Can you identify the Merry Prankster(s) in this photo courtesy of the Chautauquan Daily. Hint – one of them has a cap that matches Ketchup’s hull.
And now for something completely different. We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you the following:
Just so we are crystal clear, I am going to say this one last time. I DID NOT WRITE THE LAST TWO EMAILS attributed to George T Seaver. The emails that went out using my pen name, full of drivel calling for a renewal of Chautauqua’s leadership along with the Amp, and suggesting a taxing alternative as a scare tactic, were ill advised and poorly conceived. I have since the day I started Drift of the Day, been steadfastly in support of Chautauqua’s leadership and their decision to renew the Amp. Nothing has changed from my standpoint despite the efforts of a malicious faction intent on making it seem so. Much more on that a little later.
Authors Note: The opinions expressed herein are mine alone (the “REAL” George Seaver pen name). These opinions are not intended to reflect those of Chautauqua Institution, or any other group(s)/individual(s) associated with this Amp debate. I will attempt to make a little bit of this a lot more clear, as I drag the impostor out into the light of day, further exposing him, and many of his dirty tricks in this post and a referenced page.
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” ~ Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing at the Super Bowl – Rolling Stone, February 28, 1974.
Hunter S. Thompson was the father of “gonzo journalism” which is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as: “a type of committed, subjective journalism characterized by factual distortion and exaggerated rhetorical style.” The quote above, a word play on “when the going gets tough, the tough get going“, means that when a situation becomes weird, people who had previously exhibited an amateurish level of weirdness, will Amp it up and perform at a professional level. This time the weird have definitely Amped it up, turned pro, and seem to have started a league of their own.
This post explains how the malicious faction has gone out of the margins, way out of bounds, off course, and over the proverbial edge. I didn’t want to go here, but thought it necessary.
Meanwhile back on the grounds, thankfully the committee has, for the time being ceased its personal attacks on Chautauqua’s leadership and turned their attention to more creative and less destructive ways to make their points, while seeking donations for their cause in a last ditch effort to stave off the inexorable march towards a renewed Amp. So given a lack of malice lately on that side of this debate the keeper of the majority of the email lists, William (Twig) Branch (a.k.a.The fake George Seaver, The Gadfly, The Chautauqua Community, Happy Chautauqua, one or both of the following; Bob Alou – Editor in Chief Chautauqua News & Leftcadio Hern – Rogue Writer – The Chautauqua News, and who knows how many others) decides to create a little drama on his own. I have little doubt that there are one/more merry pranksters in Twig’s crew on these “dirty tricks“, as I doubt he has the necessary skill set(s) to do it by himself. The tin can replica the committee keeps referring to isn’t the Renewed Amp, but it is most definitely, the misleading, malicious, and negative emails and impersonated comments he puts forth to undermine, malign, confuse and create controversy.
In order to distinguish, separate, or discriminate between two types of things, we need to be able to identify some differences between them. ~ Plato
The fake emails were sent by Twig, using my pen name, trying to copy my lack of writing style, with a similar email address, and ironically using the savetheamp mailing list, while implicating me in his impostor mess and failed attempt at misdirection. Unfortunately some people were confused, angry, upset, and generally perplexed by the emails. The email address he used was georgetseaver14 while mine is george.t.seaver41. It wasn’t my mail chimp email list (a mass emailing service provider used by most in this debate) or my return address on the unsubscribe button either. See for yourself please. If you still have it, click on the update your preferences button at the end of those emails and you are redirected to a Happy Chautauqua mail chimp page for updating with an address of http://savetheamp.us9.list-manage.com/profile? (plus the individual list number etc.) He uses the savetheamp list (which he manages) because it has the largest number of email addresses. Unfortunately Twig (and pranksters) manages the majority of the email lists that we all receive via mail chimp.
After the first fake email he then followed it up in the next few days with dozens of negative, mean spirited, and rumor mongering comments on my Drift of the Day site impersonating and posting as the following Chautauquans; Tom Becker, Hugh Butler, Mary Lee Talbot, Hale Oliver, Connie Lorber, Rick Reiser, Don Greenhouse, Joe Twist, Tim McEnrey, and a host of others that I wasn’t sure were real or fake. I started approving even the meanest directed at me (as George) so as not to be accused of censoring. He was a very busy boy attacking me and my site with a litany of comments demanding that George revel himself a midst demeaning comments and even a threat. After the initial onslaught of nasty grams, before, during, and after Thanksgiving, I stopped freaking out and dug a little deeper and found that all but one of the negative comments came from the same IP address. He impersonates some fairly high profile Chautauquans, and then just makes people up, as he desperately fishes around trying to figure out who I am. I must have missed the email that said he was the only one allowed to have a pen name, or six.
