Gribbit’s documented lies

June 15, 2006 in Political Animals | 18 comments

Andrew “Gribbit” Richardson apparently does not like having his words subjected to serious scrutiny. He finds being fact-checked extremely distressing… as well he should. His command of the facts is feeble, at best.

Most amazing is his claim to total honesty:

I DO NOT LIE.

One tiny problem: Gribbit does indeed lie, and that can be proven.

A few weeks ago, Gribbit posted a claim on a page has since vanished from his site. I’ve mirrored it so that we can examine the fabrications he published at the time. Speaking of the NSA’s program to collect the phone records of American citizens, Gribbit claimed that:

To this point, each and every legal scholar who has looked at the program has agreed that no laws have been broken.

This same article was posted on Jay Stephenson’s site StopTheACLU.com, where it can still be seen. And as I pointed out at the time, Gribbit’s statement is false.

In the comments, one Jason Sonenshein correctly noted that George Washington University Law Professor Orin Kerr doesn’t appear to conclude that no laws have been broken, and cited a set of recent posts on Eugene Volokh’s site as evidence. And a very simple Google search will turn up documents like these discussions of the legal problems with the NSA phone-records collection program.

Jay Stephenson edited the post on his site to say that “almost every legal scholar who has looked at the program has agreed that no laws have been broken”. Gribbit, by contrast, stuck with his original lie.

In the same post, Gribbit claimed that

…the ACLU publicly opposes any proposal sponsored by Republicans.

And, again, Jason Sonenshein provided documentary evidence that of Gribbit’s prevarication:

That’s a lie. Here’s just one example that disproves your statement. The ACLU of Ohio supported House Bill 56, sponsored by Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Ohio 28).

So.. we have here two documented lies, plus Gribbit’s claim that he does not lie — which is itself a fabrication.

Gribbit, of course, has exhausted his limited vocabulary in denouncing all those who dare shine the pitiless light of day on his mendacious ways, and has threatened to physically assault three of his critics, including myself. To that tacit admission of rhetorical impairment, I will only echo the sentiments of the author and polymath Isaac Asimov: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".

Ultimately, those who rely on falsehood and disinformation will be found out, as Andrew “Gribbit” Richardson has just learned to his dismay. Gribbit could base his arguments on facts, but he chooses not to do so. That tells us a great deal, both about the arguments and the man himself.

UPDATE 06/15/06 20:28 PM: I just noticed that Gribbit posted a poll asking his readers if he had lied. As of about 20:25 EDT this evening:

Lawyers have a saying: Never ask a question you don’t really want to have answered.

UPDATE 06/15/06 22:10 PM: Gribbit has removed the poll. The people spoke, and Gribbit did not like what he heard. Oops.

And he’s closed all commenting at his site. The idea that anyone would disagree with him in the slightest particular was just too, too terrifying to contemplate. Far better, Gribbit believes, to plug his fingers in his ears and sing “la la LA LA LA LA LA” to drown out the frightening sounds of other people’s ideas. Gribbit could not take the chance that he might actually learn something.

Remember, this was the big bad bulldog who was going to physically attack those who dared disagree with him. We are supposed to believe that he has the bravery to go mano a mano with a grown man, yet he lacks the guts to deal with mere words that dare to express a differing opinion.

Brave Sir Robin ran away.
Bravely ran away, away!
When danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.
Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat,
Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin!

UPDATE 06/16/06 06:29 AM: Oh, this gets more delicious by the minute. Gribbit has posted the contact information for my ISP and is asking other people to fight his battles for him. That’s right: he wants his readers to call the company that hosts this site and complain about… what, exactly? That I pointed out — accurately — that Gribbit had lied more than once?

Picture it, folks… Gribbit, the brave right-wing überwarrior who was going to pound me into the sands of the Nevada desert, now stands timidly clutching the skirts of his readers, lower lip quivering, pleading with them to go whine to my web host for him.

I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. Thanks, Gribbit. I never suspected you had such potential as a source of entertainment.

