Keith Olbermann Hoax: Did Tucker Carlson Pose As Olbermann In Emails?

[RamboLiberal]

Did Tucker Carlson perpetrate a hoax by posing as Keith Olbermann in a series of emails?

On Tuesday afternoon, a set of emails surfaced on the Philadelphia news site Phawker. Phawker said that the emails showed the "100% for real" correspondence between Olbermann and Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky over the weekend. In the emails, "Olbermann" talks about his boss, MSNBC President Phil Griffin, in hyperbolic, insulting terms.

In one email, "Olbermann" says that Griffin is "not my boss (thank god), nor is he intellectually qualified to be...I'll be anchoring on election night 2012, long after Phil Griffin has moved on to a job for which he's actually qualified, perhaps on QVC."

In another, "Olbermann" writes that "I could have Phil Griffin fired tomorrow if I felt like it, trust me. And if he keeps yapping about me in public, I may. For the moment, however, keeping Phil around is like having a drunk chimp in the office -- more amusing than threatening."

The incendiary emails seemed too good to be true -- and, as it turns out, they were. The emails from "Olbermann" came from [e-mail]. That's an address that is not owned by Olbermann, but by Tucker Carlson, conservative pundit and editor of the Daily Caller website. In July, Carlson announced that he had purchased the domain name KeithOlbermann.com, and told Politico that people could email him at [e-mail] -- the same address that the emails to Bykofsky came from.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/09/keith-olbermann-hoax-did-_n_781241.html

[arcane1]

1. One wonders what motivated that jackass...

to not only purchase that domain name, but to publicly encourage people to email him there?

[GoCubsGo]

16. As Jon Stewart said....

He's a dick.

I think Jon was too kind.

[monmouth]

2. Tucker is so jealous of Keith but to be so transparent about it...wow..n/t

[Salviati]

3. Wow, I didn't think it was possible for tucker to be even more of a douchbag than he was...

Serves me right for having such little faith in his douchebaggery skills...

[Merlot]

4. That goes way beyond "hoax"

And possibly has legal ramifications...If it were me, I'd be looking into recourse.

Although I have to say I'm surprised that someone in KO's position had not have bought his domain name.

[Bucky]

5. Shockingly immature. The work of a man who hasn't earned his place in the world

How like a Bush he is.

[jgraz]

6. Spoiled little rich baby

What an EPIC FAIL of a human being.

[sakabatou]

14. I hope so.

Anyone know what this can be filed under?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

7. One can only hope.

Would be sweet to see him wiggle on that hook.

[malaise]

8. Back in the day I posted about

Fucker Carson's bow tie and my view that he really thought he was Richie Rich. Well the cartoon character took off the bow tie a few days later. He really is a pathetic little rich boy.
I hope KO sues the pants off of him.

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. I guess Carlson can add immature, unfunny dumbass to his resume now

What a clown!

[Ian David]

10. Tucker obviously needs to find a more healthy outlet for his man-crush. n/t

[blogslut]

11. Tucker Carlson is 41 years old

Physically, that is.

[frylock]

12. tuckercarlsonisadouchenoz.com is available to be registered..

just sayin....

[Recursion]

13. Also, remember the "From" header of an email means absolutely nothing

Other than the fact that the sender wants that "From" to display in your email. You can send letters appearing to be from [e-mail] if you want (and I often do, when I'm bored).

[dgibby]

15. Wonder if Tucker would like to receive E-mail from DU.

:evilgrin:

[laughingliberal]

17. K & R for exposing RW scum. nt

[pacalo]

18. If Keith wanted to pursue this legally...

While impersonating another person is not illegal per se, but doing the impersonation in order to harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud other people is considered to be a felony. Therefore, people who post fake profiles on social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook could be charged and sentenced if found guilty.

Emails impersonations are illegal under the US CAN-SPAM act, but it can be very difficult to catch the impersonator. Mainly because the impersonator would not receive the reply you send. However, looking at the email address, one can figure out whether it is authentic or not.

Laws Against Posing As Someone Else On The Internet

[jgraz]

19. Ah... I'm just imagining FTucker getting perp-walked.

Oh... that's a nice mental image... :evilgrin: