Posted on 02/10/2005 10:41:44 PM PST by conservative in nyc
The Web site began as a sort of Internet boutique for like-minded conservatives and libertarians, suspicious of federal power and angry at President Bill Clinton.
Started in 1997 by a reclusive California conservative, freerepublic.com saw its membership blossom with Clinton's impeachment and the election of George W. Bush. Attention to the site reached a zenith last fall, when a "freeper" -- the group's moniker for its bloggers -- first discussed flaws in documents CBS News used in a report critical of Bush's National Guard service.
---Snip---
One participant working under the handle MD4BUSH, whose identity is unknown, drew Steffen into a private conversation and appeared to coax him to share more details about his role in spreading the rumor. Copies of those chat room e-mails were later provided to The Washington Post.
The Oct. 18 conversation began with MD4BUSH complimenting Steffen and saying how obvious it was that the rumors about the mayor were true. Steffen, writing under the name NCPAC, replied:
"I don't look for the MO'M [O'Malley] story to hit for a little bit yet. . . . However, a lot of what everyone knows about MO'M is because of work that has occurred. It's been a wild ride."
MD4BUSH later probed further:
"Your saying that my dentist knows [about the rumors] because of work you did? Wow, I must say, I'm impressed. I mean really, everyone knows -- how did that happen?"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
That would depend on who it is. There may be legal considerations also. If they are already a public figure, such as a reporter for the compost, They are fair game.
My guess is that it was a reporter. This operation was too cool and clean, (except the exit strategy). I think that NCPAC was targeted.
OK, gotcha.
I'd be quite surprised to find the Post 'reporters' weren't the receiving end of the mails--considering the freepmails were all posted by MD4Bush. We DO know that MD4Bush has recently been banned. Circumstantial evidence is still evidence, and I can't think of any OTHER way the freepmail would have been relayed to the media. And as MD4Bush was the party to the conversation most likely, there aren't any crimes committed under that law, I bet. Maybe a state or some other law (wasn't MD where the cell phone stuff took place a few years back) but doesn't look like this one.
Oh, come ON. Why else does MD4Bush post this freepmail to the web thread? How else would this stuff ever make it to the media? Maybe the Post didn't do it themselves, but someone obviously was trolling here with the intent of busting NCPAC. It seems to me the media that broke the story is a likely candidate.
Bookmarking for later this morning. Yikes; it's 3:10am. Back to sleep.
LOL!! Wonderful tagline.
The WP couldn't legally print those emails unless it was put on a public board .. and they know it
D4Bush sure did NOT post like an agent proveucater or a mole. He posted of joy after the Bush victory.
I looked at his posts briefly a couple hours back. Now he is no longer registered - "nobody by that name."
I hope that he wasn't zotted erroneously for being a mole. Someone could have accessed his copy when he went to lunch and printed or forwarded the FReepmail from NCPAC without MD4Bush having any knowledge or doing anything wrong, beyond forgetting to activate his screensaver.
Yet another "verri interesting" observation! Good point.
We ain't bloggers! We really don't care a dang about the story behind this much.
just a bunch of kiss and tell.
They are lashing out at conservative groups. That is all it is. There is no issue here. A newbie, a story, and now a e-mail to the WaPo.
The email sounds like news.
You have the gift of mercy.
I read his "forum posts" when this thread first started and he had stopped posting for months until 2/8/05. I thought his posts were suspicious and I do not recall reading joy in them.
This was not"private" from Burkeman1..it was hateful drunken nonsense..I don't do "personal" stuff in freepmail..unless it's condolences.
Excuse me, I misspoke. I said Washington Post specifically, when I meant to point a finger at the media that broke the story. On reflection, I'm unsure if that's the Sun or the Post, but either way, I don't have any question in my mind that MD4Bush was a troll planted to bust NCPAC. I think it's likely that the media did the planting under the guise of investigative reporting.
Point taken
But you have to admit .. this sure smells of a set up
That's why they were quickly posted on another thread having nothing to do with the scandal. The exit strategy was more of a clean up.
BTW the very first post on FR for MD4Bush, was to NCPAC.
"They are after Free Republic, They want to marginalize all of us as kooks and crazies who should be ignored. They are losing and we must expose them now for what they are.."
Hey WAPO, treat us fair, how to DU, do thou dare us compare.
He was banned after the article was put up. He was banned while I was looking at his posting history. I backed into his profile page to see what threads he had bookmarked. When I clicked on 'links' nothing happened. I clicked it again and got the message: "This account has been banned or suspended."
Is it?
And if not, it is the property of FR and WAPO violated privacy rights? HMMMMMM
Point well taken.
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