Andrew Sullivan quits blogging; I shall cry no rivers for Sully's #hypocrisy

So Andrew Sullivan is giving up blogging? Boo hoo.

Because, Sully, I'm going to deconstruct your farewell post just like I was PolitiFact.

Let's start here:

(W)e experienced 9/11 together in real time – and all the fraught months and years after; and then the Iraq War; and the gay marriage struggles of the last fifteen historic years. We endured the Bush re-election together

A funny statement to make, as I just Tweeted Sully. Yes, per Wiki, he "repented" in time to vote for John Kerry in 2004. However, he was dumb enough to support a moral conservative in the first place in 2000.

Beyond that, his "four cardinal sins" on supporting the Iraq War in the first place show someone shockingly ignorant of geopolitics in general and the Arab world in particular, thus invoking some sort of Peter Principle issues.

Of course, that same general lack of brilliance led him to name his own personal "journalism" awards after Brat Pack "journalists" Matt Yglesias and Ezra Klein.

Of course, as Wiki also reminds, and I do too, only more bluntly, that's due to Sully's "Bell Curve" infatuation, which I must say is high-grade racialism and nothing less.

And, that led to some blog spoofing by me, here, for the blog post where my Photoshopping above first appeared.

That in turn was part of his general work for a racist magazine, which is what The New Republic was. Hell, maybe he was having gay sex with Marty Peretz (who is far more nutty than painted at that link) for all I know.

Speaking of, and back to that part of his farewell.

He wasn't fighting the struggles for gay marriage 15 years ago. As Wiki reminds, per this Salon piece, 12 years ago he was fighting the fight on the down low for bearback gay sex at a time when AIDS concerns in the gay community were still pretty damned high. (Showing the weirdness of Salon at times, two years earlier, another writer defended him.)

Yeah, he eventually got married. But, not until three years after Massachusetts legalized gay marriage. So, again, Sully, not in front on that fight.

It's all part of Sully's seeming hypocrisy, the hypocrisy that makes him at least as much a "cafeteria Catholic" as a John Kerry.

Next?

This:

You were there when I couldn’t believe Palin’s fantasies.

What about your own fantasies, namely that Bristol Palin was Trigg Palin's mom? I eventually repented of following you and the "Palin Deception" website down that rabbithole, finding more reasonable possible explanations for Sarah's nuttery around Trigg's birth. But you, apparently, never did. 

Then this:

You were there when … we live-blogged the Green Revolution for an entire month.

Ahh, yes, when Twitter was supposedly the force overturning Iran, then the whole non-democratic world.

That was a conceit that was being refuted even as Sully mouthed it. I tackled some of that nonsense here.

It's all part of Sully's seeming hypocrisy, the hypocrisy that makes him at least as much a "cafeteria Catholic" as a John Kerry.

I don't begrudge at all his personal reasons for leaving. But, per the hypocrisy, he probably was about to fracture his spine figuring out new ways to triangulate himself.

Also, I don't get some liberals who think he's the bees' knees.

Was money the reason to quit?

I am not sure.

His last post says he was making $1 million revenue/year. Now, deducting for assistance (staff of about 10 at peak, perhaps; 7 non-Sully plus one intern listed now) ... overhead, etc., could he afford all this? Assume Sully paid himself $150K. The seven others, on average, about $80K. That’s $700K; whatever he paid the intern and overhead... yea, he was making money. Maybe not as rich as whatever Atlantic paid him before, but I don’t think he was going broke.

On the other hand, a WaPost story says he took no salary in the first year. And, it's not clear how well he maintained his renewal rate. Matthew Ingram talked about some of this early on.

On the third hand, he doesn't mention finances as a reason to throw in the towel.

Beyond that, I don't get why he had so many followers.

Half of what he posted was too short for even a Tumblr. That's why, beyond not agreeing with much of what he said, I don't get why that many people would pay to read him. In that way, he reminded me of Duncan Black, aka Atrios, running the blog Eschaton, which, while more liberal than Sully, years ago became just as short if not shorter on a regular basis.

