(Originally published on: Mar 23, 2010 @ 21:40) – UPDATED to include a new Josh Solovskoy posting.
Everything had been cruising right along as close to normal as possible until now. Two unrelated events just happened that make these very Strange Days.
So let’s see what we’re talking about…
- Tea partiers told to ‘drop by’ Tom Perriello’s home: Yep, you read it correctly. Not only did this idiot post Tom Perriello’s home address and encouraged people to “stop by”, he got the wrong address and picked Perriello’s brother. I don’t think I can make this any simpler than by saying “Intimidation Is Wrong”. If the leaders of the TEA party groups do not come out and clearly distance themselves from stupid-ass stunts like this, they’re no better than Mike Troxel himself. I’ve blasted the TEA party leaders for other stupid-ass stunts before and this one is at the level of the aborted effigy-burning. Let’s see how the leaders (and the rest of the group) respond to this.
- The Josh Solovskoy Meltdown: When I first met Josh at a McPadden event, he seemed gung-ho about his candidate and I was impressed with him and McPadden as well. Now we find out that Solovskoy made a sockpuppet named “Case ‘Tiny’ Spirens” and took shots at candidate Ron Ferrin and his pregnant teenage daughter under that fake name. The rest of his manifesto attempts to destroy Mike McPadden’s credibility while Solovskoy wraps himself in his own custom-fitted holier-than-thou robes and begs for forgiveness for his naivete? Cram it, Josh. You lose any credibility that you had once you pulled out that sockpuppet.
After these Strange Days events, I’m not sure if this race could get any more bizarre. Ah, who the hell am I kidding? This is probably just the beginning.
Update #1: Josh writes an article that tries to defend his position. Although I’m highly impressed that he wrote it under his own name (and not one of his sockpuppets), his attempt falls way short of convincing me that his arguments have any degree of merit.
McPadden’s taking the high road on this by not commenting which is the smart thing to do. My opinion of McPadden has increased during this Sockpuppet Soiree and I’m sure that’s going to make Solovskoy’s head asplode yet again.
Oh the drama!!!
Okay – NO ONE should go to Tom Perriello’s brother’s house or Tom Perriello’s house (he would probably not be there anyway). Second – as far as publishing the address of ANYONE – welcome to the internet!!! With about three clicks you can find the actual address of most anyone including (oh my gosh) Tom Perriello. He bought a house in Albemarle County in December 2009. You will not find it through the White Pages but it is there – online. Congressman Perriello has a D.C. office and four offices in the Fifth and folks should continue to visit, call, email, fax or write to those offices or request an appointment with him in one of them.
Bruce – Why don’t you ask Ted Bennett, James Edmunds, Clarke Hogan, Bobby Conner or Walter Potts if they ever received phone calls or visits from constituents to their homes. I will bet you that you will get a 100% YES. Everyone knew where they lived too because they are in the White Pages. That is part of being in public service. I do not think you will find Perriello in the White Pages.
If you happen to be in D.C. tomorrow in the K Street area – a favorite of D.C. lobbyists – you can visit him there. See below.
When you serve in public office whether it is Town Council, School Board, Board of Supervisors, State Delegate, State Senator, U.S Congress or U.S. Senate folks will call your house and visit your house – it’s part of the job for those who really care.
http://www.nvdembiz.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/4147
Lucy:
Just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but my opinion stands in saying that posting Tom’s address (even though it wasn’t Tom’s) was inflammatory and wrong. I just don’t think that driving up to my congressman’s house at 3 PM and ringing the doorbell is appropriate.
How did you learn about all this craziness in the 5th? What other sites gives you this info?
Hey Bruce –
I think I made it clear. Ask Ted, Bobby, Clarke, Walter, James if folks ever called or showed up at their house – unannounced! Ask them. Like I said – I bet you will get a 100% YES. If for one second anyone feels threatened – call 911.
Manchen: I use a wide variety of sources to get my information here. You know where to come for the good stuff. 😀
Lucy:
Gotcha.
