It's rather bizarre to watch him operate. He's a master of spin, although I don't think he realizes that when he spins something, he's giving us a clear look at his own mind and motives, which tells us a whole lot more about him than it does about the objects of his smears. If he doesn't know the factual particulars of a situation, he'll just make something up. For example, this passage from his post obsessing on Tripp Lewis:
"As the Virginia Flaggers seek to recover from their recent humiliation (for example, they now have Connie Chastain increasing her involvement by setting up a blog for the group)..."Ah, first, there has been no humiliation, except in the eyes of floggers. There was a mistake and an apology.
Second, the VA Flaggers blog is not an attempt to recover from (nonexistent) humiliation, as Susan contacted me via Facebook messenger on March 27 asking my advice on setting up a blog. I advised her based on my experiences and I offered to set up the blog. She took me up on the offer, but we were both busy and were able to message about design and content only sporadically throughout April and early May. Susan emailed me the info for the Stonewall Jackson Vigil entry, on May 16, and I posted it, and a welcome post, the next day. But the blog had been online without posts, since April 25th.
Oops!
Sometime what you don't know can make you look like a fool (and a bully) when the info becomes known.
I note that Tripp couldn't possibly love publicity as much as the nutty professor does. So Tripp is in two -- count 'em -- two videos, one shot by a film student and one amateur phone video -- and that constitutes loving publicity? Stack that up against all the times that the nutty professor has posted on his blog videos of himself on TV and in conferences and simposiums...
Tripp has received a lot of money for his legal defense fund? How much, Simpson? HOW MUCH? And HOW DO YOU KNOW what he as received? You need to be forthcoming with this information very quickly, or else delete your slanderous "dawdling" tweets and post an announcement about your rank hypocrisy to all your Twitter followers.
Note that Susan didn't come under "increasing criticism" except from the biggest bullies in the floggosphere. Nobody cared but the nutty professor and a few others. The baby floggers, CoreyMeyer and Rob "Tu Quoque" Bakur, sort of flogged around the edges (Corey on other flogger comment threads and Rob pasting other flogger content on his blog). But Andy Hall has been uncharacteristically quiescent through this whole tempest in a teapot. Makes you wonder...
In a piece of detection worthy of Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe combined, the nutty professor tells us,
"And then Tripp tripped … or so we are led to believe. For, if Susan Hathaway is to be believed (and why would she not be?), it was Tripp Lewis who contacted her to share with her Rob Walker’s now-famous tale of tasering vandals at the Davis monument in Richmond, a story we now know to be untrue."Tripp told Susan? All you creatures in the Wonderland jury box, write that on your slates! That's crucial information!
Actually Susan was NOT slow to respond to the criticism of character-assassinatin' floggers. She was busy. See here: Va Flagger Monument Incident Timeline and here: Dawdling? (And take note of that timeline. We'll visit it again.)
Note: Susan did not thank the floggers for bringing "the truth to light." She thanked them -- tongue in cheek -- for helping to bring awareness of the incident and clarification to a wider audience. And "one" "might" have overlooked Susan's statement, depending on who "one" is and how deliberately "one" can "overlook" developments in an incident "one" is zeroed in on and watching with drooling obsession.
Regarding the photos of the taser/club, the nutty professor says, "I don’t recall them being circulated," which once again reveals his infantile position that if he doesn't know about it (or hasn't seen it) it doesn't exist and thus, anyone who says it does is very likely lying. But the photos are on Facebook. Facebook is worldwide and has 1.11 billion active users. I'd say that's circulatin', bigtime.
The nutty professor continues,
"...and some folks have overlooked the fact that it was Lewis who brought Walker’s tale to Hathaway’s attention."No! Really? This hyper-crucial, mega-essential piece of information is OVERLOOKED? Well, shut my mouth and call me cornpone!*
Then the nutty professor slips into character assassination mode regarding Tripp. Obviously, Susan's clarification and sincere apology knocked the wind out of him, like a haymaker to the gut. You can almost hear the breath huff out of him in a great gust.
But he loves to humiliate and injure people, if he can -- as I have noted here: A Desire to Denigrate. So the idea here is to smear Tripp -- and me (again) with, "Yet she’s also overlooked Lewis’s role in this whole affair, preferring to have Hathaway take all the criticism."
I haven't overlooked anything. I know only a little about "Tripp's role" in all this, but that is surely a heckuva lot more than the nutty professor knows. That's why he has to make stuff up. Of course, making stuff up is a prerequisite when your aim is the character assassination of people you don't like who have done nothing wrong.
Clearly, the nutty professor is attempting to sow dissension by creating some sort of contention between Tripp and Susan. It's both funny and sad -- pathetic, actually, since it doesn't have snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. But I have to ask, what outsider of a group -- a group who is well aware of his hatred of them -- sincerely believes members of the group are going to take seriously a syllable of what he says?
What's almost as enjoyable as watching Simpson go crazy right before our eyes is to see the insanity in his blog post mirrored in the comments of his followers. I mean, really -- dis could pwove to be fun!* For example, Debbie Page is into conspiracy theories,
"I think Lewis may have had a hand in coming up with the story with Walker, by trying to create some positive publicity about the ‘Flaggers’. When they realized that public police documents and 911 calls (or lack thereof) could easily discredit their whole story, then they had to backpedal and Susan printed her apology."Debbie also finds it strange that Rob is "out of the picture" even though Norfolk isn't that far away." The only thing that is significant about that, Debbie-dear, is that it was the excuse Rob gave for not going to the Richmond PD in person to get a report.
Following Debbie's flight of fancy, the nutty professor really outdoes himself, "advising" the people he obviously hates on what's best for their group... I like this part, "Of course, Chastain is busy keeping the story alive, and the Flaggers should understand that she’s a loose cannon."
The only thing I'm keeping alive is the story of the flogger attempts at the character assassination of Susan Hathaway and now, the nutty professor's attempt at the character assassination of Tripp Lewis. And if tweeting all this stuff to your followers, and posting SEVEN (7) blog entries about it in two days (or eight (8) in four days), including this one about Tripp, after everyone else in the floggosphere has moved on -- isn't what would call trying to keep the story alive -- what is it?
As for my being a loose cannon -- no chance. I'm well-secured to the gunwale, muzzle centered in the gun port and pointing squarely at the floggosphere.
And then he offers this hilarious parting shot (it's so good, I have to post it all):
Again, it’s Lewis who brought Walker to everyone else’s attention. It’s Lewis who was featured in Walker’s work. It’s Lewis who contacted Hathaway and vouched for Walker. It’s Lewis who is benefiting from a defense fund.
And it’s Tripp Lewis who would like everyone to forget this.
I’m sure that someone would notify me that Lewis had admitted his error elsewhere. Chastain served that function for Hathaway. Perhaps she’s composing Lewis’s apology for him right now, so she can post it on the Virginia Flagger blog she started. After all, Tripp Lewis is a southern man and Lewis and Walker are sweet southern boys, although I guess they can turn sour.(1) The only people who seem determined to "remember" this are floggers -- actually, only one -- the nutty professor -- and I can't imagine that Tripp gives two hoots or a holler what Simpson remembers or forgets.
(2) I post what I write on my blogs and my Facebook. The Va Flaggers write the content that I post on their blog (though I hope to contribute now and then).
(3) I haven't met Tripp, but I suspect he is, indeed, a sweet Southern boy. As for Rob -- he's from Groton, Connecticut.
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* Thanks, Bugs!