The only sidebar to this is that it shows his vaunted tip jar/self-subscription model for blogging may not be such a model. Here is my original thoughts on his setting up his subscription model riff on a tip jar. I didn't think about it at the time, but, on the model he proposed, it's "interesting" that he missed the whole "tragedy of the commons" angle.

Actually, it's not "interesting" — it's really a "no duh." Libertarian types in general refuse to acknowledge such a thing even exist. I love the sound of petards hoisting in the morning!

“Audrey,” Palin’s Deceptions blogger, IDed?

Update, Aug. 26: Well, apparently “the other McCain” has a more definite ID on “Audrey,” the creator of the Palin's Deceptions blog and website.

Her first name is Anne, but the last name is not longer Baggs. And, she has apparently published some more salacious stuff besides her circumcision book, which ties together loose ends on previous posts of R.S. McCain.

It all seems to fit that she is really Anne Briggs. (Minor corroboration from “Audrey’s” blog, Palin’s Deceptions – both she and Anne have four kids.

Hat tip to “the other McCain” on this. And, yes, I can and do give hat tips to conservative bloggers on occasion. Rational thought and analysis is what it is, where it is.

That said, I had seen “Audrey’s” Zimbro profile some time ago, while doing a bit of noodling-level research on this, as I blogged way back in January. So, I hadn’t done the full 2+2 addition, but, I have read enough to believe that R.S. McCain is on the right track here. (And, I do not know if he cribbed off me, but, a return hat tip would be appreciated.

Anyway, “Audrey’s” Huffington Post profile also indicates that.

And, that said, I am sorry I ever went down this road in the first place. But, given the weird circumstances of Trig's birth, still unexplained by his child-endangering mom, it is understandable why many people would rush to fill in the blank.

I again repeat the idea I saw on another blog, from Alaska: Whether consciously or not, it was a "passive abortion" effort by Palin to fly to Dallas as she did.

What person and money is behind Palin Deception blog and website?

Edited and updated, Aug. 25

Audrey is from ... Charlottesville, Va. Thanks to an e-mail tipster.

Audrey has a profile on Zimbio, and has been posting copies of Palin's Deception blog info since September, apparently.

Why she has no problem posting her city of residence there, and not on her blog or her website, I don't know.

Her profile says:

I am a childbirth educator and midwife's assistant.

My emphasis on the last word. Midwife's assistant, not midwife.

Brief Googling only shows three hits on the phrase "how to become a midwife's assistant." And, it appears there's not much in the way of certification; a week or two of classes. As for "lactation consultant," from her own website, teenage-level jokes aside, I have no idea what that is.

Anyway, this probably explains why I couldn't find her when I just did a Google search before. If she has no professional-level certifications, she's going to be less likely to pop up on a Google search that is based in part on professional background.

That said, it means we should take with a grain of salt her claims to be published, without knowing what she's had published and where.

Aug. 25 update:

Of course I couldn't find her on Amazon. That's not her real name.

It all seems to fit that she is really Anne Briggs. (Minor corroboration from “Audrey’s” blog, Palin’s Deceptions– both she and Anne have four kids.

Hat tip to “the other McCain” on this. And, yes, I can and do give hat tips to conservative bloggers on occasion. Rational thought and analysis is what it is, where it is. Of course, if he cribbed off me, on this original post,a return hat tip would be appreciated.

Anyway, Audrey’s Huffington Post profile also indicates that.

====

At Palin Deception (now dead) and its accompanying blog, Audrey has for some time continued to push a number of issues related to Sarah Palin’s alleged pregnancy with Trig, and now, to a lesser extent, about Bristol’s alleged pregnancy with Tripp.

That said, a new post by Audrey on her blog Jan. 6, about possible Photoshopping of a couple of Sarah Palin pics, brought something that’s been floating in the back of my mind for several weeks to the front.

Here’s the exact comment from that blog post that did it:

Andrea Gusty [from CBS 11 in Anchorage] told factcheck.org that the picture was legitimate. According to factcheck.org, she also provided them with a higher resolution version of the photo, though factcheck.org has never released it; the version on their website is actually LOWER resolution than the one on Flickr. She also told one of my research assistants that the photo was taken on April 13th and that is how Palin looked on that day.

