In which Saxby Chambliss learns what an IP address is (not nearly the pitting it deserves)

[Sampiro]

Unfortunately I don’t have the time to do justice to this, but since I didn’t see a thread already on the topic I’ll put it here.

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is the class act who when he was running for his seat openly questioned the bravery and patriotism of the Democratic incumbent, Iraq war opponent Max Cleland. The fact that Max Cleland was a triple amputee courtesy of his service in Vietnam (a war Chambliss had avoided through college deferments*) was seen as a bit nasty and hypocritical by some, as were the anonymous cartoons showing Cleland being dumped from his wheelchair with “Unseat the Coward” and other Christian headlines, but not by enough to keep Chambliss from winning. Chambliss also completely disavowed himself of any allegations that Cleland was a coward or not a war hero, incidentally; he merely was posing it as a possibility.

So with the failed repeal of DADT in the Senate this week an Atlanta based gay blog, Joe.My.God, had a screed denouncing the Republicans and the vote of course. In the comments section of his post was the post

Jimmy says:

All faggots must die.

Think what you will of the sentiments of the poster, you have to admit it’s witty!

While that’s light years away from the worst snark ever left on a message section of a blog, the interesting thing was that Joe (or his techies) did an IP search on it and found it came from the Atlanta offices of Senator Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss himself is pretty much off the hook since he wasn’t in his Atlanta hq at the time, but his spokesperson concedes it came fromthat office and they’re conducting an internal investigation, an admission later toned down to “it might have come from our offices”.

Now then, I’m not half as pissed that a senator has an anonymous snarker working for him- what employer of more than 4 people doesn’t after all? But- see if you can follow my logic or something like it here- what pisses me off is this seemingly conciliatory statement:

“We have seen the allegations and are moving quickly to understand the facts. This office has not and will not tolerate any activity of the sort alleged,” Chambliss spokeswoman Bronwyn Lance Chester said. “Once we have ascertained whether these claims are true, we will take the appropriate steps.”

Alright, if there’s something I hate more than snark it’s hypocrisy. You were elected on, among other things, homophobic rhetoric. This week you voted against DADT’s repeal, though I’ll admit for excellent reasons: you fear it might lead to soldiers using alcohol and getting tattoos- have you ever fucking driven down Victory Drive in Columbus in your own state? It’s a five mile cut and paste of "titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop- titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop-titty bar- tattoo parlor- porn shop- and I don’t think it’s just coincidence Victory Drive is convenient to Fort Benning with its thousands and thousands of teenaged soldiers coming through every year).

As Senator, Rep., city council member and in other capacities you’ve voted against and or spoken out very loudly against gay adoption, gay marriage, gay sex being decriminalized, gays being allowed to keep custody of the children they had from straight relationships/marriages, sexual orientation being added to antidiscrimination laws, and you’ve repeatedly said in churches and in state buildings alike that gays are a plague on society who must not be tolerated. BUT… saying “faggots must die” on a message board, ooh child that’s two miles past the Co-Cola sign of common decency; it’s one thing to openly work to disenfranchise people but to post anonymous snark is something up with which we will not put.

Of course admittedly if Saxby Chambliss personally led the Atlanta Pride parade down Peachtree while dressed as Ethel Merman and twirling flaming rainbow batons I’d still despise him because I was in Georgia during his campaign against Cleland, but on gay issues I’ve a lot more respect for people who openly denounce queers than I do for this old motherfucker and his handlers. Have the courage of your convictions- you should say “Yep, one of my staffers said it, and I agree”- take off your mask and let us see the Death Mark on your cankle. Oh, and while your at it do fuck yourself and Bronwyn sideways with Max Cleland’s wheelchair.

Apologies for not having the time or the energy to give this the pitting it deserves, but does anybody understand why the “Oh mercy me we hired a rude homophobe!” reaction bothers me more than the comment? (And you absolutely know that whoever “Jimmy” is [I’m picturing someone played by Stephen Root] probably screamed “DOH!” and rushed out to get his dick sucked by a $12 300 pound transvestite behind Home Depot while saying “I hate faggots!” when he learned what an IP address is and why they matter.)

*This is not to say that whenever there’s a disagreement between a Vietnam vet and a non-veteran that the vet should automatically be accounted as right, or that avoiding Vietnam service with college deferments was a bad thing necessarily, and certainly there are veterans (disabled and otherwise) on and between all points of the political spectrum. I do think some decency and respect is in order.

[Zsofia]

I was thinking, wow, Jimmy really pays top dollar, and then realized that it’s twelve bucks and 300 pounds.

[otternell]

@Sampiro

it’s one thing to openly work to disenfranchise people but to post anonymous snark is something up with which we will not put.

I found this to be hilarious! I’m easily amused today.

[corkboard]

It’s a shame you didn’t have the time to do it justice.

I particularly like the Ethel Merman paragraph.

[Dumbguy]

Saxby Chambliss is a pretty cool name though.

[Giles]

@Zsofia

I was thinking, wow, Jimmy really pays top dollar, and then realized that it’s twelve bucks and 300 pounds.

