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You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / “We are the 53%” Using Fake Images: Nigerian Dude Living in Spain Not Really a 53 Percenter [Updated!]

“We are the 53%” Using Fake Images: Nigerian Dude Living in Spain Not Really a 53 Percenter [Updated!]

by Imani Gandy (ABL)|  October 15, 20113:37 pm| 127 Comments

This post is in: An Unexamined Scandal, Assholes

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YOU LIE!

Erik Erickson (Teabilly Nitwit and CNN employee) helped found the “We are the 53%” tumblr as a response to the viral “We are the 99%” tumblr:

In response to the now-viral Tumblr post “We are the 99 Percent,” some conservatives have launched their own venture “We are the 53 percent”. The site, started by RedState.org contributor Erick Erickson and Josh Trevino of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, features those who purport to represent the 53 percent of Americans who pay federal income taxes.

The inaugural post features Erickson holding a handwritten sign in the style of the more famous blog, that states:

I work 3 jobs. I have a house I can’t sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous. But I don’t blame Wall Street. Suck it up you whiners. I am the 53% subsidizing you so you can hang out on Wall Street and complain.

But as Think Progress pointed out:

The three jobs Erickson wants you to believe he scrapes by on include occasional paid opinion blogging at RedState.com, a lucrative television contract with CNN, and a radio gig that paid the previous host $165,183 a year…The house Erickson can’t sell? Bibb County, Georgia records reveal that Erickson just bought a new $374,900 house in February of this year, and owns another that, according to an estimate by the website Zillow, might be worth slightly less than the amount he paid for it in 2001. And it’s likely that Erickson’s CNN job alone provides him with a personal driver and covered travel expenses when he needs to appear on the show.

Well, in news that will shock exactly no one, at least one of the images featured on Erickson’s tumblr is fake (to say nothing of the scores of images that are simply pictures of type-written words on a page). Turns out this “53 percenter,” — Dgangu Mutambe —

is really Adewale T. Akande — a Nigerian expat living in Spain:

Given that his last blog post dated August 17, 2011 identifies Mr. Akande as writing from Spain, the photo above, in which he claims that he “came to USA with nothing” and got “where he is” through hard work is clearly fake.

As for “suck it up”? Find me a Nigerian, expat or otherwise, who has ever uttered the words “Suck it up!” and I’ll — I’ll — well, I don’t know what I will do, but it’s never gonna happen, so who cares.

How embarrassing for the son of Erick and CNN.

UPDATE: Perhaps my post was not as clear as it could have been: Mr. Akande is not a Nigerian scammer. He’s a Nigerian writer living in Spain:

In fact, he blogs about government corruption in Nigeria and immigrant rights in Spain, and both topics place him at odds with everything that Erick Erickson embodies — xenophobia, racism, disdain for immigrant rights, inequality, and no government accountability. Additionally, Mr. Akande penned a blog post about the necessity for consumer vigilance in the  age of Nigerian online scams and fraudsters. Indeed, my guess is that Mr. Akande is not going to be pleased at all when he learns of this particular act of online chicanery. (Counting down until the first Teabilly claims that Mr. Akande is part of some Kenyan Cabal that worships at the feet of one Barack Obama.)

[via Daily Kos]

[cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles]
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Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    beltane

    October 15, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    If they were honest they would call their movement “We Are the 27%” and just leave it at that. But if they were honest they wouldn’t be wingnuts so maybe we are expecting too much.

  2. 2.

    dj spellchecka

    October 15, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    how anyone can say this “I have a house I can’t sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous,” and then follow it up with this, “But I don’t blame Wall Street,” is beyond me….who the hell does he think crashed the housing market and sent insurance rates thru the roof…the underpants gnomes?

  3. 3.

    beltane

    October 15, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    @dj spellchecka: It is all the fault of the gay islamofascist Mexicans who are swarming over our borders to deprive us of our freedoms and to use our emergency rooms to obtain free abortions.

  4. 4.

    DanielX

    October 15, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    I am shocked, SHOCKED that such a thing could occur…not. A Nigerian scammer participating in a wingnut welfare scam? Say it ain’t so. Next will come the fundraising appeals from Erick and Josh (the Gibberish Twins), since all these media outreach efforts on behalf of the 53% cost money, don’t ya know, and just can’t you dig a little deeper on behalf of the downtrodden. That would be Erick, of course, seeing that every time I see his drivelings (dribblings?) in print it has to do with how downtrodden he is by liberals, or brown people, or union members, or dirty fucking hippies, or…or someone!

  5. 5.

    gbear

    October 15, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    It sucks to be Eric Erickson.

