A Remedial Lesson in Internet Research for Michael McFaul

I responded to a typically smarmy Tweet from ex-US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul (@mcfaul), and this started a set-to that is so amusing that I have to share it.

Don’t bother looking for the conversation. You can see my half, but the brave Sir Robin McFaul deleted his Tweets. Gutless. But understandable, given how he fared. But (as the conversation demonstrates) Mr. McFaul is not exactly Internet savvy, and he didn’t count on the wonders of screencaps. So like a bad burrito, Mike, this conversation is going to come back up. Enjoy.

The smarmy Tweet was McFaul’s contribution to the attempt to distract attention from the DNC leak. He said (I can’t show it b/c he deleted it and since it is what I replied to it doesn’t show up in my Notifications) something to the effect that he hopes that our intelligence services are investigating Russian involvement in an attempt to influence the US election. Crucially, he said that he hoped that they would inform us of the outcome soon.

I replied:

He responded (smarmily):

I replied:

His retort:

Me:

But then McFaul lost interest in substance, and resorted to the ad hominem fallacy that has become so prominent in the Clintonoid response to embarrassing facts. Don’t argue the facts, raise questions about the person with the temerity to bring those facts to light.

“We professors.” LOL.

Here’s where it gets hilarious. He couldn’t figure it out!

Try it at home! I bet you can do it. I bet your three year old can do it. Maybe if you have a really smart cat.

Then he gets nasty and personal:

“I’m guessing the avatar isn’t you too?” Too funny! What was his first clue?

Finally, 20 minutes later–I kid you not!–he figures it out:

Don’t like me telling you to stick it, Mike? You got off easy. Try talking that smack to my face and see how it works out for you. And as for your “we at Stanford” snark: not impressed. More ad hominem, appeal to authority fallacies.

As a service to other Internet challenged geniuses who are dying to know my super-secret identity in two clicks, here is a step-by-step instruction.

First, click on the link to my blog in my Twitter bio:

Second, click on the “bio” link in the upper right hand corner:

And voila! You learn–I hope you are sitting down–that I am Craig Pirrong. Who knew?

Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the point man of US Russian policy 2012-2014.* Hillary, of course, was the architect of US Russian policy from 2009-2013. Should we be surprised what a total clusterfail it was?

Seriously, it is beyond rich that Hillary and McFaul and others who were involved in US foreign policy during that era shriek about how awful Putin and the Russians are today. They enabled it. Yes, Putin et al are who they are, but incompetent and feckless US policy–and policymakers–bear a large share of the blame for the dysfunctional state of US-Russia relations, and for emboldening Putin.

This is also exactly why I think people are nuts to conclude that Putin wants Trump in the White House. He has to be licking his chops at the prospect of a Hillary presidency. After all, who else than this would he want leading his primary adversary?:

A picture is worth 1000 words. Need I say more?

* More humor. The mainstream media drooled all over McFaul because of his use of Twitter. So techie of him! Oh, and by the way, his main accomplishment on Twitter as an ambassador was to provide the world with a stream of entertaining Russian Tweets trolling his idiocy.