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TechnoratiPolice Declare 'Mutilation' of McCain Worker in Pittsburgh a Hoax -- After Media Raise Doubts
NEW YORK - It had drawn wide local and
national--even political attention, with some of the candidates for
president/vice president weighing in or even calling -- but now the
story has fallen apart. Police in Pittsburgh have declared it all a
hoax and are charging the McCain worker at the center of the episode. 
It started yesterday afternoon with Matt Drudge
screaming at the top of his site in red type -- but no siren -- that a
Pittsburgh campaign worker for McCain, age 20, had been viciously
attacked and the letter "B" carved into her face, presumably by a
Barack Obama fan. Her name, it soon emerged, was Ashley Todd and she
had come to Pittsburgh from College Station, Texas, to help out.
It started to appear overblown (Drudge downgraded it
to smaller, black type) as the police noted that it seemed to be a
robbery ($60) and she did not seek medical attention. But later press
reports said she would visit a hospital, Sarah Palin and maybe John
McCain had called her and Obama camp had condemned, although
McCain/Obama angle to story not yet confirmed.
Still later, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin,
and some others, grew skeptical. For one thing, the "B" was carved a
little too lightly and perfectly -- and backward, as if done using a
mirror. Smoking Gun probed a too-pat "Twitter" angle and Gawker looked
at her MySpace page.
Then police said that evidence from the ATM that she
reportedly visited did not match her account. And then she changed her
story, admitting that her assailant did not see a McCain bumper sticker
on her assault, and adding to he account a sexual assault and losing
consciousness.
John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News,
commented on his blog that "this incident could become a watershed
event in the 11 days before the election. If Ms. Todd's allegations are
proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator
Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John
Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about
the Democratic nominee. If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator
McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to
race-baiting."
Now the Pittsburgh TV station KDKA reports: "Police
sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up
a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter 'B' in her face
after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.
"This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told
KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the
story. The commander added that Todd will face charges; but police have
not commented on what those charges will be."
For links and updates to our new blog:
The E&P Pub
106 Comments so far
Show AllA final technical point. The fact that the "B" is backwards certainly indicated it was likely self-inflicted, but it also indicates a mirror was NOT used. As any mathematician knows, mirror doesn't "reverse" an image, it merely translates it to the perspective of an second external viewer. If she had used a mirror, she would have scratched the "B" in the correct orientation.
And as a resident of neighborhood where this happened (Bloomfield) this unhinged Texas woman was also probably suffering a bit of culture shock. She was unlikely to find any republicans of any sort - unless one is referring to a "republican" of the sort that fought in Spain in the 1930's or Ireland in the 1920's. Bloomfield's Anthem is the Italian anarchist Partisan song "Bella Chao" (Chumabawamba version).
With McCain/Palin's numbers slipping, the NUT JOB'S within the GOP are taking centerstage with their unbrideled anger and desperate antics. Aside from the financial disaster the country is facing as a result the GOP notion of "TRICKLE" down economics, these NUT JOBS have let the truth out of the "closet" that their "Family Values" as christians are false!
THE WORST PERSON ---- IN THE-- WORLD!!
It is awful. This young lady is the modern version of Victoria Price or Ruby Bates. Good thing is, unlike years ago, "some Black man did it" does not always fly automatically. Remember the white man who killed his pregnant wife or the white woman who killed her kids and both tried to blame it on a Black man? They were found out.
Bearing false witness is no joke and should be punished, regardless of who does it against whom. People like Tawana Brawley or sports groupies with dollar signs in their eyes are not excused. Nor are those who encourage children to falsely report sexual abuse.
False accusations may not kill (although they can as in the case of Troy Davis) but they steal a person's reputation and peace of mind. It is also a discouraging factor for law enforcement. They have not always been attentive when women are actually raped or abused, unless they have a reason to dislike the man involved. False accusations may increase their cynicism and discourage them further from seeking the truth.
It is important to find out if anyone put her up to this. In any case she is both dangerous and pathetic and needs some combination of psychological help and jail time.
