


Archive for April 16th, 2007

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Flame Warrior Profile: Killgore Trout

April 16, 2007

One of the reasons why I chose Mike Reed’s “Flame Warriors” as a theme for my blog was my fascination with this new medium that allows us humans to communicate in an instantaneous yet anonymous manner.   I think Reed’s observations were mostly based on discussions in message boards, but I’ve noticed that many of the tactics that he illustrated and described so eloquently on his site have even greater meaning when it comes to blogs, as the battleground (if you will) can encompass a multitude of sites. And I gotta say, it’s a jungle out there (here?).  For perfect example of how blogging can take the flame warrior idea to a whole new level, look no further than a netizen who goes by the handle …Killgore Trout*. 

Note- Since I am unable to determine with any certainty if Killgore is male or female, the following portion will contain many usages of “KT”, “the handle” and “the netizen”.  I have some sort of issue with referring to another human as “it”.  Call me old-fashioned. All I can figure is that he or she is probably a sci-fi buff.…so…. probably he.

Anyone who reads LGF with any frequency should recognize the handle, since KT has over 10,000 comment posts there, and is also credited quite often for submitting links to stories that make it to LGF’s main page.  In fact, it’s quite possible that Killgore contributes more to LGF than any other single lizard, now that I think about it. And if Killgore has a particular speciality, it would be reading and reporting back on diaries that appear on the Daily Kos. Here’s some diaries that got Killgore’s attention: 

Keep in mind, these were only the Kos diaries that made the front page of LGF.   Killgore has submitted countless more in the comment section.  In other words, I think it’s safe to say that Killgore reads more Kos diaries than I do. And on at least a couple of occasions during the last year, KT decided to do some posting on Kos as well, as one of the Kossacks pointed out: Trollbusters

Remember this diary: Imagine a world without Israel? So do I. So does LGF. I don’t think I’ve commented in any of the brazillion threads on the Lebanon/Israel conflict because I’m a pacifist, and my solution would be too simplistic and naive for most. However, this moby did comment:

**This diary was written by a moby. Check it’s comment history. It even labeled it a troll diary. Killgore Trout7/13/2006 01:06PM PDT [KT retracted this theory here upon further examination of the original diarist’s posts -CZ]
**[Re:]#43 J.D.: It’s a way to make the koskidz look worse than they actually are. It’s effective though, this diary has been making the rounds all day. There are plenty of real reasons to goof on the Koskidz, we don’t need trumped up ones. Killgore Trout 7/13/2006 01:13PM PDT
**[Re:]#89 Lynn B.: Be forewarned some of the comments are from moby’s as well. I know bvecause[sic] I wrote some of them yesterday. Killgore Trout 7/13/2006 01:22PM PDT
**So has kos been successfully Moby’d? Ward Cleaver 7/13/2006 01:26PM PDT

To post at one site in an attempt to elicit comments that can then be ridiculed at a distance by members of another is a tactic of subversion that I don’t believe flame warrior enthusiasts have seen before.  Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m not quite sure if “moby” is the best term either.  From the LGF FAQ:

Q. What’s a “moby?”
A. Someone who is following the advice of techno-pop star Moby to plant items that are likely to alienate Bush supporters.  More: Punk the prez?

It’s not quite the same thing.  This wasn’t a case of posting stories about Bush’s border control policy in an effort to pick away at a few Bush voters. This is a new Flame Warrior variant (something unique to the blogs).  “Recon”, maybe?  On the other hand, as far as Kos is concerned, maybe Killgore is just a Lurker who occasionally plays Impostor:

imposterlurker

It should also be mentioned that Killgore also has 2 LGF ‘sockpuppets’:

*Just for the record, I like Killgore.  I may not agree with everything he posts, but I believe there is a level of respect present there that can exist for fellow warrior netizens.  I’m pretty sure it’s mutual.  So, for KT and other visiting LGFer’s, consider this Killgore’s own open thread.

**Correction-  According to KT, this handle wasn’t his doing.  Maybe a secret admirer?

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The ‘Last Throes’ Of Cheney’s Credibility

April 16, 2007

I know in the past I’ve expressed my bewilderment at the fact that the MSM continues to grant Dick Cheney interviews and report them as if they’re something that should be taken seriously, but this is really getting out of hand.  Is there really any reason to believe anything this guy says?  Before I get into what out what the V.P. of fantasy land said yesterday, I think it’s important to have a short review…

June 20, 2005

“I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time,” Cheney said. “The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.

At the time, the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq was about 1,650.

June 19, 2006

Asked if he still believed the insurgency was in its final throes, as he said in a CNN interview on May 31, 2005, Cheney said, “I do.” He cited election of an interim government, a constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections in December that established a unity government as evidence the insurgency is being pushed to the margins.

Insurgent and sectarian violence has flared during the same period, and Cheney as well as President George W. Bush previously have acknowledged errors in dealing with the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion and coping with resistance.

Still, Cheney said, that is the “period that we’ll be able to look at and say: That’s when we turned the corner, that’s when we began to get a handle on the long-term future of Iraq.”

When Cheney gazed into his crystal ball this time, the U.S. military deaths stood at about 2,500.

April 15, 2007

In response to Schieffer’s suggestion that Cheney’s 2005 remark that the Iraq insurgency was in its “last throes” might make some dispute his optimistic take on the war going forward, the vice president suggested his comments lacked hindsight (“We have to respond to questions from the press and we do the best we can with what we know at the time”), but still spoke that progress in Iraq was evident.

“My statement at the time that you referenced was geared specifically to the fact that we just had an election in Iraq where some 12 million people defied the car bombers and the assassins and for the first time participated in a free election,” Cheney said. “We had three elections in 2005 in Iraq: We set up a provisional government, then we got a ratification of a brand new constitution, then elections under that constitution of a new government, the government that is in place now. I still think in the broad sweep of history those will have been major turning points in the war in Iraq.”

As of this writing, the U.S. military deaths in Iraq number 3,283.

“Do our best with what we know at the time”?  Well, right now we know that the total deaths in Iraq are double what they were when Cheney first said ‘last throes’.   Maybe the press should follow Cheney’s lead, and conclude that he either doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, or he’s just saying what sounds good at the time. You know, like “greeted as liberators“, and “simply stated, there is no doubt“.

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Sitting At Base Camp On Mt. Sucketh

April 16, 2007

Anyone watching the Wild tonight probably came up with some similarly clever way to describe their performance

The lifeless Wild looks like a team that’s on the verge of having the rug swept under its season as the Anaheim Ducks took a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference quarterfinals with a 2-1 victory on Sunday night.

Game 4, perhaps the final game of 2006-07, is Tuesday night.

Oh well, at least I got to come up with a new line.
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