Capitol Chaos: Walker's Prank Caller's Profile
MADISON - With a single call to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, he hijacked a news cycle and captured the nation's attention, immediately thrusting himself into one of the fiercest battles in state history.
Ian Murphy, a self-described gonzo journalist and editor-in-chief of BuffaloBeast.com, posed as billionaire campaign donor David Koch and spoke to Governor Walker for more than 20 minutes on Tuesday.
By Wednesday afternoon, the recording of their conversation was all over the internet and news outlets both local and national.
A review of Murphy's recent writings for Buffalo Beast reveals apparently strong feelings about Koch and his brother, Charles, as Murphy ranked them second in the Buffalo Beast's annual "50 Most Loathsome Americans" list in January.
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The most loathsome American last year? You.
"Your brain’s been cobbled together over millions of years of blind evolution and it shows," Murphy explains. "You’re clumsy, stupid, weak and motivated by the basest of urges."
"You wear your ignorance like a badge of honor and gleefully submit to oppression, malfeasance and kleptocracy."
"You believe in American exceptionalism despite the contrary, compelling and overwhelming evidence. You tacitly partake in all manner of atrocity without batting a lash. You’re actively participating in our species’ extinction and you’re either in denial or you just don’t give a shit."
Murphy also facetiously awarded the Koch brothers the "Evil Twin Awards" in a December column called "5 Awards For the World's Most Heinous Climate Villains."
"Koch business operations include coal mining, stealing oil from Indian reservations, pipelines and refineries for Canadian Tar Sands oil, and formaldehyde soaked wood from clearcuts," notes Murphy. "Wherever there's filth and destruction the boys are on it, like hound dogs rolling in bear shit."
Murphy, a native of Buffalo, NY, is certainly no stranger to controversy. In early 2008, he touched off an online firestorm with a Buffalo Beast essay entitled "F*** the Troops."
"So, 4000 rubes are dead," the piece began. "Cry me the Tigris. Another 30,000 have been seriously wounded. Boo f***ing hoo. They got what they asked for—and cool robotic limbs, too."
"Likely, just reading the above paragraph made you uncomfortable. But why?"
"The benevolence of America’s 'troops' is sacrosanct," Murphy continued. "Questioning their rectitude simply isn’t done. It’s the forbidden zone. We may rail against this tragic war, but our soldiers are lauded by all as saints. Why? They volunteered to partake in this savage idiocy, and for this they deserve our utmost respect? I think not."
In 2007, Murphy titled a post detailing a visit to the creation museum in Hebron, KY "Let There Be Retards."
"Are this man [creation museum founder Ken Ham] and his museum fossilized relics of our subconsciously inclined, mythological leaning past," Murphy asked at the end of his article, "or a signpost on the highway of history: 'Caution: slow people worshiping ahead?'"
For a complete archive of Murphy's Buffalo Beast writings, Click Here.
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