OK, so Audrey has not just A research assistant, but assistantS in the plural.

I’m assuming Audrey is not paying them out of her own wallet. I’m also assuming they’re not working gratis, either out of the goodness of their hearts or because they’re that concerned about the lies of Sarah Palin.

How many research assistants does Audrey have, and who’s paying for them?

She says, and two of them say, they are indeed doing it out of the goodness of their own heart. One of them was enough of a "groupie" (interpret that however you will) to attempt to lay some serious snark on me, or something, in comments, to which I replied where in North Carolina he could stick it.

And, where’s Audrey from herself?

She has e-mailed back, on a few questions I asked her, with some information moderately more in depth on some issues.

She is NOT, and I accept her word, the "Audrey T." who is the top-published author of childbirth-related books on Amazon. Here's what I first posted —

Per her main site, not the blog:

My husband and I are not "left wing bloggers," "conspiracy theorists," or otherwise fruitcakes. I am a childbirth labor coach, a published author in the childbirth field, and a lactation consultant; my husband is a physician who has, until this election, always voted Republican. So we're hardly coming from left field.

Well, I looked for “Audrey” + “childbirth” at Amazon. About half a dozen “Audreys” came up, but the one that most fit the bill?

“Audrey T.. .” From North Carolina. Judging by comments on one blog, evangelical Christian or Messianic Jewish.

OK, wrong Audrey. The actual Audrey has a right to remain anonymous.

Of course, that's part of why she can't/won't accept PayPal donations.

In a post of a couple of days ago, Audrey says she's paying for this on her own dime.

Well, kind of, sort of, if her bio is true. It's probably actually her physician hubby's dime, not hers, unless writing a couple of childbirth books and serving as a childbirth coach pays a whole bunch more money than I imagine it does. I'll stand by that, since she's not the top childbirth author on Amazon, that money for website, and other things, may not be all her own but her physician husband's.

Next, she says she doesn't want to accept PayPal donations from readers because she wants to "keep things 'cleaner.'" Well, yes, and keep from having to report details of who she is, etc., to reader-investors. Ditto on why she thinks no book will come out of this.

She then comments on why she wouldn't lay out to hire a PI:

Just as an aside, on the question of a private investigator: Obviously, hiring such an individual would be an enormously expensive task. I think all would agree that a local "man" could not be used, since, while I am sure anyone who was asked would protest that they were "fair, balanced, and unbiased," anyone from the local area could potentially have strong feelings about Gov. Palin (either pro OR con). Even if the person WAS completely unbiased, no one would ever believe that, and I think results would basically be worthless to the public at large.

She then says hiring a PI from outside Alaska would be too expensive, which gets back to the PayPal issue.

BUT... a PI from outside Alaska who knew enough about the Sarah Palin story to be up to speed right away, not just up to speed on John/Jane Doe level, but up to speed on where Audrey was at, couldn't approach the case without bias. Even more so for a non-Alaska PI whom she would bring up to speed.

Otherwise, I'll accept her at her word that she's that "fixated" (my actual word, not hers) on how the mainstream media don't get birthing details right, and that's what prompted her to jump in. For being as apolitical as she presents herself, I would say it is a fixation. (No, research assistant Morgan, don't try to play verbal judo on me by claiming this post shows I'm fixated about who she is. First, you shouldn't play with matches, or get in a battle where you're logically under-armed. Second, this is the last post I'm likely to write about Audrey, so I'm not fixated on the subject anyway.

Back to some of her fans asking if a book could come of it.

First, this isn't AA's "Big Book." Publishers don't do "anonymous," unless it's a CIA agent or similar.

Second, the only way to have enough material — and enough insight — for a book is either to get very lucky on some Alaskan spilling the beans, or else pulling the trigger on hiring that PI.

