Big Hat Tip to : William Beutler
http://www.blogpi.net/mister-robinsons-neighborhood-or-hey-republicansagainstfred-why-dont-you-leave-a-comment-here
Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood, or: Hey, RepublicansAgainstFred! Why Don’t You Leave A Comment Here?
Published by William Beutler July 10th, 2007 in Republicans, Comment Sections, White House '08, Online Campaigns, Fred Thompson
As my now-standard disclosure should make pretty clear, lately I’ve been keeping a close eye on Fred Thompson-related Internet discussion. And before that, I’d been writing plenty about overzealous online campaigns. Well, here the twain meet.
It’s one thing to offer relevant criticisms of a candidate (or potential candidate), but making things up out of whole cloth is an obvious sign of desperation. From what I’ve seen, some people are desperately afraid of no one so much as Fred. Which people? Savvy readers will be able to guess for themselves, but I’ll save my comments on that for later.
This post tracks the activities of one (I assume it’s just one) shape-shifting anti-Fredhead and the ridiculous lengths to which he (I assume it’s a he) has gone in recent weeks to attack Fred in many a comment section across the left- and rightosphere. Let’s dig in:
I can’t remember where I first noticed somebody named “Jim Robinson” going after Fred, but thanks to the Oracle of Mountain View, it was not difficult to track his hilariously ineffective mau-mauing across the blogosphere. Early on, he sounded like a Rudy fan:
This guy is a joke and delussional if he thinks people qill vote for him because they like Arthur Branch. He has absolutely no executive experience and is less qualified for the job than Barack Huessein Obama.
Posted by: Jim Robinson | May 31, 2007 at 12:26 PM
This comment is a rarity not just for its expression of support for Giuliani, but also because it was posted Gina Cobb’s website and hers only (the typos, as we shall see, were not a rarity). This next comment, on the other hand, found its way to at least three dozen comment sections, sometimes as Jim Robinson and sometimes as Thompson Truth File:
During his eight years in the Senate, Thompson won his free trade credentials with his votes to extend the president’s fast-track trade promotion authority and to approve permanent trading relations with China. One right-wing critic in a widely circulated internet column called Thompson a “neocon globalist” for his immigration, free trade, and foreign policy positions. Social conservatives are also likely to question Thompson’s “liberal” voting record on immigration. Although Thompson has recently written and spoken out about the need for strong border control, while in the Senate he voted to increase visas for skilled foreign workers and to increase permits for unskilled foreign farm workers. Overall, Americans for Better Immigration, an anti-immigration lobbying group, gives Thompson a career grade of C for his mixed voting record. Thompson will likely come under withering criticism from anti-immigrant candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), who mixes his social conservatism with a heavy dose of nationalism and anti-corporate populism.
Posted by Thompson Truth File | June 11, 2007 4:26 PM
I particularly enjoy the bit about “one right-wing critic.” One assumes that the critic being quoted is either a figment of the author’s imagination or someone so fringey and insignifcant their name would provoke, at best, a quizzical look. Here our Mr. Robinson sounds more like a supporter of Rep. Tancredo — quite a leap for a recent Rudy-booster. Also weird is the detached, matter-of-fact nature of these statements, as if these are not the writer’s opinions, but perhaps you might be interested to know… know what? Fred is not an “anti-corporate populist”? Gee, that’s helpful.
Another comment, both too long and too slanderous to repeat here, was posted to a couple dozen different comment sections during the month of June — on conservative blogs such as Frank J’s IMAO and Steven Taylor’s PoliBlog, liberal blogs like Crooks and Liars and The Hollywood Liberal, even mainstream newspapers like the Denver Post and gossip site TMZ.com.
It may be a clue that “Jim Robinson” is almost surely stolen from Jim Robinson, the owner and operator of Free Republic. If you’re wondering, here’s what the real Jim Robinson thinks of Fred:
Unlike RudyMcRomney, Thompson/Hunter are not the media’s choice. Nor are they the Republican leadership’s choice. They’re the grassroots conservatives’ choice! Great concept, eh? … now that we have fine conservatives like Thompson, Hunter, Tancredo, et al, making solid progress … I’m starting to get optimistic about our chances.
