So let's cut him a break and focus on what should be the absolute simplest aspect of "Ron Polarik": his name.
First off, "Polarik" did not exist before June 2008. On June 13, 2008, his first post was made to the Townhall blog he set up, The Greater Evil.
He has a one-sentence biography at Townhall: "I have studied the Arab-Israeli conflict for 30 years." Strangely, I've never seen "Polarik" mention this bit of alleged expertise anywhere else.
"Polarik" created a Yahoo account on June 16, 2008.
"Polarik" then created a FreeRepublic account on June 22, 2008. His 'About' page states "The first (and only) authority on the Hawaiian Certification of Live Birth."
There was also a "Polarik" who posted a blog comment on June 9, 2008, on the subject of gun control. Interestingly, the post takes a pro-gun control position.
During those first several weeks, he was only "Polarik." Not "Ron Polarik". Not "Dr. Polarik." Not "Dr. Ron Polarik, PhD." Just one name, like Bjork, or Liberace.
Then, on August 10, 2008, he signed a TechDude-related apology as "Ron Polarik." I believe that's the first time he gained a first name.
Two days later, the newly christened "Ron Polarik" had a few words about the nature of his name:
"Take it from someone who has also been harassed by Obama supporters, that writing under a screen name may be the only thing that saves your ass from these insane Obamanites.
Those who criticize other people for using a screen nickname instead of their actual name need to crawl back under the rock that's been on their heads since the Internet first became a social network.
Good gosh, without pseudonyms, people would have online handles like johnsmith2004387, and who has to spend all day deleting his SPAM mailbox of emails for the other two million John Smiths in the world.
My take on some of these bloggers that I know who use their real names is that they are such egotistical narcissists that they get off anytime others write to them, using their real names.
Having THEIR blog referenced by another, more well-known blogger is simply nirvana to them."
If we hadn't known already, here we essentially have a confession that he uses a pseudonym.
September 6, 2008 was, of course, the first time he declared that he had a previously-unmentioned doctorate. After this, the "Dr." and "PhD" started appearing alongside his name often. Especially after he shared that he had a second previously-unmentioned doctorate. For instance, his Final Report has "Ron Polarik, PhD" prominently displayed at the top.
October 25, 2008:
"She still does not get it that Ron Polarik is a real name, NOT a screen name,"
So it's not a pseudonym. That is, until it was again when he offered up an origin for his internet handle on October 30, 2008:
"My first name is Ronald. Polarik is my father's last name and also is my 'screen name.'"
Yet, higher up in the same post:
"She still doesn't get that Polarik is a real name, not a screen name."
So "Polarik" manages to simultaneously claim that "Polarik" is a screen name and NOT a screen name. Let's not even bother with the inconsistency of his claim from five days earlier that "Ron Polarik" was a real name.
As I pointed out in my post on "Polarik"s credentials, his own claimed resume necessarily puts his age in the mid-sixties or early-seventies, at the least. This would put his father upwards of 80. The Social Security Death Index reports a grand total of ZERO persons with the surname "Polarik." RootsWeb WorldConnect, a user-submitted genealogy database, also has zero "Polarik"s.
In his pixel-faced YouTube video on November 25, 2008, he shared why he was concealing his identity:
"I’m concealing my identity because I have received threats from people who are loyal to Obama and who don’t want the truth to be known"
Contrast that explanation with the explanation given in his anonymous Declaration in December:
"I am submitting this opinion anonymously because I work for a government contractor and need to remain anonymous in order to keep my employer free from any ramifications due to presenting this opinion. In addition, my family needs the opinion to be anonymous due to the nature of my work."
On November 29:
"Ron is my real first name, and Polarik is what I got from my Father's real last name. I don't sign sworn and witnessed TWO Affidavits if I am a fraud or don't exist."
This could just be a matter of phrasing, but whereas "Polarik" was previously "my father's last name," now it's "what I got from my Father's real last name." That's not quite the same thing. One implies that "Polarik" is his father's actual surname, the other suggests that it's only a derivative of the actual surname. The second is the more plausible, if only because actual people named "Polarik" seem to be in short supply.
Also, despite his claim of having signed two sworn and witnessed Affidavits, a grand total of ZERO signed and witnessed Affidavits have actually been produced for anyone to see.
"I don't sign two affidavits if I'm a fraud."
"What affidavits are you talking about? Where are these affidavits?"
"Sorry. Can't say."
By December 18, 2008, he had taken to signing his posts "Ron Polarik, PhD, MS." He also included this:
""Anonymous pseudonym" is an oxymoron, and given that my name, Dr. Ron Polarik, is known around the world, I am hardly "anonymous." Krawetz uses the term, pseudonym, as a pejorative to imply that I am a "fraud." The truth is that "Dr. Ron Polarik" is the first person to blow the whistle on Obama and Factcheck"
For someone who had previously called bloggers who use their real names "egotistical narcissists" who experience nirvana when their name gets cited on the web, "Polarik" seems awfully proud of his name-recognition here.
Nothing much happens for a few months, and then "Polarik" goes and does a complete 180 on the story behind his name on April 4, 2009 (bolding mine):
"I never said that Polarik was a pseudonym. My critics and detractors did,"
Apparently, all those times he did say that "Polarik" was a pseudonym simply don't count. Like the time he said it again, twelve days later:
"For kicks, I did a search of "Polarik" on the Daily Kos website, and the only things it turned up were two comments of about ten words each -- one, in Dec 2008, by Corvo (whom I believe is actually Jay McKinnon) noting my apparent anonymity and use of a pseudonym (which, presumably, no one else does on the Internet)"
So to recap, "Polarik" is an internet handle that first appeared online for the explicit purpose of perpetuating the Birther theories, and the name "Polarik" is, alternatively,
1) his father's real last name,
2) derived from his father's last name,
3) a pseudonym, or
4) definitely not a pseudonym and any claims that it is a pseudonym is a lie by his critics.
No comments:
Post a Comment