That said, there is one person on this case who has all the right qualifications —
• Professional journalist, with research/PI money at least potentially available;
• High name recognition to throw around journalistic weight if necessary;
• Lack of fear of either Sarah Palin or controversial issues in general.

And that, of course, is Andrew Sullivan.

So, I have e-mailed him:

"Have you ever thought about going beyond blogging, and either for the Atlantic, or on your own, actually doing an investigative story on her background, above all the Trig Palin birth questions?"

We shall see. (Haven't gotten a return e-mail from Sully!)

Brief update, Jan. 11:Audrey shot me an e-mail after I posted a link to this post in comments on the blog post of hers referenced above. She's e-mailed me once or twice before, but I had never kept them. This time, I noticed that she was the last initial, or maybe middle initial, of W. on her e-mail name. Well, under "Audrey" +
"childbirth" at Amazon, only one book by an author whose last name begins with a "W" and nothing by ANY "Audrey" using "lactation" instead of childbirth.

So, on the money issue, as to money being spent now, I'm still skeptical, at least, that it's hers rather than her husbands.

And, I just had a lightbulb moment, failing to check Whois until now. Here's the domain name registration info:

Registration Service Provided By: NEARLYFREESPEECH.NET
Contact: +1.8887414678
Website: https://www.NearlyFreeSpeech.NET/

Domain Name: PALINDECEPTION.COM

Registrant:
c/o RespectMyPrivacy, LLC
palindeception.com Domain Administrator (palindeception.com@RespectMyPrivacy.COM)
1892 US HIGHWAY 1 #152
ROCKLEDGE
FL,32955-2822
US
Tel. +1.8664570078
Fax. +1.8663909061

Creation Date: 14-Sep-2008
Expiration Date: 14-Sep-2009

Domain servers in listed order:
ns.phx1.nearlyfreespeech.net
ns.phx3.nearlyfreespeech.net


Administrative Contact:
c/o RespectMyPrivacy, LLC
palindeception.com Domain Administrator (palindeception.com@RespectMyPrivacy.COM)
1892 US HIGHWAY 1 #152
ROCKLEDGE
FL,32955-2822
US
Tel. +1.8664570078
Fax. +1.8663909061

Technical Contact:
c/o RespectMyPrivacy, LLC
palindeception.com Domain Administrator (palindeception.com@RespectMyPrivacy.COM)
1892 US HIGHWAY 1 #152
ROCKLEDGE
FL,32955-2822
US
Tel. +1.8664570078
Fax. +1.8663909061

Not a lot more light there, though. RespectMyPrivacy.com is a proxy hosting service designed to do what its name indicates. NearlyFreeSpeech.net appears to have some association with it, and indeed is run out of the next-door suite in the same strip mall, office building or whatever the physical site is.

As for names, it can't be Audrey N., who has a middle initial listed on some Google hits under Audrey + "labor coach" or "lactation consultant," and that initial isn't "W." Anyway, she's also an MD, and Audrey doesn't make that claim for herself. There is an Audrey P. in Miami, but whether the Rockledge location (due east of Tampa, across the peninsula) for the proxy web host has any relevance or not, I'm not sure. Nor do I know if W. is her middle initial. Or, there's an "Audrey W." by middle initial in St. Louis, but she's also an MD. And, not a published author in trade books, though perhaps in the professional literature.

Well, I can't offer you more for now. But, if I find more, I will proffer it.

More nuttery by Audrey of Palin Deception

The conspiracy theorizing at Palin’s Deceptions not only gets thicker, but profit-driven now, as well.

And, a new feature, to boot!

“Team Truthers”? Probably about as close to the “truth” as the self-labeled “9/11 Truthers” and other conspiracy theorists. (We could just call them “Audrey’s storm troopers.”)

And, Audrey's selling merchandise, she has the money to hire a PI now! I told her that nearly six months ago, shortly Tripp Palin’s birth, when I suggested that, if she really believed this, she’d hire a private investigator. She made excuses about the cost, about how most PIs in Alaska would be afraid of Sarah Palin, etc.

Well, Audrey, you now have the money to hire a PI, with all the regular posters at your blog rushing out to buy stuff at your store.

