Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

He really is that stupid.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Consistently wrong since 2002

You are here: Home / Economics / Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You / Repub Stupidity Open Thread: MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell FAFO’d

Repub Stupidity Open Thread: MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell FAFO’d

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Gift link. Seems like Zeidman took on this ‘challenge’ the way you’d play a free lottery scratch ticket:

… The panel said Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert and 63-year-old Trump voter from Nevada, was entitled to the $5 million payout.

Zeidman had examined Lindell’s data and concluded that not only did it not prove voter fraud, it also had no connection to the 2020 election. He was the only expert who submitted a claim, arbitration records show.

He turned to the arbitrators after Lindell Management, which created the contest, refused to pay him.

In their 23-page decision, the arbitrators said Zeidman proved that Lindell’s material “unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data.” They directed Lindell’s firm to pay Zeidman within 30 days.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Zeidman said he was “really happy” with the arbitrators’ decision. “They clearly saw this as I did — that the data we were given at the symposium was not at all what Mr. Lindell said it was,” he said. “The truth is finally out there.”…

Glasser said the panel’s decision cannot be directly appealed but that Lindell could ask a federal court to quash it on the basis that it represented a “manifest injustice.” The statutory grounds for such a claim are narrow, and it is “extremely rare” for such a claim to succeed, according to Glasser.

Lindell also faces a $1.3 billion defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems and a defamation lawsuit from one of Dominion’s former executives…

Lindell’s claims that he had packet captures intrigued Zeidman, who has served as an expert for tech firms in intellectual property lawsuits. Describing himself as a “reasonable” and “moderate conservative” who voted twice for Donald Trump, Zeidman told the arbitration panel he was skeptical of Lindell’s claims. But he said he also did not believe Lindell would promote unvetted data, so he thought the conference could offer a “great chance to see history in the making, perhaps an election overturned.”…

The arbitrators did not address the substance of Lindell’s claims about vote tampering, noting that they were “not asked to decide whether China interfered in the 2020 election.”

Not sure Lindell actually has $5million left. But his former idol is bound to start proclaiming that he never even knew this Mopzilla dude, maybe the guy might’ve fetched him a coffee that once… and with Murphy’s blessing, that will further erode the MAGAt’s already shaky willingness to risk further putting their own finances / security on the line for TFG in the future.

Like, it’s not rocket science. Lindell is just technically clueless and was easily fooled. There are thousands of folks who could have done the same thing if they’d invested a couple days, but nobody else bothered to make a formal bid for the bounty.

I’m glad someone did, because for a lot of folks who wouldn’t read or understand the underlying analysis, a publicly compelled payout might actually count as evidence.

Of course, the folks who thought Lindell would never accept a proof and willingly pay were correct: He tried to welch and the claimant had to go to arbitration. https://washingtonpost.com/documents/a68b…

I can only assume we will now be treated to a series of tirades claiming the American Arbitrarion Association is part of the Deep State, controlled by George Soros, etc etc

FWIW, the ruling itself is amusing and worth skimming. It’s not just that Lindell didn’t cough up data proving fraud; he didn’t provide any packet data at all. Just an bunch of spreadsheets listing Chinese IP addresses.

In other words… the sort of thing a scammer might throw together to impress a complete technical ignoramus, if he never expected anyone knowledgable to look at it.

Reader Interactions

53Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Describing himself as a “reasonable” and “moderate conservative” who voted twice for Donald Trump, Zeidman told the arbitration panel he was skeptical of Lindell’s claims. But he said he also did not believe Lindell would promote unvetted data,

    So much to unpack here!

  2. 2.

    pacem appellant

    The only pillows Lindel should have access to are the padding on the inside of a locked cell.

    He is so phenomenally dumb. But we follow him like we slow down for a car crash. It’s impossible not to watch.

  3. 3.

    West of the Rockies

    Dude describes himself as a “reasonable” conservative…  I do not think that word means what he thinks it means.

  4. 4.

    Ken

    Lindell could ask a federal court to quash it on the basis that it represented a “manifest injustice.”

    “If people start being held to what they say, wither the Republican party?”

  6. 6.

    pacem appellant

    @Baud: @West of the Rockies: People tell such interesting tales when asked to self-report. I’d give Zeidman a condescending pat on the head, but he’s a multi-millionaire now, so yah, juck that guy. He did one good thing in his life–embarrass Mike Lindel–which, to be completely fair, any average toddler could do as well.

  7. 7.

    Dan B

    Lindell was a heavy cocaine user when he was younger.  Then he was so heavy into crack that his three dealers staged an intervention.

    Whoa!  Any brain cells left?

  8. 8.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Baud:

    In an interview with Erin Burnett on CNN tonight, Zeidman said he’d support a No Labels ticket over Biden or Trump.

  11. 11.

    Kay

    Lila Rose
    @LilaGraceRose
    Donald Trump has DISQUALIFIED himself from the nomination of our nation’s pro-life political party by calling the human right to life merely a “state-level” issue
    Every human person is guaranteed due process and equal protection
    The next Republican president must be willing to take bold action to protect women and children

    BUT- The ultra MAGAs are really mad at the anti-choicers for threatening Donald Trump. I think they’ll all vote for him but it’s fun to watch them fight.

  12. 12.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @pacem appellant:

    He did one good thing in his life–embarrass Mike Lindel

    Watching Zeidman’s CNN interview tonight, I was reminded of the expression that a broken clock is correct twice a day.

    He said he supported many of Trump’s policies he just doesn’t like his erratic behavior and he can’t vote for Biden because he opposes everything Biden is doing.

  13. 13.

    pacem appellant

    @Wyatt Salamanca: ​ This guy and I, we’re not going to be friends. Ever.

    I hope No Labels keeps backfiring and peeling off “reasonable” conservatives from the GOP instead of soccer moms from the Democrats. This LGM piece is illustrative about why perhaps No Labels isn’t screwing Democrats like it was designed to do.

  14. 14.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @pacem appellant:

    I haven’t seen any polls or news reports stating who’d lose more votes to a No Labels ticket.  I don’t know if it would necessarily benefit Biden.

  15. 15.

    different-church-lady

    Describing himself as a “reasonable” and “moderate conservative” who voted twice for Donald Trump

    “One of these things is not like the others…”

  17. 17.

    different-church-lady

    Lindell is just technically clueless…

    …and a whole lot of other kinds of clueless.

  18. 18.

    RSA

    It appears that the arbitration panel wasn’t forced on the pillow guy: He specified in the rules of the contest that he’d be able to choose the members of the arbitration panel. He lost anyway. Quite the own goal.

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    In other words… the sort of thing a scammer might throw together to impress a complete technical ignoramus, if he never expected anyone knowledgable to look at it.

    Now let’s be fair here: the scammer was probably also a technical ignoramus.

  20. 20.

    grumbles

    This fucking guy…

    I swear, Lindell is like watching someone walk towards an open manhole, shouting at him that he is walking into a open manhole, he flips you off,  and falls in. And then pulls himself out, flips you off again, and goes and finds another open manhole.

  26. 26.

    Ruckus

    @Dan B:

    Any brain cells left?

    Mike seems to have used them all up. Either that or he really didn’t have many from the OEM.

  29. 29.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @SpaceUnit:

    And soon he’ll have no money.

    Hmm. That’s what was said about Alex Jones as he diverts money and businesses to his friends and family. But I agree Lindell fried his brain a long time ago and from hearing his manic crazy talk, it seems he’s still in the thrall of some substance.

  31. 31.

    mrmoshpotato

    Sounds like Mike should go smoke some crack to take the edge off of getting bitchslapped by Lady Justice to the tune of $5 million.

  32. 32.

    Dangerman

    @different-church-lady:  You just know there are Trump voters out there who hoard the dudes pillows  …

    Odd thing is, his pillows SUCK; it’s like sawdust for the filler. I sampled one briefly and thought, what the fuck?

    As opposed to Temperpedic; tried one of those and instantly went … ahhhhhh …

    Temperpedic, please make the check out to …

  34. 34.

    JoyceH

    Does anyone else suspect that Lindell paid big bucks for this ‘evidence’? And of course didn’t vet it, hey, the guy swore it was legit.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    In an interview with Erin Burnett on CNN tonight, Zeidman said he’d support a No Labels ticket over Biden or Trump.

