First off, let me apologize for the infrequency of my postings lately. Between the start of several new projects and feeling under the weather this past week I haven’t found the time to add new original postings since last week.
In the past few weeks we have seen a proliferation of phony twitter accounts masquerading as parodies but in reality simply nasty attacks on individuals.
Recently, fake/insulting accounts have mysteriously popped up and then disappeared attacking Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux, Congressman Alan Grayson’s District Director (and Democratic activist extraordinaire) Susannah Randolph, and Political Hurricane publisher David Trotter. Each of the “parody” accounts eventually became personal in nature.
Mr. Trotter’s reaction was somewhat flippant in that he deleted the Political Hurricane blog and twitter last Thursday though I noticed as I prepared to write this post that the website was back online. Though he did notify me of this in advance. The account parodying Mrs. Randolph was so over the top common decency would prevent discussion of the actual tweets.
Strangely, at the same time as this was going on a “parody twitter of me popped up. I understand some of my views both politically and in soccer (where I have earned my living the last many years) are controversial and many of my soccer media colleagues immediately blocked the parody account when it was created forcing twitter to suspend the account.
However, I actually thought the account may end up being an entertaining mocking of my views and I personally discouraged people from complaining to twitter. I am not overly sensitive and understand by being in public and articulating views publicly you must expect at least some measure of blowback. Were, I were overly sensitive I would just be agreeable like so many politicians are these days are. I also won’t retreat from public or begin calling everyone who disagrees with me idiots and disengage from specific topics like some other bloggers because of some criticisms.
When the account was reinstated this tweet came from the “parody.”
We are a parody account like so many on twitter. We do not engage in name calling or aggressive behavior.
— KARTIK K (@MLSSUCKS) August 9, 2013
So it seemed like perhaps this was just going to be good old fashioned internet 2.0 fun. The account had pledged not to engage in “name calling or aggressive behavior.”
That’s why it was particularly surprising yesterday after the United States improbable come from behind 4-3 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina (a side I have fancied for some time) the “parody” become an effort attack and then suddenly deleted itself. Among other things I was accused of subversion and compared to Bradley Manning.
Everyone knows @kkfla737 is simply a self-hating American who hates MLS and embraced the NASL to be more “international”
— KARTIK K (@MLSSUCKS) August 14, 2013
His return has dumbed down the level of discourse. He should be in jail for subversion not given a platform to pontificate undefined
— KARTIK K (@MLSSUCKS) August 14, 2013
If an American as @kkfla737 claims to be hates us and our league the way he does and they way he talks why is he not in jail like Manning?
The actual description of the Twitter was the following. Interestingly the person behind the account did not know me very well otherwise they would realize if anything I have been supportive of Major League Soccer even while working three and a half years for another complimentary entity in the United States/Canada.
— KARTIK K (@MLSSUCKS) August 14, 2013
KARTIK K
@MLSSUCKS
NASL over MLS , EPL over MLS, Spanish 5th division over MLS. I hate MLS but no nothing about soccer in reality. A total wanker. Parody account
Initially I thought the account may be good entertainment. I found this tweet particularly amusing because while I haven’t said quite this, I have often drawn the correlation between Jose Mourinho becoming one of the most famous football managers in the world and the goalkeeping gaffe by American Tim Howard that created the monster.
You dumb Yanks & MLS lovers do know that without Tim Howard, Jose Mourinho would be coaching in the Canary Islands or on Malta, right?
— KARTIK K (@MLSSUCKS) August 11, 2013
I am not sure if this now deleted twitter account is from Florida or someone associated with politics that may also be into soccer, but I suspect it just might be on both counts.
In any event the continued use of Twitter and blogs to bully people and mock others views is becoming unbearable throughout society. It is cowardly when people refuse to be public and put their names on things yet subject those who step out and take a stand to this sort of keyboard induced tongue lashing. Again, if you articulate your views publicly you must expect some degree of criticism but it should be by people willing to identify themselves and not hide behind alias’, fake twitter accounts and anonymous comments on blogs such as this.
The Florida Squeeze 
In all fairness, I did inform you that TPH was going to be taken down (before it was taken down), and you didn’t have any objections. If you did have an objection to it being taken down, by all means you should have said so, as you are one of a handful of people who I actually respect in Florida.
