5 ms·

I've seen Popehat around, and in my mind I associate them with a partisan or at least ideological point-of-view. Is that fair? Who are they?

Danihan 9y ago
They are libertarian so they generally align with more conservative / right viewpoints. That being said, they seem to be fairly unbiased, in my view.
- Natsu 9y ago
  There are multiple authors there, actually. One of the more libertarian ones split off a while back. Ken is more liberal. They generally stick to the facts and avoid ideology in most articles. This one is a pretty neutral explanation of the grand jury process that I think is quite informative for most people.
- throwaway2016a 9y ago
  > They are libertarian so they generally align with more conservative / right viewpoints. Please don't spread misinformation about Liberarians. Libertarians align with conservative views on economics / taxes / welfare but for things like immigration and human rights Libertarians on a whole are left of center. To categorize Libertarians as conservative / right is overly simplistic. Notable examples, Libertarians are anti-prohibition and pro gay rights (in general, there are exceptions to every rule). Edit: bring on the down votes. If one person has their views corrected about what Libertarians stand for It'll be worth it.
  - Danihan 9y ago
    I said lowercase l, not capital L libertarian. I wasn't referring to the Libertarian Party proper, as you seem to be. Considering that the only well-known, self-identified libertarian-esqe political figures in the US are Ron Paul and Rand Paul, and both are prominently Republican, I don't believe identifying libertarians as leaning more conservative is incorrect, nor spreading misinformation.
    - throwaway2016a 9y ago
      Ok... fair enough, I'll buy that. I stand corrected. I was not aware of a difference between lower case l and upper case though and I imagine many readers might not either and will take what you said to apply to all of them. Though I do think your assumption that because the Republican party has more openly libertarian party members than the democrats that means that more libertarians lean right. It could also mean that the Republican party is where libertarian leaning people see themselves as having more of a chance of success were they to need to choose one or the other. I think a libertarian in the Democratic party wouldn't get very far. Also, I used to like Ron Paul (even switched to Republican to vote for him in the primary) but the more I listen to some of the things he says now, he is no libertarian. His son even less so.
      - Danihan 9y ago
        What does Rand Paul say that doesn't strike you as libertarian, out of curiosity?
        throwaway2016a 9y ago
        On the following issues that the Libertarians are at odds with the Republicans he sided with the Republicans and/or said it is a States right's issues rather than take a stand: marijuana legalization, LGBT rights, military spending, and foreign policy in general.* I've heard some people argue, "well at least his is more Libertarian than the other Senators" which is true but you can't cherry pick who gets freedom and who gets thrown in jail or their country invaded instead. * He also is pro-life which I didn't list here because I know Libertarian's on both sides of that fence.
        moomin 9y ago
        Rand Paul strikes me as someone who says a bunch of stuff he doesn’t necessarily agree with in order to get taken seriously by the GOP. Judas Iscariot cut a better deal.
Natsu 9y ago
More info can be found on their about page: https://www.popehat.com/about/ https://www.popehat.com/about/ Most of the articles are from Ken, who is an expert on first amendment issues as well as a former assistant US attorney. You can find more info about him here: http://mimesislaw.com/fault-lines/cross-ken-white-the-man-beneath-the-popehat/4498 http://mimesislaw.com/fault-lines/cross-ken-white-the-man-be...
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  The other major author is Patrick Non-White (Obvious pseudonym). Others are listed at https://www.popehat.com/author/ https://www.popehat.com/author/ though most haven't been active in years. For example Clark split off to https://status451.com/ https://status451.com/ a while back when his views got too extreme for the rest.
gumby 9y ago
"they" is one guy, Ken White, a former federal prosecutor. If he can be said to have a partisan/ideological PoV I would call it "mildly libertarian" but as a non-libertarian myself I read him avidly and don't consider him partisan.
- ZeroGravitas 9y ago
  I believe there are (or were?) other authors, I remember one in particular seeming a bit more extreme in his views (though nothing totally crazy by current political standards) while Ken seemed a bit more reasonable.
gknoy 9y ago
Ken blogs about Legal Things. We probably know of him from his "seriously, shut up!" post about talking to police/investigators, or his chronicling of the (karmatically satisfying) downfall of the people who would post their own porn torrents and then sue/blackmail people who torrented them. (If I recall right?) He also spent a long time writing about various legal scams, chronicling the story as they happen (e.g. a mail fraud scam that he called out in 2011 and has been writing about for six years), with digestible non-lawyer-accessible explanations of things that are important or not-as-non-lawyers-might-expect. I'm sure he has a bias, politically or ideologically, but I'm not sure I could articulate what it is. I like reading just about everything he writes.
- heartbreak 9y ago
  Popehat remarked in his Papadopouslos Lawsplainer [0] today that had Papadopoulos not talked to the FBI back in January, he wouldn't be in the position he's in now. [0] https://www.popehat.com/2017/10/30/lawsplainer-the-george-papadopoulos-guilty-plea/ https://www.popehat.com/2017/10/30/lawsplainer-the-george-pa...

Danihan 9y ago

They are libertarian so they generally align with more conservative / right viewpoints. That being said, they seem to be fairly unbiased, in my view.

Natsu 9y ago
There are multiple authors there, actually. One of the more libertarian ones split off a while back. Ken is more liberal. They generally stick to the facts and avoid ideology in most articles. This one is a pretty neutral explanation of the grand jury process that I think is quite informative for most people.
throwaway2016a 9y ago
> They are libertarian so they generally align with more conservative / right viewpoints. Please don't spread misinformation about Liberarians. Libertarians align with conservative views on economics / taxes / welfare but for things like immigration and human rights Libertarians on a whole are left of center. To categorize Libertarians as conservative / right is overly simplistic. Notable examples, Libertarians are anti-prohibition and pro gay rights (in general, there are exceptions to every rule). Edit: bring on the down votes. If one person has their views corrected about what Libertarians stand for It'll be worth it.
- Danihan 9y ago
  I said lowercase l, not capital L libertarian. I wasn't referring to the Libertarian Party proper, as you seem to be. Considering that the only well-known, self-identified libertarian-esqe political figures in the US are Ron Paul and Rand Paul, and both are prominently Republican, I don't believe identifying libertarians as leaning more conservative is incorrect, nor spreading misinformation.
  - throwaway2016a 9y ago
    Ok... fair enough, I'll buy that. I stand corrected. I was not aware of a difference between lower case l and upper case though and I imagine many readers might not either and will take what you said to apply to all of them. Though I do think your assumption that because the Republican party has more openly libertarian party members than the democrats that means that more libertarians lean right. It could also mean that the Republican party is where libertarian leaning people see themselves as having more of a chance of success were they to need to choose one or the other. I think a libertarian in the Democratic party wouldn't get very far. Also, I used to like Ron Paul (even switched to Republican to vote for him in the primary) but the more I listen to some of the things he says now, he is no libertarian. His son even less so.
    - Danihan 9y ago
      What does Rand Paul say that doesn't strike you as libertarian, out of curiosity?
      - throwaway2016a 9y ago
        On the following issues that the Libertarians are at odds with the Republicans he sided with the Republicans and/or said it is a States right's issues rather than take a stand: marijuana legalization, LGBT rights, military spending, and foreign policy in general.* I've heard some people argue, "well at least his is more Libertarian than the other Senators" which is true but you can't cherry pick who gets freedom and who gets thrown in jail or their country invaded instead. * He also is pro-life which I didn't list here because I know Libertarian's on both sides of that fence.
        moomin 9y ago
        Rand Paul strikes me as someone who says a bunch of stuff he doesn’t necessarily agree with in order to get taken seriously by the GOP. Judas Iscariot cut a better deal.

Natsu 9y ago

More info can be found on their about page: https://www.popehat.com/about/ https://www.popehat.com/about/ Most of the articles are from Ken, who is an expert on first amendment issues as well as a former assistant US attorney. You can find more info about him here: http://mimesislaw.com/fault-lines/cross-ken-white-the-man-beneath-the-popehat/4498 http://mimesislaw.com/fault-lines/cross-ken-white-the-man-be...

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
The other major author is Patrick Non-White (Obvious pseudonym). Others are listed at https://www.popehat.com/author/ https://www.popehat.com/author/ though most haven't been active in years. For example Clark split off to https://status451.com/ https://status451.com/ a while back when his views got too extreme for the rest.

gumby 9y ago

"they" is one guy, Ken White, a former federal prosecutor. If he can be said to have a partisan/ideological PoV I would call it "mildly libertarian" but as a non-libertarian myself I read him avidly and don't consider him partisan.

ZeroGravitas 9y ago
I believe there are (or were?) other authors, I remember one in particular seeming a bit more extreme in his views (though nothing totally crazy by current political standards) while Ken seemed a bit more reasonable.

gknoy 9y ago

Ken blogs about Legal Things. We probably know of him from his "seriously, shut up!" post about talking to police/investigators, or his chronicling of the (karmatically satisfying) downfall of the people who would post their own porn torrents and then sue/blackmail people who torrented them. (If I recall right?) He also spent a long time writing about various legal scams, chronicling the story as they happen (e.g. a mail fraud scam that he called out in 2011 and has been writing about for six years), with digestible non-lawyer-accessible explanations of things that are important or not-as-non-lawyers-might-expect. I'm sure he has a bias, politically or ideologically, but I'm not sure I could articulate what it is. I like reading just about everything he writes.

heartbreak 9y ago
Popehat remarked in his Papadopouslos Lawsplainer [0] today that had Papadopoulos not talked to the FBI back in January, he wouldn't be in the position he's in now. [0] https://www.popehat.com/2017/10/30/lawsplainer-the-george-papadopoulos-guilty-plea/ https://www.popehat.com/2017/10/30/lawsplainer-the-george-pa...