    I’d support him buying 5 million dollars-worth of horses, and sucking all of their asses.

  36. 36.

    Mike in NC

    We see the stupid MyPillow ads on TV from time to time. Everything is always 50% off or more. Business genius, just like Trump.

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Watching Zeidman’s CNN interview tonight, I was reminded of the expression that a broken clock is correct twice a day. 

    He said he supported many of Trump’s policies he just doesn’t like his erratic behavior and he can’t vote for Biden because he opposes everything Biden is doing.

    “I never liked the tweeting!” -bluegal (Professional Left podcast) mocking Trump trash for jumping off the Trumptanic

  42. 42.

    patrick II

    I wonder how much Lindell paid Montgomery for the “code”. He probably lost at both ends.

  44. 44.

    Jackie

    No Labels seems created to suck away from anti-MAGA voters more than Biden voters. Kinda like Perot voters sucked away from GHWB voters.

  46. 46.

    SFAW

    @Jackie:

    Kinda like Perot voters sucked away from GHWB voters.

    No. Contemporaneous polling/studies showed he took equally from GHWB and Clinton.

  48. 48.

    Chetan Murthy

    oh, this is depressing: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-decanted-by-silverado/id1614010500?i=1000609231727

    How Ukraine Can Survive the Exhaustion of Its Air Defense StocksGeopolitics Decanted by Silverado

    Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Justin Bronk (Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology at RUSI and Professor at Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy) and Dara Massicot (Russian military analyst at RAND) about the dire implications of the dwindling stocks of Ukrainian air defense interceptors and what can be done to solve that problem.

    Yet another reason why we need to supply weapons to UA to allow them to *finish* Putler and his hordes, is that the longer this goes on, the more UA has to draw down their stocks of air defense SAMs.  And those are finite: ain’t no more available, and Patriot etc aren’t a substitute (it turns out, b/c they’re not available in *quantity*).  Ugh.  Just really depressing listening to this discussion.

  49. 49.

    Jay

    @Chetan Murthy:

    I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

    BTW, just this week Ukraine received a bunch more IRST’s,  a variety of mobile radars, and Germany clarified that the 3 Patriot batteries also came with 100 missiles, to start…….

  50. 50.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jay: Bronk & Massicot talk aboout those:

    1. AMRAAM-based SAMs (NASAMS) aren’t anywhere near as good as air-to-air missiles, b/c they have to fight up thru the atmosphere to get up to the target.  At least there are a ton of AMRAAMs
    2. Patriots are few in number
    3. and all of them suffer from a paucity of launchers

    Both Bronk and Massicot went thru the details of these weapon systems, and they both came down to the position that sure, we can offer some Western systems, but basically, we just don’t have a good answer, b/c NATO has for 30 years assumed “air superiority” so they didn’t bother building the sort of *massive* ground-based air defense (GBAD) that the Soviets did.  We just don’t have the stuff to give Ukraine, to replace their dwindling stocks.

  51. 51.

    Gvg

    I think this expert may consider himself a conservative because of where he lives, surrounded by other conservatives. He doesn’t know what democrats really are like, so he can’t see voting for one and reject his neighbors, but he knows he doesn’t like the Republican national leadership. It’s a start. More is needed. Shame people are so tribal.

    some of the ones who say they voted Trump in Trump areas are lying for social cohesion. This guy is even a possibility because he did prove no election interference. He may still get some threats over this publicity but probably less than if he said he wasn’t a Trump supporter. He probably is, but good chance he is going to find out why some Trump supporters are too extreme and need arresting.

  52. 52.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    I expect it’s going to take MULTIPLE rounds in court to get the Pillow fraudster to pay up.

    With added legal fees. And sanctions and punitives, one hopes.

  53. 53.

    GibberJack

    @Baud: He will still vote for Trump.

    These people don’t lack the ability to sort bullshit from reality, they lack integrity.  They choose to believe a fantasy even when they know it’s likely a lie.

    This guy is not a truthseeker. Truth has no inherent value for trumpers.   He sought the truth only because became worth $5 million to him.

    And now he will go right back to his bubble. I expect he’ll even donate some of that prize money to Trump’s campaign.

    No wonder they see Trump as one of themselves. They all have the same core defect. They lack integrity.

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