Thursday, January 7, 2010

Conservatives Behaving Poorly

Zach at Blogging Blue shares the story of personal harassment the John Foust, author of the gigglefest of Boots & Kittens, in the form of repeated calls at his place of work. At least one of the calls John received was allegedly by the spastic and vulgar mickey/gus who is a frequent visitor to Badger Blogger and Real Debate Wisconsin:

I asked ATT about tracking the crank calls. There’s a process to follow. They start logging calls, you report the crank calls, then you file a report with your local police to get the info. The wheels of justice turn slowly, and thanks to ATT and my local police, the traps managed to catch just one crank caller. On the morning of June 5, he’d left a message that said “Hey bald man, your time is running out, bald man.” Later that same day, I was IP-blocked from commenting at BadgerBlogger.

I googled the phone number given to me by the police. It seems to belong to a Michael O’Leary, the parade director of the Shamrock Club’s St. Patrick Day Parade. Look at his email address, which happens to be mickeyoleary@yahoo.com. “Mickey.” Now where have I heard that before? Anyone know Mike? Of course, googling alone can be somewhat circumstantial, but the references to this number and this name are quite contemporary. I’ve verified the phone number by independent non-invasive methods. (This seems like a positive ID, right, Chief?)

Telling me my time is running out seems vaguely threatening and downright thuggish. I’m surprised such a prominent citizen would be the person behind the insulting “Gus” persona. My local police said they’d give him a call and encourage him to behave in a more civil fashion. I’m happy to leave it at that, even though it’s a clear Class B misdemeanor (punishable by “a fine up to $1,000, or imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both; however, for a repeat offender, the term of imprisonment increase up to 2 years”).

Now, this is not the first time that a liberal has had problems with people associated with these two sites, but it is by far the most egregious.

Don't get me wrong. I fully recognize the fact that neither Patrick Dorwin or Fred Dooley are responsible for mickey/gus' behavior. But I cannot help but wonder if the fact that they tolerate or even welcome these types of people who show such poor behavior, if this does not encourage more of the same, at these higher levels.

17 comments:

  1. So, what would be the motive?
    Nope, considering the false reports of liberals in the past, I really have my doubts.
    Seems, maybe John has an axe to grind and maybe he is trying to slur O'Leary and his job.

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  2. Further, why didn't Foust report this on his pretty dormant web site? How would Mickey know where he works? It's not on Fousts's web site. You google Joh Foust and you get a lot of John Fousts. If you narrow it down to Wisconsin, you get somebody from Jefferson and a few other John Fousts, including Madison. If he picked the wrong one, he would be in a lot of trouble.
    So, besides bitching, what has Foust done- has he filed a criminal complaint? Has he taken Mickey's phone number and put in his call id and block the number?
    Sorry, but unless there is additional evidence, I think this is bs.
    Further, if Foust had caller ID, he wouldn't have go to the police and get the info. Further, again, has Foust ever heard of *69, which gives you the last phone number that called you?
    And further, once again, why Foust? I mean, if you are going to harrass a liberal, why Foust? I mean, Foust is a lightweight compared to liberals like youself, Mathias, Jay, Keith and others.
    Just doesn't make sense.
    So, I don't think this has happened.

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  3. If a call is coming from a phone number that is blocked by ATT *69 will not work. We have had a "Private Number" in the past...and the whole point of having a "Private Number" is so that other people cannot find out your number when you call them.

    John said he was working with his local police department to identify the caller and was only able to catch the third caller...and he said the police are certain of the caller's identity.

    If a person was going to make these kind of phone calls I am certain they would take every measure to make sure their numbers do not come up on John's caller ID.

    Besides all that...why in the world do you think John would open himself up to a libel lawsuit if this wasn't true. Why would he pick on this one man...who he doesn't even know (I'm assuming)?? What would his motive be?? If anything...if it weren't true...he would just say he was being harassed without naming a real person as the harasser.

    Also...John didn't even mention what job the identified person has...so how could this be a slur on his job??

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  4. While I don't condone personal attacks and harassment I question why John Foust repeatedly comments sarcastically on Badger Blogger trying to draw opposition.

    Trolling is right down there with Phishing when it comes to netiquette.

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  5. I banned Mickey/Gus forever ago.

    But then the truth was never your strong suit was it?

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  6. Why is it when someone poses a different POV it is considered "trolling"?? I've read John Foust's comments on other blogs and they are not met with such hatred.

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  7. Dan, I enjoy your skepticism. I don't hide behind an alias on the Internet. I've posted my picture and a fair amount of personal info. It's not hard to find me or my business. You have a great starting set of info to confirm whether I'm lying. Call O'Leary. Ask him why he did it. Prove me wrong.

    TerryN, I think "trolling" as an insult is just another way of saying you don't like someone's opinion. I think the term is properly used to describe "inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic" messages. I think personal attacks are improper. Do you? I don't do it. If you can point to a particular message I wrote that you think is an example of trolling, we can discuss it.

    Really, Fred? When did you ban him, and why? How many times have you allowed him back? You banned me, too. How come?

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  8. No I mean trolling. I follow Badger Blogger and have read numerous posts where you make a comment, someone like Gus says something derogatory about you and you keep them engaged.

    I can see replying once or twice in defense but at what point does it become a pissing contest where both parties turn toward each other? Why waste your time?
    There are plenty of liberal blogs out there.

    I agree that there are several com mentors at BB that should be IP blocked.

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  9. So I'm commenting, and someone else makes a derogatory comment, and I'm the one who is misbehaving, just by being there and causing a reaction? Where's your concern about correcting the behavior of the Gus/Mickeys of the world? You're more concerned about me being there?

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  10. So, I have to prove you wrong? You made the accussation, you prove it yourself.

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  11. I'd be glad to provide you all the proof you need. First you need to tell me what sort of proof would be good enough, considering the grave national security nature of this discussion.

    City Of Jefferson 2009-2675, call officers Eilenfeldt or Schmidt at 674-7707, or call O'Leary, or send him an email. If I scanned something and uploaded it, would you trust it? Maybe the audio recording is fake, too. What sort of proof would be good enough for you?

    Do you have any theory about why O'Leary isn't speaking up to defend himself against my claims?

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  12. "So I'm commenting, and someone else makes a derogatory comment, and I'm the one who is misbehaving"

    No. Like I said, "you keep them engaged". You'd be amazed at what happens when you ignore the riff-raff.

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  13. At least a year ago Foust.

    I banned you for being yourself, an ass who likes to make accustaions without an ounce of proof.

    Just like Capper.

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  14. I banned you for being yourself, an ass who likes to make accustaions without an ounce of proof.

    More hypocrisy. If that was your standard, Fred, you would have banned yourself a long, long time ago.

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  15. Accustaions? You mean accusations? That's a new one to me. What accusations did I make without proof?

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  16. Mickey was a yahoo troll; he did this to a man named Wendell who lived in Washington, State, as well. It's not the first time.

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  17. He's still doing it. That is why I had to start moderating comments.

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