Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Krempasky Schools The Left On GOPUSA (part 1)
This is an interview compiled from a series of e-mails I exchanged with Mike Krempasky (the man behind such blogs as the right-leaning Red State.org, the now defunct anti-Dean DeanforAmerica.biz, and the notorious Rathergate.com...a few weeks ago Krempasky joined the staff of the now irrelevant Easongate.com...sigh...and all we have is Jeff Gannon, the Conservative Guy, to show for our side, while - say - Judith Miller gets to keep doing what she does better than anyone: shill and lie) , this past Sunday, February 13th, in regards to a post I wrote which tied him with GOPUSA.com.
Instead of reformatting or revising it, I've decided to post the gist of the e-mails as they were written, mostly minus the boring, repetitive or off-topic parts. I've also removed some parts of a short discussion about a link that I had to delete from my blog due to privacy reasons. The only thing I added were proper salutations so that it's easier to read.
Aside from assisting the left-leaning grassroots blog investigation of the Eberles, Talon News and GOPUSA, I hope this dialogue also shows that two bloggers with completely opposite political leanings can get together - once in a while - without trying to strangle one another or defame the other's mother. Once in a while, at least.
This post is not meant to endorse a future world where left and right bloggers behave like phoney-baloney pundits on make-believe talk shows who smile, play nice, issue carefully composed sound bites, and dance jigs for the viewing audience; the blogs would suck in that world. But, you know, us bloggers - and our readers that leave or don't leave comments - could gain an awful lot of...I don't know...something if we could somehow team-up against the...I don't know...mainstream media: our mutual...I don't know...something.
(Oh. I'd like to add that I'm not directly responsible for the title of this post; blame that on the Manchurian Moleman)
Dear Ron,
"Bobby and Bruce aren't related (at least not close enough to merit mention). When GOPUSA purchased MillionsOfAmericans.com, it was a happy coincidence that they shared the last name - that's why Bruce introduced Bobby with the phrase (this is from memory, so forgive me if it's not precise), "you might say he's part of the Texas clan of Eberles." Much as I might say there's a West Virginia clan of Krempaskys (I think there might actually, be - but I've no idea how far removed they are)."
Yes, GOPUSA ran (with no pay, btw) an op-ed I wrote (btw, I'd like to hear your thoughts about that piece, I didn't think it was all that ideological), and Bobby Eberle wrote an article about the Rathergate effort. I'm not terribly sure if that's nefarious. For what it's worth, I remembered the op-ed after the original Gannon post and mentioned it in the comments of that thread.
Oh - and on the DU flowchart, I'm afraid it's awfully flawed. I've tried to correct it several times, but to no avail.
1) I worked for Morton Blackwell until late summer, 2003 - NOT 2002.
2) I attended the Florida Recount, but was never in Miami-Dade (where the so-called "riot" happened) - I was in Broward County with a brief stop in West Palm Beach. The wierd connection between myself and Roger Stone is fiction - I've never met him - not once. Some over eager googler at DU screwed up and found this page (The Agitator) - and conflated the quote, "I'm currently using Roger Stone's email system" - which is clearly by someone else, with my name in Radley's blogroll. Very strange indeed.
I met Bobby Eberle for the first time this summer at the National Republican Convention in New York City.
I think I met Bruce Eberle two or three years ago, have probably seen him four or five times at various functions, etc. since then and I once had a buddy that worked at his company. I highly doubt Bruce would recognize me from Adam.
p.s. I would be curious to know what the link you had to take down was. No worries, just curious.
Dear Mike,
Thanks for writing me. Since you read enough of my blog (gotta love those site counters) to see that I don't demonize all Republicans (like many other lib bloggers do)...I gotta run right now...but I'll respond later to everything you brought up...but here's a few answers and questions:
I removed the link because...number one...i was stupid....and number two...i didn't realize your phone number and other personal data were listed...and I would never do that to anyone (even ricky vandal)...i'd post work phone numbers if the post depended it...such as the office phone number for a politician or a journalist...but no matter how much I detest someone (and from what I've read of your work...you seem to be not half bad...though we probably don't agree on much of anything).