  6. 6.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    October 15, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    @dj spellchecka:

    Obviously, it was all the dirty fucking hippies in the White House and the EPA with all their CRAAAAAAAAAAAZY job killing regulation. I mean, DUH.

  7. 7.

    handy

    October 15, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    @dj spellchecka:

    Gubmint.

  8. 8.

    James

    October 15, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    Poor Mr. Erickson. Once ACA finally kicks in, perhaps he can get a little relief on those outrageous “family insurance costs.” heh heh.

  9. 9.

    MikeJ

    October 15, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    @DanielX: Nigerian scammer? Is it just that you think all people from Africa must be scammers?

  10. 10.

    handy

    October 15, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    I guess the victim card is reserved for people like Erickson (i.e. white males), for those occasions when, like you know, THEYTOOKURJOBS! Or they knew a guy who knew a guy who got passed over a job interview because of teh blaks.

  11. 11.

    Triassic Sands

    October 15, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Wow, was I confused. I wasn’t really paying attention to this story and I thought Erickson was claiming that he has an IQ of 53 (obviously an exaggeration, if you’ve ever listened to the right-wing hack), something he was very proud of, since most people figured his IQ couldn’t possibly be more than 20-30.

    Erickson is a prime example of what a tiny roll merit plays in this society in determining who does well and who doesn’t. If this were a true meritocracy, Erickson would be cleaning outhouses for minimum wage (and making a mess of the job).

  12. 12.

    suzanne

    October 15, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    Erick son of Erick is dishonest? I’m SHOCKED.

    But this gets posted to my Facebook, ’cause a friend of mine who is suffering financially and personally, yet stubbornly remains a Jesus-humping libertarian, posted some crap on her page about how “When will we choose to feel blessed rather than entitled?”. I got so damn pissed off.

  13. 13.

    gbear

    October 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    A Nigerian scammer participating in a wingnut welfare scam?

    More likely a wingnut welfare scammer stealing the picture of a Nigerian in order to participate in a wingnut welfare scam.

  14. 14.

    PaulW

    October 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Did someone just take his photo and superimpose that message (it looks photoshopped, ya?), or did he volunteer to post his photo like that?

  15. 15.

    b-psycho

    October 15, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    @PaulW: It does look like a photoshop fake now that you mention it. That doesn’t look like the kind of paper that would stand up like that while holding it at the bottom (which would have to be the case since you can’t see his hands in the photo).

  16. 16.

    Julia Grey

    October 15, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    Did someone just take his photo and superimpose that message (it looks photoshopped, ya?), or did he volunteer to post his photo like that?

    What, and change his name and location, too?

    Yeah, he volunteered his picture to post with absolute bullshit. That makes sense.

  17. 17.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    OT but check this shit out!

    BAGHDAD — The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline, The Associated Press has learned. The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively end more than eight years of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, despite ongoing concerns about its security forces and the potential for instability.

    Here comes the Cut and Run whine!

    And they died for what?

  18. 18.

    Yutsano

    October 15, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    Wingnuts lie. In other news, water still wet. Film at 11.

  19. 19.

    gbear

    October 15, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    And here’s The Castaways’ song to go with the badass kid’s picture. Some fine 60’s MN garage rock.

  20. 20.

    gbear

    October 15, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    The son of the rhythm and blues singer Bo Diddley has been arrested in the park named after his father during an ‘occupy’ protest in Florida

    Nice optics, Gainesville cops.

  21. 21.

    JPL

    October 15, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Grifters gotta grift…..

  22. 22.

    PPOG Penguin

    October 15, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    @PaulW: There’s some evidence that it was Photoshopped: http://i.imgur.com/yarZ7.jpg

  23. 23.

    different-church-lady

    October 15, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    I have a house I can’t sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous. But I don’t blame Wall Street.

    Well, why the fuck aren’t you? They’re a huge part of the reason why those two conditions exist for you.

  24. 24.

    Tuttle

    October 15, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    Given that his last blog dated August 17, 2011 identifies Mr. Akande as writing from Spain, the photo above, in which he claims that he “came to USA with nothing” and got “where he is” through hard work is clearly fake.

    For God’s sake, find a copy editor. It’s no wonder people are confused.

  25. 25.

    TooManyJens

    October 15, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    @PaulW: Check the kerning.

    Seriously, though, of course it’s a photoshop. Unless he just happened to wear the exact same clothes and pose in exactly the same position with the same expression in front of the same wall at two different times, a year apart.

  26. 26.

    WereBear

    October 15, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Those three jobs seem to make him one of the 1%

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 15, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    Fucker Fuckerson is a liar.

