Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
The "B" is for "Tawana Brawley"
Yesterday was a banner day for distributed webby journalism. Conservatives, inspired by stories of fake donors like "Doodad Pro" and "Fhhdhh" giving money online to Obama, created their own fake names and tried to lay down some hope. They succeeded.
Erika Franzi, who described herself as conservative and preferring Senator John McCain over Mr. Obama, used the name “Della Ware” and entered an address of 12345 No Way in Far Far Away, DE 78954. Under employer, she listed: Americans Against Obama; for occupation, she typed in: Founder.
To her surprise, she said, her contribution went through in “fewer than three seconds.” Then, in order to be fair, she repeated the experiment on Mr. McCain’s Web site, entering the exact same information. Three times, she said, she received the message: “We have found errors in the information that you submitted. Please review the information below and try again.”
The day's other development was, if anything, weirder. Pittsburgh McCain volunteer Ashley Todd, a 20-year old College Republican, reported that she'd been mugged at knifepoint by a "6'4'' 200 pound" black man who then used his knife to carve the letter "B" in her face. The story led Drudge even before it was confirmed by local news. But the story stunk. Michelle Malkin, author of Unhinged—a book all about how Democrats engage in violent, angry behavior—suspected a hoax.
She refused medical treatment after reporting the incident to police. Why on earth would she do that?
Look at her face. What’s wrong with the “B?” Maaaaybe the alleged robber straddled her upside-down while carving it into her face. Maybe. But I’ve got my doubts.
Like Malkin, I've watched fake hate crimes unfold. I covered the unravelling of one hoaxter on my old college campus. (Apparently, the culprit is now an actor.) But Todd was working in the age of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, which gave hundreds of people across the web the tools to pull apart the story. Wonkette found her curiously chipper Twitter feed, and commenters found photos of a poster she'd made that bore handwriting that looked a lot like the scarlet (and not even skin-breaking) "B." Also:
Salon was able to find some of Todd's personal Web pages, which we're not linking to in order to protect her privacy. What appears to be her MySpace page, which gives her age as 23 rather than 20, is private. But the quote at the top of it is visible -- it reads, "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her cloths [sic] off, but its [sic] better if you do."
This circumstancial evidence is mostly discouraging conservative bloggers who started off the evening accusing (however tongue-in-cheek) Obama of egging on the mysterious mugger. The real work is being done by local cops, who have heard multiple versions of the story from Todd (one where the mugger was outraged by her campaign button, one where he didn't get angry until he saw her bumper sticker) and are giving her a polygraph. Still, it was the speed of bloggers that cast doubt on the story before it could even lead cable news.
UPDATE: Todd admitted to a hoax.
Investigators did say that they received photos from the ATM machine and "the photographs were verified as not being the victim making the transaction."
This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the story.
The charge of "race-baiting" is thrown around in a lot of situations where it really doesn't fit. But telling cops a black person attacked and mutilated you when, in fact, you are trying to concoct a story to defeat Barack Obama... well, there's a word for that, and it's not "enlightened." Even conspiracy theorist Andy McCarthy is eating crow on this.
|10.24.08 @ 12:13PM|#
"...and...and then...he made me sign this form with a big ACORN
logo at the top..."
*SOB!*
|10.24.08 @ 12:20PM|#
joe, c'mon, lets give props to frothing righty Michelle Malkin
for being among the first to give good reason to doubt it was
true.
C'mon. You know you can do it.
And, as is so typical, this idiot has managed to delegitimize the
incidents of real violence directed at McCain supporters.
Love the Brawley shout-out, BTW.
LGF Fan|10.24.08 @ 12:29PM|#
This is another brutal outing done by the Socialists and their enablers in the MSM, similar to what they did to poor Joe the Plumber.
|10.24.08 @ 12:33PM|#
Michelle Malkin, familiar enough with the behavior of young
women who make up false stories to generate hysteria during a
political campaign to recognize when it's hapening in real
time.
Yeah, props to her.
Jeremy|10.24.08 @ 12:36PM|#
For what it's worth, "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her cloths [sic] off" and "but its [sic] better if you do" are Panic at the Disco songs. The titles come from lines in the play (and film) "Closer."
|10.24.08 @ 12:44PM|#
"joe, c'mon, lets give props to frothing righty Michelle Malkin
for being among the first to give good reason to doubt it was
true."
Too bad for Malkin, she missed a great opportunity to advocate
rounding up the blacks and putting them into internment camps.
|10.24.08 @ 12:55PM|#
Michelle Malkin, familiar enough with the behavior of young
women who make up false stories to generate hysteria during a
political campaign
You say that as if Malkin has made up false stories etc. Is that
the case? As ever, joe, linky?
|10.24.08 @ 1:02PM|#
Are you asking joe for a link where Malkin has made up a false story? Something joe didn't claim.
|10.24.08 @ 1:10PM|#
You say that as if Malkin has made up false stories etc. Is
that the case? As ever, joe, linky?
joe does links rarely. It somewhat damages his credibility, but
that's our joe. Maybe a href= is just too damned hard to type.
