Sleuthhound Puppy Takes ‘Deep Dive’ Into MoA – (Funny)

January 31, 2018

This is funny.

The Twitter conservation below started when Borzou Daragahi, a main stream scribe and gullible simpleton, asked about Moon of Alabama. He had been made aware of and disliked the head scarf piece which was posted here yesterday. One Jett Goldsmith volunteered to respond.

Jett Goldsmith (left)

Borzou Daragahi @Borzou – 10:36 PM – 30 Jan 2018
Who’s or what’s behind Moonie Alabama?

Jett Goldsmith‏ @JettGoldsmith – 10:48 PM – 30 Jan 2018
Replying to @borzou
Moon of Alabama is an American conservative/quasi-conspiracy theorist forum. It's run by a German Vietnam veteran named Billmon.

Jett Goldsmith @JettGoldsmith
Replying to @JettGoldsmith @borzou
Out of curiosity, I dived rather deep into his story a few weeks ago. I found a bunch of articles from mutual friends who served with him in Vietnam, referencing his life. Let me try and find them.

Jett Goldsmith @JettGoldsmith
Here we go. Bernhard Horstmann, the founder of Moon of Alabama, is a dual national current resident of Germany who opted to serve in the US Army Corps of Engineers during Vietnam. He's written about at length here. http://www.tombutt.com/pdf/letters%20home.pdf …

Jett Goldsmith @JettGoldsmith
Here's Horstmann pictured in 2012 with local Richmond, CA community member Tom Butt, who served with him in Vietnam. Butt later became mayor of Richmond. pic

Moon of Alabama @MoonofA – 11:22 PM – 30 Jan 2018
You made 9 factual claims in the above of which 8 are completely wrong. That's an F.

Jett Goldsmith @JettGoldsmith
Though an 89% inaccuracy rate may be correct for the average @MoonofA article, I can assure you, Mr. Horstmann, absent my previously addressed inaccuracies, everything below is quite true and openly verifiable.

Moon of Alabama @MoonofA
Ah! "Bellingcat" quality!
@moonofa is not Billmon, Billmon is not running Moon of Alabama, I am. I am not American, never been U.S. military, never been in Vietnam, never been in Richmond, don't know Tom Butt and am not conservative. Pic isn't of me.

Jett Goldsmith @JettGoldsmith
This is rather characteristic, Mr. Horstmann, of someone who would use quotation marks around a term for no discernible reason. Safe to say you're in the rather unfortunate position of being unable to dispute the above 2 separate accounts of your identity without doxing yourself.

Jett Goldsmith @JettGoldsmith – 11:49 PM – 30 Jan 2018
Nor, it seems, are you able to read; roughly half of the claims you've attempted to dispute in your above comment, Mr. Horstmann, were never asserted in the first place.

A screenshot of the above conversation.

bigger

The Twitter profile of Mr. Goldsmith links to an author-page at the notorious amateur sleuthing site Bellingcat.com. It says:

Jett Goldsmith is a journalist from Denver, Colorado. He currently serves as a freelance editorial columnist/essayist for Middle East Eye, and formerly co-founded the investigative reporting and geopolitical analysis outlet Conflict News. He is currently an undergraduate student in International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies.

The "editorial columnist/essayist for Middle East Eye" published a total of two pieces for that Qatari/Muslim Brotherhood propaganda outlet. They criticized the Syria policy of Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders for not being bloody enough. The above picture is from his MEE profile. Over the last three years Jett Goldsmith produced a total of nine stilted posts for Bellingcat.com. Some are facile speculation based on the wrong data, others follow the typical scheme of that site: "Putin and/or Assad did it! And here is the pseudo science I use to make up that story." Jett publicly claims that he "co-founded" ConflictNews. That is "total bullshit," says Gissur Simonarson, the founder of ConflictNews. Until May 2015 Jett likely co-edited The View, the student paper of the Castle View High School in Castle Rock, Colorado.

One probably has to excuse such an experienced investigative journalist, a highly productive writer, for making some minor mistakes in his 'deep dive' googling research about this site and its proprietor.

Posted by b on January 31, 2018 at 18:50 UTC | Permalink

Comments

lol… i say give jett a job at nyt or wapo… then his bona-fide cred will go up in the eyes of ignoramus’s 100 fold!!!

Posted by: james | Jan 31 2018 18:58 utc | 1

You have to love an undergrad who can tell you untrue ‘facts’ about yourself and say you’re wrong when you correct him. A young Judy Miller in the making, I’d say!

Posted by: WorldBLee | Jan 31 2018 19:02 utc | 2

LOL!!!
Thanks for the belly laugh.
WorldBLee has it right: “……A young Judy Miller in the making, I’d say!”
We can only hope he doesn’t get paid to shill/troll like he does in the future.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 31 2018 19:16 utc | 3

“jett goldsmith (left)” I loled hard.

Posted by: radiator | Jan 31 2018 19:25 utc | 4

Borzou , use to work for LA times and was much pro-Kurdish uprising , he was a green movement propagandist in western press and I guess he got angry because you exposed Alinejad his co-regime change bod in American media. Borzou suckes on American media dictates when ever he can and is asked for.

Posted by: Kooshy | Jan 31 2018 19:34 utc | 5

Yes admittedly Borzou Dargohie is a perfect mentor and trainer to get this young American journalist for making and creating fake news .

Posted by: Kooshy | Jan 31 2018 19:38 utc | 6

b ” . . . . .This is rather characteristic, Mr. Horstmann, of someone . . . ” No Mr Goldsmith, YOUR crap is totally characteristic of the excrement printed at Bellingcrap.
I doubt that you would encourage it b but I’m sure there are enough of your readers (or as Jett – & what sort of name is that to christian a child with – would call us, “your acolytes”)to delve into, fact check,then critique his previous scribblings, such as they are.
As WorldBLee & Psychohistorian say, a msm journalist in the making. One wonders just what the hell is taught in journalism degrees these days or are the future prevaricators & media whores identified early then groomed for bigger & better things as they pass along the sausage chain?
Cheers

Posted by: Kiwikris | Jan 31 2018 19:48 utc | 7

‘Jett Goldsmith (left)’–please clarify, ‘left’ refers to us readers looking into the screen or to Jett looking out of the screen?

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 31 2018 19:49 utc | 8

he’s also discovered kevin bacon was NOT in footloose and it was actually a german vietnam vet named wolfgang hundscheisse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmrd1MbNkFs
oh those little internet scamps and their first attempts at doxxing. they’re gonna sleep well tonight!

Posted by: the pair | Jan 31 2018 19:49 utc | 9

Jett’s a product of the Yuppification of Castle Rock, CO, the small county seat of Douglas County I lived in a few years in late 1980s prior to its unfortunate “beautification,” and simultaneous invasion of Conservatives fleeing Denver and Colorado Springs. Doesn’t surprise me that the local High School’s been teaching students how to produce FUD. Clearly the poor sot is an aspiring Fake News acolyte and quite worthy of b’s skewering and subsequent roasting. There’re some publications located in Colorado Springs he’d fit right in with, but he likely considers himself born on 3rd base and thus unfit to work his way up from an entry level position.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 31 2018 20:05 utc | 10

@ Kiwikris #7
Mais non, cher “acolyte”
He is an “undergraduate student in International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies”
Wonder from which university !
Journalism !
Ha , he is like Brown Moses – a wannabe

Posted by: Yul | Jan 31 2018 20:30 utc | 11

What kind of a name is “Jett”, please, native speakers?
What a hilarious exchange. As a reader of MoA, I am already deeply indebted to this guy called ‘b’ for all the real thoughts, valuable lessons, sound views. But now he’s throwing in comedy into the mix, too? That’s almost too much. I’m actually starting to worry that next, you’ll put MoA behind a paywall for that added value, the Goldsmith kind.
🙂

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Jan 31 2018 20:40 utc | 12

Hey! You arrogant barflies are being entirely too hard on Jett, who is not quite old enough to have a drink yet. Didn’t anyone stop to read his profound words of parting in The View? Here, let me…

…To students, my advice is to put in work. High school may be set up to provide a support net for your success, but the real world isn’t. If you don’t take responsibility for your work and effort in life, nobody will be there to stop you from failing…”