For a complete list of the Chautauquans impersonated and the comments Twig posted on their behalf, on this site for all to see, please visit my Twigs Trail page. Link here: https://driftoftheday.wordpress.com/twigs-trail/
After the comments I also detail the other dirty tricks he has resorted to in an attempt to undermine my messages. Who knows, he may have pilfered your name too! It’s quite the list. Impersonating my pen name is one thing, but posting as all these Chautauquans is quite another.
As I said on my About George page I made the very conscious decision to enter into this discourse using a pen name because I did not want to draw attention to myself. I had hoped, and still do, that the Chautauqua community would pay more attention to what I wrote and judge me on the merits of the time and effort I put into researching and writing each post. Despite the initial uproar by the conspiracy theorists that I worked for Chautauqua or their PR firm, Ricochet Group, the vast majority have accepted my anonymity. Out of over 1,800 people on my mailing list for each post I usually get only 2 – 3 “who are you” emails. That was of course until Twig decided it was his sole job (aside from maligning Chautauqua’s leadership) to figure me out. With his phony emails and fake posts he muddied these waters on purpose, to create conflict, doubt, and confusion. As the silt settles back to the bottom of the lake we see through him more clearly.
He/they contribute nothing to this debate except parody, lampooning, and sarcasm in the Chautauqua News, and then a couple ill fated fake emails. Cheap imitations of the real talking points by someone who doesn’t want to put the time and effort into formulating a real opinion and articulating that for dissemination and review. I guess writing while making fun of everyone and everything you disagree with is much easier than doing the research and writing from the confluence of reasoned thoughts and your emotions and on a particular topic. You may, or may not agree with what I write, but I work hard at this and he hardly works. And then he hijacks my pen name to get his ridiculous messages out while causing confusion and acrimony along the way.
Dirty Tricks and Tricky Dick
William (Twig) Branch (L) & Richard M. Nixon (R)
Dirty tricks, a term synonymous with Richard Nixon and Watergate, are unethical, duplicitous, slanderous or illegal tactics employed to diminish the effectiveness of opponents. The term “dirty trick” can also be used to refer to an underhanded technique to get ahead of an opponent, such as sabotage or disregarding rules of engagement. They serve to tie up the opponent, forcing them to defend against, and answering false charges. Imagine that! In my first post I wrote, (and yes, I’m quoting myself) I would think that as Chautauquans we all share a similar set of values and corresponding rules of engagement. It is ridiculously obvious that I was wrong about that. If you took the time to open my Twig’s Trail page and scrolled through the comments you will see the real Bijou Clinger Miller come to my defense and then Twig, in comment #8 impersonating Hale Oliver, attacks Bijou & Greg threatening to post that Greg is writing as George Seaver. He continues posting that misguided rumor through the course of Black Friday. Just so we all understand how reprehensible this is, I need to share some back story with you. Bijou is one of nine (9) Chautauquans who know who I really am. In a moment of candor, via email, she told Twig that she knows. So he sees a soft spot and strikes at it using Hale’s and Hugh Butler’s names trying to smoke me out. C’mon Twig, Bijou and Greg are two of the nicest people I know, and you decide to go after them like that, just to get to me…REALLY! That’s just wrong on a few different levels.
Ironically in the next to last edition of the Chautauqua News, Twig & crew name my George Seaver as the first Midget of Chautauqua, “noting, As my grandmother used to say, anyone who steals your writing without attribution is a small person.” I guess we know who the second Midget is going to be after all this crap thrown against the wall by he and his gang of merry pranksters.
Photo Courtesy Chautauquan Daily July 7, 2014
Mr. Branch it seems you fancy yourself as a bit of a yachtsman. Are the red wigs for the open regatta the only way you guys could distinguish yourselves from the rest of the fleet? Just for the record, have no doubt that I’ve taken home a lot more ribbons and hardware from those CYC dinners than you ever will, and those against much stiffer competition. That being said, now I offer you a bit of sailing advice. You need to pay more attention to your tell tales in the wind shifts because you left your digital fingerprints all over this impersonating mess. It is a foul and shifty wind that blows down Peck avenue these days. As a wise old sailor once said in a great metaphor for life “You can’t change the wind, but you can adjust your sails.” Twig you need to come about, as you do not have the right of way to continue on your current misguided course. If you wanted to enter this little Amp debate you had a fleet of pen names to choose from, but you pirate mine to undermine my messages with your rants, assailing Chautauqua’s leadership and causing confusion in your wake. Adding insult to injury you missed that last mark by impersonating all those Chautauquans, so I’m running a protest flag up the side stay and you can be sure the race committee will DSQ (disqualify) you, so you may as well steer a course for your dock, put your boat away and get back in the spectator fleet, because you have ketchup all over your face.
My real Chautauqua Grandma used to say, “Don’t believe everything you hear, but ALWAYS consider the source.” Because it was then, is now, and always will be, good advice.
Silly Twig, Tricks Are For Kids!
Stay tuned, as next we return to our regularly scheduled program and have a closer look at the silent majority.
Drift of the Day 