Justin Raimondo has posted a very amusing and breathless account of the events in Kyrgyzstan — all worked around a hoax, an alleged memo purloined from the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. Not only has it been disavowed by the U.S. Embassy, but the language is not that of a native speaker of English:
F.Kulov shares and adheres to American concepts of freedom and democracy and can be viewed as a dubbing candidate for the presidency in case our main candidate Bakiev is defeated.
Young people are most likely oriented to the West. Therefore we consider it extremely important to popularize American way of life among them to diminish Russian influence.
Zero credibility. Zero.
(Mr. Raimondo tries to cover himself by noting that the phony memo contains “grammatical errors,” but fails to note that a part of the alleged memo to which he links is a straightforward scanned copy, not a transcription; why wasn’t the whole thing merely scanned, but instead painstakingly transcribed, thus introducing those errors, the ones that a native speaker of Russian would have made had he or she actually written the memo? Also, Mr. Raimondo seems unaware that sensitive messages — and boy, would that one be a sensitive message — are “e-n-c-r-y-p-t-e-d,” and not typed on embassy stationery and then handed around. For more Raimondo wackiness, visit The Fever Swamp. Registan has more on the hoax.)
Addendum(b): The good Mr. Raimondo has taken it upon himself to defend his colleague from being “smeared.” The smear? He was accurately quoted as writing: “I will stand up proudly for it. I have cheered on men attacking US troops. I will continue to cheer any defeat US troops meet.” That may be the first time anyone has ever claimed that a simple and undisputed quotation, set in full context and with full linkage, is a “smear.” Then, having denied that he has cheered on the killings of American troops and Iraqi police and soldiers, Mr. Raimondo admits it in his blog post by defending…the killing of U.S. soldiers. (And besides showing no awareness that he is contradicting himself, he shows such courage by refusing to link to any documents other than edited versions of criticisms, rather than to the criticisms themselves.) Mr. Raimondo has gone from being a jester to being a cartoon clown.
Addendum(ber): RAIMONDO ISSUES EXCUSE-FILLED APOLOGY FOR DELIBERATELY LYING AND MISLEADING READERS
After being caught peddling yet more snake oil, Justin Raimondo seems to have been convinced by his less addled co-workers to issue a truly pathetic apology for having misled the unwary. In an addendum(b) to the essay in which he had written, “If this isn’t a memo written and conceived in the U.S. embassy, then let the U.S. State Department deny it.,” he admits that they did deny it, to which denial he responds with the following:
“if it is a forgery, and a “crude” one at that, why is the U.S. government bothering to issue an official statement? Why give it that much credence — if there isn’t some truth to it?”
In other words, if they don’t deny it, it’s genuine, and if they do deny it, it’s genuine. A very typical move for Justin Raimondo. He ties the whole thing up in ribbons of unbreakable faith when he concludes: “regardless of whether or not the memo is real, in whole or in part, they have made its declared provenance all too believable.”
In his non-apologetic apology, Mr. Raimondo insists that he is not “giving myself any excuses,” which is followed by a remarkably lame excuse: “I’m currently recovering from a very mean bout with pneumonia.” Well, then it’s ok to peddle lies, Mr. Raimondo. Lest anyone consider that term harsh, here are Mr. Raimondo’s own words:
Now, as soon as I read this piece I realized fully that a great deal of it was probably the product of someone’s imaginative literary gifts: oh, I thought, too bad I can’t use it! With the clock ticking on my deadline, and a little voice inside my head telling me “Let them deny it!”, I decided that at least part of it was probably true, and I made sure to cover my ass with an exculpatory paragraph at the very end, as well as a weasel-worded introduction to the material that gave several reasons why it could be at least partially authentic.
I’m not sure whether I believe the above, but if it were true, it would mean that Mr. Raimondo deliberately presented as authentic something he knew to be phony. That is what the rest of us call a “lie.” A deliberate falsehood. It’s not a disagreement, but a case of what Mr. Raimondo routinely accuses everyone who doesn’t agree with him of doing: lying. Who would take such a person’s word again? To turn Mr. Raimondo’s own words back at him:
the American embassy in Kyrgyzstan has been caught with its pants down, and is desperately trying to cover its butt. But it’s a little late for that Ã?Â?Ã?¢Ã?¢?Ã?¬Ã?Â?Ã?¦
A little late, indeed.
