Is it safe?

This blog is a parody of Tony Heller (aka Steven Goddard), a climate change denier who has managed to make a name for himself equipped only with a blog and a Twitter account.

This is the first in a series of posts (read Part 2 and Part 3) that tell the story of how a fan of the real Tony Heller mistook me for the real Tony Heller and how I was subsequently able to get him to agree with and cheer on ridiculously fascist statements in emails I sent to him. I also persuaded him to actively contribute financially to support a fictional covert persecution of climate scientists by the Trump administration. This is not a parody post and the account I give below actually transpired. As this post is not meant to out the person I corresponded with, I have redacted information in the emails that might be used to identify this person. His first name has also been changed.

This post demonstrates how fascistic thoughts and actions are justified in the minds of high-functioning Americans like you and me. It also clearly shows how misinformation and conspiracy-driven outlooks short circuit rational thought, civility, and undermines the principles our society is founded upon. Although this story is only anecdotal, it illustrates the danger of the charged rhetoric used by climate deniers and how it can be leveraged to justify fascism.

So our story begins a few days ago with an individual reaching out to me on Twitter to ask me if there was a way he could email me to send me “tips.” I didn’t yet realize he thought I was actually Tony Heller and I gave him an email address he could reach me at. Shortly thereafter, I received the following email from “Bill”:

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Tony,

I finally found how to write you! I’d not thought of asking you for an email on Twitter as I’m not a big user of it.
I’m an American, retired Dentist whose been sailing around the world on my [REDACTED] for the last [REDACTED] years out of [REDACTED].
I’ve just re-arrived in [REDACTED] – [REDACTED] at the moment.

I discovered your terrific blog about 8 months ago and have been a follower ever since (when I’ve been able to get internet).
I even gave a little coin to help fight the Borg several months ago. When you write, it sounds to me like what I’m thinking, but you of course have a much higher level of programming and statistics in your background than I ever will.  In brief, I voted for Al Gore (which I regret), then read “State of Fear” and started looking into  “Climate Change” for myself and the rest is history.  I’ve found your posts, when political are my thoughts exactly.

I was sad I wasn’t here to see your talk with [REDACTED]. Hey, maybe next time….:-)

I’ve been in email contact with [REDACTED] for well over a year and [REDACTED] gives me h/t’s (nice, but not necessary) on several story ideas I send [REDACTED].
We’ll actually [REDACTED] when we get to [REDACTED] ([REDACTED]).
Well, I’m glad to finally get a contact email on you!

I’ll send some stuff, but only judiciously that I think you might be interested in like the WaPo scam/scare story of yesterday.
If I send to much, just tell me to stop. (I won’t). I’m not offended in the least. You live in front of a computer and have lots to deal with.
I don’t need pats on the back or re-enforcement. I’m just a soldier on your team.

Perhaps one day we’ll meet, I think your blog is my favorite btw!
Cheers from [REDACTED],
Bill [REDACTED]
When I comment, I post as Bill (email I use is [REDACTED]). That email is because the boat I own is a [REDACTED].  The [REDACTED] email (this one) is the name of the boat, “[REDACTED]”

Just for giggles, my blog is at: [REDACTED]  Just so you can see I’m for real….:-)

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After a bit of confusion, it dawned on me this person thought I was actually Tony Heller.

It’s important to point out that Bill is an actual, real climate denier as verified by me using Google. He is not some person just screwing with me.

So I decided to have fun with the poor chap to see where I could take things:

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Hi Bill,

Say “hi” to [REDACTED] for me. Wonderful [REDACTED].

It sounds like you have an adventurous life. I’m extraordinarily jealous. The donations I receive don’t allow me to lead such an extravagant lifestyle but fortunately I live simply. My devotion to debunking the climate alarmists keeps me occupied. I, too, consider myself to be a soldier in this war and willing to make the necessary sacrifices. Some things are bigger than ourselves.

I’d be happy to receive your material and exchange ideas. We need to build a strong network. Though we have the alarmists on the ropes with recent events, we have to remain vigilant and active.

Thanks for reaching out.

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His response:

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Tony,
Thanks for the encouragement.
I just got some photos from [REDACTED] about one of the 6 trips [REDACTED] made across the [REDACTED] (the drive from [REDACTED] to [REDACTED]). Like driving from Miami to L.A. but me thinks a bit more adventurous….:-)

We just bought a car, the kids from all over Oz and my daughter from [REDACTED] arrive today.
After they leave, we’ll do [REDACTED] (by air, not boat too rough) and then do that drive.
I’m really looking forward to meeting [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] when we get to [REDACTED] in about 2-3 months!
Looking forward to meeting you one day and I’ll drop a note from time to time.
I know the cookie jar doesn’t count for much, but hey, we can all pitch in from time to time.
Thanks for the write back, The idea will flow forward.
Cheers from [REDACTED]

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With the fish hooked, it was time to reel him in. But I decided to not be overeager and let him reinitiate. Sure enough, the following day, this email from Bill arrived:

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I know this is preaching to the choir by the author, but as he was an “insider”, I thought you’d find this of interest?