Of course he has noticed the attention here, and for some reason tweeted this to taunt b:
“For what it’s worth, it seems he missed this. https://judas.watch/Jett_Goldsmith“
Like a fool, I deep-dived in my Jettology jihad and was educated thusly:

Judas Watch
Documenting anti-Western traitors, agitators and subversives.
Jett Goldsmith from Denver, CO and is a news Editor at Neowin, formerly of @Conflicts. Student of international affairs. Occasional contributor to @Bellingcat. Tweets on Syria, geopolitics, and tech. He is a professional tweeter @JettGoldsmith. (twitter.com)
…
Achievements
In an attempt to have people fired from their jobs for their political views, he collected tweets he deemed personally triggering. He tweeted, “I’ll be retweeting every frightened message I’ve received from Nazis fearful that they could lose their jobs.”
2016.04.25

What does one even say to that?

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jan 31 2018 21:05 utc | 13

Ha Ha , the Habibi calls himself an Investigative reporter for Bellingcat when he reported on false flag sarin .

Posted by: Yul | Jan 31 2018 21:06 utc | 14

Scotch Bingeington @(12);
Sir, Jett is somewhat “Wild West” and ‘forceful’ a name. The villain in “Giant,” played by James Dean was called Jet Rink. A ‘up from the bottom’ go getter type. Actually, a prototypical Randian Individualist Achiever character. So, the naming of this nascent Hearst this way makes sense. His parents obviously want him to “go far.”
The fun part here is, where exactly did this paragon of journalistic excellence get his information from? Somehow, this seems a bit too subtle a send up for a recent high school graduate.

Posted by: ambrit | Jan 31 2018 21:09 utc | 15

OMG LMAO.
“Journalism”. (quotes necessary)

Posted by: sejomoje | Jan 31 2018 21:20 utc | 16

Scotch Bingeington @ 12: “Jett” is the kind of one-syllable alpha-male name that male characters in US soapies like “The Bold and the Beautiful” or in old Mills & Boon romance paperback novels would have.

Posted by: Jen | Jan 31 2018 21:23 utc | 17

@ ambrit with the description of Jett for SB @12
Thanks for that. As a 69 year honkey American native I was clueless.
What I do what to ask from you though, while you are at it, is a similar description of the first name our current president has given to his youngest, Barron……thanks
I just come here for the humor….grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 31 2018 21:26 utc | 18

The dog is cute.

Posted by: Quentin | Jan 31 2018 21:32 utc | 19

Jet Rink is a/the main character in Edna Ferber’s Giant. John Travolta named his son Jet (jet plane fetish?). The name is quite/increasingly popular in the US while occurring also in Australia. From online lexicons of names.

Posted by: Quentin | Jan 31 2018 21:42 utc | 20

I presume the pup is the brains of the outfit.

Posted by: J Swift | Jan 31 2018 21:52 utc | 21

that certified idiot just retweeted white helmets PR, now they’re firefighters too 😀

Posted by: roflmaousse | Jan 31 2018 22:05 utc | 22

Mind your ankles, B.

Posted by: NoOneYouKnow | Jan 31 2018 22:10 utc | 23

so I deep dived too (ie I googled “Horstmann + Vietnam”) and read … the first link that was provided by google which was that Thomas K Butt pdf, and that’s the impressive extent of the puppy deep diving. We need more impressive experts like that 😀
http://www.20thengineerbrigadereunion.com/Tom%20Butt/letters%20home.pdf

Posted by: roflmaousse | Jan 31 2018 22:22 utc | 24

lol, I guess the Supermoon brings out the lunatics! b should have enough fodder to give a comedy break every month.

Posted by: foo | Jan 31 2018 23:08 utc | 25

This is what happens when you close asylums, you let the loonies run wild. Let this be a lesson to all Americans, they are running wild among you and I have reason to believe some even ended up in Congress, Senate and the WH!! And I can prove it!! this is not a conspirational theory, it is fact!!