Abdul|10.24.08 @ 1:14PM|#
I just read that Crystal Gale Magnum was gang-raped by plumbers wearing McCain stickers!
dhex|10.24.08 @ 1:32PM|#
man i wish the partisans would take up knives and carve each other up like pumpkins. do the gene pool a fucking favor or eighty.
dhex|10.24.08 @ 1:33PM|#
/insert snide joke about relying on the state to do their violence for them, lazy bastards...
|10.24.08 @ 1:35PM|#
Northwestern, eh?
I think I am correct about Wiegel being a guy that went to
Tattnall* and living in Centerville (where the DuPont estates are),
while sneering at George Bush as being born with a silver spoon in
his mouth.
*Tattnall is a very expensive Wilmington, DE area private school,
though I don't know if it is as expensive as that blue-collar Joe
"six-pack" Bidden's Archmere Academy, which IS the estate of a
former DuPont treasurer.
|10.24.08 @ 1:37PM|#
TrickyVic | October 24, 2008, 1:02pm | #
Are you asking joe for a link where Malkin has made up a false
story? Something joe didn't claim.
No, I didn't, but it is interesting how RC Dean immediately leaps
to the defense of Michelle Malkin's credibility and honesty.
|10.24.08 @ 1:42PM|#
Here's Michelle Malking making up a story about Ron Paul being a
9/11 truther.
http://belowthebeltway.com/2007/05/19/john-gibson-and-michelle-malkin-lies-about-ron-paul/
TallDave|10.24.08 @ 1:45PM|#
Shockingly, Weigel immediately casts doubt on the authenticity
of the crime.
Shrug. We'll see. She could be really really crazy. Last word from
the police is they are treating it as credible.
No word on whether Obama will apologize for using the
Secret-Service debunked "Kill him!" fraud in the last debate. And
of course, Weigel hasn't mentioned it.
|10.24.08 @ 1:47PM|#
I find it amusing and infuriating that the intentional fraud
being encouraged and perpetrated at the Obama - and Noriega and
Murtha, to name at least two - websites, where the address
verification system has been intentionally disabled to allow people
to donate under false names and nonexistent addresses, is
completely ignored.
If the McCain website were committing such blatant fraud, I think
there might be a story or two about it. If an Obama supporter
reported that a scawy, scawy rural-looking person attacked her and
scratched an M on her cheek, there would be news vans lined up and
down her street and we'd be getting hourly updates on every news
channel.
I eagerly await getting schooled by Joe about why the credit card
scam is not really fraud and about how the likely hoax says
something really profound, and frightening and disgusting, about
all Republicans everywhere. Please try to include a sports
metaphor. I always feel like something's missing if you don't.
Asharak|10.24.08 @ 1:49PM|#
TallDave, why don't you go back to Little Green Footballs where
you belong and sop pretending to be a libertarian?
And for the record, I live in Tampa and personally heard somebody
yell "Kill him!" while watching a Sarah Palin rally in Clearwater
on television.
|10.24.08 @ 1:51PM|#
Police psychologists will tell you these alleged carving attacks are invariably self-inflicted, the handiwork of attention-seeking neurotics. The "victim" is typically an adolescent or post-adolescent female. There are never any witnesses, and the marks don't show struggle and don't appear where the "victim" couldn't reach.
|10.24.08 @ 1:54PM|#
The Todd girl has confessed, BTW. Why do people think they'll get away with this? Like the professor at NYU (or Columbia?) who reported a noose on her door, or any other case like this. Tawana Brawley was a young girl - can't recall how old, but she obviously had problems - and she was hideously used by Sharpton and his cronies. But adults who pull this stunt - what on earth makes you think you won't be found out?
|10.24.08 @ 1:55PM|#
One more thing - Todd had a black eye. I always thought it was
really hard to give yourself a black eye.
And Asharak - I don't believe you.
|10.24.08 @ 2:00PM|#
Are you asking joe for a link where Malkin has made up a
false story? Something joe didn't claim.
Not directly, of course - he's too clever for that. But unless his
snarky reply is completely devoid of content, I can't imagine what
else he could have been implying.
And for the record, I live in Tampa and personally heard
somebody yell "Kill him!" while watching a Sarah Palin rally in
Clearwater on television.
I thought it was "Tell him", which in the crowd noise could be
easily misconstrued. Just sayin'.
TallDave|10.24.08 @ 2:03PM|#
http://kdka.com/local/attack.McCain.Bloomfield.2.847628.html
POlice are saying hoax now. Oh well, I always said that was
possible.