So, what costs $12 in the parking lots of Georgia will cost you £300 on the other side of the Atlantic?

[Roderick_Femm]

Sampiro, I sort of get your point, but you have to know it will never, ever happen. Where politics is concerned, everything evil is always cloaked in santimonious camoflage lingo to the effect that it’s for the good of society, not because “I personally hate fags”.

Referring you to this thread where there is much speculation about why rabidly anti-gay men are that way, think about this conversation at, say, a press conference:

Politician: Yes, I personally hate fags, and that’s why I opposed the repeal of DADT.

Reporter: Why do you hate fags?

Pol: Well, they are constantly doing disgusting things to each other, and they make me want to puke.

Rep: Why do you find yourself thinking so much about these actions that don’t affect you personally?

Pol: What, doesn’t everyone?

Rep: No, most people don’t.

Pol: Oh, well, it seems to be on my mind a lot, I mean, temptation from the devil, and have you seen the ass on that new intern? I mean, disgusting!

It’s just too close to the real truth of why they hate fags, is my opinion.
Roddy

[Labrador_Deceiver]

I don’t remember the Chambiss/Cleland campaign quite the same way you do. I just remember Chambliss hammering home the point that Max Cleland did support Bush’s Homeland Security initiatives. I don’t recall anything about patriotism and/or bravery, but it has been 8 years.

Thinking back, I’m more amazed that such a stance as Cleland’s could be considered a bad thing, but it was a mere year after 9/11.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

Did not support Bush.
No idea why I couldn’t get the edit feature to work just then.

[Bricker]

http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2010/09/21/a-traced-slur-in-the-aftermath-of-a-debate-over-‘don’t-ask-don’t-tell’/?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

“All [gays] must die,” wrote the commenter, identifying himself as “Jimmy,” shortly after a Democratic bid to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” faltered in the U.S. Senate.

Blog author Joseph Jervis of New York City used the Internet Protocol address attached to the comment to trace the slur to “the neighborhood” of Chambliss’ office in Atlanta. Readers quickly helped.

“Among the fields in which gay people are over-represented is the IT field,” said Jervis, who is also the East Coast editor for Pride magazine.

Chambliss’ office is located along I-75, near the Cobb Galleria. The office of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is in the same area, but on the opposite side of the interstate.

A spokeswoman for Isakson, who is up for re-election, said his staff quickly ascertained that the message did not originate with them.

Um… “to the neighborhood?”

Please tell me there is more evidence linking Chambliss’ office to the posting than the IP address coming from the general geographic neighborhood in which Chambliss’ local office is located. Please explain to me how there could be any kind of confidence it came from Chambliss’ office if there was also a possibility it came from Isakson’s office.

[Michael_Ellis]

I want him to fuck off and die (metaphorically) for his name alone.

[Strassia]

@Bricker

http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2010/09/21/a-traced-slur-in-the-aftermath-of-a-debate-over-‘don’t-ask-don’t-tell’/?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss

“All [gays] must die,” wrote the commenter, identifying himself as “Jimmy,” shortly after a Democratic bid to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” faltered in the U.S. Senate.

Blog author Joseph Jervis of New York City used the Internet Protocol address attached to the comment to trace the slur to “the neighborhood” of Chambliss’ office in Atlanta. Readers quickly helped.

“Among the fields in which gay people are over-represented is the IT field,” said Jervis, who is also the East Coast editor for Pride magazine.

Chambliss’ office is located along I-75, near the Cobb Galleria. The office of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is in the same area, but on the opposite side of the interstate.

A spokeswoman for Isakson, who is up for re-election, said his staff quickly ascertained that the message did not originate with them.

Um… “to the neighborhood?”

Please tell me there is more evidence linking Chambliss’ office to the posting than the IP address coming from the general geographic neighborhood in which Chambliss’ local office is located. Please explain to me how there could be any kind of confidence it came from Chambliss’ office if there was also a possibility it came from Isakson’s office.

I think you missed Sampiro’s point. It wasn’t the act itself, it was the mealy mouthed “sure we do everything we can to disenfranchise and marginalize gays, but we wouldn’t be crude about it!” response. The disgust he is expressing has nothing to do with who actually sent it. He actually said he would be less upset if they openly said it. I read his OP as anger that they don’t see the actions the Senator has openly engaged in as equivalent to the sentiment in the comment.

[Sampiro]

@Bricker

Um… “to the neighborhood?”

Please tell me there is more evidence linking Chambliss’ office to the posting than the IP address coming from the general geographic neighborhood in which Chambliss’ local office is located. Please explain to me how there could be any kind of confidence it came from Chambliss’ office if there was also a possibility it came from Isakson’s office.

Bolding mine:

The blogs author got some help tracking the sender’s IP address to Atlanta through a U-S Senate server.

Source.

A spokeswoman for Isakson, who is up for re-election, said his staff quickly ascertained that the message did not originate with them.

Source. Honestly, I’ve no idea how they ascertained that.