I've been blogging about right-leaning bloggers who put up fraudulent websites...so that's what ive been looking into on your end. But earlier I found caches of your discontinued dean blog...and it really isn't the same kind of animal as the others...once a person got to the blog...it was kind of obvious that it wasn't pro-dean
As far as your relationship with Bruce Eberle....since I know what he does...or at least i have an idea of what he does...perhaps you can explain why he was promoting your anti-dean blog.
And another question...since you seem to be forthright... did your dean blog (or any other blog you 've written at) use "polling wizard" software?
Peace
Ron Brynaert
ps - I'm not like Daniel Okrent...I don't post letters without getting permission...although sometimes i might put something in my blog from an email without revealing who sent it. Are you giving me permission to write about this correspondence? You have my permission to do whatever you like with what I write you.
Dear Ron,
You should generally feel comfortable to publish what I write you, unless of course it's clear I was drunk during the typing.
Ah - I remember about Eberle and the Dean site. Funny story - the Dean site was really just a weekend project that I and a friend (who at the time worked for Eberle on the whole MillionsOfAmericans thingy.) As you can tell - it was really, really poorly planned thanks to Howard's screen and subsequent meltdown.
Basically my friend got Bruce to send a note to his file to promote it - that's about it. (BTW, Bruce got out of the email activist business when he sold it to Bobby Eberle - Bruce's primary business is direct mail, and he's very good at it)
I've never heard of "polling wizard" but if it's a center-right company producing technology, I can probably help you track it down. The Dean blog was powered by a combination of Movable Type and a software called "grasswave."
I appreciate the time - and thanks for the "not half bad" comment. Sharp elbows are fine, as long as they can raise a toast just as easily at the end of the day - a lesson lost on the Freepers and the Kossacks both.
Dear Mike,
(just to warn you...I'm a longwinded mofo...so i hope i don't take too too much of your time)
I wrote "not half bad"...but the comment you left on my blog about Alan Keyes was awesome...it really makes me feel (I'm trying to think of a word to use...but all i can think of is -) safer to hear from Republicans that are more free-thinking and able to not act entirely partisan....
it's too bad that you don't use the power you've achieved to speak out more strongly...though I've only spent a little time reading your articles (the picture of the blogosphere taking down cnn was funny...only that power only applies to the right side of the blogosphere...of course...if our side wasn't so petty and more organized and weren't sometimes just as hypocritical as your side (especially with the jeff gannon thing...what Markos wrote about daily kos was pretty fed up...especially when he ignored the story for two weeks until that "storyline" popped up...im gonna blog about that soon...
I thought the picture of jeff in his shorts was funny i admit...but many of the blogs went overboard with it...I don't think they meant to be harmful but it doesn't matter...then they had the nerve to criticize the media for focusing on that element...i think since he wrote articles like "john kerry would be the first gay president" his personal sex life is something that's relevant...but not something to harp on...and especially not when all you got is a few domain names and a picture.) not all the kossacks are assholes just the ones who get to write on the front page...soon they'll learn that there are better places to go.
One of the most embarrassing byproducts of this story is the congressman and the democrats.com petition asking for an investigation on gay prostitions in the white house....my god...that's a pathetic reach.
OKAY...enough with the niceties....chuckle...
"basically my friend got Bruce to send a note to his file to promote it" okay...what exactly does the "file" pertain to...some kind of list that went out to donors or to conservatives in general?...all i knew before i wrote you is that bruce sent a letter to rush limbaugh website promoting it (and yes...it was your friend and cohort in dean.biz ...so i guessing that's part of the file...is this the millions for america file then...with the list of all the conservative media entities etc.?
(to break in here...i believe in freedom of speech very strongly...but I don't like propaganda or shilling for the government or anything like that...hence part of my beef with markos, jerome armstrong and matt stoller...i don't think bloggers or journalists should be involved with political groups...but this gopusa-talonnews thing is pretty fucking diabolical....it's not a real news site...it plagiarizes from the media and copys and pastes government releases....just yesterday one uncredited article (which im gonna assume is bobby eberle) was just a rewrite of a laura bush speech.
