Hello Kevin Vaughan!
April 28th, 2008
So, dear reader, I got an interesting anonymous tip over the weekend about the identity of Pirateballerina clone and anti-Churchill crony, the appropriately named William T. Sherman. (”The more Indians we can kill this year the fewer we will need to kill the next, because the more I see of the Indians the more convinced I become that they must either all be killed or be maintained as a species of pauper. Their attempts at civilization is ridiculous.” — William T. Sherman)
See, Mr. Sherman recently left the following comment on Pirateballerina:
Anyway, I don’t need a committee or a specialist to tell me that the Mandan smallpox blanket claim was fabricated. The claim is illogical on its face, and for some reason, the Churchill rashly gave a recorded interview where he could not point out the evidence in the book he used. The reporters opened the book to the page he cited, and he just hemmed and hawed and got pissed. Squirm-inducing stuff.
What’s so interesting about that, you ask?
Well, according to my anonymous tipster, though such an interview did indeed take place, it was never published.
Meaning, it only stands to reason that Pirateballerina’s most prolific commenter is none other than the person or persons who gave the interview, right?
So who gave the interview? Well, according to my tipster, none other than the Rocky Mountain News’ very own ace reporters Berny Morson and Kevin Vaughan. And since Kevin Vaughan is the author of the Rocky’s horseshit smallpox piece, my money’s on Mr. Vaughan for the pseudonym William T. Sherman.
Which would go a long way towards explaining the, shall we say, cozy relationship between the Rocky and the anti-Churchill blogging bloc. (A cozy relationship, it’s worth remembering, that led to such bizarre decisions as the Rocky using entirely unqualified anti-Churchill blogger Jim Paine of Pirateballerina as their genealogical expert.)
Update: the anonymous tip is doubly interesting, in that the IP address indicates it comes from the Rocky Mountain News. Just so you know.
Update II: It’s also interesting that the Rocky Mountain News never published this interview. That in itself, is enough to make one doubt the authenticity of Mr. Vaughan’s account.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Hurrah! I knew they’d start slipping up if we just kept indiscriminately fucking with them. Excellent work anonymous tipster.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
You say the tipster’s IP is registered to the RMN itself, Bennie? Very interesting. Is there any way of tracing it to a particular individual?
April 28th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
“General Sherman” is busy over at PB today, holding forth on “phoney-baloney academic departments, publications, and quality-control procedures that ape real academic pursuits, but do not have any corresponding commitment to honesty or competence.”
Looks to me like the boy’s just a little confused. What he was obviously trying to describe were “phoney-baloney ‘NEWS DESKS’ at certain daily print publications [with] quality-control procedures that ape real JOURNALISTIC pursuits, but do not have any corresponding commitment to honesty or competence.”
The Rocky Mountain News, for example.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
that sounds sort of pathological. Does Sherman do civil war reenactments, or did he have some sort of excuse for the pseudonym. If you didn’t trace IP addresses, perhaps you’d think ‘Noj’ turned doubled agent again.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Pathological, indeed, Hilda. Using Sherman’s name as a pseudonym has always seemed in the height of bad taste to me. Something akin to using Reinhard Heydrich as a pseudonym in a forum debating US/Israeli policy.
And, good point, there’s nothing to say that Noj doesn’t work at the Rocky. This could be him, but I’m double-checking the story, and it looks like I’ve got secondary verification. More soon.
As to whether we can get individual names off an IP address, Rama, that’s iffy. If I had a recent email from someone there, perhaps I could check it against theirs, but even that can be sketchy.
Wonder who Mr. Vaughan pissed off?
April 28th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
His excuses for the handle when I called him a racist the first time were that 1) it’s an old one he used before posting on PB (which is completely irrelevant) and 2) that Sherman killed white confederates as well. To me that sounded like saying Hitler isn’t an anti-semitic icon because he also killed gypsies and ruskies but, well, it’s the kind of thing I’ve come to expect from the ballerinas.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:20 am
My, my, my. Kevin Vaughan, you say? I must admit to being a little surprised, because I’d have placed my money on former Lamar University assistant professor Thomas Brown, or the Rocky’s own Vincent Carroll.
Speaking of Carroll, though, wouldn’t it be likely that he’d know about the Vaughan/Morson interview? Is there anything about the IP that precludes his being “Sherman”? If not, it seems to me that he has to be considered an active possibility.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
This is rich. But, hey, you forgot to credit the retired New Jersey cop turned genealogical hobbyist with having done Paine’s thinking for him about Churchill’s family tree.
BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask: Heard anything from our old pal, Charlie Brennan lately? Been wondering whether there’s anything to the rumor that he washed out as a TV personality and was last seen collecting parking tolls in a booth at DIA.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Y’know, it could be Carroll. Which would be very funny. When I get some time I’ll do some trolling in the PB comments and look for consistencies. My money’s still on Vaughan, though.
I don’t know what the hell happened to Mr. Brennan. Jerking off to pictures of Indian princesses somewhere.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I’d cast a vote for Berny Morson, but—alas—”Sherman” has displayed a certain low-grade literacy. So Morson’s not really qualified for the role.
The problem is that there’s so many flaming racists on the Rocky’s payroll that it’s hard to narrow the field. That said, I agree that Vaughan’s the best bet on this one, followed closely by Carroll.
As to Brennan, word is that he’s applied currently unemployed, but has applied for a position doing PR work for Churchill’s former sister-in-law.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Perfectly in keeping with the RMN’s ethical standards.