    Color me shocked, shocked!

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    October 15, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    @Triassic Sands:

    Erickson is a prime example of what a tiny roll merit plays in this society in determining who does well and who doesn’t

    I don’t know about that. My impression is that Erickson is quite skilled in the areas of having no moral qualms, spreading lies, pissing off the DFHs, and sucking up to our Galitian Masters. Since those are the primary qualifications for his job, it’s hard to claim that he hasn’t advanced on merit. You may not like what he does or think it lacks social value, but it’s hard to argue he does a bad job of it.

  29. 29.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 15, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    @DanielX:

    You realize that most Nigerians are not graduates of the Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin Institute of Grifting, of course…

  30. 30.

    scarshapedstar

    October 15, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Interesting how this wingnut (who might well be Erickson) decided that a Nigerian dude’s face would somehow be more effective than his own.

    I’m going to go way out on a limb and speculate that most of the time, in real life, he hates black people.

  31. 31.

    superfly

    October 15, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    Everyone’s favorite Feyenoord fan (the kid pic).

  32. 32.

    General Electric

    October 15, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    What do I need to do to be counted as part of the 53% ???

  33. 33.

    SST

    October 15, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    Erick son of Erick has never explicitly defended Joseph Kony. I’ll give him that.

  34. 34.

    Lysana

    October 15, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    And then there’s the grammar. I’m sorry, but that is NOT how a Nigerian who learned English would write. Looks to me like Erick the Redstater printed the guy’s pic, put it on a scanner with the notepaper, and merged the images that way. Just pathetic.

  35. 35.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Well, whatever, on the morons at Redstate, and greater wingnuttia, stupid people do stupid things and sometimes make money at it. But it looks like, according to WAPO, Obama is going all in with the OWS crowds. Might as well, I say, though it is not risk free, if they go insane and shit. I have some problems with the tactic, if true, of a POTUS campaign throwing in with a raucus grassroots movement in it’s early and raucus stages. Sometimes, the tail starts wagging the dog. T (cough) party (cough cough). If any crew can manage to thread that needle, I expect the O folks to be able to.

  36. 36.

    b-psycho

    October 15, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    I remember looking at some of those “53%” posts recently. One that caught my attention finished not just with “I am the 53%” but with “GOD bless America” — with “GOD” written boldly and underlined multiple times as if to scream it. The implied statement there goes well past dismissing people too poor to pay income taxes as lazy, straight into insinuating them to be heathens being cursed for insufficient faith.

    If that isn’t the bottom of this well, I shudder to think what is…

  37. 37.

    OzoneR

    October 15, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    @dj spellchecka:

    how anyone can say this “I have a house I can’t sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous,” and then follow it up with this, “But I don’t blame Wall Street,” is beyond me….who the hell does he think crashed the housing market and sent insurance rates thru the roof…the underpants gnomes?

    No one is to blame, to them, that’s life.

  38. 38.

    j

    October 15, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    That sure looks like they superimposed the paper over the original picture. I doubt that guy was even in the same room as that paper. I wonder how many more of these obvious photo shopped fakes are on that site? To the kerning, STAT!

    Also, too, I want to see that guy’s birth certificate.

  39. 39.

    tzt

    October 15, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    Plenty of the pics on the tumblr seem to be badly photoshopped. Look for the weird positioning of the hands, the very straight lines of the paper notes, shadows and reflections in wrong places, and differences in white balance (very white paper, yellowish image etc.)

  40. 40.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    In other news, TBogg is living dangerously and has seemingly gone to war with the resident firebaggers over at FDL, on the Africa mil operation Obama is conducting. Wonder what Jane thinks about such things?

  41. 41.

    Dr.BDH

    October 15, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    Isn’t Erick also some sort of minor government functionary in Georgia? Town councilman or county commisioner or village idiot?

  42. 42.

    OzoneR

    October 15, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    @General Stuck:

    TBogg is living dangerously and has gone to war with the resident firebaggers over at FDL, on the Africa mil operation Obama is conducting. Wonder what Jane thinks about such things?

    Oh no, the President sent 100 troops to Africa to aid the fight against a CHRISTIAN terrorist organization. How right wing!

  43. 43.

    R-Jud

    October 15, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    Lookit this goddamn DFH at the London protest today.

  44. 44.

    JPL

    October 15, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    @OzoneR: I made it about 3/4ths through the comments. Thanks so much. This is what I discovered..
    1. I recognize no one, although I did leave a few years ago
    2. Tbogg is now an Obamacrat
    3. No wonder why the semi coherent try to troll us because what’s the point of posting at fdl…

  45. 45.

