Sunday, June 21, 2009

Erik von Brunn,

If you put ["Erik von Brunn" statement to abc] into Google, you'll find "it" on top of a good list---but what "it" is, is strange in every way.
Alleged Museum Shooter's Son Slams Dad's 'Cowardice' - ABC News

Perfectly straightforward on the surface, ABC News hosts what it calls, "Statement by Erik von Brunn, Son of Accused Holocaust Museum Shooter Issues Statement Concerning His Father June 12, 2009," without telling us how the news organization happened upon it.

The Associated Press reported the younger Mr. Brunn was interviewed for a Washington Post article from his mother's house in Homosassa, Fla.---going on to quote her, Pat Sadowski, as saying, "her son was not home and was unavailable for further comment."

Since the AP article also said that Erik was "an aspiring teacher and fiction writer who recently graduated from the University of Maryland," he sounds young enough to still be living in her home. When she actually spoke for him, saying he would have no further comment, I also wondered if maybe she wasn't responsible for routing the document.

Since the only editorial comment ABC appended to the communication reads,
"Following is a statement by Erik von Brunn, a son of James von Brunn, the 88-year-old man accused of a shooting attack at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.:"
I wondered if by its arms-length distancing, and lack of context, who ABC was intending to benefit journalism, or the family?

The "aspiring fiction writer" reference is also troubling, because I've never encountered a tone such as the one found here. Looking at it from any level you can think of---the psychological, spiritual, emotional, interpersonal, political, egoistic, or just its plain public-relations value, the message has about as much credibility and meaning as something penned in Elizabethan English would.

Sticking with the ABC angle for a moment---on the document's web page were 25 comments left from June 12--20 in response to the statement. There, an almost total uniformity of sensibility and outlook is so striking, I felt I'd stumbled upon a reunion of the Stepford family, with the opinions and agenda so honed Karen Hughes could have written it herself.

One exception with an air of authenticity is the posting by a Dalton Lewis, and since he is immediately followed by two lengthy responses directed personally at him, the structure of how operative communications can flood and dominate any genuine discussion or arising exchange on the internet becomes very clear.

What a boring job this must be! No wonder they call them "covert" intelligence agencies and assets!

One other posting stands out. Obviously by an operative on task, "DarthVain" indulges himself in a little mental play nonetheless. This is a risky business, and why they always tell you in psy-op school to stick to the script Darth
"A well written piece. However considering the topic was basically his Nazi father, and with a name like "Erik von Brunn" perhaps using the word "blitzkrieg" may not have been very appropriate. However other than that tiny lapse in judgment it sounds like he said the right thing."
Touché DV---but since Brunn also used the word "appeasement" in the piece, I think the lapse in judgment may be yours, and it isn't tiny!

I'll let the internal evidence within the statement speak for itself. It doesn't bare analyzing. The bottom line is, it lays it on thick when making the case Brunn was a Nazi.

The rest of the Google list below the primary document consists mostly of low-brow blog references---much of it the kind of apparently paid "smalled talk" whose heyday has passed. One item I checked out was this June 14th board-posting on craigslist> Manhattan> politics
thread

Erik von Brunn: NOTHING like his hate filled father. Erik von Brunn sent the following statement to ABC News. Statement by Erik von Brunn Son of Accused Holocaust Shooter Issues Statement Concerning His Father...
newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/pol/1219835667.html

The page I got back was unusual I thought:
This posting has expired. (The title on the listings page will be removed in just a few minutes.)
So I took the page's IP address and put it through archive.org, and got back the dreaded

Robots.txt Query Exclusion.!
We're sorry, access to http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewyork.craigslist.org%2Fmnh%2Fpol%2F1219835667.html&ei=2Og9SpyfEdyLtgflxMQB&usg=AFQjCNE1GfnNknFxRe7bRcU7IrOgzN_6GA&sig2=PMwrhvbnHAH9fUdk68uacA has been blocked by the site owner via robots.txt.
Now, even I know this isn't kosher. craiglist could clean up its server (leaving only eight days archived?) and this could lead me to a dead link---but shadow copies and caches are a different thing entirely. A robots.txt query exclusion means a site- or page owner is taking a deliberate step to hide something that normally should be there. It looks guilty, I think. The Washington Post does it all the time. Well, they all do.

1 comment:

  1. Rather than attempt to explain to you the circumstances involving my statement to the press and other issues with which you seem to have difficulty understanding via your blog, I suggest you contact me via email at evbrunn@yahoo.com. Use something recognizable in the subject line like "confused blogger with unfounded opinions seeking knowledge" so that I know to respond accordingly.


    Best,
    Erik von Brunn

    ReplyDelete