As far as moving it back to public, I feel that those who have been making nasty personal attacks on me, as well as going out of the way to create accounts on other sites and then saying it is my account, as well as dedicating websites purely to attack me, are the same people who I have seriously questioned, and FACTUALLY criticized, over the last few months. It would absolutely be unfair for me to take down my site while other sites continue to personally attack me.
I will keep The Political Hurricane public as long as the personal insulting profiles and sites (not parodies, as those are meant to be fun) are online. If those parodies go away, TPH will be put back to private mode, as, again, I have no interest in Florida politics whatsoever, so having TPH online isn’t an interest of mine. But until then, it will stay online. This public record of those who are doing the anonymous attacks is the ONLY reason that TPH is back online.
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So you said you’d take down yours if they took down theirs. You tweet they took theirs down. Then threaten legal action. I think you may be in a bit of a grey/bs zone their.
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You even said it yourself that yourself in public you have to expect some degree of criticism. I have zero sympathy for you and your maniacal view attacking Democrats when you should be supporting Democrats. Attacking our leader Charlie Crist when you should be supporting him as our potential nominee. Your band if socialist Ideological Nazis who demand that we tolerate everyone and everything including anti-American behavior but yet are intolerant of other views is ruining the Democratic Party. So you Trotter and all these other people deserve what you get, you deserve everything you get. I wish you would go away. I wish I deleted your blog just like trotter did. At least he had the good sense to realize he was flirting the Democratic Party. I asked you and your allies one last time do you want to win? If you do want to win stop attacking crest stop attacking our party stop pushing the left wing ideas down our throat and get on the train. Otherwise you haven’t seen anything yet buster.
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Shut up, Pazy.
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Our leader? What planet are you living on? You’re obviously a troll.
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Interestingly every single one of these instances I noticed have been Democrats attacking other Democrats. It seems there’s a band of so-called Democratic strategists in our party would rather not listen to you or to others and would like to keep their consulting business making money off of the party while we continue to lose elections. That is really what is at stake here. That is what is happening here. These people would rather us stay in the minority not control any offices as long as they make all their money and consulting fees. You know exactly who I am talking about Kartik they know you understand this situation and agree with me I am convinced. I just wish you would come out and publicly attack these consultants these people who are making a nice living getting rich off of continuing to lose elections executed to keep the Democratic Party down in this state. People creating fake twitter accounts. They masquerade as fundraisers as political strategist as operatives as general consultants as mail vendors. All they do is lose elections. You consistently make veiled references to them in your post which is stopping sensitive got them coming after you and Schrawder among others. Why don’t you just finally call them out use their names attached then go on the offensive against these people destroying the Democratic Party? You will be supported by the masses of Democrats in the state for calling them out.
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Wah wah
Maybe if you people were in the mainstream instead of the far left this wouldn’t happen.
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The folks above claiming that Kartik deserves any of the abuse he’s received because of his political beliefs are completely wrong and then some.
If someone wants to say “No Kartik, we need to keep nominating business-friendly moderates and recently converted RPOFers or else we won’t be able to raise any money” and present that publicly, on Twitter or a platform like TFS, they ought to do that. They won’t because they’re embarrassed to, for the reason Kartik alluded to: our positions here are based on our (often frustrating) experiences with the Florida Democratic apparatus — the beliefs, inasmuch as they even count as beliefs, of Kartik’s cowardly semi-stalkers are motivated by making sure they continue to get a check in the mail.
TFS has fast become widely read and discussed by Florida politics people, (clearly) even among Kartik’s opponents, because the views expressed here are honest and well-founded. There really isn’t an independent blog of similar scale for Charlie Crist Democrats because their motivations are cynical and their reasoning boring. Besides, if the Daryl Rousons and Allison Tants of the world were right after all, we’d have had Governor Bill McBride to look back on.
The anonymous intimidation of K. and others who want the Democratic party to be an instrument of populist power — the people who want the party to actually mean something and do something — makes Florida, and by extension the world, a meaner, narrower place.
Blue Dog and palm beach dem probably voted for Bill Nelson against Lawton Chiles in ’90 just like their intellectual forebears voted for Smathers over Pepper in ’50. There’s a name these days for people like that: Republican.
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