Do recall, there was never any “apology” for Mr. Raimondo’s poisonous slander of Viktor Yushchenko (1, 2). As Mr. Raimondo wrote of a man suffering from a terrible illness brought on by dioxin poisoning:
The prince becomes a toad — and, no, I seriously doubt that Yushie’s physical deterioration has anything to do with a nefarious plot by Putin’s KGB against his good looks. Instead, let me suggest an alternative theory, one not contradicted by expert medical testimony — and the account of a parliamentary inquiry, — and it is this: perhaps the Faustian deal that Yushchenko made with the U.S. government has taken its toll, and, as in the dramatic climax of Oscar Wilde’s famous tale, “The Portrait of Dorian Grey,” his sins are being visited on his once-handsome visage, ravaging it — and revealing his inner soul.
We now have a peek into Mr. Raimondo’s soul. Not very nice. Not nice at all.
If a Tree Falls in the Forest…
If the State Department issues a statement and Justin Raimondo isn’t there to hear it, did it really happen?
Read on…
In his write-up on Kyrgyzstan, which I hadn’t really paid attention to until pointed out to me, Raimond says the following.
…
All your memo are belonging to us.
After reading through Justin’s article, I was amused by the way he first dares the U.S. Government to repudiate the memo (“If this isn’t a memo written and conceived in the U.S. embassy, then let the U.S. State Department deny it.”). Then, when the memo is indeed repudiated, he tries to use that fact to discredit the repudiation (“if it is a forgery, and a “crude” one at that, why is the U.S. government bothering to issue an official statement? Why give it that much credence — if there isn’t some truth to it?”).
So what exactly does Justin want the U.S. Government to do if the memo really is a forgery? Denounce it or not denounce it? Apparently either action helps prove that the memo is legitimate. Justin has definitely covered all his bases; he can never be proven wrong.
Great post, and great catch. Thanks for sharing.
The more people know about Raimondo, the nuttier they realize he is.
I added more to my post. The addendum was even more fun than the original!
The only other people I’ve seen swallowing this thing so completely are political Islamists.
He wasn’t really “contracting” himself, was he?!
Perhaps “contradicting” may be slightly more appropriate!
Raimondo’s hesitance to link directly to his critics is straight out of the Lewrockwell.com playbook, they routinely fail to give a public link to critics. They sure do pass them around internally, though.
Also amusing is Raimondo linking to his nutty remarks about Tom Palmer having hallucinations of Japanese spies, after Y.T. knocked that nonsense out of the park with one link.
And of course Justin Raimondo bitching about “smears” is gut-bustingly laughable on the face of it.
Ack! Thanks for the correction; “contracting” has been changed to “contradicting.” (Come to think of it, though…”contracting himself”….it does have an interesting sound to it.)
Day-yamn. Is this guy naturally an Asshat, or did he learn Asshattery somewhere?
Asshats are born, not made, unless, of course, they sucked lead-paint chips off of window sills while growing up or were inexplicably dropped on their heads over and over again, presumably by asshat parents or family…
I’m not sure whether it’s better that people see how nuts Raimondo is, or that they ignore him completely.
But thanks to Glenn Reynolds, a lot more people will get a kick out of this whole ridiculous story…
http://instapundit.com/archives/022087.php
– Adam
Ow. I just read the guy’s columns for the first time. Is he sort of the Maureen Dowd of on-line political commentary? Reads like a bad political gossip column. And the “torture of the 700 links!” I surrender! I surrender! Just go away, please!
Just linked here from Instapundit. As a retired Foreign Service Officer with many years experience reading State Department traffic I can say with total confidence this document is a fabrication. Parts of it might have originated in the embassy, but probably not from the ambassador. I would guess the two paragraphs that are scanned come from a USAID document — that’s what they read like. The rest does +not+ come from the desk of a Foreign Service Officer. F
Our inner child — breathlessly revealed!
