The day Matt Taibbi's career died

Matthew C. "Matt" Taibbi is an American author and journalist. Taibbi has reported on politics, media, finance, and sports, and has authored several books, including Insane Clown President (2017),Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America (2010) and The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion (2009).

They left out "The Exile" Sex, Drugs and Libel in the New Russia...

‘HOLY HELL’! Journos Matt Taibbi, Mark Ames BRAGGED about sexually assaulting women

https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2017/10/27/holy-hell-journos-matt-taib...

Read the thread for yourselves, if you want. I will not soil this place with such filth.

FYI even David Nir is Gobsmacked....

Hey Matt. Not even close, Hunter S. Thompson was the Gonzo Journalist. Your sad attempts are just that.. sad.

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mimi's picture

men groping women, women complaining being groped, women complaining having been sexually harrassed twenty years ago, men bragging about their sexual prowess, stories of smearing people over their sexual activties etc.

It's clear that society's media has a profound sexual disfunction problem.

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EdMass's picture

@mimi

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

@EdMass

I am, too! But will piggy-back on your comment so as not to address Mimi directly, in case she still doesn't want to have to answer people. Just good to know that she's checking in - saves worry!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Roy Blakeley's picture

@mimi The book referred to was published in 2000 and it apparently describes a drug and sex soaked publication in a drug and sex and violence soaked city. I haven't read it but I had a look at the reviews and they were interesting and generally positive. A lot of right wingers have it in for Taibbi because he pulls the curtain back revealing the kleptocracy that rules us. I would have to read the book before forming an opinion of Taibbi's sexually assaulting women. However, that does not diminish the accuracy and value of his work.

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Wink's picture

@Roy Blakeley
We never hear about the women lined up around the block to (blow) Bubba, Jagger, rock stars, ballplayers, celebrities, yada yada; but some guy grabs a handful while heading for the water cooler and he's a scumbag. Well, he might be, but he's among many. We're not all that far removed from our caveman days, and if we could (get away with it), we would (have our way with her). No, it ain't right. But it is human nature. Women showing up twenty years after someone uninvitingly grabbed her ass? wah. cry me a river. Some asshat uninvitingly touches you inappropriately you hit him or slap him. Hard. And let everyone nearby know why. Or say nothing and keep it that way. The only way to slow this crap down is to smack the perp. And let those nearby know why.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

snoopydawg's picture

@mimi

I think it's good that the women who were sexually harassed are now feeling safe to speak out about the men who harassed them.
The women that Harvey assaulted had to stay quiet unless they wanted their careers to be over.

The women that Bush assaulted stayed quiet because of who he is. I've seen too many people excusing him for his actions because he may have dementia, but this went back to the 80's.
His handlers knew what he was doing to them, but enabled his behavior. Especially Babs who should have protected them from him, but she not only stayed quiet, she joked about his groping women.

So no. I disagree that people shouldn't read or talk about this. Too many women have felt that they had to stay quiet for too damned long. Ymmv.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg

I may have just missed this, (I do miss a lot, lol,) but I've heard nothing about any women coming forward so far?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Bollox Ref's picture

for those who could afford it.

Everyone else was pretty much gin-soaked, just to get up in the morning... to get gin-soaked once more.

Taibbi must be very proud of himself to put it all down on paper.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

OLinda's picture

even David Nir is Gobsmacked....

What does that mean?

Your sad attempts are just that.. sad.

Have to disagree with you there, EdMass.

I didn't read the story. Not familiar with twitchy.com, so didn't want to click the link.

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lotlizard's picture

@OLinda  
adjective British informal
utterly astonished; astounded.

Origin
1980s: from gob1 + smack1, with reference to being shocked by a blow to the mouth, or to clapping a hand to one's mouth in astonishment.

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OLinda's picture

@lotlizard

Thank you, lotlizard. Smile I know what gobsmacked means. I don't understand the importance of the person mentioned or why we should think it is noteworthy that he is gobsmacked in this case.