Joe
"Mordechai Shiblikov October 25th, 2008 3:23 pm
This is a wonderful comment that I really enjoyed reading. Stupidity is the chief ally of the Republicans. ..."
NOT that I'm Repub., for I've never been and certainly wouldn't plan on becoming one of them; but am also not a Demo., and one that provides an awful demo of what democracy really means. I'd never be a member of either! However, the above words of Mordechai apply equally to Dem. Party supporters; as much as to Repub. Party supporters. There's tragically little difference between them.
Notice how or the fact of the DP supporters and writers constantly OMITTING to focus on Barack Obama's campaign in terms of [foreign policy]! There's barely any mention of this from the DP supporters, who have been only working on trashing McCain-Palin and on Obama's claimed national policy plans, of which none of his supporters have any guarantees that he'll actually live up to, if elected to the presidency and which is virtually certain to happen; unless a wonderful day happens and both RP and DP LOSE with a [massive] switch to third-party candidates who alone can't correct the govt, but who are the most representative of [real] democracy, foreign policy, and so on.
Before calling others stupid it's a good idea to first examine oneself in the [mirror]; otherwise the person can be equally stupid and while this is obvious to others, but not the person accusing others without first taking the logs out of their own eyes.
But DP supporters are clearly illustrating that they truly do NOT care about foreign policies, so U.S. supreme international crimes. Forget their empty words when telling you that they seriously care about these crucial matters; instead, learn from their real actions! Words are regularly [empty], but actions are [concrete].
With that said, this nonsense-filled Ashley Todd perhaps feels very ashamed, embarrassed, ... about herself now; especially if this is her real name. She's applied a life sentencing to herself; a very negative reputation that I believe many enough people won't be quickly forgetting about. She might be so embarrassed that she may think of changing her name or her country of residence; if not both. But maybe she's spent too much time with mickey mouse at disney?.
Nietzsche
I smell McCain in here somewhere.
I get that stench too. All this talk about the Bradley effect. When the same methods are used to steal yet another election the story will be that Americans are so racist! They told the pollsters they would vote for a black person, but in the privacy of the voting booth they voted their racism. And we will believe it. The difference between the polls and the results will have been explained. It was racism and we will accept another stolen election.
Metal---Good comment.
Actually, no one benefitted from this, except maybe the Obama people. It was definitley not a 'plot'.
I just hope that when Obama continues the big wars and shifts to Afghanistan, and continues to support FISA and go along with the myth of the 'surge' that 'worked' and appoints Colin Powell and keeps Gates (which he is talking about doing) and continues to court AIPAC, and on and on, that the progressives who decided to vote for him (someone i think has many good qualities), do not go into cognitive dissonance mode and refuse to take to the streets any longer, and believe everything he does must be great, because they don't want to face reality. Way too high expectations here. Desperation. And almost a kind of racism in itself--multiracial MUST be better...
I will vote my conscious, be it Cynthia or Ralph,depending on how my state is going...
We can do without butter, but, despite all our love of peace, not without arms. One cannot shoot with butter, but with guns. -- Paul Joseph Goebbels
Democracy Now was evenhanded about this topic this week and covered a story about an Obama supporter who beat up a McCain supporter.
That said, the thing that disturbs me most about the Todd woman is how she comported herself according to the police. When she finally tearfully confessed she said she did it because she needed to tell the truth and she didn't understand why she had lied. I don't think this confession was made out of fear of the police because she is in more trouble now for confessing than if she had stuck to her original story.
She is from Texas and you have to have lived in the Confederacy of Dunces for years to fully grasp the depth of the indoctrination into fear, bigotry, seething hatred and conformity that have been achieved in these areas after 30 years of hard core fascist rant radio propaganda. Johnny-come-lately Fox "News"--with its special reports from places like Azizabad made by "journalists" like Oliver North--is just the psychotic frosting on many of these paranoid schizophrenic cupcakes.