I sure as heck wouldn’t do it. I respect people’s privacy at home.
Lucy,
As for lobbyists, I remember 2008 when Virgil had a high dollar fundraiser in that same neighborhood on September 11, 2008, when the country was rightfully acknowledging the heroes and victims of that terrible day in 2001.
Do you understand the idea of privacy? Do you have no shame for the fact that this person didn’t even get the address right and now Rep. Perriello’s brother (NOT a public figure)and his family is forced to look around every corner looking for the next tea partier with his hair on fire over the Tenth Amendment or some such?
Do give Virgil my best, won’t you?
Mr. Brooks –
When you serve in elected office in America you are a “public” servant. If anyone- including a “Tea Partier with his hair on fire” (insert DRAMA here) comes on the private property of Tom Perriello or anyone in his family uninvited they are trespassing. One call to 911 will take care of it.
As far as September 11 events go – I do remember that Tom had a fundraiser scheduled in Bedford County on September 11, 2008 and he changed it to a “meet and greet” after Ms. Orlando decided to try to make that an issue. I also know that Mr. Perriello campaigned on that day and received lots of big donations from his rich out of state friends on that day. We live in America – remember? We all pay tribute and observe different days of remembrance in individual ways. To try to imply that because Virgil held a function in Washington D.C. versus Bedford County means he is less concerned about what happened on 9/11/01 day is simply rubbish. Oh and yes Mark – D.C. lobbyist came to the event! Oh I know Tom does not accept ANY money from lobbyists! RIIIGHT!
I stand by my comments in both of my previous posts. As far as addresses being published – welcome to the internet. The reason Mr. Perriello’s brother’s address came up is because Tom must not have a phone at his new house or he has an unlisted number. That is his choice but like I said earlier when you serve in public office people will call you at home. I know – how dare them. (insert sarcasm here) A quick search brought the home address and phone number of the Congressman in the neighboring district, Ken Boyd, Robert Hurt, Feda Morton, Jim McKelvey, and so on. I bet people call them at home quite often. Ken is an elected official and so is Robert.
Oh and one more thing I do like my privacy as much as anyone. I once had a blogger show up at my house (oh my gosh – unannounced – we had a nice chat) His name – Ben Tribbett. I have had a reporter show up – I had not had a shower yet and I did not want to be interviewed anyway so I did not answer the door and he went away. I thought he would probably have a bright future in journalism because he had the chutzpa to show up at our house. I did not have to call the police.
Now Mark I have a busy day today so when you come back with your snarky remarks I will not be able to reply until tomorrow.
Oh and Virgil said best to you and have a good day.
Lucy im sure you really enjoy having Virgil at home but the people of the 5th really need him back. Virgil is the only person that can bring everyone back together and we really need that here in the 5th.
Things just got much more interesting. Someone cut the gas line at Perriello’s brother’s house.
Ruh roh.
Lucy, You must be very proud and happy this morning.
Anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment. A much-cited 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:
Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.
from:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=437061&mesg_id=437097
Southside:
You should do better to read an entire post and see the context of the article.
No “shots” were taken at Ferrin for his daughter getting pregnant. Unchaste girls get pregnant all the time in our antinomian culture.
Ferrin was taken to task for ruining a young man’s life and being proud that he did so… there is a major difference.
Maybe you think it is ok for people with power or influence to ruin other people’s lives at their whim, or at least attempt to; But I do not.
Anyone who tries to harm another for the sake of power should be called on it because power to destroy someone’s liberty is despotic and tyrannical. A person with such tendencies should never be allowed to represent “We the People.”
Hence why I am coming after McPadden publically – w/ No Pseudonym. McPadden is a danger to freedom, he is immoral, he has sought to harm people and threatened to do more according to Ferrin.
BTW – Maybe you don’t have any respect or ‘cred’ with the Founding Father’s or famous artist, writiers, or satirist either? Many of them have used pseudonyms to criticize their opponents, reveal their enimies secrets, make commentary on society, publish ideas and so on.
