When I saw that viral video of Nancy Pelosi slurring her words like she’d just had five martinis and/or a series of strokes, I figured it was fake, like those Jimmy Kimmel videos of “Drunk Trump.” If you slow down video of pretty much anybody, it sounds like they’re sloshed.* It’s dumb, but it can be kinda funny. I assumed the Pelosi video was a joke, and then I forgot all about it. That’s why I’m not a journalist. Pelosi is a Democrat, which means any insult to her reputation must be avenged by those heroes with press passes.
Over at the Daily Beast (no link, because f*** them), a “journalist” named Kevin Poulsen has just doxed the guy who allegedly made that Pelosi video. I’m not going to name the guy because it doesn’t feel right, but according to Poulsen, the creator of the video is an unemployed warehouse worker from the Bronx who has a criminal record. But what seems to concern Poulsen the most is that the guy is both African-American and a Trump supporter. Poulsen devoted 2,000 words to investigating a regular Joe who made a Facebook meme that caught on, digging into the guy’s past, because Poulsen didn’t think the video was funny.
Here’s how Poulsen and Daily Beast editor in chief Noah Shachtman promoted the story (victim’s name redacted):
So, a black guy allegedly made a video that went viral, and a bunch of white guys didn’t like it because it mocked a politician. And because the politician is a Democrat, the white guys doxed the black guy to the whole world. These journalists, these stalwart gatekeepers of the truth, initially assumed the video must be Russian propaganda. I mean, obviously, right? But when that turned out to be false, when they realized there was no story there, they decided to bring down their full force on a blue-collar guy who was just having a few laughs on the Internet.
Then it got fun. As it turns out, Poulsen has a criminal record himself:
Hold up. If Wikipedia is to be believed, you are a felon & were the first person in America to not be allowed to use the internet after being released from jail & now you’re shaming other people who do stuff on the internet b/c you don’t like their politics? Do I have that right? pic.twitter.com/aKNInOl4Bw
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) June 2, 2019
Poulsen was even on Unsolved Mysteries! Then the mystery was solved, and he spent five years in federal prison for hacking. Now he’s redeeming himself to society by trying to destroy lower-class African-Americans who make dumb Internet videos about wealthy, powerful white Democrats.
Hey, if that guy didn’t want to be doxed and shamed by a national media outlet, he shouldn’t have supported Trump, right? He’s fair game, just like Nick Sandmann. Just like the guy who made that goofy “Trump wrestling CNN” meme. Just like the old lady who was harangued on her own front lawn by a CNN reporter.
That’s the message here: If you support Trump, or even just wear one of his hats, the rules don’t apply to you. The #Resistance can’t undo the results of the 2016 election, but they can take out their frustrations on regular Americans without cameras and microphones of their own.
No matter how exasperated and disgusted I get with Trump and MAGA Nation, their opponents always manage to be worse. If journalists don’t want to be branded “enemies of the people,” they should stop making enemies of people just for putting up dumb memes on Facebook.
*Making a “drunk” video is easy. Go to any video on YouTube with a politician or pundit talking, click the Settings icon in the lower-right corner, and change the playback speed to 50%. Here, try it with this one:
Presto! You’re now a purveyor of Russian propaganda. Prepare to be doxed by professionals.
