Little Red Book story a HOAX

[Eric J in MN]

This article is by the author of the original article:

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-24-05/a01lo719.htm

Federal agents' visit was a hoax
Student admits he lied about Mao book
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD -- The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed
to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over
his request for "The Little Red Book" by Mao Zedong
has admitted to making up the entire story.

The 22-year-old student tearfully admitted he made the
story up to his history professor, Dr. Brian Glyn
Williams, and his parents, after being confronted with
the inconsistencies in his account.
=========================================================


"SpeakSpeak News," a blog I write for, didn't run the
story when it broke. My reaction at:
http://www.speakspeak.org/speak-blog/2005/12/24/little-red-book-story-a-hoax/

[Walt Starr]

1. I don't know which is the sadder thing from this story

That somebody would commit such a hoax or that such a hoax is entirley plausible in Bush's version of Amerika.

[Eric J in MN]

2. The journalist shouldn't have run the story without being able to get

an interview with anyone there at the time of the alleged visit.

[Solo_in_MD]

14. It never was plausible

Only the gullible bought it. A nano second of critical thinking would have shown it to most likely be false.

[Walt Starr]

20. Thqat's your opinion

as is the case with most of the right wing, too.

IMO, a watch list of books by these criminals is entirely plausible.

[Solo_in_MD]

24. Think about the logistics involved...It never could have been true.

- How many other similar books were sold in the same time period.
- How did they get the data about this sale
- How did they get his contact information
- Why were they able to find him so easily
- Why did he rate an in person visit and not others.

Way too many of us on the liberal side are overly willing to blame everything on the current administration. It makes us look in the eyes of some to be part of the tin foil hat crowd. Bush and the repukes are not that ubiquitous or smart. Nor do I think it was some sort of setup. My speculation is that it was not political, just some dumb ass college boy trying to dodge something (Occam's Razor)

There are a couple of quotes that are applicable here:

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity" (Hanlon's Razor)
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” (Winston Churchill)

Lets take a deep breath, laugh at ourselves a little, resolve to think about things more critically in future and not give in to our prejudices so readily, and then get back to work on the important things.

[guruoo]

21. Not really....

[bpilgrim]

22. not it todays america and TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS (spying on EVERYONE)

and considering who they've visited before...


who was that small art dealer in the mid-west who got visited by the feds for what they had on their walls?

and lets not forget one of the main sticking points over the 'PATRIOT' act...
American Civil Liberties Union : Section 215 FAQ

the important thing that can be learned from this incident is the sad times we all live.

peace

[shenmue]

3. What a nitwit

Still, just the fact that the government has the power to do such things, which they do now, ought to strike fear into every heart.

[Eric J in MN]

5. That's the worst part. This jerk makes the legitimate concerns

about the Patriot Act look bad.

[deadmessengers]

4. Selfish attention-whore

Didn't that asshat realize that we have the TRUTH on our side - we don't need to resort to lies and deception to make the Repugnicans look bad? Now, our enemies are going to point to this and say "SEE! THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE PRESIDENT ARE LIARS!!!"

Fucking douchebag.

[Eric J in MN]

6. I don't know what the hell he was thinking.

That this story would impress his professors?

[mikehiggins]

7. Rove is behind it!

I just wanted to be the first one to say that. I'm sure there will be others.

[arikara]

8. Just a passing thought

Isn't it also part of the law that people who are questioned are not allowed to talk about it? Librarians aren't allowed to tell. Maybe they made him retract by threatening him with indefinite detention and worse. It would certainly suit their purposes better to make him look like a liar and make the story look ridiculous.

I am so :tinfoilhat: with anything that happens around this bunch of thugs.

[Eric J in MN]

10. Librarians aren't allowed to talk about it. I don't know about subjects

of the investigation.

But the student refused to be inteviewed at first, and then admitted it was a hoax when he started talking about it and there were inconsistencies in his story.

[Cooley Hurd]

9. A Parlockian ploy?

:shrug:

[Eric J in MN]

11. Who is Palrock?

nt

[karlrschneider]

15. Here ya go

http://rising-hegemon.blogspot.com/2004/09/bogus-assault-father-freeper-of-year.html

[Eric J in MN]

18. Oh yeah, that guy (nt)

nt

[pretzel4gore]

12. bush is THE hoax that concerns....

the peebrain rightwing student/thug was just having fun but bush is meanwhile costing humanity a pretty penny; the media outta look at that rather then get took in by an old 'caught a biggun, ah, boot on the fishing line!' :( embarrassment....the pigmedia's fukking incompetence is saving the bush bacon everytime we turn around it seems....

[Eric J in MN]

13. We don't know if the student is right-wing, left-wing, or a

non-political jerk.

[pretzel4gore]

16. yep, but in light of fox henhouse news

let's just call him a rightwing hack and leave it at that....a bigger battle is brewing

[pinto]

17. There's a good lesson here. Truth and fiction travel just as fast.

And on the internet, that's fast. It pays to keep those common sense skills we all have in play.

[Eric J in MN]

19. Yes, if a story sounds unlikely, read it carefully to see what

the journalist based it on:

Named sources? Anonymous sources? Were the sources present when the main event in the story took place?

[Solo_in_MD]

23. Great Winston Churchill quote for just this kind of thing

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”