Last excuse removed. Hire a PI and let the chips fall where they may. Stop playing around the edges.

But, she won’t.

Bristol Palin giving birth to Tripp Palin at full term shot down Audrey’s primary angle, that Bristol was the real mother of Trigg Palin. In talking about Sarah Palin and homeschooling, where Audrey actually does find an acorn or two, we have this “tell”:

f Tripp was born at or close to full term in late December, 2008…

Emphasis is mine, but it’s clear Audrey has latched on to this tar baby and refuses to let go, even as the truth bites her in the ass. I’ve noted how she misinterprets pictures, uses tighter-fitting clothing to “show” pregnancy and more, and other distortions of evidence.

And, the fact that bloggers like “Gryphen” count themselves among her close cyberfriends and vice versa show that the same Kool-Aid that gets served at the Palin household in Wasilla is apparently distributed around the state.

But, that’s the flip side of a lot of the blogosphere; it does get pretty incestuous, unless you’re OK with being a contrarian.

And, it’s almost enough, though not that close, to actually make someone sympathetic to the Whore of Wasilla.

‘Audrey’ lies about changing the game at Palin’s Deceptions

Her latest post claims that she’s always been about proving Sarah Palin is not Trig’s mom; as for who is, she says her game plan is “leave the question of whom exactly Trig's mother really is to the "clean-up" crew.”

What a lie, biatch.

From early on, you’ve acted under the assumption that your playing around the edges with SP pregnancy pics proved she wasn’t pregnant. And, it did no such thing.

Then, acting as if your assumption were fact, you’ve always tried to finger Bristol as Suspect No. 1 to be the “real mom” of Trig.

Pots and kettles in Palin’s Deception whack-job land

When Palin’s Deception started, I thought “Audrey” would actually make her best shot at figuring out if Sarah Palin was lying about her pregnancy, and, if unable to come to a conclusion, but having enough of a cybercommunity behind her, hire a PI to nose around further to the degree he or she could.

Ahh, not so, not at all.

First, the place has become a cult.

Second, “Audrey” appears to be enjoying being the Queen of Sheba (first pot vs. kettle — Audrey and SP) with stringing out bits of information, pseudo-information and speculation here and there, without actually doing anything constructive about this.

In fact, regarding the PI idea, I suggested it, as part of my last long post about her and her website and blog. She e-mailed me with three or four excuses about why she couldn’t do that, all of which I shot down in an updated version of that post.

Soon after that, as “Audrey” (I put her name in scare quotes deliberately) continued to dally around the edges with her obsession with SP pregnancy photos, I realized she never would do anything besides dally around the edges.

Her claims to any expertise in midwivery, pregnancy care, or related issues aside, if she were serious about this being single reason for getting involved with Sarah Palin’s pregnancy with Trig (assuming it’s her kid, and now that Bristol’s been shot down as a candidate) she would have finished up her looking at various photos of SP’s actual/alleged pregnancy and been done with that..

Nope, nope and nope. As if the entire Palin family has become her tar baby or something, she moved on to playing around the edges of MySpace blog postings by Bristol Palin and some of her friends.

But, playing around the edges, unlike with questions of whether SP pregnancy photos were Photoshopped or not, isn’t enough. Now, she’s ready to go whole hog, including specific posts, and possibly even names, of juvenile friends of Bristol’s.

And along with that? We have white trash calling the Palins white trash in comment threads, trash-talking while “Audrey’s” increasing censorious groupies refuse to run any contrary opinions.

Speaking of that, and since “Audrey” and her Sieg Heil groupies see fit not to print how they’re wrong in her latest post, the one in which she attempts to justify rummaging through juveniles’ MySpace detritus, I’ll have to do that myself.

Only thing is, “Audrey” is wrong, as I commented there (without getting past Morgan the Nazi moderator).

As for the post itself? “Audrey” attempts to justify her gutter-rummaging by pointing to three criminal cases where MySpace was reportedly important in solving crimes, just in the past week.