I expect it will get a lot more media coverage now that it doesn't
make Obama look bad.
Asharak|10.24.08 @ 2:05PM|#
I thought it was "Tell him", which in the crowd noise could
be easily misconstrued. Just sayin'.
That could have been it now that I think about it, so I apologize
if I misheard anything.
Mouth-breathers like that are really out there, though. Just check
out Free Republic.
Asharak|10.24.08 @ 2:09PM|#
The backwards "b" should have been the first indication that
something was amiss.
And I love how TallDave thinks that anyone who doesn't agree with
him is pro-Obama. Typical.
|10.24.08 @ 2:09PM|#
Just as there are mouthbreathers out there carrying signs with a
drawing of Sarah Palin and a big hairy fist striking her chin and
knocking out a tooth. Cause she's a MILP.
And people wearing Sarah Palin is a Cyouknowtherest.
There are actual photographs of those people, but strangely enough
they don't show up on the news. I can't imagine why.
|10.24.08 @ 2:11PM|#
How did this make Obama look bad? Was he in Pittsburgh and low on cash? You really are an idiot. The only thing it ever did was make this girl look like a pathetic fool who needs help.
|10.24.08 @ 2:25PM|#
stubby,
Your tears are so yummy and sweet, but really, this episode speaks
for itself.
|10.24.08 @ 2:31PM|#
BTW, stubby, all the kool Republicans stopped talking about
voter registration fraud a few days ago, when a McCain campaign
contractor was arrested (for the second time) for voter
registration fraud, and when the McCain campaign went silent on the
issue after the Obama campaign wrote a letter to the Special
Prosecutor investigating the US Attorney firings scandal.
You know, the one that grew out of bogus prosecutions - and
non-prosecutions - of voter fraud cases before the 2006
elections.
I guess you missed the memo. The other usual suspects didn't.
|10.24.08 @ 2:59PM|#
No, I didn't, but it is interesting how RC Dean immediately
leaps to the defense of Michelle Malkin's credibility and
honesty.
And its even more interesting how asking joe to back up an
insinuation is leaping to the defense of his target.
Here's Michelle Malking making up a story about Ron Paul being
a 9/11 truther.
Hey! A link from joe. I will treasure this moment. Was that so
hard?
FWIW, I don't read Michelle Malkin. I just don't like seeing
unsubstantiated smears on anyone.
|10.24.08 @ 3:07PM|#
The backwards B indicted exactly nothing. From what we didn't
know, there was no reason to presume anything about the position of
the "attacker" in relation to the "victim". The nice rounded edges
of the B are suspect, as anyone who has ever carved lettering on
anything knows. That would take time and precision - unlkely when
carving up a frightened person on the ground.
If its OK with ya'll, I'm gonna maintain that one of Obama's thugs
rose to the challenge to get their knives up in people's faces.
|10.24.08 @ 3:12PM|#
Joe:
Don't read this.
It's written by a Republican so it can't possibly be true. And
multiple people have tested both the Obama website and the McCain
website, and it works on one and not the other.
Your tears are so yummy and sweet
You're such a dork.
Orange Line Special|10.24.08 @ 3:13PM|#
stubby writes: I find it amusing and infuriating that the
intentional fraud being encouraged and perpetrated at the Obama -
and Noriega and Murtha, to name at least two - websites, where the
address verification system has been intentionally disabled to
allow people to donate under false names and nonexistent addresses,
is completely ignored.
Write Michael Luo of the
NYT and ask him what impact he thinks covering up for BHO about
this matter is going to have on
his career.
|10.24.08 @ 3:23PM|#
Oh, I'm sure the impact on Luo's career will be nothing but
positive. Everyone in the tank will be sitting pretty.
I'm a lot more worried about the Fairness Doctrine, and bloggers
who don't fall in line after Jan. 20.
And my 401(k). I think our 401(k)s are the biggest worry right now.
My husband will likely have to let a couple people go when his
taxes get hiked, but his (small) business is actually kind of
recession friendly.
|10.24.08 @ 3:25PM|#
Oh, look, another magic bullet. Barack Obama's web site doesn't
collect donor data that it isn't required to collect.
But Bullwinkle, that trick never works!
Loosen up my sleeve...
|10.24.08 @ 3:30PM|#
Joe, are you trying to say that card holder information is not
required when using a credit card online? Of course it is. Are you
saying that the website is not required to turn on the verification
system that checks the cardholder information? That's true - they
turned it off.
Have you ever tried to pay for something online and accidentally
put in the wrong address or zip code or misspelled your name? Was
the transaction rejected? I've always had the transaction rejected
when my information did not match my card.
What is it that you don't get about this?