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Jan 31 2018 23:19 utc | 26

@24 Thanks for bringing the link (me no google much. Principles, etc.).
I looked through the PDF of Tom Butt, who recounts his experiences in Vietnam and and a little beyond. It’s actually quite interesting (to me) – the detailed letters, the impressions, the way he changed his opinions about the Vietnam war, and his process of maturation. I don’t know what age he was exactly through those years but assuming 20’s he appears quite mature and thoughtful for his age, with good skills of observation – a heck of a lot more mature than most millenials one runs into nowadays.
I also thought this Bernard Horstmann with whom he served sounded like a most interesting fellow with an interesting background.
As always, one finds things on MoA as nowhere else. Side excursions may not always be the intended result, but they make the journey considerably more interesting.
One lesson: I miss the people that used to be. Before FB and Twitter and YouTube and the stress of fitting into a world of automation turned too many of the promising young into stressed-out boobs, who can’t find their way without GPS at the ready (be it physical or mental). reading Thomas Butt’s travels post-vietnam is an interesting window into a world now fast receding into oblivion. One where you needed people to get directions and you had to use intuition and common sense to meet and keep friends, not Tinder or Snapchat. This Thomas butt fellow had more journalistic talent than 100 Jetts (to nowhere). Too bad he didn’t become one and too bad jett tfancies himself to be one. Of the “investigative” kind.
Sorry for the tangent. Occupational hazard.

Posted by: Merlin2 | Jan 31 2018 23:35 utc | 27

Dear psychohistorian;
Aaaargh matey! Subtlety is strong with ye. I’m a 60 something Anglo American hybrid, meself.
Oh, and the name of Barron for the heir apparent to a Neo Robber Baron fortune is humour of the best sort. Can we be underestimating the Tweeter in Chief? Does he have a wry sense of self parody?

Posted by: ambrit | Feb 1 2018 0:07 utc | 28

Goldsmith inherently Jewish.

Posted by: Jack | Feb 1 2018 0:23 utc | 29

Keep firing, b. They are all landing dead center on numbnuts, Jett Goldsmith. Kaboom!
Dispatched him deftly.

Posted by: Red Ryder | Feb 1 2018 0:32 utc | 30

These guys are CIA shills.

Posted by: fast freddy | Feb 1 2018 0:44 utc | 31

When are we going to read here from the “apples don’t fall far from the tree” parents that we are picking on their young man?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 1 2018 1:30 utc | 32

Like I always say, all the kids who were in college getting degrees in “Womens Studies” are out getting a job now in the real world!! Oh the horror!!!

Posted by: Fernando Arauxo | Feb 1 2018 2:13 utc | 33

Perhaps Superspy Jett was practicing his “secret skills” with the anti-Semitic turbulence a few weeks ago.

Posted by: daffyDuct | Feb 1 2018 2:40 utc | 34

Dear me. Does this idiot actually thought you were the same person as Billmon? I mean, Billmon’s identity has been out in the open for a decade – or at least his alleged identity, never cared if it was his real name. Still, his writings are archived somewhere online, anyone can go and see that he’s definitely not B(ernhard). Heck, there’s a Wiki article on Billmon where he could’ve checked the basic outline of the bar’s history – assuming he didn’t believe the “About” page of MoA.
The part about B’s supposed past and his dual citizenship is just as ridiculous, but that’s something glaringly obvious if you’ve been around the site for some time – the part about Billmon is something a monkey could google in 3 seconds.
Bottom line: mainstream media should hire the dog, not Jett; the dog would definitely be more professional and produce better work.
But then I realized that I shouldn’t be too hard on this complete waste of carbon. If he’s an undergraduate, he probably was barely learning to read when I was reading Billmon and others on a nearly daily basis, back in 2003, commenting the ongoing lunacy of the invasion of Iraq. (of course, this also means the guy should just shut up and listen to those who know best and have seen it all before)

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Feb 1 2018 2:50 utc | 35

But really, young Jetty is the sideshow here. The main ‘attraction’ should surely be @borzoy, who’s a substantial, well-paid figure in the MSM.
His grwat question of “who or what is behind Moonie Alabama” surely deserves an answer. (Irony alert.)

Posted by: Helena | Feb 1 2018 3:14 utc | 36

@35 Yes but he probably doesn’t know any better. He spends too much time on twitter. One day he will discover his brain has been totally taken over by Russian and Iranian trolls.

Posted by: dh | Feb 1 2018 3:15 utc | 37

this is hysterical! longtime readers of this site know b. hosted a whole bunch of us at his home (in person, and we blogged about it in real time on the site) for a full week a few years back. it was wonderful, as is he. it astounds me this goldsmith character can pontificate about someone he knows nothing about. and be so wrong! what a miserable sleuth. good on you b!

Posted by: annie | Feb 1 2018 4:13 utc | 38

for future amateur sleuths, on the left side of the home page are the archives. scroll to the base and read the very oldest one to discover b. is not billmon. then work your way up.

Posted by: annie | Feb 1 2018 4:24 utc | 39

I’m trying to think of a superlative stronger than unabashed to describe this Intercept article published yesterday:
THE REALITY WINNER PROSECUTION RELIES ON SECRECY AND FEARMONGERING
The author, Trevor Timm, makes a number of good points about the government’s heavy-handed treatment of Winner. But the fact that someone at The Intercept gave the NSA everything they needed to bust Winner is brushed off with this mea culpa:

“…Winner, on the other hand, is incarcerated indefinitely for, as officials have said, allegedly mailing an NSA document about Russian election hacking to The Intercept. (The Intercept had no knowledge of the source’s identity.)”

While that’s true (the letter they got was anonymous), someone from The Intercept allegedly sent an image of the document and the zip code to ‘the government’ in an attempt at verification. This was more than enough information for the NSA to track down Reality Winner as the source and put her in prison, where she is still awaiting trial for espionage.
Right after her arrest, The Intercept warned us not to judge them for the incompetence that burned their source:

“While the FBI’s allegations against Winner have been made public through the release of an affidavit and search warrant, which were unsealed at the government’s request, it is important to keep in mind that these documents contain unproven assertions and speculation designed to serve the government’s agenda and as such warrant skepticism. Winner faces allegations that have not been proven. The same is true of the FBI’s claims about how it came to arrest Winner.“

B’s original piece: Do Not Trust The Intercept or How To Burn A Source
Jett: Where’s the outrage, buddy? You should be all over a story like this. She sacrificed her freedom to expose those damn Russian election meddlers. You hate those guys, right?

Posted by: PavewayIV | Feb 1 2018 4:46 utc | 40

@13 Hilarious!
@40 A Judas does not know he is one himself, until he cashes in..

Posted by: Lozion | Feb 1 2018 6:37 utc | 41

Jeff, all doors are open for you in Langley, Virginis.

Posted by: Giap | Feb 1 2018 7:50 utc | 42

I guess we can all use some laugh. Jett Goldsmith‏ desired and got his 15 min. Let’s get back to work folks.

Posted by: Steve | Feb 1 2018 8:52 utc | 43

Anyone with any brains could recognize that moon of alabama is not born and raised in the US. He is quite good with English but makes grammar mistakes from time to time or phrases words somewhat unusually that indicate that English is a second language. Since the writing is obviously from a highly intelligent and educated person, the only explanation is that Moon is not an American at least by birth.

Posted by: Kat C | Feb 1 2018 10:37 utc | 44

I came to this site by way of warblogging.com, which I believe was started by Billmon, I recall that that led to a spin-off site Whiskey Bar, dedicated to discussing topics brought up in warblogging. Then, as I recall, Billmon dropped both warblogging and whiskey bar.
The people here found me too conservative and told me to go f*ck off to Little Green Footballs, which I did, right about the time that they stopped being a conservative, Islamophobic site.
This is still a good place to find articles about what is actually happening in the Middle East, as the American press tends to be highly irresponsible or agenda-driven in its reporting to what they know is a generally clueless reading public.

Posted by: ralphieboy | Feb 1 2018 10:44 utc | 45

jotta! it was a relief when U clarified in the picture that Jett was the one on the left.

Posted by: augusto | Feb 1 2018 10:51 utc | 46

Where do these cocky millennials come from, guy looks like hes friggin 12 years old and going to a friggin pre-school prom or something in that pic! Miserable neocon failure through and through on this one.
Conservative site? Fail
American admin? Fail
Conspiracy site? Fail
Vietnam vet? Fail
And when B tells him hes wrong the moron keep repeating “this is you!”. What a friggin clown.
B this is also what expected people trying to silence you and smear you, these people are nuts.

Posted by: test | Feb 1 2018 11:25 utc | 47

Now Little Green Footballs has its own “stalker site”: some fellow who was kicked of LGF but obsesses over it like an ex-girlfriend, following it meticulously and citing every inconsistency or error that they make.
Has MoA gained that sort of notoriety yet?

Posted by: ralphieboy | Feb 1 2018 11:54 utc | 48

@ralphieboy
louis proyect’s blog probably comes close in terms of obsession w/ moa, tho the origins and mssion are entirely different

Posted by: b real | Feb 1 2018 12:52 utc | 49

But but but Jett is an “investigative reporter” sitting on his couch making up stories , like Eliott Higgins to get a pay check !

Posted by: Yul | Feb 1 2018 12:53 utc | 50

Hey Moon I was in the 20th – Base Camp Vinh Long but ended up in the roving squad that was always going up river to Cambodia to work for the Rangers, Geen beenies and 2 man advisory teams. I lived with the Cambodians and Vietnamese for months. I rode shotgun to Long Binh when they brought us out of the field. We were always getting mortared and shot at. Like your Book – gave me a Flashback – LOL

Posted by: Garry Compton | Feb 1 2018 13:34 utc | 51

WorldBLee @2
Reminds me of a personal experience during a labor union arbitration wherein I represented the union. The company lawyer presented a memo I had authored and proceeded to interpret what I said in the memo. The arbitrator coolly replied to the company lawyer: If I need interpretation, I will ask the writer.

Posted by: ger | Feb 1 2018 14:22 utc | 52

Conservative? No. Conspiracy? Of course! Taking apart propaganda is definitely taking apart the conspiracy to deceive. This is one of the very best sites doing it regularly. This site has been filled with excellent insightful analysis for the last decade I’ve been reading it:)

Posted by: Relament | Feb 1 2018 14:24 utc | 53

Is Jett Goldsmith his real name or his operational one? He seems more advanced in the practice of the ‘smear and the lie’ than most of the inept MS stenographers, who only repeat the lies, not make them up.
Obviously MoA is a thorn in some apparatchiks side. I’d question the motivations of the original dolt that put this all into operational motion. What? This original dolt, Daragahi, can’t read, draw his own conclusions or do his own background research?
This looks more like the usual cyber corps disinformation-discrediting op because it is so laughable as far as purporting to be a facsimile of any truth.
“The state exists to enforce the dominance of elites, everything else is propaganda, misdirection or obfuscation.”

Posted by: BRF | Feb 1 2018 15:08 utc | 54

Typical moister millennial young Turks have no problem lying about everything. The ability of this snowfake generation to tell fibs is a sign of a fast developing rotten brain and means they are more likely to do anything they could to have successful lives. It’s a sad state of mind !!!

Posted by: MARC ISSADE | Feb 1 2018 15:29 utc | 55

> Bernhard Horstmann, the founder of Moon of Alabama
what a guy!
he was copy-pasting readymade text – and only wronged 50% of it!
Talented journo! To be kept eye on!
For comparison: https://whois-ip.net/moonofalabama.org

Posted by: Arioch | Feb 1 2018 15:31 utc | 56

@Feb 1, 2018 10:31:32 AM | 55
Thanks for the research. That fits better with the real time zone of the blog….
I was astonished by seeing that nobody here found plausible that Bernhard could be an US Vietnam veteran and have double nationality, why not?
That could well be the reason for this blog being centered mainly in US foreign policy and wars…
And, btw, you seem to be of those elders who hate young people because of embittered for your own aging…This guy, Jett, expresses himself quite well for his age…although, as happens many times with intelligent people, his photo does not probably makes him justice….

Posted by: Fatima Manoubia | Feb 1 2018 16:17 utc | 57

Keep rattling cages, b. If there is any group of people that you actually hate, it must be those ageing degenerates who run American foreign policy, including the military and the ‘intelligence’ community.