An entire generation and a half have been raised up steeped in this think-tank refined toxin, often combined with apocalyptic fundamentalist "Christianity." It's a wonder hundreds of these deliberately destabilized working class people--mass victims of Republican top-down class warfare--don't make the news every day.
I don't think this young woman was hired to do this or ordered to do this. I think the campaign drumbeat of the Right-wing agenda beaters inflicted such desperation on her brainwashed, terrified mind that she felt compelled to do this. This was done out of fear, not cynicism. I hope, for her sake, that her experience confessing to the police and confronting, for her, the tearful mystery as to why she would behave in such an overboard manner will be the first step on a road to recovery.
I really do believe that the media-concentrated combination of neo-conservatism and "Christian" fundamentalism brewed up in this country since Rush Limbaugh first hit the AM airwaves probably does justify the label mental illness. It certainly has driven tens of millions to exhibit a form of mass psychosis in voting against and acting against their own interests in a sustained manner despite overwhelming factual evidence against their "belief system." That evidence confronts them every day now on enormous scales fraught with outrageously needless human suffering and yet a hardened core of some 50 million delusional Americans will vote McCain in two weeks. The fact that McCain is still within striking distance of Obama says it all. Contemporary Republicanism quintessentially drives its adherents to support the same egregiously failed policy "solutions" over and over again expecting different results--shouting the same empty slogans to the bitter end.
I was standing in line at the P.O. the other day behind an elderly white woman and we began talking about the economy. She told me she had just applied for food stamps for the first time in her life and wasn't sure how she was going to cover her gas bills for the winter. Then she querulously turned to me as asked, nervous with fear, "But what are we gonna do about that [n-word] getting into the White House?" I gazed at her in annoyance and replied, "Just how do you think McCain is going to tax cut his way out of another Depression by giving more tax cuts to the super rich? You better hope that black Democrat gets into the White House." One of the black female postal employees behind the counter overheard this and yelled out, "A-men to that!" to the laughter of her co-workers and the silent glares of many whites standing in line. Then the old woman I'd been talking to spoke up in a louder, equally fearful voice, "Well...I've been a supporter of the Democratic Party all my life." I've lived in the Deep South over 40 years and I still didn't know whether to believe her or not. That's the Deep South.
This is a wonderful comment that I really enjoyed reading. Stupidity is the chief ally of the Republicans. Money is their only god but in order to convince working people that letting rich people steal what they have is a good and patriotic thing, you really need to stroke and flatter their stupidity.
Thank you for your compliment. I enjoy reading many of your comments as well.
I often lose my cool and castigate the Republican rank & file for their stupidity, but when my blood pressure relents I try to remind myself of the meticulous research that goes into the "talking points" emanating from the Right-wing think tanks. Their thoroughly contrived ideology that truly serves only the interests of a tiny elite circulates throughout our society and frames the corporate "mainstream" media's manufactured consensus. The level of doctoral expertise that goes into this unending word storm is something even Joseph Goebbels lacked. The Nazis had natural talent as propagandists. But the expertly crafted terminology, phraseology, psychological trigger words and imagery coming from Amurka's Right-wing think tanks is the result of decades of well-funded psychological research into the nature of human psychology, advertising and public relations. They know how to play on the emotional strings and hot buttons of a certain large percentage of the population predisposed to such malign influence and over decades they have mastered this process into what we see today.
Their rank & file dupes are often intellectually lazy, lack critical thinking skills and have been socialized not to question authority, but all of us are susceptible to some of the psychological triggers their puppet masters press and the proof of that is in how widely the think tanks' catch phrases, sloganistic ideas and issue frames have permeated the "mainstream media," all political parties in the U.S. and the minds of many who would consider themselves very liberal and/or progressive. People toss off the word "collateral damage" to describe human and economic casualties interchangeably now to avoid real descriptions of the suffering. We are, here and around the world, now all the collateral damage of the super predator capitalists, their think tanks, their hired vermin in the media and the unctious follow-on herd of go along to get along "mainstream journalists."
A great post. Your response to the woman in the post office was so good. I think we all need to stop being afraid to speak up when we hear remarks like hers.