Every time these people open their mouths, they reveal their inner rot, a kind of moral halitosis. — So says A man named Justin (not our Justin). Every time? These people? I must protest the above remarks! While ostensibly directed…
See here for context:
http://www.no-treason.com/archives/2004/04/24/i-will-continue-to-cheer-any-defeat-us-troops-meet/
Jeremy Sapienza, the founder of anti-state.com and the Senior Editor at antiwar.com offered this response:
“I will stand up proudly for it. I have cheered on men attacking US troops. I will continue to cheer any defeat US troops meet.”
Sapienza made good on that promise yesterday in comments at The Agitator on the death of Pat Tillman. There he wrote:
“Football player gives up millions per year to get shot dead in Afghanistan. As far as I’m concerned, this just proves the perfection of natural selection.”
And:
“Ted Bundy also “willingly gave up everything for something he believed in” — he liked to kill young women, and he gave his life for that. Is that honorable? No. I bet Mr. Patriotic sent a few chunks of lead into the skulls of a few young women himself. But they’re ragheads right? Who cares about them!?”
Later Sapienza explains that he got carried away, but ends with a backhanded slap at Tillman:
“So yes, it sucks that people die. But I’m not gonna cry for professional killers.”
The ***only*** way to beat these bastards is to quote them directly and help spread their poison around. Else their lies gain credence. It takes time, but look at Ted Rall, who went from published cartoonist to unpublished troll. His reputation is in the shitter, and Raimondo’s going down as well for this nonsense.
Never forget the potential damage Rathergate would have done if it weren’t for the bloggers exposing the forgery.
>>”I will stand up proudly for it. I have cheered on men attacking US troops. I will continue to cheer any defeat US troops meet.”
This is a tough situation. On the one hand, some US troops are engaged in (unconstitutional) murder and plunder, and I’m paying for it. This makes it difficult to feel sympathy for such individuals. On the other hand, these troops are young and inexperienced — is it reasonable to expect them to react otherwise, given the circumstances?
>>”Ted Bundy also “willingly gave up everything for something he believed in” — he liked to kill young women, and he gave his life for that. Is that honorable? No. I bet Mr. Patriotic sent a few chunks of lead into the skulls of a few young women himself. But they’re ragheads right? Who cares about them!?”
This statement is crude, but important. Few in the US care much about the deaths of non-US citizens. And a sincere commitment to evil is not something to be admired.
>>”So yes, it sucks that people die. But I’m not gonna cry for professional killers.”
And yet, there ARE some people who need to be killed, and to kill them we will need professional killers. Maybe if the ratio of Bad People Neutralized to random people killed was better we wouldn’t have as much of this kind of sentiment.
Please keep in mind, it’s DENNIS, not “Justin.”
Jeremy Sapienza is a clown. Unfortunately before I knew what a clown he was, or with what type of people he associates, I published a piece on “anti-state.com.” I wish I could take it down now, because I want to have literally ZERO association with Sapienza or any of his crazy cronies. But as Tom has noted before, time is uni-linear. I just chalk it up to a lesson well-learned that I need to figure out who someone is before signing on to publish on their site.
I am a native english speaker and a non-native Russian speaker. In general, Russian does not use articles in the present tense. Therefore, when you read something like “we consider it extremely important to popularize American way of life” — which is missing the article ‘the’ before ‘American way of life’ — anyone familiar with Russian ESL students recognizes a classic error of a non-native English speaker who speaks Russian as a first language.
earl
I can not forgive what Jeremy wrote. There are many young men in Iraq who are their against their will. I know some. Some one I am close to spent a year there but didn’t want it. He is not the only one. If Jeremy or Justin or any of their ilk cheered someone shooting at my friend I’d knock their brains out (if I could find them). I oppose the war and want the troops out now! But that is no justification for these kinds of remarks. This crowd of rabid lunatics should be told in no uncertain terms that they are not welcome libertarian circles. They almost make the pro-war Objectivists look sane and that is no easy task.
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