies (LIES!) and turn as many folks in his blog-audience to join you in your ~~horde~~… um, ~~modest collection~~… uh, ~~pair of~~ solitary gang of counter-Mitchs… we’d blindly follow you if you would simply stop your asinine finger-pointing, loud-mouthing, posturing, and jackassary and support what you claim.

You ignorant slut.

Remember… I’m demanding this of you. If you fail in your duty (DUTY!) to put your money where your mouth is… we’ll ~~start~~ continue saying that you are:

all talk and no trousers.
Kermit

January 14, 2009

not-so-center-right hate blogs
Why is it I can’t imagine Peev not being able to distiguish between “not-so-center-right” and “hate”?

Rhetorical question.
RickDFL

January 14, 2009

Mitch:
“Now, as a matter of policy we’re not big into posting rumors – and while Joe Repya is quite confident in the veracity of his sources, he doesn’t name them.”

Did not seem to stop you when you passed along Repya’s ‘news’ about the big anti-shoe thrower rally in Dearborn (that never happened).

It is not Repya’s fault for assuming you will print any old fantasy he passes along.
Badda

January 14, 2009

Peev,
I’m still demanding… DEMANDING!!!
angryclown

January 14, 2009

That’s what I was thinking, RickDFL. The phony massive Dearborn rally gets passed along, undigested, regardless that it was manifestly unlikely and easily checked. And no correction follows.

By contrast, when one member of the wingnut family goes after another, all of a sudden Marquis of Queensbury rules apply. No rumors posted here!
swiftee

January 14, 2009

“…all of a sudden Marquis of Queensbury rules apply…”

Pffft. I’ll take you on anytime AC….street rules.

You: Seltzer and floppy shoes.

Me: Bare hands and superior intellect.
Mr. Shirt

January 14, 2009

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

AC & Tricky Rick are all the sudden concerned about accuracy & truth!

OH let the hilarity begin!!!

OH MAN! I can barely catch my breath!
Mitch Berg

January 14, 2009

Dear Rick “Sending troops out into the Iraqi countryside is a suicide mission” DFL:

Hah.

Sincerely,

etc etc
Kermit

January 14, 2009

I’m outraged. OUTRAGED!!!
I demand an anti-anti-shoe-throwing rally post RIGHT NOW to satisfy some strange, obsessive need I have to make a completelty irrelevent point!
Be sure to spell my name right.
RickDFL

January 14, 2009

AC:
“all of a sudden Marquis of Queensbury rules apply”
In this case, to apply the M of Q rules, you would need to be able to tell the difference between rumor and well-reported fact. I don’t think they can tell the difference between the two anymore. They simply believe what they want to believe. When faced with a conflict between two equally desirable sources, they have no rational method to resolve the dispute. Instead, they wring their hands and say we love you both.
Mr. Shirt

January 14, 2009

I don’t think they can tell the difference between the two anymore. They simply believe what they want to believe.

MAN you’re killing me!

You are the same RickDFL that tried to tell us that Sarah Palin was raising her daughter’s illegitimate child as her own, right? Or the line that Palin was a secret secessionist from the Alaskan Independance Party?

DUDE! I’m telling you, you’re making my sides hurt!!!!
Kermit

January 14, 2009

Being RickDFL means never having to say I’m sentient.
Dave Thul

January 14, 2009

Good work on the post, Mitch. Brodkorb is the guy who unearthed Franken’s inability to pay taxes and workers comp, and Joe is the guy who made Liberate Iraq lawnsigns appear all across the Twin Cities.
Both are valuable to the conservative cause, and defusing a fight between them was a win for our side.
As for RickDFL, Joe’s report came from an Iraqi. I’ve yet to see any burden of proof from the AP or the networks when it comes to the claims of any Iraqi about US military (insert abuse or torture claim here).
Terry

January 14, 2009

“I don’t think they can tell the difference between the two anymore.”
This is the same RickDFL who believes that a utility bill should be enough to prove your ID when you go to vote but it is unreasonable to suspect that it could lead to fraudulent voting.
It goes without saying that RickDFL is the only regular commenter at SITD who chooses to use the name of a political party as part of his moniker.
Mr. Shirt

January 14, 2009

You know, no one has ever publicly claimed to be Rick DFL. And quite honestly he can be so ridiculous, it’s hard to believe that he’s true… Could it be that “RickDFL” is actually Micheal Broadkorb? Think about it! If all DFLer’s were as incompetent as the Rickster, there would be a lot more demand for their incompetence to be exposed, wouldn’t there?
angryclown

January 15, 2009

Oooh, an Iraqi! Well then it must be true, Dave Tool.

Of course there should be a couple thousand more Iraqi’s, Lebanese, Syrians and US of A Americans out there too, if there really was a “massive” anti-shoe rally.
Mr. Shirt

January 15, 2009

AC,

Pot meet Kettle, Kettle this is Pot!
Most of your reality is made up on the fly, & you have no room to talk.

Oh yeah… & who the hell cares????
RickDFL

January 15, 2009

Wow. The SITD crowd comes through again.

Terry:
“RickDFL who believes that a utility bill should be enough to prove your ID”
Never said that. A utility bill proves your address. That is why MN law requires a photo ID and the last 4 digits of your SSN to establish your ID.