Actually, i read that this woman has been hospitalized before and those who know her say she has a history of mental problems.
I agree that i also thought that the Palin remarks may have been designed to trigger fear of Obama with the intention of creating, perhaps a hate crime against him. I don't, however think this particular story is a really big deal. The girl is obviously deeply troubled, and this fox newsish response --which i expect in coporate media, is not what i expect from CD. The venemous mockery is sooo Fox News.
I doubt that Noam Chomsky is writing and talking about this one...
Didn't Sainted Sarah exhort her followers to 'do anything to keep *that* man (Barrack Obama) from winning?
How long before one of the Republicans who yelled out 'Kill him!' actually tries?
Walk in peace.
Didn't Sainted Sarah exhort her followers to 'do anything to keep *that* man (Barrack Obama) from winning?
How long before one of the Republicans who yelled out 'Kill him!' actually tries?
Walk in peace.
This is not a 'young woman with emotional problems', she's a hate-filled racist bigot.
Can you imagine if a black girl had made up a similar story about a white male?
This has Karl Rove written all over it, a last ditch effort of the desperate McCain campaign.
Well, tetti- they have.
Brawley, Mangum, Rankins-White, Dunn (anti-semetic)all claimed white guys either attacked them or their property. All were hoaxes.
This young woman should be charged even if some of the above stated were not.
"This is not a 'young woman with emotional problems', she's a hate-filled racist bigot."
It's not "either/or." This young woman is a bigot with severe psychological problems...which is actually redundant. Bigotry IS a severe psychological problem.
Jeez, the kid apparently mutilated herself for love of McCain! And the media was all set to make her a heroine, perhaps just the attention she craved. How sick is all that? This country is in a baaad way.
Agree with the previous comment.
This is a horrible photo to plaster across the media...
A young woman with obvious emotional and mental problems goes off the deep end and suddenly the world is like the jerry springer show. We really are at an all time low.
I think Democracy Now is the only basian left for feeling one is not living in a media cesspool.
So every time someone does something they shouldn't, they have "emotional and mental problems?" Let's let everyone out of jails and prisons if that's the case.
She knew exactly what she was doing. Now she's claiming she doesn't remember the incident.......LOL......typical racist Republican, trying to blame it on a black man and expecting not to be held accountable for her actions.
She should have put an O on her face. That way she could not have gone wrong using a mirror.
Why is that "B" backwards? ... put on while looking in a mirror, perhaps?
What wonderful folk are inspired by McCrank.
LOL I get such a kick out of reading the flame wars between the progressives here and the 2 or 3 Rethuglican trolls. Just like all Rethugs, Samson/Liberty/Snowwolf/etc. only do it to get a rise out of you. Don't bother responding to their assinine posts, what a waste of calories. They will spend their energies as all right-wing fruit-loops do: calling progressives un-American, focusing on greed while ignoring greater society, and continuing to blindly believe that their mindless nationalism is actually patriotism.
Fortunately, the Rethuglican fascism machine is finally having to face what its 30+ years of poisonous, rancorous policies have done to America and its (average, non-rich) people, and thus the need for ridiculous stunts as described in this article, and the pathetic hate-filled campaign of its candidates. The chickens be coming home to roost, and its about damn time.
Samson, Liberty (ironic name, by the way), et al - go back to Hannity's site and blog there. Misery loves company.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."
Sinclair Lewis, "It Cant Happen Here", 1935
Samson is anti-Democrat, but I think he is a third-party supporter, Nader/McKinney, not a Republican troll.
Today I was walking my dog downtown and stuck my head in the door of the local McCain/Palin campaign headquarters. "How's the freak show coming?" I yelled.
Race Baiting: "The McCain campaign's denial raises more questions than it answers."
http://www.wilypython.net/Race%20Baiting%20McCain%20Palin.asp
The question is, or ought to be, "Who did beat this girl up?" and "Why would she try to cover up that fact with such a half-baked cockamamie story?" The most horrifying and exploitive angle is the McCain campaign staffer pushing the story to the media ahead of the criminal investigation.