    Yutsano

    October 15, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    @R-Jud: Oh jeez. The last thing they need is that egomaniac co-opting their message.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    October 15, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    @Yutsano:
    I know. If they follow him, they’re going to wind up getting crucified by the press.

  47. 47.

    dmsilev

    October 15, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    @Dr.BDH:

    Isn’t Erick also some sort of minor government functionary in Georgia? Town councilman or county commisioner or village idiot?

    He was (city council member), but he resigned a while back. As I remember it, the resignation came about not too long after it was reported that his attendance rate at council meetings was something like 10 or 20 percent. His paycheck cashing rate was, of course, 100 percent. He truly is the Wingnut Exemplar.

  48. 48.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    AP has a headline that the US isn’t keeping troops in Iraq past the deadline.

  49. 49.

    Dream On

    October 15, 2011 at 5:47 pm

    Photoshop. Fake dropshadow around the letter, just a scanned note placed on one layer above the Photoshop layer of the guy’s photo. Totally fake.

  50. 50.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    @Maude: Jesus, I posted that way up in this thread and I’m thinking “what the fuck, no one cares about this???”

  51. 51.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):
    I missed it, sorry. I thought this was so important.
    This is a big F’ing deal, to quote Biden.
    Now Hannity can send all the Gatorade to Afghanistan, the cheating crook.

  52. 52.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    @Maude:

    Read that just before walking the dog, but didn’t really know how to phrase what I think about it. In a pristine world, I think it is great news, in the real and dirty world, I hope to be proved wrong, that we have seen the easy part of consequence to Bush’s fuckup in Iraq. And we, nor the world are going to be done with cleaning up juniors mess, anytime soon. But politically, Obama had to keep to this timetable, and who knows, maybe the folks in Iraq will bury the hatchet and get along after we leave. But I wouldn’t want to be part of the Marine embassy contingent. All 160 of them, in that meat grinder.

  53. 53.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    @Maude: No, I didn’t mean you, I was just surprised no one said anything at all until you did.

  54. 54.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    October 15, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @General Stuck: That she may shortly need to find a new comic blogger? I don’t think anyone had TBogg’s back in that whole thread. Holy moley.

  55. 55.

    dslak

    October 15, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    @Dream On: Yes, if you check the shadow cast by his head vs. the distance from the front of his body the paper would need to be to appear that large in the camera, it should be casting a much bigger shadow than it is.

  56. 56.

    Yutsano

    October 15, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    @The Sheriff’s A Ni-: TBogg’s a big boy, he was handling himself just fine. We still could like totes poach him though. It’s not like we haven’t bugged him about crossing over to the dark side posting here before.

  57. 57.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    October 15, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    Ze barrel, it haz no bottom!

    The clever plan goes something like this:

    1. People see the picture.
    2. People respond by suggesting Mr. Fake Name You’d Make up for a Nigerian if You’d Never Met Someone from that Country needs to StFu.
    3. Loser douchenuggets such as Eweickson run around screaming OWS IS FULL OF RACISTS!

    Stay tuned for the inevitable Step 4. which involves much pants crapping when Mr. Akande demands to know which asshole used his picture.

  58. 58.

    Sko Hayes

    October 15, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    If you read many of the entries over at the “we are the 53%”, you’ll notice that most of them aren’t the 53% at all.
    Many working two jobs or not working at all, in debt, underwater in their mortgages, no health insurance- that’s supposed to be the American dream? No thanks.

  59. 59.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):
    I knew you weren’t meaning me. I am just pleased.

    @General Stuck:
    The Iraq violence could take 20 years to wind down.
    I thought the State Department had a gazillion contractors there.
    The Marines would do better.
    Obama said he’d get them out and he is.
    This is for Iraq to work out. In some ways, it will take away the US as occupying enemy.

  60. 60.

    Liberty60

    October 15, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    Just got back from Occupy Irvine–
    We gathered in the morning and grew to about 1,000 as we marched, and held all four corners of a major intersection then returned to the City Hall Park where we are occupying.

    What struck me was how non-DFH the crowd was- mostly soccer moms and dads, with a large number of college students.

  61. 61.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    @Maude:

    In some ways, it will take away the US as occupying enemy.

    You are probly right

  62. 62.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    @General Stuck: Unass that motherfucker.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 15, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): We’re too busy throwing a tantrum about Obama’s fourth war.

    I remember when about 100K troops (IIRC) pulled out. The only major media covering it was Rachel Maddow, and the reaction from the committed anti-war left blogosphere was a shrug of “it’s not enough’.

  64. 64.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yea, I know.

  65. 65.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    Unass that motherfucker.

    LOLwut?