Mr. Shirt:
“RickDFL that tried to tell us that Sarah Palin was raising her daughter’s illegitimate child as her own” Never said that. Never even addressed the topic that I can remember.
“Or the line that Palin was a secret secessionist from the Alaskan Independance Party?” Never said that either. I said her husband was a member and she addressed their convention, which are both true.

You guys would use a wet umbrella to prove it was sunny outside.
Mitch Berg

January 15, 2009

I said her husband was a member and she addressed their convention, which are both true…

…to try to reinforce a dishonest meme about Palin.

Obtuse AND dishonest. Add “condescending” and you’ll have what we now call the Rickfecta.
RickDFL

January 15, 2009

“to try to reinforce a dishonest meme”
I know you post-modernists love hermeneutics, but try to master the simple art of making true statements first.

Can you point to anything that makes Repya’s Dearborn rumor less credible than his Brodkorb rumor? Indeed, given that Repya is a Minnesota Republican activist he would presumably be better informed about the latter. Nothing distinguishes the two, other than that you were a willing dupe in the first case and an unwilling dupe in the second.
Mr. Shirt

January 15, 2009

“RickDFL that tried to tell us that Sarah Palin was raising her daughter’s illegitimate child as her own” Never said that. Never even addressed the topic that I can remember.
“Or the line that Palin was a secret secessionist from the Alaskan Independance Party?” Never said that either. I said her husband was a member and she addressed their convention, which are both true.

Then you either have a very short memory, or you repress the moments when you roundly embarrass yourself in public. You & I went back & forth on these issues here on SITD.

Still laughable!
Mr. Shirt

January 15, 2009

After I disproved EVERYTHING you were trying to state in the comments of that post you only had the ability to cling to the fact that her husband had been a part of that party, but you continued to say that that implied that Palin herself also supported the AIP.
Mr. Shirt

January 15, 2009

other than that you were a willing dupe in the first case and an unwilling dupe in the second.

Speaking of dupes, have you heard that your messiah now thinks he’s Lincoln?

BWAHAHAHAHHAHA!
RickDFL

January 15, 2009

“You & I went back & forth on these issues here on SITD.”

Care to provide a link with me saying anything about the maternity of Palin’s child?
angryclown

January 15, 2009

We’ll wait for that link, eh Rick? Think it’ll come before or after any evidence of that massive anti-shoe rally?
RickDFL

January 15, 2009

AC:

I don’t know when it will come, but I am sure it will come with ALL CAPS.
Bill C

January 15, 2009

not-so-center-right hate blogs.

In peev’s BDS addled mind, any blog that doesn’t bring it’s own kneepads when it has to “service” leftism, is a hate blog.
Terry

January 15, 2009

RickDFL wrote:
Terry:
“RickDFL who believes that a utility bill should be enough to prove your ID”
Never said that. A utility bill proves your address. That is why MN law requires a photo ID and the last 4 digits of your SSN to establish your ID.

After he wrote:

I can’t say for HI, but in MN (call 651-297-3298 to confirm), while you can have the DL mailed to a PO Box, the DL must list your resident address. A PO Box does not count as a resident address. I bet the same holds for a utility bill, because it must list the address at which service is being billed. So when using either to register to vote, you would have to register at your resident address.

http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=3941#comment-43189

The only reason I even read your comments anymore is that I groove on the bathos.
angryclown

January 16, 2009

RickDFL pithed: “Nothing distinguishes the two, other than that you were a willing dupe in the first case and an unwilling dupe in the second.”

Exactly right. Well put, RickDFL.
RickDFL

January 16, 2009

Terry:

From the same post you linked to:
“You need a current utility bill, plus a Photo ID, plus the last 4 of your SSN.”

In the section you quote, we were arguing about how MN established that an address on a voter reg application actually existed.

“The only reason I even read your comments anymore is that I groove on the bathos”
I guess that explains why you never get any smarter. I actually enjoyed your moronic comments on MN election law. I had to look a few things up and ask some questions of elections officials. As a result, I learned a few things. Try it sometime.
Troy

January 16, 2009

RickDFL said:

“I actually enjoyed your moronic comments”

That makes sense, since you seem to love making your own.
Terry

January 16, 2009

“In the section you quote, we were arguing about how MN established that an address on a voter reg application actually existed.”
Wrong again, o member of the Reality-Based Community. We were arguing about whether or not the state of MN occasionally audited addresses to see if they really existed. You tried to make the point that since the state mails a registration confirmation form to a new registrant that is the same as the audit procedure Bike Bubba wanted to see implemented. I argued that you were being ridiculous, since (among other things) people get mail addressed to them at places other than their legal residence.
Then you started flailing, asserting that a utility bill with a name & address on it was proof that a voter had the same legal residence as appeared on the utility bill.
You are still in the uncomfortable position of claiming that there is no trade off between ease of registration & voting and secure elections.
RickDFL

January 17, 2009

Terry:

Nothing in the above involves me asserting a utility bill can be used to prove ID in a voter registration application. A utility bill is proof of residence and address (both of which are audited by mailing a voter reg card to that address). If you use a utility bill to prove residence, you must supplement it with a Photo ID to prove your ID.