Wow this is getting almost as loony as the last Jersey City mayor's race.
Did you read "sarahsarmy.blogspot.com"???
LOok at this "prophetic" threat on her website!!!
Edgar Cayce's Prediction
America’s first communist president is shot and killed in the Oval Office just weeks after his inauguration in 2009....
Uh.. if something DOES happen to Obama... can we round her up for questioning????
These folks are INSANE!!!
"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity" Horace Mann First President of Antioch College.
I realize that I got carried away by anger. My deep felt apologies. Usually I am not like that. I equally realize that I was not a shining example for my belief. The messages and stories that surface were plainly too much for me. It will not happen again, because that indeed makes me a hypocrite. I still have no explanation as of why I got carried away. Maybe it's because of starvation.
Anyway I would rather like to contribute in the known constructive ways. I realized that we are all in this together. It doesn't make any more sense to create division, where our focused attention is demanded. We are some 6.5 Billion people and not a single one is not in for it. While we try to blame each other we forget that this planet is not impressed by that. It takes every single human being to steer this ship into calmer water and by calm I am not talking about mirror finish. The sooner we start to go on to solve our troubles, the sooner we will see results.
There is no one man that can carry the burden of a whole Nation. We need either two Presidents, each from different parties, or none at all. Not a President and VP from the same party. Powers need to be shared on a larger basis.
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
Dear "itsjustkarma" - Private note to you (everyone else stop reading - haha) - I understand more than I can say. I dislike *blaming* my bipolar brain but I go off online and in public (that's always fun to explain away later), so my foot's in my mouth more than it's on the floor. Most of us on this site have tremendous passion and sometimes that passion carries us away with heated thoughts and words. You are exceptional and kind for what you wrote (above). Have a wonderful life. Wish we could all party together on November 5th!
~ Juliann (aka GIA Goddess of Interplanetary Alignment - the story that goes with that *handle* is hysterically funny! Wish this was the place to tell it.)
It's a full time job, learning to be mindful. No one's perfect. I also endeavor not to engage in polarization, but after a lifetime of indoctrination, one misses the mark at least occasionally.
We are learning, as a species. We might even not be too late!
Why the heck anyone---ANYONE---would vote for either Obama or McCain because of the way one small incident by an insignificant American who has no bearing on any major policy issue, or any issue for that matter, is beyond the absurd.
But then again, this is what the candidates, their handlers and their media followers and sycophants want the focus to be on: the trivial. The better that things can remain the way they are which is going to happen no matter which corporate candidate wins.
Barack Obama was for single payer before he came out against it.
Tom Edgar
This can only be a "B" for Bush. It's backwards.
Picked it for a hoax day one. Black eye with no swelling, no flushing of blood in the eye. Give it to the Police, they're not always as dumb as some would like to believe.
tomedgar@halenet.com.au
I'm in Pittsburgh, and I knew it was fake when I first saw the pic. I know a fake black eye when I see one. No swelling. They didn't know which hospital she was taken to.
It makes me really angry, but at the same time, it bodes well for a McCain loss. They're being exposed for what they are. I also have to wonder if she wasn't put up to it by someone. Maybe given some $$$$?
Ummm...I don't trust McCain...he's a rich old WASP.
He's not?
These McCain Palin fanatics are too much. As I got off the Ferry and was driving past Freeland, WA this evening, there was an intersection where as three corners were filled with Obama supporters. Actually four, but on one corner there was a few McCain and Palin supporters too. And they were out there together supporting their candidates. However, a little further down there was another crowd along a side street..... and there was a small group of each supporting their candidates. I sure did get an earful as we went by, as these McCain Palin supporters were yelling profanities at the others.
America is alive and well I see!