Now...Bruce uses polling wizard software to collect information and data from people when they go to websites and fill out petitions or sign up for newsletters or etc so that he can put them on lists which he probably sells and uses for his fundraising purposes....I think this is wrong...too...and I'm sure a lot of free-thinking republicans will agree with that....im not really interested in "stopping it" just exposing it...since I haven't discovered any laws broken yet...unless there are laws about collecting names for fundraising purposes under false pretenses...but hey im a lefty who isn't so wild about George Soros throwing around so much money on our side either...
Unlike other blogger who are just talking about jeff gannon...i really don't see much there...i don't think there is an administration-gopusa link as much as there is a gopusa-gop link...sure it's weird how jeff gannon got his daily pass using a phoney name...sure it's obvious that talon news was set up because jeff from gopusa would be too blatant.
Strictly speaking...I'm not 100 % convinced that the dean website you set up isn't a part of the eberle plan...because i can't see why else he would push it...and you did have a place for people to register on the site....did you recieve any monies for being on that file...or did you send any lists of people to mfa or the gop or anywhere else?
also...why was your dean website set up as a .biz instead of a .com or even a .org? I don't know too much about that...but doesn't .biz indicate business? what business was the website supposed to be? also...as far as i could tell so far the site only lasted two months...did it run longer...and when did you wipe it away from the internet and why? (you might not have been prescient enough to guess that the moderate section of the democratic party would be able to derail dean's campaign...that scream was amplified just like the boos at the oscars when michael moore won for columbine...and it's gotta be the most ridiculous thing to ever take down a candidate as im sure you'd agree...if that happened to george bush you guys would go nuclear.....
but back to point..that site would probably come in handy right now wouldn't it...chuckle...i like dean but i'm skeptical about all politicans so well see)
Hmmmm...you wrote bruce "sold" the millions for america website to bobby...that's different from what I've learned....where did you learn this...and for how much...
and as far as bobby and bruce....are they cousins...what kind of distant relatives...and is don eberle (or eberly) who works for the admin related to either one of them or both? and how do you know their relationship...if you barely know them...
also...have you ever had any dealing with renew america?
and - off topic - how about Ricky Vandal...I haven't checked your sites to see if you've linked to him...but I'm sure he's asked...because he's been everywhere else and pretty much everywhere else linked to either his i love jenna bush or john kerry new soldier blogs....or are you just that much ethical than the other guys that you looked into him and saw that he was a fruitcake.
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Instead of reformatting or revising it, I've decided to post the gist of the e-mails as they were written, mostly minus the boring, repetitive or off-topic parts. I've also removed some parts of a short discussion about a link that I had to delete from my blog due to privacy reasons. The only thing I added were proper salutations so that it's easier to read.
Aside from assisting the left-leaning grassroots blog investigation of the Eberles, Talon News and GOPUSA, I hope this dialogue also shows that two bloggers with completely opposite political leanings can get together - once in a while - without trying to strangle one another or defame the other's mother. Once in a while, at least.
This post is not meant to endorse a future world where left and right bloggers behave like phoney-baloney pundits on make-believe talk shows who smile, play nice, issue carefully composed sound bites, and dance jigs for the viewing audience; the blogs would suck in that world. But, you know, us bloggers - and our readers that leave or don't leave comments - could gain an awful lot of...I don't know...something if we could somehow team-up against the...I don't know...mainstream media: our mutual...I don't know...something.
(Oh. I'd like to add that I'm not directly responsible for the title of this post; blame that on the Manchurian Moleman)
Dear Ron,
"Bobby and Bruce aren't related (at least not close enough to merit mention). When GOPUSA purchased MillionsOfAmericans.com, it was a happy coincidence that they shared the last name - that's why Bruce introduced Bobby with the phrase (this is from memory, so forgive me if it's not precise), "you might say he's part of the Texas clan of Eberles." Much as I might say there's a West Virginia clan of Krempaskys (I think there might actually, be - but I've no idea how far removed they are)."
Yes, GOPUSA ran (with no pay, btw) an op-ed I wrote (btw, I'd like to hear your thoughts about that piece, I didn't think it was all that ideological), and Bobby Eberle wrote an article about the Rathergate effort. I'm not terribly sure if that's nefarious. For what it's worth, I remembered the op-ed after the original Gannon post and mentioned it in the comments of that thread.