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lotlizard's picture

@OLinda  

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OLinda's picture

@lotlizard @lotlizard

He writes about elections at TOP. And, yes, why should we care? Is it notable?

[Edited to get the @ sign out of the subject line]

Hope you're having a good morning, lotlizard.

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OLinda's picture

I think this is really Matt. It is not on his Twitter page, but Facebook. I'm not familiar with his facebook page, but it looks legit. Matt Yglesias had retweeted a Yahoo news person who tweeted it which is where I saw it. Okay then.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@OLinda
and "who ya gonna believe?"

One of the biggest problems with modern Identity Politics is its claim that all persons who come forward (or are put forward) as victims are to be believed absolutely, always, BECAUSE they are victims. (Especially, but not exclusively, women.)

This even though we know that some men and some women are obsessive-compulsive liars, and some others may lie if they think they can gain by it.

Take claims of victimization seriously, by all means, but investigate. Thoroughly. With impartiality.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

@OLinda "Isn't making stuff up in a non-fiction book really, really bad form?"

WHAT HAPPENED didn't you hear about the new and improved Fake Non-Fiction?

lol
normal

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OLinda's picture

@eyo

Mark Ames has also commented:

The eXile was satirical, and most of the people using my own satire to smear me are being deliberately misleading or obtuse. We were always described as satirical (I wrote a short post on this awhile back when some people were asking about the smears, listing various sources who also described us as satire—The Nation, Bill Moyers, Committee To Protect Journalists, Guardian, and so on). It’s also there in The eXile book: in my first chapter I interview one of many fake invented characters (“Johnny Chen”); I “quote” the US Embassy spokesman agreeing with me that Moscow’s expats should be incinerated and have their ashes fired off into space. The book cover is a stupid cartoon featuring penis-shaped onion domes (the original cover was supposed to be Yeltsin sitting on a toilet reading The eXile and looking depressed, but our publisher made us take the one on the book.) I was always very up front about our style — mixing satire with journalism with no regard to boundaries, something you’re not supposed to do.

This recasting of The eXile as something other than satirical began a few years ago with the alt-right, when white supremacists Jim Goad and Gavin McInnis had a weird obsession with trying to discredit my reporting, and Goad started running articles and tweets calling me a child rapist. [Goad, who was sent to prison for assaulting his girlfriend and breaking her skull, was unhappy with a piece I posted about him and McInnis. He spent the next few years trolling me, my employers and media colleagues, explaining to fellow white nationalist Brooks Bayne his goal was to “force” me “to wear the Rape Jacket”.] Then Breitbart ran a smear on my eXile-era work claiming it was not satirical and that I was an actual rapist, and therefore my Koch reporting should not be trusted. And from there that smear was picked up by anyone my journalism and politics upset— libertarians when I went after the Koch brothers’ networks, neocons in response to my criticisms of US policy towards Russia. And, well, here we are.
...

It's long. There is more at the link. I believe Matt and Mark. If any women speak up, I'll relook at it and reconsider.

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@OLinda I don't read Taibi so I don't know what "biography" that tweet was about exactly. I really don't care about social media word battles either, but claiming something is biographical when it isn't, that's exactly what Clinton did with her last book, WHAT HAPPENED. Same same.

Let's all rewrite history, make up what you want. Everyone!

be happy

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@OLinda

I figure they quite likely were annoying jerks, but the excerpts sounded to me more like satire from somebody trying really hard for shock value by being as disgusting as possible in spoofing a 'hardened, abusive and womanizing newsman' stereotype in as exaggerated and utterly revolting a fashion as possible.

That being pretty much their stated goal in that magazine, not only in spoofing but in breaking all barriers in a sort of punk-shock phase they were evidently going though.

The latter in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of the conservative and militarily indoctrinated authoritarian Heinlein (who I very much doubt I've have cared to meet, even if I did read and love a lot of his books - albeit being quite glad that he was childless, although he did at least grant women the capacity to be professionals and inventors, rather than the purely menial/sexual service-providing appendages so often depicted in his referenced time and culture) with his fantasy about incest between parents and (adult) children being something somehow desirable on both sides in various of his stories.