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June 18, 2006 at 6:20 am

Trackback from Expletive Deleted - Reality aversion disorder and wingnuts

June 15, 2006 at 10:24 pm

Dixie

Justin H linked to Gribbit’s post about moonbats and cowardice in which Gribbit went into all the rules for comment registration and how to leave a simple “I disagree with you” comment so that he could engage or ignore at whim.

I wonder if Justin will continue to tout Gribbit’s claim of where the cowardice lies now that Gribbit has closed comments and taken down that poll. (Ouch.)

June 15, 2006 at 10:34 pm

Capt. Rational

This gets better by the minute. Should we feel guilty for destroying the comment function on his blog?

June 15, 2006 at 10:39 pm

meatbrain

We destroyed nothing. Only one person decides whether Gribbit’s blog will accept comments, and that person is Gribbit.

He decided long ago to turn tail and run from anything that even faintly resembles an honest discussion. He is solely responsible for his actions.

June 16, 2006 at 12:14 am

Capt. Rational

Oh, I know. I was just kidding. But did you see he posted all the contact info for your web host on his site? I’m not sure what that means, just like I’m not sure what listing the IP addresses of people answered “Yes” in his poll means.

June 16, 2006 at 12:34 am

JPF

Notice the “Remember… Saturday 1800” bit after the expiration date. I think that means he’s threatening to take thingingmeat.net away using the clever ruse of you not renewing in time—which is all the more clever since he’s anouncing it five months in advance.

Can you be a liar if you’re just plain delusional?

June 16, 2006 at 1:05 am

Capt. Rational

Actually I think the threat might be meant for me, but I don’t know why it would appear in the middle of that post.

Check this out: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=24626862&postID=115041396654325351

June 16, 2006 at 9:46 am

bigdumbchimp

I’m crying I’m laughing so hard. My office mates are peaking in to see if everything is ok.

June 16, 2006 at 11:54 am

Beaming Visionary

I appreciate the fact Gribbit was kind enough to spell out the e-mail addresses he made up for us—e.g., “Shadowing Blindness @ beamingvisionary dot blogspot dot com”—keep the spambots at bay. Don’t every say this guy lacks either smarts or class.

June 16, 2006 at 1:35 pm

Dixie

Gribbet wrote: “These guys played good cop bad swarm of cops to attack me. I will not participate in their juvenile games any longer. So commenting is closed.”

Then Gribbet wrote: “Additionally, look at the bats I’ve stirred up. These people have to take every word and utterance spoken about their precious pets like the ACLU and the Daily POS KOS, so damned serious. They amuse me beyond all belief. The more angry I seem, the more they seem to feed. It’s laughable.

“Here lefty lefty left… want some nice lefty bait? And they bite every time.”

So you see, his closing of comments, his deletion of the poll, his posting of IP information and spelled-out URLs are all parts of the ruse! He’s behaved in this whitey-tighties-in-a-wad way in order to demonstrate how ably he can bait the lefties. If he does everything that demonstrates being cowardly and petulant and mendacious, then he can whirl around and say “Gotcha! You guys thought I was serious??!???1!? [Kender punctuation attempt] Well, who looks like the fool now?”

Oh, I’m so tearing my hair over how we fall for such good-natured ribbing every time.

June 16, 2006 at 5:26 pm

Bill from Dover

Gribbet wrote: “These guys played good cop bad swarm of cops to attack me. I will not participate in their juvenile games any longer. So commenting is closed.”

Ok already guys/gals. Who played the good cop?

June 17, 2006 at 11:02 am

Jason Sonenshein

Thanks for mentioning me. That was a fun thread. I especially liked how Mr. Richardson was so eager to claim credit for facts that had been proven false, and, as The One with a Brain pointed out, his correction of your typo while committing numerous spelling errors of his own.

June 17, 2006 at 11:20 am

meatbrain

You’re quite welcome. I believe in credit where credit is due.

June 17, 2006 at 1:45 pm

Capt. Rational

Holy shit! http://www.gribbitonline.com/?p=41

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

June 17, 2006 at 11:58 pm

meatbrain

Regarding Gribbit’s threats of physical violence, Ed Brayton had this to say today: