Subject: Re: McCain has lost it
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: 11/27/09, 19:06
To: Charles Johnson <charles@littlegreenfootballs.com>

The show is best described as something akin to Michael Moore's format (though not his ham-fistedness and worldview) insomuch as that it's investigative journalism interlaced with thematic sketches and other segments - interviews, etc. Basically it's the perfect format for some of the stuff I'd like to accomplish over the next year as far as bringing attention to the incompetence and amorality of certain parties, such as bad yet respected columnists like Thomas Friedman.

In the case of the particular episode I'd like to do first or at least eventually, there's this black professor named Jonathan Farley whose career in the U.S. was basically ended by a decentralized campaign on the part of neo-Nazis and neo-Confederates after he wrote a column in 2002 calling Confederates traitors. Vanderbilt's now-provost acted dishonestly in all of this, as I've determined from documents Farley has sent me (dozens so far) and a phone interview I did in which I caught the provost talking a bit of nonsense (and I recorded it, thankfully). McCain was involved as he wrote a Washington Times piece which helped take the story national. The piece was incredibly one-sided and disingenuous, and now, it is clear to me that he was actually coordinating with some of the same parties - who were harassing Farley and sending him death threats - that he was discussing, positively, in his article. This is an incredible breach of journalistic ethics and, coupled with the trouble I can cause Provost Richard McCarty and other involved parties, and presented in a TV format instead of a more limited HuffPost/TrueSlant/etc format with a smaller audience, the episode would end McCain for good.

If the pilot doesn't work out for some reason, I'll simply write an article on it. Either way, I'm going to start doing some more ambushy interviews with, for instance, the editors of American Spectator, asking them exactly what one has to do to be barred from writing for them.

Also, a friend of mine had a copy of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, and I read half of it today while taking a break from the book I'm supposed to be finishing up this month; you were right about him. Truly amazing work and a lot of brilliant concepts well-executed.

On Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 2:38 PM, Charles Johnson <charles@littlegreenfootballs.com> wrote:
That's very cool. What's the show about -- how does it tie in with McCain?

CJ




On Nov 25, 2009, at 8:46 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Hopefully Andrew Sullivan will take further notice of the fellow now and find out about the neo-Nazi activity.

Can't remember if I've told you this yet, but I've been asked to serve as head writer on a pilot being spearheaded by a couple of folks who approached me after my first Vanity Fair piece came out last March. They've agreed that the story that I've been holding back regarding Vanderbilt, Professor Jonathan Farley, and McCain's incredibly unethical behavior within that incident would make a good subject for the pilot. We've got a producer attached and all that and will be meeting with some execs soon for approval, so should find out soon what's going to happen with all of this. If it works out, McCain should be thoroughly fucked. Even if for some reason it's not picked up, we have the backing we'd need to produce it ourselves. I'll let you know what happens.

Also, sent you a shared Google Document; got myself another stalker, apparently.

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:37 PM, Charles Johnson <charles@littlegreenfootballs.com> wrote:
He's completely fucking insane. He put up a freakish post at his blog today, blaming ME for "Kick a Jew Day" in Florida.

He's working the "friend of the Jews" angle like a true antisemite.