Posted by: Shakesvshav | Feb 1 2018 17:03 utc | 58

Fatima sez …”Why not?” Let me tell you Fatima, you’ve landed at the part of the internet where most people have been following each other for more than a decade. We “know” each other. And only the more sincere last this long. Toddle on now.

Posted by: Sejomoje | Feb 1 2018 18:20 utc | 59

@Fatima Manoubia
Okay Jett.

Posted by: SlapHappy | Feb 1 2018 19:49 utc | 60

ot – qatar on orders from the usa not buying the s-400s from russia… well, i can appreciate qatar is between a rock and a hard place…. you will buy or not buy what we tell you… after all it is a non free world and as the leading country that represents non freedom and no such thing as democracy – you better do as we say or else… well – that is what i get from this…

Posted by: james | Feb 1 2018 20:03 utc | 61

link to my comment @60…

Posted by: james | Feb 1 2018 20:05 utc | 62

“I was astonished by seeing that nobody here found plausible that Bernhard could be an US Vietnam veteran and have double nationality, why not?”
You want Vietnam vets and you want to know what they’re like, how they think and what and how they write, you go read Pat Lang’s site. Then you’ll notice the difference.
Then of course comes the already-mentioned fact that there are people here who were around before MoA existed, arguably even before Bernhard began posting in Billmon’s comments – as “Bernhard”, not as “b” -, and who remember him at the time – clearly not an American, even less a US war veteran -, and have seen how MoA came to be – it’s not a straight line from Whiskey Bar to current MoA.
As for B’s timezone, it makes perfect sense in Germany – he mostly posts articles in late afternoon/evening, with the odd one earlier – at an insanely early time for US East Coast.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Feb 1 2018 20:54 utc | 63

Hahaha! Fact checked by a 14 year old pro. Billmon! You’re caught! A grand sleuth tailed you straight to your layaway

Posted by: Pespi | Feb 2 2018 14:58 utc | 64

Aiieeh
Found the real Bernhard Horstmann – if that’s Billmon’s name.
Seems to be a catholic priest in north-west Germany. The German weekly Die Zeit had a portrait of him: Er will nicht der Dorfheilige sein. A photo of him seems to be in this piece.
Wonder if he was in Vietnam :-/ The Sleuthhound puppy should ask him.

Posted by: b | Feb 2 2018 20:48 utc | 65

Jett seems to display an amazing ignorance about Vietnam Vets. Not a typical for millenials, many of whom only know Vietnam from tourist brochures. Also, our dear jett seems to have some confusion about what “conservative” means. If anything, this blog seems to have something of a “lefty” flavor, though I wouldn’t want to tag it as such.
To me, MoA is in the realpolitik investigative tradition, much as the great late Robert parry was. Unfortunately when it comes to analysis of world and geopolitical events, independent blogs is all we got. And may the best ones prosper.

Posted by: Merlin2 | Feb 2 2018 22:40 utc | 66

My apologies to the Irish (no I’m not English) but I would like to introduce the readership of “Moon of Alabama” to the internationally famous (in Ireland and Britain) Irish pop duo named Jedward who bear a striking resemblance to Jett Goldsmith in more ways than outwards appearances.
I am being obtuse but you will know precisely what I mean if you have seen any of Jedwards non-musical appearances on various light evening entertainment such as humorous panel-shows. I do feel a bit guilty about comparing them to someone like Jett, they likely don’t deserve that seeing as they appear wholly without malice.
Wikipedia link: Jedward
Jett should check his genealogy since this indicates he might be (a) “POTATO!” (:o) (:)) and not a gold-anything, electroplated or otherwise.
Although Jett might just be bits and bytes and corralled electrons.
Certain demographics’ focus on gold is weird but in the unlikely event that I’m ever going to do something as silly as buying a diamond (which of course isn’t gold, although nearly as lacking of genuine value) then I will travel to Russia to do so to avoid the stench of blood.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 4 2018 1:11 utc | 67

Thank you @Jettgoldsmith for exposing my old friend Bernhard Horstmann as the author of Moon of Alabama. I always suspected it.

Posted by: Tom Butt | Feb 17 2018 16:37 utc | 68

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