I read his books anyway, just as I'll continue to read Taibbi, who's done some pretty awesome stuff, (making him a target for efforts to discredit him by those wishing he'd stop doing that and exposing stuff they'd rather keep unmentioned,) because he tends to uncover some pretty important stories.

And such information matters more than the possibility of his having been a total and abusive scumbag at some earlier point of his life.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Meteor Man's picture

@eyo @TheOtherMaven
My recent journey through the criminal justice system as a homeless enemy of the state and American Terrorist revealed that any real or imaginary statement any man is alleged to make is an automatic conviction. Juries can always be convinced to believe the woman. No evidence required.

Cops and DAs love this "crime". We are close to the point that someone can be arrested for yelling out "Kill the ump!" at a ball game will be arrested and convicted of a criminal threat.

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

@Meteor Man thanks. Sorry about your experience with the system. You are not my enemy, no matter what is said.

"Juries can always be convinced to believe the woman anything. No evidence required."

I did not call the cops two nights ago, even though a woman was literally calling for help right outside my door. I am afraid of the cops now, they're all so damned trigger happy. My neighbor across the street did not call either, couldn't find her phone. She saw them, a guy on a bicycle and a woman trying to get away. We are about four blocks from the cop shop and they were headed that way, don't know how it ended.

Tell me if you ever catch a whiff of criminal justice reform down there, I'll do the same up north.

good luck

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Meteor Man's picture

@eyo @eyo
No argument whatsoever. I simply intended to point out that one of the easiest ways cops have to "flip the script" and arrest an innocent person is when the "victim" is a woman.

Prosecutors can only win over 90% of their cases with lots of help from judges, who cover up multiple reversible errors. Another implied parenthetical to a 90% plus conviction rate is that cops are nearly perfect in arresting the correct suspect.

The only reason DAs "only" get a 90% plus conviction rate is that high powered expensive lawyers have to be allowed to win on occasion, or there would be no reason to pay huge legal fees.

There is one, and only one, Irrefutable Rule of Law in America: The Money Always Wins. Civil and criminal trials are always won by the side with the most money (or power).

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

@Meteor Man Money and power does not always win in court. It does make the likelihood of beating them statistically smaller, but not impossible.
Also, juries and police officers do not always believe the statements of women victims.
Last time the State Bar of Texas sent me any information on criminal trials, 98% of all criminal cases resulted in plea bargains. Prosecutors are elected public figures. They do not want their win/loss record to be used against them.
If a state judge gets the notion that they are on the side of the state prosecutor because of their understanding of government, and I have had numerous judges tell me that, I go to a jury, and if it gets too bad, I report them to the Judicial Conduct Commission.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Meteor Man's picture

@on the cusp
Maybe Texas has more judicial integrity than California. Based on my experience a 98% plea bargain rate is more indicative of corruption than justice.

Let's put it this way, I know for a fact that transcripts are routinely altered to protect prosecutorial misconduct. How many prosecutors or judges are sanctioned for trial based misconduct in Texas annually?

This Vegas case was entirely credible:

https://static.theintercept.com/amp/kirstin-lobato-murder-trial-las-vega...

Long story short, the prosecutor claimed Vegas flies don't like dead bodies.

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

@Meteor Man The defendant gets a deal he/she can live with. The prosecutor backs off, but gets "something".
Pleas are made during trials, post trial as well.
Transcripts do get altered. I have watched court reporters stop typing when a judge goes south. I ask them to read it back to me right there on the spot.
Texas has as many imprisoned and disgraced judges as any other state.
Court reporters in Texas are hired employees of judges. They protect their bosses.
I have not seem a transcript altered for a prosecutor, but in our system, it could happen.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Meteor Man's picture

@on the cusp

The defendant gets a deal he/she can live with.

Prosecutors routinely overcharge every single case. Defendants represented by overworked and understaffed Public Defenders offices know they will lose at trial. Poor defendants, (black, white or green) know they have no real choice.