  66. 66.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 6:14 pm

    @General Stuck:
    It’s a good time to read Juan Cole on this.
    I think CLinton and Biden wanted to keep the troops there. I guess, Obama didn’t.

  67. 67.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    @General Stuck: Army talk. Leave.

  68. 68.

    catclub

    October 15, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @beltane: “…and to use our emergency rooms to obtain free abortions.”
    and overrun us with their anchor babies.

  69. 69.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    Got ya

  70. 70.

    Bonefish

    October 15, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    Those 53% people are pathetic. Each and every “53%” sign reads like this to me:

    “I am a good little dog. I obey master well. You are a bad dog. Any day now, master will give me a treat, but not you because you are being a bad dog.”

    That is, after all, the mentality someone has to have in order to view it as a good thing that they’re being taken advantage of; in order to react with reverence for the exploiters and disdain for those who refuse to be willingly exploited alongside them.

    It’s like a slave bragging about how much cotton he picks for his master, and saying that the other slaves only desire freedom out of laziness.

    It’s not laziness, assholes; it’s integrity, and it’s the refusal to be a willing patsy. If you “53%” are fine with being walked on; if your response is to lay down, take it, and beg for more, fine. But don’t pretend that this behavior is an example of toughness or a strong work ethic. It isn’t. It’s cowardice, masochism, and self-loathing. It’s pathetic.

  71. 71.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 15, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    @Maude:

    I think CLinton and Biden wanted to keep the troops there.

    So…. same as it ever was? I snark darkly. There are no good choices there, and haven’t been since March of ’03.

    On BookTV earlier today, I watched an old French Resistance fighter, 94 years old, who wrote a little pamphlet that sparked the French version of OWS. IT just got me thinking about the total lack of accountability in our ruling class about Iraq, the economic crash, the Bush years in general. Tomorrow the great Brother and Sisterhood of Broder and Friedman will gather to tell us that OWS risks alienating the Great Sensible Center. CSPAN ‘balanced’ a guy who fought the Nazis and helped found the United Nations with clips of a call-in program with Ann Coulter

  72. 72.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    @Liberty60:
    Wow.
    The 99% isn’t a slogan, it’s real.
    The middle class has gotten clobbered.
    We have lost a way of life to those cheaters.

  73. 73.

    Julia Grey

    October 15, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    Seriously, though, of course it’s a photoshop. Unless he just happened to wear the exact same clothes and pose in exactly the same position with the same expression in front of the same wall at two different times, a year apart.

    NOT TO MENTION THAT IT’S IDENTIFIED WITH A FAKE NAME.

  74. 74.

    karen marie

    October 15, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    I wrote a little something-something about Ewick and his 53% solution the other day, after having done some research on the county in Georgia where he lives.

    Also, too, why is Ewick giving a (fake) forum to someone who isn’t a “real” American but came here to steal a job and our vital fluids?

  75. 75.

    karen marie

    October 15, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    Also, too, also, did you all see this?

    We bailed out Wall Street to avoid Depression, but three years later, millions of Americans are in a living hell. This is why they’re enraged, this why they’re assembling, this is why they hate you. Why for the first time in 50 years, the people are coming out in the streets and they’re saying, “Enough.”

  76. 76.

    Roger Moore

    October 15, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    @Maude:
    The truly sad part is that us getting our troops out is somehow considered to be a failure. I have thought almost from the beginning of the Iraq invasion that the best definition of victory was a democratically elected Iraqi government saying they didn’t need us there anymore. If we had said (and meant) that in 2003, the occupation wouldn’t have been such a fiasco; that we’re trying so hard to keep troops there when they plainly aren’t wanted is just so much proof that the justification for the whole business was a charade.

  77. 77.

    FlipYrWhig

    October 15, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Ooh, I read about that guy in France. Total badass.

  78. 78.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @karen marie: Macon is the pits. It’s centrally located in what is a large state so many agencies have meetings there. If you want to see what it is like watch Wise Blood Flannery O’Connor’s novel directed by John Huston in 1984. It has changed little since then.

  79. 79.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    It is overwhelming to think about how the elite ones have dragged this country down.
    I do think that the OWS international is going make a difference. It’s long term and the fat cats (not Tunch) have had it good for too long.
    Oh, the pundits are looking down on the protesters because they aren’t wearing suits.

  80. 80.

    Roger Moore

    October 15, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    @Sko Hayes:

    Many working two jobs or not working at all, in debt, underwater in their mortgages, no health insurance- that’s supposed to be the American dream?

    Having the 99% live that way is the American Dream of the sociopathic wing of the 1%. Erickson’s whole goal with the 53% business is to convince us to shut up and accept being fucked over by our Galtian Overlords.

  81. 81.

    Maude

    October 15, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    THIS.

  82. 82.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    The neocons and most wingnuts want us to keep troops there to put off the possibility of a regional conflagration after we leave. And they get the blame for their bloody experiment failing.

    I suspect folks like Clinton and Biden fear the same conflagration but because of the oil factor and feared pressures for the O administration, in a second term, to jump back in.

    Time to go though. I agree with Raven, unass that motherfucker, and let the chips fall were they may.

  83. 83.

    Lawnguylander

    October 15, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    Looks like we’ve found Chief Editor Korir at last and I’m guessing we’ll have the Whitey Tape before dawn tomorrow.

  84. 84.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    @General Stuck: Maybe they can go into the dildo biz like the Nam.

  85. 85.

    maya

    October 15, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    @karen marie:

    Also, too, why is Ewick giving a (fake) forum to someone who isn’t a “real” American but came here to steal a job and our vital fluids?

    I’m sure we’ll find out by Monday, that, a la Scott Brown, this will all be blamed on a summer autumn intern.
    Free labor just isn’t what it used to be ever since OWS, ya know.

  86. 86.

    Jenny

    October 15, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Wonder what Jane thinks about such things?

    She’s too busy trying to defeat Elizabeth Warren.

  87. 87.

    MTiffany

    October 15, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    I don’t know why Erickson thinks anyone should give a fuck about his supposed 53% number — Democrats are 53% of the US Senate and Erickson and his ilk don’t count that as a majority.

  88. 88.

    Cap'n Magic

    October 15, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    Has anyone emailed CNN and asked Themis it corporate policy for one of their contributors to be engaging in production of fraudulent Photoshoping?

  89. 89.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    Teehee. TBogg is taking the battle to his blog at the FDL mothership. I would leave a comment of support but was never able to complete a registration there. Tried several times, and figured I’d been pre banned, or something. BUT

    And all of the harrumphing and chin-stroking and arguments about the unitary executive and war powers and slippery slopes and motives and claims that America lacks the moral authority to go after this monster is all well and good on blogs and at think tanks and during painfully earnest late night discussions over coffee and brandy, however, in harsh light of day, the sooner this guy is dead the better off the world will be.

    If his head shows up in a sniper scope – put a bullet through it. If he is spotted and drone can get him – make him a greasy spot on the ground.

    Lordy sakes alive, as my dead granny used to say.

  90. 90.

    soonergrunt

    October 15, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    Tbogg has opened a new front in his current battle over there;
    http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/10/15/they-shoot-warlords-dont-they/

  91. 91.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    October 15, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    @General Stuck:

    It makes me wonder why Tbogg keeps trying to swim in that cesspool that Calamity Jane has built (and filled).

    Futile.

    @dmsilev:

    Ahhh, Erikkk, Son of Erikkk, pulled a Palin? The fine Southern Gentleman couldn’t fulfill the heavy obligations of the job of city councilman, so he quit? Now he’s using the picture of some Nigerian he found online in a new online wingnut astroturf scam he’s running?

    What a lazy turd. If Erikkk actually had to get his hands dirty by performing real work, he would probably faint. Wingnut welfare has been good to this jerk, that’s for sure.

  92. 92.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    @soonergrunt: I wonder if you can comment there if you are banned on the Lake? Bet not.

  93. 93.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 15, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    that FDL suffer no further diminishment and embarrassment

    O! please tell me that overwrought sanctimony comes from Lady Jane.

    I’m sure D-Day (isn’t that what he goes by?) is proud to have joined forces with Rush Limbaugh.

  94. 94.

    Roger Moore

    October 15, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    @General Stuck:

    The neocons and most wingnuts want us to keep troops there to put off the possibility of a regional conflagration after we leave. And they get the blame for their bloody experiment failing.

    I think it’s more that the neocons want Iraq as a Satrapy with massive permanent US bases and oil sold to us our oil companies at below market rates, and the wingnuts fall in line with what their leaders tell them. I don’t think the threat of massive regional conflagration is made especially better or worse by us being there in the numbers we have right now, especially because we’re still in Afghanistan.

    I accept that Clinton and Biden genuinely believe that we need to be there in the event of a regional conflagration, but IMO that’s just the insane logic of defensive imperialism. We justify our military presence as necessary to let us deal with any war in the region. But we wouldn’t have the same need to deal with wars in the region is we didn’t have a big military presence there, and our being there makes those wars more likely. It’s a circular logic that just serves to justify ever bigger military interventions ever further afield.

  95. 95.