Fluffy|10.24.08 @ 3:32PM|#
I eagerly await getting schooled by Joe about why the credit
card scam is not really fraud
Um - you do realize that if the address entered doesn't match the
credit card's billing address, the credit card company won't
actually give Obama the money, right?
So this clever conspiracy to commit credit card fraud or allow
excessive contributions or overseas contributions or whatever it's
supposed to be wouldn't work?
shecky|10.24.08 @ 3:35PM|#
Um - you do realize that if the address entered doesn't
match the credit card's billing address, the credit card company
won't actually give Obama the money...
Aw, man! I just came up with a foolproof plan...
|10.24.08 @ 3:36PM|#
"""And its even more interesting how asking joe to back up an
insinuation is leaping to the defense of his target."""
You mean your insinuation. joe made a statement, be it true or
false.
|10.24.08 @ 3:41PM|#
Fluffy - wait a sec - before I pull an Emily Latella - that makes sense. Is it certain?
|10.24.08 @ 3:43PM|#
""""I thought it was "Tell him", which in the crowd noise could
be easily misconstrued. Just sayin'.""""
Easily. I wonder if this election is going to be king of wierd
hoaxes. But there's always next election.
Just Plain Brian|10.24.08 @ 3:47PM|#
I'm a lot more worried about the Fairness Doctrine, and bloggers who don't fall in line after Jan. 20.
For the same reasons that the FCC does not regulate cable TV,
satellite radio, or blogs, the Fairness Doctrine would not have
anything to do with them, either. Not to mention the extraordinary
technical difficulty that would be associated with attempting to
regulate blogs in that manner.
|10.24.08 @ 4:38PM|#
Um - you do realize that if the address entered doesn't
match the credit card's billing address, the credit card company
won't actually give Obama the money, right?
Fluffy, that would fall under the category of expert internet
misinformation that sounded good but is not true. Retailers create
these restrictions to protect themselves from charge backs by the
credit card company per their merchant agreement. Accepting orders
without complete validation is risky to the retailer, but that is
all. Not illegal, not disallowed.
|10.24.08 @ 4:49PM|#
bigbig - that's what I was wondering, b/c it's been years since
I worked in retail and restaurants and I don't remember how the
merchant agreements worked. But the retailer - in this case,
Obama's campaign - has to pay the credit card companies for every
transaction that's rung through, right? So if the credit card
company ultimately rejects the charge, does it cost the
retailer?
Obama's campaign said something like "oh, don't worry, if the
charge was fraudulent we'll promptly refund it" - I think they were
referring to a lady (and there's been more than one person) who
reported her credit card number being used in a donation without
her approval.
|10.24.08 @ 4:55PM|#
And I don't think the false name/false address is illegal vis a vis using the credit card - it's illegal under federal election laws because - if the card is actually charged, and the campaign gets the money - then people can donate above whatever the limits are (and I don't know what they are, cause I currently don't have near enough money to contribute to politicians.) And people outside the US can donate, which they've been doing, a lot.
|10.24.08 @ 5:05PM|#
A friend of mine entered a merchant agreement recently. I'll
check with him. The above was my understanding - I don't want to
spread a myth, so I'll verify and repost if that is
incorrect.
I did have a "company" (den of thieves) misuse my card data to make
charges back in 1998. When I spoke to the fraud department, they
informed me the charges made without proper verification would be
losses to the merchant who failed to verify per the procedures they
were required to follow. One item was software purchased and
downloaded online. The other was for items mailed to an address in
Germany. That second charge illustrates the reason why many vendors
refuse to ship to addresses that do not match up. They lose a legit
few orders that way (people who are borrowing a friend/relatives
card or shipping to a work address), but they do not ship products
out at a total loss. In those two cases, the retailers lost out for
lack of due diligence. The card-issuing bank and myself (aside for
like a $10 fee) were off scott-free. Had I not reported the abuse,
the trancsactions would have posted and been paid.
|10.24.08 @ 5:08PM|#
Now that I think about it, it was probably 1999. The software was an anitvirus package, and to my delight the items shipped were from Victoria Secret! Hope they enjoyed those bras.
|10.24.08 @ 7:03PM|#
I apologize to R C Dean but a link to reality is no longer
available.
But hey, that Sarah Palin is one hot diggity dog!
|10.24.08 @ 8:47PM|#
Last word from the police is they are treating it as credible.
Which is more than anyone should treat the crap Tall Idiot
spouts.
Isn't there some Grease Monkey script we can use to Ignore
Davemonkey?
Just Plain Brian|10.24.08 @ 8:52PM|#
Isn't there some Grease Monkey script we can use to Ignore Davemonkey?
The Indisputably Non-Coercive Idiot Filter for Hit & Run:
INCIF is a
script that allows you to filter out unwanted posts/posters while
reading Reason's Hit & Run comments secion by utilizing
GreaseMonkey for FireFox.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245