I Know Erick Erickson

Well, kinda sorta. I’ve only ever been banished from 2 blogs (Open Left and dK, one of them twice) and surprisingly both of them were Institutional Democratic ones that considered themselves “progressive”. More progressive than Blue Dogs maybe but not much more than that. I of course am a lefty, probably to the left of Corbyn.

Still it seems odd in this particular way- I was (and am still judging by the spam they send to join such luminaries as Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram, and Ann Coulter on overpriced cruises for a week of indoctrination, open bigotry and racism, and spitting on the poors) a member of Red State.

At the time (hard to believe I’ve been writing for over 12 years now) I was interested in exploring the mechanics and dynamics of Scoop based blogs. I never pretended to be anything but what I am but I didn’t make a big deal about it and I was never confrontational. On occasion I would chat about topics of mutual interest like Hockey and War Gaming. I wasn’t well known but I was known.

BarbinMD joined slightly after I did, wasted no time insulting everyone she could get her hands on and crying about persecution. Needless to say that it wasn’t very long until she got “Blammed!” as they so quaintly put it. As I recall I even published a piece supporting their stand against Doxxing that I had also published at some of the other sites I frequented.

My activity was not considered that unusual, Armando was a member for a while too.

Anyway Erick Erickson was one of the moderators there, he’s rabidly anti-abortion (and birth control too for that matter) and I didn’t interact with him much specifically because I thought he was a dope and a bully.

He went on to bigger and better things but he still slums on the Internet sometimes.

I Know One of the Sources
By Erick Erickson, The Resurgent
May 16, 2017, 09:49am

I tend to take these stories about the President with a grain of salt. We have seen key details of a number of salacious stories retracted within 48 hours. The media hates the President so much that they’ll run a negative story about him without very much provocation. Anti-Trump sources embedded within the administration in the career civil service, etc. will leak to the press and confirmation bias sets in.

What sets this story apart for me, at least, is that I know one of the sources. And the source is solidly supportive of President Trump, or at least has been and was during Campaign 2016. But the President will not take any internal criticism, no matter how politely it is given. He does not want advice, cannot be corrected, and is too insecure to see any constructive feedback as anything other than an attack.

So some of the sources are left with no other option but to go to the media, leak the story, and hope that the intense blowback gives the President a swift kick in the butt. Perhaps then he will recognize he screwed up. The President cares vastly more about what the press says than what his advisers say. That is a real problem and one his advisers are having to recognize and use, even if it causes messy stories to get outside the White House perimeter.

I am told that what the President did is actually far worse than what is being reported. The President does not seem to realize or appreciate that his bragging can undermine relationships with our allies and with human intelligence sources. He also does not seem to appreciate that his loose lips can get valuable assets in the field killed.

You can call these sources disloyal, traitors, or whatever you want. But please ask yourself a question — if the President, through inexperience and ignorance, is jeopardizing our national security and will not take advice or corrective action, what other means are available to get the President to listen and recognize the error of his ways?

This is a real problem and I treat this story very seriously because I know just how credible, competent, and serious — as well as seriously pro-Trump, at least one of the sources is.