# In which Saxby Chambliss learns what an IP address is (not nearly the pitting it deserves) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696 "2010-09-22T20:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/41 "2010-09-23T13:21:48Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > > [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > > > I recall the outrage, but I don’t recall the ad as other folks here do. It’s probably on the web somewhere. > > [Here’s one that says outright he doesn’t have the courage to lead.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFYpd0q9nE) Whoop de doo. That was the ad that was responsible for all of the outrage, and it bears no resemblance to the description in your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/42 "2010-09-23T13:30:51Z")
Fag-bashing’s all well and good, but what’s with the Canada-bashing? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/43 "2010-09-23T13:36:02Z")
> [@Camus](#): > > > [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > > > Max Cleland doesn’t get an extra points from me because his body is a welcome mat. It was his fault that three of his limbs were shot off picking up something strange from the ground when his training told his he shouldn’t have. He and his unit were also behind the lines and he was possibly drunk off of warm budweiser courtesy of the U.S. Military. > > This description is so inaccurate and full of shit, it’s almost a campaign ad by itself. Which, if I’m not mistaken, originated—or at least was popularized—by Ann Coulter. Hope she at least sends a note of thanks for helping to keep the bullshit in circulation. It’s worth little, but a relative of mine worked for Max Cleland and had good things to say about him as a boss and a human being. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/44 "2010-09-23T13:56:57Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > > [@Camus](#): > > > > This description is so inaccurate and full of shit, it’s almost a campaign ad by itself. > > Which, if I’m not mistaken, originated—or at least was popularized—by Ann Coulter. Hope she at least sends a note of thanks for helping to keep the bullshit in circulation. > > It’s worth little, but a relative of mine worked for Max Cleland and had good things to say about him as a boss and a human being. I’m pretty sure those rumors have been around for a long, long time. I remember hearing them when I worked in politics prior to 2002, and I found them to be in very bad taste. Max Cleland, in my brief interactions with him, is one heck of a good guy. My impressions of Saxby Chambiss are similar. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/45 "2010-09-23T14:02:18Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Fag-bashing’s all well and good, but what’s with the Canada-bashing? Don’t you know? Canada is just filled with…those types. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/46 "2010-09-23T14:52:02Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > > [@Sampiro](#): > > > > [Here’s one that says outright he doesn’t have the courage to lead.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFYpd0q9nE) > > Whoop de doo. That was the ad that was responsible for all of the outrage, and it bears no resemblance to the description in your OP. That’s _one_ ad- there were several- and how does it not bear a resemblance to questioning courage when that’s pretty much the entire point of the ad? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/47 "2010-09-23T15:26:19Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Update on the was-it-really-from-Saxyb’s-office: > > As related by TPM: > [ > > > [@](#): > > > > Today, the AJC’s Bob Keefe received a statement from Chambliss’ office confirming that the posted comment did in fact come from one of his offices: > > > > ``` > > U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss' office has determined it was indeed the source of a highly publicized homosexual-bashing slur on an Internet site. > > > > ``` > > ]([http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/sen\_chambliss\_office\_says\_it\_was\_source\_of\_faggot.php](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/sen_chambliss_office_says_it_was_source_of_faggot.php)) Aw shit, now lil’ bricler is gonna have to flail around for some other shred if implausible deniability. Still, seems to me that the router logging (assuming they’re using NAT/PAT) would be more likely to be lost than the DHCP logs. hell, pretty sure Windows defaults to a week lease time, so the guy probably still has the same address. Assuming the NAT info is still on the routers. Normally I’d say that it would likely be on the guy’s cache, but when working for senator FagHater You’d probably get gay blogs cleared out, even if you were just going there to express the boss’s opinion. Gosh, I hope big daddy bricker can educate us further on technology, though! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/48 "2010-09-23T15:51:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > > Fag-bashing’s all well and good, but what’s with the Canada-bashing? > > Don’t you know? Canada is just filled with…those types. Filled? I wish! I’d have an easier time getting a date. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/49 "2010-09-23T15:57:48Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Still, seems to me that the router logging (assuming they’re using NAT/PAT) would be more likely to be lost than the DHCP logs. hell, pretty sure Windows defaults to a week lease time, so the guy probably still has the same address. Assuming the NAT info is still on the routers. Lots of “it depends” here. But since they’ve narrowed it down to the office, t this point it’s probably quicker to go through cache information on desktops than to start looking at whatever router logging might have been going on. If they were using a low-end, home type router, it may not save anything of value. A higher-end router dumping to a syslog server or a SEIM like, say, ArcSight, might have everything needed. Or maybe there’s a filtering proxy server like Websense in play, which might also provide logs. All this is speculation. My vision of a senator’s local office is not one of high-tech network topology, but that’s not based on anything concrete. > [@](#): > > Normally I’d say that it would likely be on the guy’s cache, but when working for senator FagHater > > You’d probably get gay blogs cleared out, even if you were just going there to express the boss’s opinion. Sure… but now the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms is involved, which probably means someone with forensic tools like EnCase, so merely clearing the cache using the browser’s option won’t be of much help. > [@](#): > > Gosh, I hope big daddy bricker can educate us further on technology, though! Happy to help. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/50 "2010-09-23T16:41:56Z")
You guys still haven’t grasped Sampiro’s point. Even if it turned out that the message had not come from Chambliss’s office, it wouldn’t matter. The point is that it’s kinda silly for a man who spews anti-gay rhetoric to act shocked and appalled because someone in his office may have posted a gay slur to a website. I imagine gay people in this country are less bothered by anonymous slurs and more bothered by the fact that they don’t enjoy the same rights that everyone else does. So who cares about all this technical, detective crap about locating where the slur originated. Nerds. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/51 "2010-09-23T16:48:24Z")
Wouldn’t that shit make them geeks? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/52 "2010-09-23T16:48:47Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > You guys still haven’t grasped Sampiro’s point. Even if it turned out that the message had not come from Chambliss’s office, it wouldn’t matter. The point is that it’s kinda silly for a man who spews anti-gay rhetoric to act shocked and appalled because someone in his office may have posted a gay slur to a website. I imagine gay people in this country are less bothered by anonymous slurs and more bothered by the fact that they don’t enjoy the same rights that everyone else does. Thank you. As apt today as it was thousands of years ago: you reap what you sow. And in fairness to Bricker the early reports kept saying “a server in the neighborhood of” Chambliss’s office, which is rather vague. (It was probably written by staff writers who didn’t have very high grasp of IP specifics- I’d certainly have to get a tech savvy friend to proof anything I wrote on the subject.) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/53 "2010-09-23T17:15:49Z")
Chambliss should do the right thing and release another statement: we don’t want all faggots to die, we just want them all to be “cured” and to vote Republican. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/54 "2010-09-23T17:17:33Z")
> [@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? The Brits just _love_ the accent. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/55 "2010-09-23T17:22:06Z")
[QUOTE=MOIDALIZE] You guys still haven’t grasped Sampiro’s point. Even if it turned out that the message had not come from Chambliss’s office, it wouldn’t matter. The point is that it’s kinda silly for a man who spews anti-gay rhetoric to act shocked and appalled because someone in his office may have posted a gay slur to a website. I imagine gay people in this country are less bothered by anonymous slurs and more bothered by the fact that they don’t enjoy the same rights that everyone else does. So who cares about all this technical, detective crap about locating where the slur originated. Nerds. [/QUOTE] Are you new here? Misinterpreting and obsessing over meaningless details is what we’re all about! ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/56 "2010-09-23T17:31:36Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > 1. Do you believe that it is permissible for someone to express outrage at an alleged perfidious or contemptible action without you going into Defense Attorney Mode and noting that it has not been conclusively proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the alleged perpetrator of the action did in fact do it, and not invisible Martians or fairies dancing at the bottom of the garden? Depends. Is ACORN involved? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/57 "2010-09-23T17:49:24Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > You guys still haven’t grasped Sampiro’s point. Even if it turned out that the message had not come from Chambliss’s office, it wouldn’t matter. The point is that it’s kinda silly for a man who spews anti-gay rhetoric to act shocked and appalled because someone in his office may have posted a gay slur to a website. I imagine gay people in this country are less bothered by anonymous slurs and more bothered by the fact that they don’t enjoy the same rights that everyone else does. > > So who cares about all this technical, detective crap about locating where the slur originated. Nerds. Yes, I get it… and perhaps on a fundamental practical level it’s silly to feel this way… but I do think there’s a distinction to be made between _I oppose same-sex marriage, civil unions, gays in the military, and gays adopting…_ and _All fags must die!_ I know it’s commonly accepted practice to say that the first speaker is a hopeless bigot, but I think it’s acceptable to voice sentiments like that in public discourse without being called a bigot. If nothing else, there’s a practical aspect to that finding: there are plenty of people in this country who sign on to each one of those beliefs. I think there’s little value in pointing and shrieking “Bigot!” at the first speaker. But I think the second speaker deserves such opprobrium. And I also recognize that others may feel much more strongly about these issues, and not be willing to sit silently and listen to “I oppose same-sex marriage, civil unions, gays in the military, and gays adopting,” without seething. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/58 "2010-09-23T17:54:07Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > And in fairness to Bricker the early reports kept saying “a server in the neighborhood of” Chambliss’s office, which is rather vague. (It was probably written by staff writers who didn’t have very high grasp of IP specifics- I’d certainly have to get a tech savvy friend to proof anything I wrote on the subject.) Not just that, because (although a stretch) “neighborhood” could refer to the topological network neighborhood, some sort of VPN cloud arrangement with WAN links between the local office and DC. But they followed that on with discussion about how they checked a close office on the other side of the interstate, which really cemented in the idea that it was physical neighborhood, which simply made no sense to me. Still doesn’t, except to assume slothful reporting. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/59 "2010-09-23T18:00:01Z")
I don’t agree with your distinction, **Bricker** , but you’re not the first to make it, so I’m not going to yell at you for feeling that way. But in an Internet age when half of the things posted online are either “First!” or some derivation of “fag,” I think gay people would take what are ostensibly anonymous calls for violence less seriously than they would their current reality, where they’re deemed unworthy of getting married, adopting children, or serving their country in the military. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696/60 "2010-09-23T18:52:02Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, I get it… and perhaps on a fundamental practical level it’s silly to feel this way… but I do think there’s a distinction to be made between _I oppose same-sex marriage, civil unions, gays in the military, and gays adopting…_ and _All fags must die!_ > > I know it’s commonly accepted practice to say that the first speaker is a hopeless bigot, but I think it’s acceptable to voice sentiments like that in public discourse without being called a bigot. If nothing else, there’s a practical aspect to that finding: there are plenty of people in this country who sign on to each one of those beliefs. I think there’s little value in pointing and shrieking “Bigot!” at the first speaker. > > But I think the second speaker deserves such opprobrium. Where do you think “Gays are a plague on society” falls? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-saxby-chambliss-learns-what-an-ip-address-is-not-nearly-the-pitting-it-deserves/554696.md?page=4)