Coffeelover,,,,,,
The right wing media blow hards were initially ready to embrace the Todd hoax as mana from heaven (and in less sophisticated media age, say the beginning of Drudge's web site, would have run with it), but its' obvious clumsiness got caught before too much egg wound up on their face. Instead, we are "treated" to the desperation of right wing noise machine as it is about to be consigned to the political wilderness in much the same way their predecessors were in the wake of Watergate.
Is this evidence of the way that God Blesses America?
What it is evidence of is how sick America, 'The Greatest Nation In World History, Ha, Ha,' really is.
Time to clean up your act, folks. Time to clean out the cupboard, perhaps set up a new Constitution, one that works for the people of America rather than one that advantages the hustlers, the spivs and corrupt politicians!
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
www.dangerouscreation.com
May be Miss Todd can run for congress or the senate next time around along with Joe the Plummer. But don't be surprised if Miss Todd is flooded with offers of marriage. Everybody loves a famous person.
I hope everyone realizes that this girl needs professional help.
Who among us doesn't need help in these desperate times.
What about the thousands of fake christian right wing republicans whack jobs acting as community watch security in their neighborhoods committing cointel pro gang stalking torture.
Trust me , that's a whole lot of really sick bastards that need professional help.
At the pace these unemployed idiots are being recruited to commit warrant less surveillance atrocity's , professionals will have to develop a 12 step program to help these folks overcome the addiction of sadistic surveillance torture.
BronFreeMen
I have to admit, as an outsider looking in,your elections are very entertaining....
PK
Pretty soon a Republican plant like Joe Lieberman --- pretending to be a Democrat --- will beat himself/herself up in the face and accuse a Republican of doing it, then will confess he/she did it himself/herself. There's no end to Republican guile and dirty tricks........ROFL
So true!
How come so many of the Repukicans are either mentally ill or mentally unstable? Repukicanism IS a mental illness. No doubt about it.
No...wait...see...it IS a B...just look in the mirror! No...see...the guy was on top of me...I was facing DOWN and he had to use a MIRROR to scribe this on my face cause he couldn't see what he was doing. Where did he get the mirror from? Ahhhh...yeah...ahhh...it was mine...in my purse....I ALWAYS carry a mirror in my purse...so I can put B's....uhhh...I mean makeup on...don't you?
Perhaps the "B" inscribed on her face stands for "BUSH."
Or Bimbo.
“Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is the president of Fox News Channel and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group.”* It is well passed the time for him to be replaced. For too long we have put up with his shenanigans. We expect him to resign by the end of the year.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ailes
This has got to be the most inept Sideshow Bob of political hoaxes air'd for political gain since, "...and I voted against the bridge to nowhere."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/24/ashley-todd-story-pushed_n_137710.html
This is a country in which hundreds of black men have been lynched because a white women has yelled rape or assault. It's really an abominable 'prank' when you think about it. What in hell was Miss Todd thinking. I hope the thousands of racist hate mongers that reside in this country don't use it to murder black men (and women) or Arabs, or others that wear unusual head gear. Shame! I've always suspected that a black president wouldn't stand a chance of lasting out his term of office without being shot. Now I'm certain of it.
You are right.
Joe
Exactly!! This is a SICK SICK prank. I wish I were a lawyer because I'd love to prosecute her butt off.
Amazing how much milage Moody of Fox thought he could get out of this. That creeps me out more than Drudge. These people are desperate. Maybe they haven't got enough voting machines fixed to cover the increasing gap.
Considering the cost to the Obama family, and the election, had she not been so stupid and easily debunked, she for sure should pay. And I'd say the same about anyone, democrat or republican who perpetrates such a hoax, especially one that could have such far-reaching consequences - and I'm not speaking of just the election.
The backwards 'B' is kind of a give-away that she did it herself. Think about it: if you imagine, from your own point of view, drawing a 'B' on your face that is supposed to read from left-to-right, that is how you would do it. That is, if you were an idiot and didn't consider that you want the 'B' to read from left-to-right from the *observer's* point of view, not your own.