    Jenny

    October 15, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    Who knew TBogg was such a hippie-punching, anti-Firebagger OBot.

    In an earlier thread, he called FDL an Obama hating blog.

    This may get him kicked out of the Kewl Kids Klub.

    If he does get exiled, I hope he gets a spot here.

  96. 96.

    Mike G

    October 15, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    how anyone can say this “I have a house I can’t sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous,” and then follow it up with this, “But I don’t blame Wall Street,” is beyond me….who the hell does he think crashed the housing market and sent insurance rates thru the roof…the underpants gnomes?

    Erickson’s short answer: “Libruls”.
    Like a good little authoritarian-follower serf, he must never, EVER question or blame the lord in the castle; it’s always the fault of the Other Serfs in the next village over the hill, or of invisible demons unleashed by his own imperfect behavior.

  97. 97.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    @Jenny: He’ll be in good company! They have me marked as a spammer. A spammer for telling the truth!

  98. 98.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 7:07 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I agree with

    I accept that Clinton and Biden genuinely believe that we need to be there in the event of a regional conflagration, but IMO that’s just the insane logic of defensive imperialism. We justify our military presence as necessary to let us deal with any war in the region. But we wouldn’t have the same need to deal with wars in the region is we didn’t have a big military presence there, and our being there makes those wars more likely. It’s a circular logic that just serves to justify ever bigger military interventions ever further afield.

    But I think our presence does have contercurrent effects of both keeping the Sunni’s on hold till we leave, and also does cause frictions with our continued presence. But the forces of will in this particular region, along the fault lines of two rival sects of the same religion runs much deeper that anything our presence agitates, and I think it does keep some damper, especially on the Sunni’s to again reassert themselves to, in their minds, return to being the rightful rulers of Iraq, even with being like 20 percent of the population. It all gives me a big case of the mega blues, the situation in Iraq. Afghanistan is child’s play in comparison to the possibilities of our leaving there. Fucking Iraq. I hate George Bush, for creating this situation. And he gets to noodle on his ranch in Texas, while the fires he set will likely rage on all around the world.

  99. 99.

    Yutsano

    October 15, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    @Jenny:

    If he does get exiled, I hope he gets a spot here.

    I will shamelessly squee if this comes to pass.

    @General Stuck:

    And he gets to noodle on his ranch in Texas

    He sold it right after leaving the White House. He and Laura live in Dallas.

  100. 100.

    eemom

    October 15, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I SO don’t get why he ever signed on to that shithole in the first place.

    His first few posts over there had literally hundreds of WTF?? comments from his former readers.

  101. 101.

    General Stuck

    October 15, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    @Yutsano:

    really? I did not know that. Thanks.

  102. 102.

    Julia Grey

    October 15, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    If he does get exiled, I hope he gets a spot here.

    Yeah, but I think he’s getting PAID at FDL.

  103. 103.

    PeakVT

    October 15, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    @General Stuck: He sold the prop ranch and bought a house in near Dallas, right next to one of his biggest donors.

  104. 104.

    Julia Grey

    October 15, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    I SO don’t get why he ever signed on to that shithole in the first place.

    To be fair, it wasn’t quite that shitty when he first moved.

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    October 15, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    @eemom: I think it was personal friendship with Jane that started him out. And what Julia Grey said.

  106. 106.

    Speedy

    October 15, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    @soonergrunt: I hope TBogg has a bunch of fainting couches handy.

  107. 107.

    Jenny

    October 15, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    If the Firebaggers where alive in 1940, they would have called for FDR’s impeachment for arming England and China, saying it was all about oil. And then they would have said Pearl Harbor was an inside jobzA.

  108. 108.

    PeakVT

    October 15, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    @PeakVT: Okay, he might not of sold the ranch. Everyone certainly was expecting him to sell the ranch, but I can’t find anything about it actually selling. But he definitely lives right next to Tom Hicks.

  109. 109.

    eemom

    October 15, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    holy shit — that DDope thread that started the whole thing is mind-boggling.

    Those people are seriously fucked in the head. It is not even funny anymore.

  110. 110.

    Julia Grey

    October 15, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    The crazy thing is that TBogg has done his share of savaging Obama (his “Obama buys a lawnmower” post is a friggin CLASSIC), but it’s all absolutely reasonable criticism (and screamingly funny).

    The “Firebaggers,” on the other hand, are just completely, insanely against everything Obama has ever done and ever will do, apparently just Because.

  111. 111.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    October 15, 2011 at 7:34 pm

    @Julia Grey: And pointing it out will get you the door.

  112. 112.

    Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen

    October 15, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    The “Firebaggers,” on the other hand, are just completely, insanely against everything he has ever done and ever will do, apparently just Because.

    1. He didn’t bow out and let HClinton win.
    2. They’re assholes.

    Isn’t Crier Bog Fakes where Fucking Armando* used to hang his hat?

    *His full name. Honest.

  113. 113.

    Splitting Image

    October 15, 2011 at 7:44 pm

    In honour of their leader, Erick Erickson, I hereby declare all supporters of the “53%ers” honorary goat-fucking child molesters.

  114. 114.

    Linda

    October 15, 2011 at 7:44 pm

    We here in the Buckeye State are shocked, shocked that a wingnut would falsely bend the words of a Nigerian expat and unwillingly recruit him into their ideological bullshit. We thought they only did that to 78 year old grandmas.

  115. 115.

    Downpuppy

    October 15, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    The thing to remember is that somebody just happened to recognize this picture. A LOT of the other stuff on that page is obviously in the Joe the Plumber tradition of just making stuff up. Anyone female or minority is most likely a fake; most of it is obviously written by college republicans.

    And the second thing to remember is that everyone in the Media reporting on this crap is perfectly aware of the first thing,

  116. 116.

    pete

    October 15, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    @Julia Grey: Yup. TBogg really is not an Obot, but he’s not a kneejerk hater either. I don’t entirely agree with him on this issue, actually, but I know I disagree with the people he was arguing with, who went straight past the facts and into paranoia about resource appropriation, starting new wars, etc.

    Manichaeans, can’t live with them, can live without them.

  117. 117.

    Speedy

    October 15, 2011 at 8:09 pm

    It’s not overly surprising that Erickson has had to resort to photo shopping pics of some random guy they found on the internet. There hasn’t exactly been a robust response to his call for morons to debase themselves by admitting that they’re getting shit on, and saying in essence “Thank you Sir , may I have another?” .

  118. 118.

    soonergrunt

    October 15, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Nope, because it uses the same comment/member db.

  119. 119.

    Triassic Sands

    October 15, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Sorry, Roger, I was thinking of standards of excellence, not excremence [sic], but you’re right, if someone is looking for a world class POS, Erickson isn’t a bad choice.

  120. 120.

    different-church-lady

    October 16, 2011 at 12:50 am

    @Maude:

    I do think that the OWS international is going make a difference. It’s long term and the fat cats (not Tunch) have had it good for too long.

    I disagree: Tunch has had good for too long as well.

  121. 121.

    MacKenna

    October 16, 2011 at 12:55 am

    @beltane:

    If they were really really honest they would say “we are the inbred grifters who make our living supporting America’s douchebags.”

  122. 122.

    Elias Isquith

    October 16, 2011 at 12:59 am

    Has anyone ever mentioned to ABL that although the whole “Teabilly” is totally hilarious and clever and absolutely worth using in nearly every post that she can, that the term “hillbilly”—which I assume is the “billy” half of “Teabilly”—is a pretty offensive term to many people, especially people from the Appalachian region, not all of whom happen to be right-wing Republicans or especially similar to broad cultural stereotypes?

    I understand that when we imply that right-wing Republicans are just a bunch of dumb, slack-jawed, racist Good Old Boys we totally ensure that President Obama wins reelection and prove the intellectual and moral superiority of the Left—but I think it might be a good idea to make this line of argument even more awesomer by not coming off like an ignorant, chauvinist hypocrite.

  123. 123.

    gaz

    October 16, 2011 at 3:36 am

    @Lysana: You don’t need to take any ESL courses if you are from Nigeria.

    They speak English (mainly), it being the official language and all.

    just sayin’

    PS: that note was written by Erik or one of his minions. the fact that Nigerians speak english was my first clue – then there was the clever blogger that kerned the original photo.

  124. 124.

    Shadow's Mom

    October 16, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    The post by Dgango has been removed from the53 tumblr pages. Hmmm, funny about that!

  125. 125.

    DanielX

    October 16, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    @MikeJ: Not at all – Nigerian scam letters are very common, I’ve gotten a couple of them myself over the years. If you don’t believe me, try teh Google and search on “Nigerian scam letters”.

    Nah, why bother. Yup, you got me. I also absolutely believe all people named MikeJ are people whose powers of logic and sense of irony are….woefully underdeveloped.

    Grow the fuck up.

  126. 126.

    Jamie

    October 16, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    Maybe I’m an emotional cripple, but shouldn’t the headline be something like, CNN Correspondent Steals Identity?

    Never mind the racial angle (and I do, actually care about that, being a black woman trapped in a white man’s body and all), what would son of Erick say about faked images uploaded to MoveOn?

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