Now, here’s “our” Jim at Michael van der Galien’s site, upon the news that Fred was (at the time) planning a trip to Israel:
Fred Thompson is going to Isreal to campaign for the US PResidency but cant be bothered with getting on the campaign trail and meeting actual US citizens. Thats rich. Sound like a globalist.
Oh Fred, you globalist, you! And see this from Wizbang Blue:
Thompson is a puppet of Karl Rove who is pushing an amnesty bill on a public that clearly doesnt want it. Why doesnt someone ask Thompson about his ties to Rove ans whether or not he supports theamnesty bill. So far Fred refuses to answer any questions and later this month he will be traveling to Isreal and London to campaign for the United States Presidency. Something very shady is going on and the people have a right to know who exactly Fred Thompson is.
Posted by Jim Robinson | June 12, 2007 4:27 PM
What’s that? Fred, a supporter of the misbegotten “comprehensive” immigration bill? Now, that’s worse than wrong — that’s outright dishonest. Fred has been speaking out against the bill in radio and web commentaries and at speeches in Virginia and Connecticut — listen to Fred in his own words.
Meanwhile, our pseudonymous critic actually stepped up this line of attack. Shedding “Jim Robinson” and adopting “FredsForAmnesty” — this may be my favorite handle — he decided to invent a quote and push it as far across the blogosphere as possible. See this comment, deposited on at least two dozen blogs in late June, here from The Jawa Report:
“We can not deport 12 million illegal aliens.” Fred Thompson
Posted by: FredsForAmnesty at June 20, 2007 05:45 PM
It’s easy to isolate because he spelled “cannot” as “can not.” Many people have said this, but Fred Thompson has not been among them.
Even more hilariously, this individual set up an account just to plant this made-up quote at lefty netroots homebase MyDD. Even better, a MyDD contributor actually told him where to go — indicating that this line of argument works on neither conservatives nor liberals. It’s almost too much.
And we haven’t even gotten to the other ridiculous nom-de-blog mentioned in the title, “RepublicansAgainstFred.” This moniker has been used at least three dozen times, on some of the most prominent blogs on the right. At Wizbang proper:
He is nothing more than a puppet of Roves and if he manages to fool the GOP primary voters into giving him the nomination, the GOP will get creamed in the general.
If Fred Thompson wins the nomination, I will immediately go out and register as an independent. I can not in good conscience vote for a completly inept and dishonest candidate. There is too much at stake.
Posted by RepublicansAgainstFred | June 19, 2007 1:49 PM
At Captain’s Quarters:
I dont care who endorses Freddie or comes out against him. I will never vote for Freddie. not in the primary and not in the general. He is a politcal HACK!
Posted by: RepublicansAgainstFred at July 2, 2007 12:41 PM
My favorite among these coincided with Fred’s recent trip to London, which included a meeting with Lady Thatcher and a speech before a private (not public, like the schools) center-right think tank. Here’s what he posted to California Yankee:
Who the hell does this guy think he is going to London and making statements about foreign policy? Last time I checked he was only a private citizen and he cleary has no authority to do so. He is out of line. WAY out of line.
Posted by: RepublicansAgainstFred | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 05:53 PM
Okay, now that’s just funny. And before I forget — RepublicanWomenAgainstFred? Definitely the same guy.
Anyway, I think I’ve made my point — some falsehood-spreading moron with way too much time on his hands has launched a comment-section crusade against Fred Thompson. If bloggers who have received his comments are interested in forwarding his IP address to me, I will gladly look into it further. It doesn’t really matter, though — the good news is that it doesn’t seem to be having any effect whatsoever. The bad news, such as it is, will be discussed in my next post.
In the meantime, feel free to suggest any additional instances of this laughable conspiracy of one in the comments.
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