Here is a list of several you might want to par rouse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pseudonyms_used_in_the_American_constitutional_debates
Sincerely,
Mr. Case “Tiny” Spirens”
anagram for “Sic Semper Tyrannis”
PS – shoot me an email at tinyspirens1957@gmail.com and I could travel down to southside and meet you somewhere, we could have a cup of coffee or something and you can tell me exactly where I can “cram it.”
mykitchennette –
Do I know you? I have never met anyone named mykitchennette before. I am not sure what you mean by your post. Generally speaking I am a happy person and today is no exception to that. As far as being proud – my mother always said that being too proud was not a good thing so – I try – to keep that in check.
We’ve now traveled into Meta-Bizarro World where the sockpuppet has appeared to defend his actions
Josh has now created another sockpuppet to defend his “Tiny Spirens” sockpuppet then brings out his “Tiny Spirens” sockpuppet to defend his own actions. “VirginiaCitizenDefender” is the newest sockpuppet addition to the family.
But anyway, let’s explore this situation. Josh Solovskoy says that he used his original sockpuppet, Mr. “Spirens”, in the spirit of Tom Jefferson & Ben Franklin. Well, even though I’m sure that Tom & Ben are currently spinning in their graves so fast that they’re generating electricity right now, Solovskoy’s claim just added approximately 150 revolutions to their rate of rotation. If you’re running a campaign and want to take shots at other candidates, you need to stand behind your own name instead of creating a sockpuppet to do the dirty work for you. I find it quite disturbing that even though Josh’s sockpuppetry has been clearly exposed, he continues to post messages under that fake-ass name (and has even set up an email account in the attempt to legitimize a fictional character).
Now, Josh is using the (new?) sockpuppet of “VirginiaCitizenDefender” here to justify his first sockpuppet’s actions? My head asplode on this.
Amazingly, I’ve now been called out by Joshua Solovskoy’s sockpuppet to tell Joshua Solovskoy where to cram it. Josh, I’ve got nothing for you. Absolutely nothing. My advice to you is to take some time out to realize what you’re doing, to realize the effect that these events are having on your reputation and for you to quickly euthanize all of these sockpuppets.
Josh, you’re a smart man and you’re much better than your recent actions show.
Sincerely,
Bruce Hedrick
SouthsideCentral.com
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Lucy
“mykitchenette” refers to where these kind of issues get considered around here….get it , in my kitchenette … we can’t afford a whole kitchen. As for explaining my post, really? That’s your first line of defense, being obtuse. I will explain it to you in terms that even people in Rio Linda will understand. When people like you give license to extremists, they do extreme things. Your post condones the posting of addresses and even tries to create a “it happens to all public officials” meme. What the “tea-partyers do is guerrilla politics of the first order. Your failure to point that out when you explained their legal right to post peoples addresses is tacit approval of their tactics. You needed to called out for that.
As to whether we met, the answer is yes. I voted for your husband when he was a Democrat only to be betrayed by his turning against the people who voted him in after he was elected. Not the kind of betrayed tea-partyers accuse Perriello of, but actually betrayal by Virgil changing parties. Perriello has voted to make this a better country and I don’t need the tea-partys help taking my country back. I just got it back after forty years in the conservative wilderness thanks to Barack Obama and Tom Perriello.
Mykitchenette What do you mean by taking your country back after forty years in the conservative wilderness ?
My Kitchennette –
You say – “When people like you give license to extremists, they do extreme things. Your post condones the posting of addresses and even tries to create a “it happens to all public officials” meme. What the “tea-partyers do is guerrilla politics of the first order. Your failure to point that out when you explained their legal right to post peoples addresses is tacit approval of their tactics. You needed to called out for that.”