The only defendants who win must (1.) Be able to post bail
(2.) Be able to post a five figure retainer for starters.

The primary purpose of our legal system is keeping prison and jail beds full and continued mass incarceration.

Finger print false findings have been extensively documented. Doctored up DNA false results are already turning up.

Here is one recent example of astounding injustice:

There's a Man Serving Life in Prison for $5 Worth of Marijuana in the Same Country Where Millions Can Smoke It Legally
The madness of the drug war is far from over.

This case happens to be from Louisiana. I suspect you have one or two similar cases in Texas.

https://www.alternet.org/drugs/man-serving-life-prison-5-worth-pot

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

@Meteor Man and he spent 18 years as Santa Rosa's City Attorney before that. Gray Davis was the gov who made his appointment, I remember being really happy for him. I had lunch in Santa Rosa with him after the Dutra hearing, where he decided against me. lol, not me but Petaluma. Their lawyers were lousy, did not do their CEQA homework, and my cousin knows his CEQA stuff like no other. Botany is a hobby he studies in his "spare" time when he's not surfing at the beach. He's been here all his life too.

We are estranged now because I don't want to get any of my illness on him. His sister committed suicide three years after his mom died when he was 18. And then his dad died when he was 21. He still made it, he did stuff with his grief. His son is a lawyer too, had a fancy wedding this year. My invitation still sits here unanswered.

My mom died when I was 18, and my dad when I was 21. I never made it to law school, or anywhere. Clinical depression is my diagnosis since 2002, and I am not funny, or musical, or famous so who cares. I am not going to make it, it is not just the genetics, it is my horrible environment that regularly puts the rope around my neck. I simply can't believe what a shit pit the greedy assholes have made of this place. I am so disgusted. And I am sorry.

people proceed as if it is perfectly normal

normal, I am not

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@eyo
Wordless, but sending many virtual hugs...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

@eyo Hugs. That's all I got.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@Meteor Man They are vital to the justice system.
Do remember, court appointed public defenders make more money trying cases.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@Meteor Man Prosecutors win over 90% of their cases because they have the time and luxury to gather the evidence and usually refrain from taking chances when the evidence is not strong.

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@OLinda @OLinda

But wasn't the publication itself a spoof and referred to as such by a number of other publications? The quotes from it I've read sound (revolting and) like a(n unfunny) spoof that was intended to shock and - as a mission statement - 'to break all barriers'. Was it art? No idea, but if it was, I'm happy to be inartistic. I thought some bits quoted sounded pointlessly awful, sick and absolutely unlike Tabbi's writing today, which figured because apparently those bits were written by his partner.

In any event, I'm certainly not going to disregard a rare source of excellent investigative reporting in a time where there are so few examples remaining - in a time when any and all lengths will evidently be gone to in the interest of censorship and restricting us to propaganda.

And this is exactly the line TPTB'd publicize to 'help us voluntarily eliminate' our access to one of the few remaining investigating journalists regularly writing for an American publication and exposing their evils - a 30-year-old display of abusive 'right-wing/shock-jock' sick sexist humour in a satirical magazine. But that was in another country, and besides, the mag is dead.

Todays first obligatory edit was to remove a redundant word; I hope that the change from the usual letter-typo will be found refreshing. And that my coffee's run through by now.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

and I really don't know all the details, but this reminds me of Elliott Spitzer and his pursuit of the big banks and then lo and behold, damned if he didn't engage prostitutes for his own personal pleasure so ALL he said must simply be disregarded...

Taibbi has taught me one hell of a lot about the dirty shit all the PTB do in this country. If he made some stupid ass ugly remarks almost 20 years ago, that does in no way discount what he writes.

As for Hunter S, his stuff is awesome, although Fear And Loathing in LV contains one hell of a LOT of rather disturbing and ugly sexist remarks/actions. So really, none of them are perfect specimens in our politically correct world now I assume. Should we disregard Hunter and all he's written for his blatant sexism?

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur