Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

When I was faster i was always behind.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

This fight is for everything.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Return of Shaun King

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Return of Shaun King

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There is a fresh block of naive individuals on social media, angry about a widely publicized tragedy, eager to donate their mite to reparation or retribution — especially if they can gain clout among their peers by doing so.

Of course Shaun King has reemerged from the grey zone, with an eye-catching announcement…

Perhaps we cynics wrong Mr. King… possibly he has seen the errors of his past and renounced them?…

A refresher, if necessary, from Ralph Leonard at Unherd — “Is Shaun King’s Islam conversion a grift?”:

… After affirming the Muslim creed — that there is only one God and his messenger Muhammad — King, who used to be a Christian pastor, addressed a crowd, proclaiming that his decision to convert was due to the “past six months of suffering, pain and trauma that we’ve seen in Gaza”. He went on, while donning a keffiyeh, to praise Gazans’ “faith and their devotion to Islam”, which “not only opened my heart but has opened the hearts of millions of people around the world”.

This, however, isn’t going to be the beginning of a genuine spiritual odyssey; instead, it marks the next stage of King’s career as a performative activist. Before it was Black Lives Matter. Now he has detected where the wind is blowing and knows that Palestine, specifically Gaza, is the hottest, most en vogue issue within the activist world.

King’s record as a grifter and pathological fabricator runs long and deep. Many activists have complained about how he has repeatedly received donations in the name of the families of victims of police shootings in America, yet none of the money seems to have ever reached the families, leaving them feeling exploited and denouncing King for profiting from their pain.

In relation to Israel-Palestine, King claimed that he worked “behind the scenes” to secure the release of two American citizens held hostage by Hamas. However, the families have refuted this claim, saying that he was not involved in the negotiations for their release and lied about it…

Don’t be surprised if King organises fundraisers to feed the needy children of Gaza and later can’t prove if the money went to them. If he possessed a genuine desire to help the people of Gaza, then there would be no need to have the added gimmick of converting to Islam alongside it. Plenty of non-Muslims have been emotionally affected by the war in Gaza and feel a deep solidarity with its suffering people, and have done much more to help them than King ever could…


Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Return of Shaun King 1


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Reader Interactions

31Comments

  2. 2.

    SpaceUnit

    So who is Shaun King and what is this post about?  I think I’m going to bed.

     

    ETA:  Feels like 8 or 9 votes are hanging in the balance here.

  8. 8.

    Chetan Murthy

    @SpaceUnit: In the larger scheme of things, yeah, he’s a nobody.  He causes harm by taking money that was meant for helping victims.  But he doesn’t destroy democracy, create (AFAICT) pernicious social movements, or other truy bad acts.  He’s just a thief.

  12. 12.

    Tony Jay

    Where there is geld there will always be grift. Whether they wear brown shirts, red shirts or smart suits they’re all the same, entirely dishonest and willing to screw anyone over if they come out with some spending money.

  14. 14.

    eclare

    @Nukular Biskits:

    I think she got a lot of harassment from readers, my memory is fuzzy.  Did she accompany John to the Democratic convention in Charlotte?  I seem to remember he forgot to pack any pants.

  15. 15.

    jonas

    @Ryan: King is a writer and BLM activist with a history of running a bunch of very grifty fundraising campaigns for various causes over the years — basically whatever he thinks his marks people will throw money at any given time. Think George Costanza’s “Human Fund”, but like for Black people or something.

  16. 16.

    lowtechcyclist

    His name rang a vague bell with me, but I couldn’t have told you why, let alone who he was.

    So my summary of this post is that this guy’s got a long track record of grifting off whatever The Hot Cause Of The Day is, raising money that never quite finds its way to the alleged beneficiaries, and it would be a kindness to warn his intended marks of his history.

    That’s worth a post to help get the word out.

    As a Christian, I’d tell King, “don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.” And to Muslims, my sincere condolences.

  17. 17.

    Shalimar

    @SpaceUnit: If you’re not one of the well-meaning people he has scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars you were trying to give to worthy causes, yes, nobody.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @eclare: ​Yes, it was a DEM convention (’08?) and yes, she had a testy relationship with commenters here. Not sure why, most of her posts were after my zone out time. I never read comments in dead threads so it was all one big “whoosh” for me.

  20. 20.

    eversor

    I don’t think most grifters know they are grifting.  Having worked at a lot of non profits that would give the consulting and law firms I worked at a run for their money at sheer cash grabbing and lavish spending the non profits were often worse.  At least the lawyers and consultants would admit it was crap!

    Leaving Christianity is odd for a grifter.  As Churches are the masters of grifting.

    He’s just a lost idiot.

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    @Baud:

    Heh. When he does, my fantasy is that the Muslims put out a fatwa on him. Don’t they treat heretics worse than infidels?

  24. 24.

    eversor

    @Baud:

    I dunno.  If he’s a true grifter coming back and writing a book about it and going on the preaching circuit would be great.  My sense is that he’s just a delusional moron who believes in what he’s doing but also wants to be admired for it and have a full time job.

    @Steeplejack:

    The punishment for converting to another religion is death.  Though that’s supposed to be carried out by the state.  Those actions are rare though.  It doesn’t stop randos from doing it though.

    Regardless he’s gotten himself into one hell of a situation of which he probably doesn’t grasp gravity of.

  27. 27.

    Paul in KY

    @Baud: Probably not, as he probably wasn’t ‘Christian’ either. I think he worships Mammon and clicks.

  28. 28.

    Paul in KY

    @Tony Jay: Was very glad to get out of Anfield with a tie. There were a couple of times in 2nd half where I thought “I can’t believe they haven’t scored”.

    Best of luck in FA Cup.

  29. 29.

    Paul in KY

    @eclare: Anyone who gave her shit, got shit. She was badass (still is). Reminded me of Steve (fuck the fucking Yankees!)

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