That struck me when I saw the photo. The only 'good' thing is that it seems to indicate she did this by herself and it wasn't a conspiracy of several people. In the latter case, you'd figure someone would have helped her with this and no mirror would have been involved.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
Did anyone else in the McCain campaign in Pittsburgh contribute to the hoax? Did she do this on her own, or did anyone else in the campaign suggest this to her? These sorts of questions could lead to charges against others.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
It might have been better to "carve" Obama's middle initial ... it's a much more ominous name to the fear-based community, and it looks just the same forward and backward!
And while I am at it: Matt Drudge = braindead fascist asshole. "Go fuck yourself."
(Apologies, but that's the only thing that comes to mind for this scumbag)
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
"braindead fascist asshole" - "go fuck yourself"
followed by .... "May all Beings be blessed."
I ask you, "itsjustkarma" - do you realize what a hypocrite you are?
Matt Drudge has VERY clearly got this story tagged as a hoax.
Why is he a scumbag, by the way? Does he tell lies? If so, can you name one?
Liberty- maybe you have reading comprehension problems which shape the world you see through your meager but self assured conservative lens.
In paragraph two, the article provides the information you are seeking.
"It started yesterday afternoon with Matt Drudge screaming at the top of his site in red type -- but no siren -- that a Pittsburgh campaign worker for McCain, age 20, had been viciously attacked and the letter "B" carved into her face, presumably by a Barack Obama fan. Her name, it soon emerged, was Ashley Todd and she had come to Pittsburgh from College Station, Texas, to help out."
(continuing)
"It started to appear overblown (Drudge downgraded it to smaller, black type)"
Liberty, if you are indeed experiencing reading comprehension problems, I would suggest placing your fingure on the screen, towards the left side where the sentence begins, and use your fingure to set a comfortable reading pace, from left to right, remembering that your goal is to understand the material before starting your flame war.
Is your Google in the shop or what, chief?
From The Guardian UK: "Two weeks ago, American presidential hopeful John Kerry was accused of having an affair with one of his interns by the rightwing internet gossip monger Matt Drudge..." An accusation that was completely false.
Go ahead, search "matt drudge lies" and enjoy the 100,000 hits - which, of course, are all from liberal anti-pro-American haters, but still.
Limbaugh never lies, either. Nor O'Reilly, or Malkin, or Coulter, or Frum, or Brooks, or Rove, or - who were those imminent WMD threat guys again... Bush? Cheney? Nope - the US doesn't torture, we don't illegally spy on fellow Americans without warrants, Brownie did a heckofajob, God picks the president, and the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
McCain/Palin 08!!!
Hilarious - if it wouldn't be so sad. That's what You get if You are standing in front of a mirror and prepping up 'support' for the guy You adore so much. The mugshot like picture is a perfect example of a MacKain follower. Did she wear something red? To call her mentally ill is a good excuse. All MacKain/'Plain' supporters are mentally ill. Not even to mention those who still believe that the repiglicon party is to be seriously considered to be fit to continue to govern this Nation.
What goes around comes around.
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
"All MacKain/'Plain' supporters are mentally ill"
Amazing to watch some of the Democrats go into complete stupidity and incoherence as the election draws closer. And that their entire campaign seems based on throwing insults at the opposition.
Why don't they talk about the war? Oops, I forgot, Bush will get us out of Iraq faster than anything Obama has proposed. I guess that's why all the Democrats have is stupid insults.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
Okay, so you hate Democrats including Obama and don't want him to win. Just go ahead and vote for your choice McCain and quit pretending to be neutral. It's gotten tiresome.
Old Hippy
Wouldn't surprise me at all if Ashley was hired by the repugs to exactly what she did. It's damn hard to get good inteligent help now adays.