Oh - and on the DU flowchart, I'm afraid it's awfully flawed. I've tried to correct it several times, but to no avail.
1) I worked for Morton Blackwell until late summer, 2003 - NOT 2002.
2) I attended the Florida Recount, but was never in Miami-Dade (where the so-called "riot" happened) - I was in Broward County with a brief stop in West Palm Beach. The wierd connection between myself and Roger Stone is fiction - I've never met him - not once. Some over eager googler at DU screwed up and found this page (The Agitator) - and conflated the quote, "I'm currently using Roger Stone's email system" - which is clearly by someone else, with my name in Radley's blogroll. Very strange indeed.
I met Bobby Eberle for the first time this summer at the National Republican Convention in New York City.
I think I met Bruce Eberle two or three years ago, have probably seen him four or five times at various functions, etc. since then and I once had a buddy that worked at his company. I highly doubt Bruce would recognize me from Adam.
p.s. I would be curious to know what the link you had to take down was. No worries, just curious.
Dear Mike,
Thanks for writing me. Since you read enough of my blog (gotta love those site counters) to see that I don't demonize all Republicans (like many other lib bloggers do)...I gotta run right now...but I'll respond later to everything you brought up...but here's a few answers and questions:
I removed the link because...number one...i was stupid....and number two...i didn't realize your phone number and other personal data were listed...and I would never do that to anyone (even ricky vandal)...i'd post work phone numbers if the post depended it...such as the office phone number for a politician or a journalist...but no matter how much I detest someone (and from what I've read of your work...you seem to be not half bad...though we probably don't agree on much of anything).
I've been blogging about right-leaning bloggers who put up fraudulent websites...so that's what ive been looking into on your end. But earlier I found caches of your discontinued dean blog...and it really isn't the same kind of animal as the others...once a person got to the blog...it was kind of obvious that it wasn't pro-dean
As far as your relationship with Bruce Eberle....since I know what he does...or at least i have an idea of what he does...perhaps you can explain why he was promoting your anti-dean blog.
And another question...since you seem to be forthright... did your dean blog (or any other blog you 've written at) use "polling wizard" software?
Peace
Ron Brynaert
ps - I'm not like Daniel Okrent...I don't post letters without getting permission...although sometimes i might put something in my blog from an email without revealing who sent it. Are you giving me permission to write about this correspondence? You have my permission to do whatever you like with what I write you.
Dear Ron,
You should generally feel comfortable to publish what I write you, unless of course it's clear I was drunk during the typing.
Ah - I remember about Eberle and the Dean site. Funny story - the Dean site was really just a weekend project that I and a friend (who at the time worked for Eberle on the whole MillionsOfAmericans thingy.) As you can tell - it was really, really poorly planned thanks to Howard's screen and subsequent meltdown.
Basically my friend got Bruce to send a note to his file to promote it - that's about it. (BTW, Bruce got out of the email activist business when he sold it to Bobby Eberle - Bruce's primary business is direct mail, and he's very good at it)
I've never heard of "polling wizard" but if it's a center-right company producing technology, I can probably help you track it down. The Dean blog was powered by a combination of Movable Type and a software called "grasswave."
I appreciate the time - and thanks for the "not half bad" comment. Sharp elbows are fine, as long as they can raise a toast just as easily at the end of the day - a lesson lost on the Freepers and the Kossacks both.
Dear Mike,
(just to warn you...I'm a longwinded mofo...so i hope i don't take too too much of your time)
I wrote "not half bad"...but the comment you left on my blog about Alan Keyes was awesome...it really makes me feel (I'm trying to think of a word to use...but all i can think of is -) safer to hear from Republicans that are more free-thinking and able to not act entirely partisan....
it's too bad that you don't use the power you've achieved to speak out more strongly...though I've only spent a little time reading your articles (the picture of the blogosphere taking down cnn was funny...only that power only applies to the right side of the blogosphere...of course...if our side wasn't so petty and more organized and weren't sometimes just as hypocritical as your side (especially with the jeff gannon thing...what Markos wrote about daily kos was pretty fed up...especially when he ignored the story for two weeks until that "storyline" popped up...im gonna blog about that soon...