In no way did I give tacit approval to ANYONE – Democrat, Republican, Independent, Tea Party, Whig – to vandalize Tom Perriello’s property or his family’s property. Read my post again Mykitchennette. The first line says “Okay – NO ONE should go to Tom Perriello’s brother’s house or Tom Perriello’s house” You are making a big leap to say that I am giving tacit approval for violence. I will call you out on that. I DO NOT condone violence against anyone – elected or not. Anyone (even people in Rio Linda) can find most anyone’s address. All you need is a phone book. If you have the internet –it’s even easier. I suppose you are making this leap too – A crazy TEA PARTYER is sitting at home when they see that someone put Tom Perriello’s address in a blog post. At that point they think – wow – I think I will go vandalize his property. The investigation is not complete, and we do not know this to be the case.
You say I give this excuse – “it happens to all public officials” meme – Yes I stand by that. What happens is just what I said before – folks will call and drop by your house when you are in public office. A few years back when Bush was President – Code Pink said they were going to come to our house and protest. I did not flip out. I figured they would come and walk in front of our house with signs protesting our country’s involvement in Iraq. I did not think they were coming to cut the line on my gas grill. They never showed up here at the house, but if they had I believe it was their right to do so. They did go to the Charlottesville office a few times and did “Sit Ins”. Esther Page who ran that office was cordial to them. I think she did have to call the police at the end of the day when it was time to lock the office. The police came and I think a few were arrested.
You say this – What the “tea-partyers do is guerrilla politics of the first order. – I have been to some tea party rallies and meetings and I did not see any evidence of guerrilla politics.
When the investigation is completed regarding the vandalism of Bo Perriello’s home, the perpetrator should receive harsh punishment.
Now mykitchennette – come out of your kitchen and use your real name.
Can we hold off on accusing a person or group until the officials can figure out whats going on? I personally would not have posted the address.. that said, we need to stop and take a look at the time line for the chain of events.
Troxel posts the address when? Late Monday evening is how I understand it.
The cut line is found when? Tuesday afternoon when Bo Perriello smells gas.
When was the threatening letter received? Tuesday. In the mailbox of Bo Perriello.
It would seem to me, there is a good chance the events are unrelated. And Lucy is correct, when holding public office people do, and will continue to contact you at home. That is not condoning vandalism.
Lucy what is the chance of Virgil jumping in the race to bring everyone back together ?
Bruce,
OK – uncle! I give.
“VirginiaCitizenDefender” is not the newest sockpuppet addition to the family. VCD is an old one – I figured you would have already seen it since you have IP recognition.
Your quote “If you’re running a campaign and want to take shots at other candidates, you need to stand behind your own name instead of creating a sockpuppet to do the dirty work for you.”
Very idealistic, but not reality. Done all the time by many. Where do you think I learned it from? Hint – Try Joe P, or Constant Conservative – check the IP’s you will learn the server or provider is near C’ville.
Bruce,
Since this is such a thorn for you maybe you could coordinate with Bill Hay, and JR and others and match IP addresses with known Email header IP’s and start outing all the ‘sockpuppets’ who are affiliated with 5th district campaigns. A little investigation could reap huge headlines.
Thanks for nudge. I repent. Death to the sockpuppets!
Sincerely,
Joshua Solovskoy
Bruce, you seem tooo caught up in the sockpuppet thing and have missed the greater picture here. I think it is because it is tough to recant when you give cred to someone – like someone getting out the clown car. It is easier to slam the staffer that left the clown than it is to slam the door on the clown the caused the staffer to leave. That’s OK – I do understand. It is human nature.
But you really have missed the point of the article -Here it is again: “McPadden is dangerous because he has demonstrated that he willing to use power to harm those he perceives that are against him.”
This should be the bone you are chewing – ‘a potential congressman that has intimidated, lied, and sought to harm former staffers.’ That’s the story.
Maybe Southside is just a hobby for now and one day maybe some funding – but bro get real… chew the bones that are worth chewing and spit out the rest.
A big fish fry is better than slapping around a small frye.
JDS
Nope. I just don’t see any merit to your allegations. McPadden remains high on my list after I’ve carefully read through your statements.
[…] former campaign manager had a disagreement with McPadden on social issues, left the campaign then melted down in spectacular fashion. After Josh Solovskoy exploded, he died. He came back to life as Joshua Pratt (70% less insane and […]