It'd be the other way around. Hired by Obama. If she was hired by the rethugs the hoax would not have been so obvious. If she was hired by Obama would make more sense. McCain is intently throwing the election anyhow. Most likely she was hired simply by financial dominance as rethugs demonrats are two faces on the same predatory murderous financially dominant scam. She's infotainment. She's acting like she's greatly distressed in front of the camera now. Which doesn't fit the attention seeker profile. There's nearly no chance she's just a very stupid kid trying to help McCain, nor a crazy kid just trying to get in the spotlight. Hired by the financially dominant to polarize African American voters. The media is reporting the race is tight, which it's not, Obama has a landslide victory ahead of him. But if people think it's close then they'll vote Obama rather than 3rd party. Obama btw was born in Kenya and isn't even eligible to be president.
rocyahsoul@yahoo.com
www.lamegame.name
Daniel Vincent Kelley
this story is complete rubbish.
you are not a person
Maybe Leonardo (da Vinci) carved the "B".
Typical conservative strategy... attack yourself for political gain.
Oh, and Matt Drudge is a gullible imbecile.
Hmmm, Tawana Brawley, Crystal Gayle Mangum, and the crazy professor in Los Angeles were Conservatives? Since when?
troll
Why? For pointing out that these sorts of frauds are not always limited to conservatives?
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
Are you saying they ARE conservative?
Whine, troll, whine...
In a way, this crazy self-mutilating woman, Ashley Todd, is the karmic counterbalance to McCain's use of Joe Wurzelbacher (Joe the plumber).
Just as unwarranted exploitation of a single, irrelevant person (Joe the plumber) was used by McCain in an attempt to boost his image, so will the actions of this equally irrelevant, probably mentally ill, individual end up harming McCain's image.
Ironically, both of these irrelevant individuals would benefit more under Obama than they would under McCain: Joe would have lower taxes, and Ashley Todd would be more likely to have access to the mental health care she needs.
Wow, so now the Democrats call the citizens of the US 'irrelevant'.
I'm not surprised. That's been obvious in the actions of the Democrats for quite sometime. But its a bit shocking to see it stated so clearly.
For the Democrats, just like for the Republicans, the only thing that really matters is their campaigns, and that they 'win'. Whether this translates to anything good for the citizens of the country is obviously 'irrelevant'. That's been obvious for some time, like when the Democrats voted to authorize the war in 2002 saying they did so to 'take the issue off the table' for that years campaigns. In other words, they helped start the Iraq war just because they thought it would help them 'win'.
But still, its striking to here the Democrats say it directly like this. Truly amazing in a country that's supposed to be a democracy.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
Hey, those of us not wallowing in millions have been irrelevant for some time. It doesn't matter what political party we happen to belong to. We're only noticed, en- mass, when they want our vote.
It's too bad for John McCain that Joe is not a licensed plumber in Ohio. The company he says he's trying to purchase is not worth $250,000. Joe is not registered to vote in Ohio. His first name isn't even Joe. It's all illusion which is what McCain has been trying to sell us since the Republican Convention ended.
Gotta love the backwards B! What a freaking moron! Even rabid right wing dog Michelle Malkin disputed the validity of this idiot's hoax!
Hopefully this disgusting piece of crap will have the full weight of the law descend upon her now.
I read a number of comments below attacking Republicans for believing her. Three words:
CRYSTAL GAYLE MANGUM
and the Duke University case. If you attack the morons who believed this human slime, do you also attack the human filth who facilitated Crystal Gayle Mangum's horrendous lies?
An obvious and good rule in all of these cases is to be sceptical until the facts are truly known.
Especially when the known liars that surround both Democrat and Republican campaigns are involved.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
I am from Pittsburgh and I thought it looked fishy from the start. To their credit, our local MSM also called it an alleged attack from the start and suggested it might not be true.
I must hurry and catch up with the others for I am their leader
Any reputable media would use the word 'alleged'. Or, at least I'm old enough to remember when that was the case. Ideally they would do so up until the facts of the case are proven in a court of law.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
Except for Sid Vicious, who never stood trial for the alleged murder of Nancy.
i've never read such drivel in my life..............
It's drivel until we realize that this is what some of the media is putting out as news. That, is not drivel.
"It is not true that it's one damn thing after another - it's one damn thing over and over." Edna St. Vincent Millay
Just the latest in a long line of McCain campaign related hoaxes. They've really nothing else to run on. What's next?