A question about IP addresses: can you trace them to an individual computer or only to the server?

[MaxTheVool]

I’m 100% pro-gay-rights, pro-gay-marriage, etc, and have argued for those positions on these boards many times… and I don’t see the hypocrisy here. Do you think that everyone who believes that gays shouldn’t be allowed to marriage also thinks they should be killed? Or that everyone who opposes repealing DADT would pull a Matthew Shepard in an heartbeat if they could get away with it? that seems a bit extreme…

[Miller]

@MaxTheVool

I’m 100% pro-gay-rights, pro-gay-marriage, etc, and have argued for those positions on these boards many times… and I don’t see the hypocrisy here. Do you think that everyone who believes that gays shouldn’t be allowed to marriage also thinks they should be killed? Or that everyone who opposes repealing DADT would pull a Matthew Shepard in an heartbeat if they could get away with it? that seems a bit extreme…

Saying gays shouldn’t get married is, indeed, a far cry from thinking gays should be killed. Calling gays a “plague on society?” Not so much.

[Sampiro]

@MaxTheVool

I’m 100% pro-gay-rights, pro-gay-marriage, etc, and have argued for those positions on these boards many times… and I don’t see the hypocrisy here. Do you think that everyone who believes that gays shouldn’t be allowed to marriage also thinks they should be killed? Or that everyone who opposes repealing DADT would pull a Matthew Shepard in an heartbeat if they could get away with it? that seems a bit extreme…

Do you think an anonymous snarker who says “All faggots to die” has the courage of his convictions when it comes to killing them? I don’t. I think in 99.9% of instances it’s an impotent gesture by a pathetic underling who’s using big-boy words because they know it gets a rise but at the same time is far too cowardly and pitiful to be identified with them, a Dale Gribble who’d piss on himself if a bulldog snarled at him but would burn it with a cigarette if it was tied to the ground. (This is not in any way to imply I wouldn’t like to see who posted it identified, outed, their name and address made public, and a scenario that ultimately involves them cutting their wrists amidsts the excement covered walls of a bus station bathroom and then surviving to live with relatives who berate them daily with the knowledge they can’t even kill themselves right, but I honestly hope that more for the big-talkin’ cowardice than the homophobia.)
But do you think Saxby Chambliss really has a problem with the comment beyond the public embarassment factor? He knows his base and he’s a pure Rovian- I’d stake my bottom dollar he couldn’t give a shit somebody left a comment about faggots and die and how the former should do the latter and it probably took an hour to explain to the costive old fuck what a blog and an IP address are if he even listened and if he did I’m sure he’s forgotten both by now other than they have to do with ‘those Internet doins’. He always votes against gay rights issues- has a 0 from HRC (as does Isakson) and does infinitely more harm than nonny snark that’s not even directed at an individual. He actively courts the votes of these people and his reps are hypocrites to act like they’re embarassed to be associated with one.

[Slithy_Tove]

@Dumbguy

Saxby Chambliss is a pretty cool name though.

I agree, and, based upon the success of the neologism from Rick Santorum’s last name to mean “The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex,” a similar entry into the Urban Dictionary be coined for “Chambliss”

Two suggestions:

Using “champ” as in “to champ at the bit;” and “bliss,” an act of fellation performed by a dignified, elderly Republican gentleman who’s removed his dentures for the event.

Or, “Chablis” and “piss,” the esoteric act of injecting white wine into a young hustler’s bladder via catheter, to be drunk as from a wine skin by the same dignified, elderly Republican gentleman.

[Sampiro]

@Slithy_Tove

@Dumbguy

Saxby Chambliss is a pretty cool name though.

I agree, and, based upon the success of the neologism from Rick Santorum’s last name to mean “The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex,” a similar entry into the Urban Dictionary be coined for “Chambliss”

Two suggestions:

Using “champ” as in “to champ at the bit;” and “bliss,” an act of fellation performed by a dignified, elderly Republican gentleman who’s removed his dentures for the event.

Or, “Chablis” and “piss,” the esoteric act of injecting white wine into a young hustler’s bladder via catheter, to be drunk as from a wine skin by the same dignified, elderly Republican gentleman.

Leaving “to Saxby” as the verb for “to suck a man’s penis and big toe in constant alternation until orgasm is achieved or the couple decides to switch to the quest for santorum”.

[Mighty_Girl]

I’ve always thought that Saxby Chambliss is the perfect name for an elderly drag queen. Just saying.

[Rhythmdvl]

@Bricker

Um… “to the neighborhood?”

Please tell me there is more evidence linking Chambliss’ office to the posting than the IP address coming from the general geographic neighborhood in which Chambliss’ local office is located. Please explain to me how there could be any kind of confidence it came from Chambliss’ office if there was also a possibility it came from Isakson’s office.

What’s so hard to believe about its accuracy? Why, right now in my very own, very small town, there are several very hot women who want to meet me, there are several moms who make lots of money, and several who lost 10 lbs. The Internet is very accurate or it wouldn’t be able to tell that these women all came from [insert town here]!