In the second of the three cases, MySpace “solved” nothing. Rather, in the case of a juvenile posting nude pix of herself there, it was the scene of the crime. In the third case, it was the cause of the crime, not a clue in its solving. And, even the first case she cites, is just under investigation; nothing’s been solved yet, because no criminal charge has been filed yet.

But, beyond that, WHY, “Audrey,” are you rummaging in MySpace pages? Unless you believe that Sarah Palin either borrowed or kidnapped some other woman’s baby to pass off as Bristol’s in the past three months, it’s HUGELY clear Bristol had a son named Tripp at the end of last year, and, barring a miracle of post-pregnancy recovery, therefore CANNOT be the mother of Trig.

It would be less nutbar to postulate somebody else, even if not a family member, as Trig’s mother than it would be Bristol. And, if THAT isn’t the point of rummaging through MySpace trash, but rather, just rummaging through MySpace trash, you really have fallen low. As low as the woman you claim to abhor, or nearly so.

Short of Martians, or Elvis after a sex change, the most logical line is, after all, that Sarah Palin is the mother of Trig, horribly bad mother that she was during the pregnancy.

Of course, this is the same “Audrey” who claimed last fall that Team Obama had “inside knowledge” about the “truth” of the Sarah/Trig pregnancy. Scary as the risks are, I’d like to see SP run for the GOP nomination, whether she actually gets it or not, just to expose another wrongitude of “Audrey’s.”

That said, if Sarah is indeed Trig’s and gave birth last April, a commenter at Celtic Diva has a VERY interesting insight. (The comment is in response to a guest post by nurse Lee Thompkins, who likens birth doubters to conspiracy theorists.

Sweet Lucy 47 says:

Palin had become a Pro-abortion Pro-Lifer.

She really didn't want this baby, she had the amnio, found out then the baby was “damaged” and really realized she didn't want it...then denied she was even pregnant for months, until she could deny it no longer, so had to own up to it. Then, in Texas realizing she had a serious problem, made a fateful decision to travel as she did, in the hopes that God would take over and she wouldn't have the baby. Cynical?? Yes, maybe I am...but it all fits in with your explanation, and it all fits in with what happened and it explains the reasoning behind her actions.

Fits to me. It does accept Palin at her word (which ain't worth much) about the legal facts of the birth — and nothing else.

In other words, Sarah Palin has brought a lot of this on herself. (But, not all of it.)

I will admit that I, early on, noted that Mat-Su Regional Hospital did not post a Trig birth announcement. Well, there WAS one in the Anchorage Daily News.

But, there again, Team Palin could have done a better job of shooting stuff like this down. And did not. Because, she's an idiot.

Palin’s Deception gets down and dirty

“Audrey,” the proprietor of the Palin’s Deception blog, apparently frustrated that her picture-sleuthing can’t prove Sarah Palin wasn’t Trig Palin’s mom, and smacked in the face by pics of Bristol Palin holding Tripp, has decided to get down and dirty with MySpace snooping on Bristol’s friends.

And along with that? We have white trash calling the Palins white trash in comment threads, trash-talking while “Audrey’s” increasing censorious groupies refuse to run any contrary opinions.

Speaking of that, and since “Audrey” and her Sieg Heil groupies see fit not to print how she’s wrong in her latest post, the one in which she attempts to justify rummaging through juveniles’ MySpace detritus, I’ll have to do that myself.

The post itself? “Audrey” attempts to justify her gutter-rummaging by pointing to three cases where MySpace was reportedly important in solving crimes, just in the past week.

In the second of the three cases, MySpace “solved” nothing. Rather, in the case of a juvenile posting nude pix of herself there, it was the scene of the crime. In the third case, it was the cause of the crime, not a clue in its solving. And, even the first case she cites, is just under investigation; nothing’s been solved yet, because no criminal charge has been filed yet in what is a minor incident if it’s an incident at all.

“Audrey,” surely Morgan can rally the PD cult to dig up better trash than that?

A more complete post on this hypocrisy is coming later. And not in the cult-like “later when the Mass bell is rung” on her blog.