10 January 2012

Richard (Dickie) Silverstein: a blogging dupe of the century?

It came to my attention (borrowing the pompous style off a person I know but don't care to mention) that the mildly notorious but aspiring Doucheblogger™ Richard (Dickie) Silverstein is celebrating these days. And he has a good cause or, at least, an event that he considers to be a good cause. Let him describe it for us:

Israeli reporter, Tal Schneider, who once served as the Washington D.C. correspondent for Maariv, has written a major profile (Hebrew) of me and Tikun Olam in that paper’s Friday edition. It’s called, ominously and humorously enough, The Man Who Knows Too Much. Personally, I think I know just enough, in fact I’d like to know more.
...
Schneider flew to Seattle for two days and interviewed me for her article. Quite a new experience for me.
What do you all say? If I express my sincere happiness and congratulate the Doucheblogger™ with successful conquest of another Israeli media outfit*, you may suspect me in being facetious.

And you would be dead wrong. Let's look at the article (Hebrew - Dickie got it right this time) Doucheblogger™ is so proud about. A good part of it describes a pitiful nonstarter who so far failed in everything he attempted to do in life. From a vaguely defined job of gathering donations for some vaguely defined Jewish institutions, which job made him unhappy and frustrated, to an unemployed stay-at-home dad** with a dream to become a new HuffPost-style media center that will bring both fame and money, and not to forget - more opportunities to bash Israel. Which is his main obsession these days. So to get a good deal of exposure in two major Israeli newspapers is quite a fit indeed for the loser.

Here are two translated passages from the article I consider revealing enough. The first one at the beginning:
Somewhere in Israel, at a desk in a newspaper or electronic media ofice, sits an editor, producer or other official, who is in a close relationship with a former Israeli cabinet minister - a person who acted in the security arena for decades and isn't one of the prime minister's associates. There is no close personal friendship between the two, although they had a working relationship once. The former minister uses to forward fascinating and important information items to the journalist, but despite the temptation the journalist does not use the information he receives from his loyal source but passes it on.
Interesting enough? Well, this is what the article author, above mentioned Tal Schneider, gathered from the Doucheblogger™. Dickie also claims to know the identity of the two. According to him, he is in almost daily contact - via e-mail or phone - with the middleman.

The next quote deals with Dickie's thoughts about his Israeli source:
Q: Don't you suspect that there is someone in Israel that controls and uses you, that sees in you a channel to publish information he wants to spread?
A: Every source has its own interests. If someone wants to use me, I have to be able to take the information and not to be utilized. If someone has an agenda designed to scare the Iranians through all the publications about Mossad carrying out the bombings in Iran, and trying to use me as a psychological war, I'll report on it and I will add my own angle of the story. I do not report on these operations as something to be proud of, but note that this campaign is a secret war of state against state, which would not work and I write that it's sabotage. And I write that the Iranian opposition organizations that Israel use are terrorists.
Of course, anyone who ever had the doubtful pleasure to read Dickie's interpretation of anything done (or allegedly done) by Israel knows that Doucheblogger™ never misses an opportunity to do some dirt by the state of Israel. But this is besides the point. The point is that his response to the question above is very feeble-minded,  and even Dickie himself has recently started to have reservations about his source.
I really don’t know what to make of it all. But one thing is for sure, my well-connected source was told by likely Israeli intelligence operatives that Israel caused this explosion. Then a few days later after Lebanese militants rained down missiles on Israel, other intelligence sources told Israeli media a different story. It’s a strange, dark and dangerous world Israelis have made for themselves.
We, the Elders, on the other hand, don't want to leave poor Dickie wondering. So let's assume that you are an Israeli functionary of some kind, with a need to publish some disinformation that is loosely based on real events and is designed to play havoc in some anti-Israeli minds. What would be the desired profile of the mouthpiece?

Would you try to do it via a reputable newspaper of TV channel? Hardly, they have their fact checking people, their investigators, their lawyers. In some cases they dig out stuff that will make your scoop wrong on many counts or worthless at best.

But how about a  blogger popular with anti-Israeli sources, which blogger, due to being a failure in all his other endeavors, is hungry for scoops? Who could be relied upon to publish any disinformation without performing a minimal due diligence, since no matter what kind of fluff he gets he will use it for another anti-Israeli rant? Who is basking in attention his "revelations" bring and in the glory his anti-Israeli friends provide in quantities?  

What can I say, Dickie? Congratulations where deserved, of course. Good copy/paste jobs one and all, and may we never know where all this comes from. Paraphrasing your own words, it's a strange, dark and dangerous world Israelis have made for you. And it's really not that bad that you "really don’t know what to make of it all". In some cases it's better not knowing the truth till the very end.

[At this point you can imagine me cackling darkly]

In any case, Dickie, don't quit your daily job meanwhile. Oops...

(*) Dickie has already made another media outfit, Yediot Aharonot/Ynet his stomping ground, Aussie Dave has some words to say about it.
(**) Which job isn't properly carried out too, according to his lawyer spouse, due to Dickie's obsessive blogging that takes preference over his duties as a dad.

2 comments:

Rich Saunders said...

Learn more about the Dickaling at www.kapodickie.blogspot.com

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Thanks Rich, and good luck with the project. You will have no lack of material with this character.