I thought the picture of jeff in his shorts was funny i admit...but many of the blogs went overboard with it...I don't think they meant to be harmful but it doesn't matter...then they had the nerve to criticize the media for focusing on that element...i think since he wrote articles like "john kerry would be the first gay president" his personal sex life is something that's relevant...but not something to harp on...and especially not when all you got is a few domain names and a picture.) not all the kossacks are assholes just the ones who get to write on the front page...soon they'll learn that there are better places to go.
One of the most embarrassing byproducts of this story is the congressman and the democrats.com petition asking for an investigation on gay prostitions in the white house....my god...that's a pathetic reach.
OKAY...enough with the niceties....chuckle...
"basically my friend got Bruce to send a note to his file to promote it" okay...what exactly does the "file" pertain to...some kind of list that went out to donors or to conservatives in general?...all i knew before i wrote you is that bruce sent a letter to rush limbaugh website promoting it (and yes...it was your friend and cohort in dean.biz ...so i guessing that's part of the file...is this the millions for america file then...with the list of all the conservative media entities etc.?
(to break in here...i believe in freedom of speech very strongly...but I don't like propaganda or shilling for the government or anything like that...hence part of my beef with markos, jerome armstrong and matt stoller...i don't think bloggers or journalists should be involved with political groups...but this gopusa-talonnews thing is pretty fucking diabolical....it's not a real news site...it plagiarizes from the media and copys and pastes government releases....just yesterday one uncredited article (which im gonna assume is bobby eberle) was just a rewrite of a laura bush speech.
Now...Bruce uses polling wizard software to collect information and data from people when they go to websites and fill out petitions or sign up for newsletters or etc so that he can put them on lists which he probably sells and uses for his fundraising purposes....I think this is wrong...too...and I'm sure a lot of free-thinking republicans will agree with that....im not really interested in "stopping it" just exposing it...since I haven't discovered any laws broken yet...unless there are laws about collecting names for fundraising purposes under false pretenses...but hey im a lefty who isn't so wild about George Soros throwing around so much money on our side either...
Unlike other blogger who are just talking about jeff gannon...i really don't see much there...i don't think there is an administration-gopusa link as much as there is a gopusa-gop link...sure it's weird how jeff gannon got his daily pass using a phoney name...sure it's obvious that talon news was set up because jeff from gopusa would be too blatant.
Strictly speaking...I'm not 100 % convinced that the dean website you set up isn't a part of the eberle plan...because i can't see why else he would push it...and you did have a place for people to register on the site....did you recieve any monies for being on that file...or did you send any lists of people to mfa or the gop or anywhere else?
also...why was your dean website set up as a .biz instead of a .com or even a .org? I don't know too much about that...but doesn't .biz indicate business? what business was the website supposed to be? also...as far as i could tell so far the site only lasted two months...did it run longer...and when did you wipe it away from the internet and why? (you might not have been prescient enough to guess that the moderate section of the democratic party would be able to derail dean's campaign...that scream was amplified just like the boos at the oscars when michael moore won for columbine...and it's gotta be the most ridiculous thing to ever take down a candidate as im sure you'd agree...if that happened to george bush you guys would go nuclear.....
but back to point..that site would probably come in handy right now wouldn't it...chuckle...i like dean but i'm skeptical about all politicans so well see)
Hmmmm...you wrote bruce "sold" the millions for america website to bobby...that's different from what I've learned....where did you learn this...and for how much...
and as far as bobby and bruce....are they cousins...what kind of distant relatives...and is don eberle (or eberly) who works for the admin related to either one of them or both? and how do you know their relationship...if you barely know them...
also...have you ever had any dealing with renew america?
and - off topic - how about Ricky Vandal...I haven't checked your sites to see if you've linked to him...but I'm sure he's asked...because he's been everywhere else and pretty much everywhere else linked to either his i love jenna bush or john kerry new soldier blogs....or are you just that much ethical than the other guys that you looked into him and saw that he was a fruitcake.
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# posted by Ron Brynaert : 2/16/2005 10:27:00 PM
