DU claims: Andy Stephenson has died

Democratic Underground | 7/8/05 | DUmmie flyarm

[Politicalities]

Source URL here

our Andy lost his fight tonight at 9:27 pacific time

Ted asked me to tell you all..

ANDY SAID TODAY " I WANT TO LIVE ".....and he will in all of us.

[Politicalities]

DUmmies are famous for jumping the gun: Ra^thergate, Al Qaqaa, exit polls, "I BELIEEEEVE!", Jeff Gannon, Valerie Plame, Downing Street Minutes, etc. This is not a good quality to have, and we should be cautious about falling into such a trap ourselves.

I counseled caution when the "Scamdy" stories started breaking. Was it possible the whole thing was a fraud? Yes, certainly. Had the whole thing been proven to be a fraud? Certainly not. We didn't have enough evidence to say with a high enough degree of confidence that the DUmmies had fallen for yet another sucker bet, and I tried to tell a few people that. This didn't stop a huge number of FReepers from openly asserting certainty that Stephenson was a scammer. And now, apparently, he's dead. Assuming that's true (there's no obituary in the paper yet, but this is fairly new), it kind of makes those who jumped the gun look a little foolish, not to mention petty and heartless. May a lesson be learned.

[cripplecreek]

Don't know don't care.

[Incorrigible]

Oh my!

[Space Wrangler]

Hmmmm. Another scam to escape the coming wrath? Or was his illness real and he and his cohorts just decided to be really shifty about the money and facts for no reason?

[trisham]

We didn't have enough evidence to say with a high enough degree of confidence that the DUmmies had fallen for yet another sucker bet, and I tried to tell a few people that. This didn't stop a huge number of FReepers from openly asserting certainty that Stephenson was a scammer. And now, apparently, he's dead. Assuming that's true (there's no obituary in the paper yet, but this is fairly new), it kind of makes those who jumped the gun look a little foolish, not to mention petty and heartless. May a lesson be learned.

*************

Perhaps the lesson should be learned at DU as well:

BuffyTheFundieSlayer (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-08-05 04:03 AM

Response to Original message

57. I'm so sorry to hear that I never had a chance to cyber-meet him, having joined after he left for his surgery but I know he was well loved here. I know he will be missed.

Note to any lurking freepers: F*ck off!

[OldSmaj]

And now, apparently, he's dead.

Well, I've tried to imagine a scenario wherein I would or should give a rat's patootie about any of this, especially since no one got any of my money in the deal.

The idiots and mouth-breathers at DU will find something to piss and moan about, regardless of the situation.

I say ignore them, one and all, let them mourn this person, let them blame us, Bush or anyone else they desire.

Bottom line is this:

They don't count, their silly little grievances don't count, the whole bunch of them are irrelevant and if it gives them some sort of solace to grieve for this...whoever...Andy person or whatever, then so be it.

Now let's move on.

Without that bunch of pox-ridden, inbred, malicious bunch of idiots to worry about.

[MadIvan]

It may be true. It may not be true. The prudent course of action is to ignore it, as at the moment we cannot know either way.

Regards, Ivan

[HairOfTheDog]

May a lesson be learned.

Indeed. The threads by the DUmmie Funnies junior detective league trying to find out all Andy's personal business were nothing less than mean spirited and juvenile. PJ-Comix should ask that they all be deleted if he'd like to save face for the forum.

[Cyclops08]

OK, so I'm mean spirited. The whole thing was fishy, and I'm not sure I believe this either.

My sister died of pancreatic cancer. I know what happens.

Frankly I'm of the opinion that Andy is making a run for the money, and his "death" is a ruse.

[Politicalities]

Perhaps the lesson should be learned at DU as well:

Of course it should be. The DUmmies have dozens or hundreds of lessons they should learn, and have little hope of ever doing so. That's not the point. The point is that we're the good guys. We're supposed to be better than they are. If a group of FReepers gets blinded by politics and attacks a sick, dying man, it's no defense to say, "well, the DUmmies are worse." Of course they're worse. We're better. Or should be.

[nonkultur]

"Or was his illness real and he and his cohorts just decided to be really shifty about the money and facts for no reason?"

That is what confuses me. I never doubted he was sick. Is the fundraiser's shiftyness so much a part of their nature that they can't be straightforward and honest?

[trisham]

Of course they're worse. We're better. Or should be.

***************

I think we already are. Can we improve? Yes.

[Politicalities]

I think we already are. Can we improve? Yes.

Absolutely, I agree. The point is that it doesn't matter how bad they are... we should strive to be the best we can be, and not worry about them. That means, among other things, that when there's suspicion that somebody has committed a crime, don't assume his guilt simply because of his political affiliation. That's what they do, you know. Whenever anyone posts the most outlandish accusations about a Republican, the replies immediately fill up with eager beavers rushing to break their necks when it becomes obvious that the allegations are groundless. It makes them look like idiots.

There's a cautionary tale in this. Even brain-dead morons like the DUmmies have their uses... as examples of how not to act. A whole lot of people smugly declared that Andy was a scammer on insufficient evidence. They were clearly influenced by political matters; I doubt they'd treat a conservative's plea for funds to treat his cancer the same way. To any of you who happen to read this, I'm sorry to have to say it, but: you acted like DUmmies. Learn from the error.

[trisham]

There's a cautionary tale in this. Even brain-dead morons like the DUmmies have their uses... as examples of how not to act.

******************

Good point. :)

[Politicalities]

Frankly I'm of the opinion that Andy is making a run for the money, and his "death" is a ruse.

And this is an example of what I'm talking about.

There's $50,000 involved here. That's a largish sum, but it's nowhere near enough to prompt most people to abandon their entire lives, assume an alias, and live as a fugitive.

You may be "of the opinion" that this is a ruse, but your opinion is ill-informed and is clearly the result of partisan bias. You're not supposed to assume people guilty of heinous crimes without a very strong collection of evidence, and you don't have it.

Note that I'm not saying this isn't a ruse. It may be. But I doubt it, and I certainly don't have enough proof to declare it a fraud. Neither do you.

[CharlieOK1]

agreed Hair. I was thinking this was going to somehow bite us in the ass. Not to say I wasnt suspicious, but it just seemed people were obsessed with the whole situation.

[RabidBartender]

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0527/050706_news_andy.php

This is from a few days back, it claims he was in the hospital on 5 July. Then again, it is a Seattle-based newspaper, which tends to sacrifice facts in the name of emotion.

If reports of his demise are not exaggerated, I'm certain we'll see an obituary in Seattle's daily paper or this one in due course.

[Politicalities]

Then again, it is a Seattle-based newspaper

Technically, it's the Seattle Weekly, which is a tabloid, not a newspaper. If the Weekly announced that the sun would rise in the morning, I'd pack a flashlight.

Like I said, I have my suspicions, but they don't rise to the level of proof. What I'm keeping my eye out for is a memorial service. You'd think that after hundreds of strangers selflessly scraped up $50,000 in an ultimately-futile attempt to save Stephenson's life, his survivors would have some sort of public memorial to allow the anonymous benefactors to pay their final respects.

[subterfuge]

Are you sure this isn't about Andy Kaufman?

[Dashing Dasher]

This is gonna be fun to watch.