Bill in Oz…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/12/21/homogenization-of-temperature-data-by-the-bureau-of-meteorology/

Homogenization of Temperature Data By the Bureau of Meteorology

<article here>

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I began reeling Bill in with this:

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As you know, I’ve always been a huge advocate for using raw data. This article spells everything out quite perfectly. Thanks for passing it along.

I’m also heartened by Trump’s strong posturing on nuclear weapons. It demonstrates that he understands so clearly that sometimes the only thing the opposition responds to is brute force. It gives me great hope that we might even be able to imprison those who have been lying to us for so many years about climate change.

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Bill’s reply:

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Tony,
Smiling all the way! +100.
Yes, I know of your true and correct advocacy for raw data use which is exactly why I thought you’d like to see this article.

I put a Wiki link (not that I’m a fan), regarding your photo of Fort Dennison in Sydney Harbor and it’s “yawn” sea level disaster!…:-)
I remember you posted similar photos about a beach which I think might have been Laguna Beach and the Statue of Liberty showing the sea level hasn’t changed a wit in over 100 years.

Of course the nay sayers will get into the weeds and ask for exact moments in the tide, but that might be a stretch even for them.

What I really don’t understand is how can someone stand in front of a wall that’s white and tell everyone it’s black and not just be looked at like they’re crazy and ignored?
I know the political and crony money disorder amongst the Progressive Elite –  Mann and his ilk, but why does the MSM just parrot it and not get their block buster story by exposing the fraud? Hopefully under Trump, they’ll turn when they smell the real story and expose them all.  Exactly what’s in it for them is likely what you’ve pointed out 100 times – it’s just an easy,(lazy on their part) – I don’t have to research it, Chicken Little story.

I call the BOM’s and the NOAA’s/NASA GISS people, et. al.  – the “Twelve Wise Men” for their approximate number of people in the world who perpetuate the fraud.

The Trials of the Century (as Steyn calls them).
Looking forward to “Mann’s Discovery” and McIntyre and McKitrick taking apart his “Schtick” in a courtroom to expose the incredulous fraud of the alarmists.
Of course I am worried for Tim Ball who doesn’t have George Soros and Al Gore behind him financially. Mann brags about his millions of funding on his website so I can’t imagine he’s too worried about it.  I saw the “fake news” spin from the MSM on the update of Steyn’s trial as well. Good Grief, they just can’t stop lying.
I don’t know the process, but trials of this nature could easily confuse a jury and put a judge to sleep. This too concerns me, but hoping these two brave hearts start the expose in the public eye.

No more rant for now, keep up you most excellent work!
Cheers from down under and despite being a nice (politically incorrect) Jewish Boy from [REDACTED], Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah…
Bill

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Hooray! “Smiling all the way” for imprisoning climate scientists! It was now clear this guy was a fucking tool. But how much of a tool was he? To find out, I concocted a ridiculous story in my reply to him:

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I can’t say much now, but I’ve been in touch with some insiders on Trump’s transition team. The progressive “scientists” are in for a world of hurt in the form of some pretty extreme retaliation. I’m afraid the only way now to get things on track is via extreme persecution. Our truth must prevail. The world literally depends upon it.

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At this point I’m thinking he’ll never go for this and figure out I’m not really Tony Heller. I was wrong:

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Tony,
I Can’t wait for the revelations!
Standing by,
Bill

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However, I had the distinct feeling he is muttering “what the fuck” to himself and won’t have anything more to do with me and is just being polite. Nonetheless, I spice things up with some bizarre details to make it a little more enticing for him:

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Well, I can give you a little taste. Apparently, they plan to have operatives from some intelligence agency run smear campaigns against them. I’ve been told Mann is one of the high profile targets. They are going to drag him and his family through the mud until he is run out of town. I’m told to keep their nose clean, it will likely be a Russian operation.

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To which Bill replies:

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Tony,
Truly,
Mum’s the word.
I’ll look forward to your reporting on the ongoing situation.

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So Bill has no qualms about an American initiated foreign government spy operation on climate scientists. But from his short response, he clearly isn’t sure what to make of all this. So I scale things back to sound a little more reasonable and try to feel him out on just how comfortable he is with the idea:

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Well, I can’t say for sure if this is going to happen. I’m sure Trump will have the final say or someone much higher up the food chain from the circles I’m hearing from. But someone is going to be pushing for this.

It’s dirty work, but clearly it’s justifiable.

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To which Bill sent this response:

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Tony,
Speaking of dirty work, the other subject which I personally follow in the blogosphere is the Middle East and how the left has gone full Orwell/Alinsky.
It’s all just part of the One World Global order nightmare that you accurately use the “Borg” analogy to represent.

I often say (which includes the climate issue), that Orwell wrote “1984” as a warning. The “Right” has heeded that warning. To the “Left”, “1984” is merely a playbook. 

US Abstains in key vote……
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/23/us-abstains-in-key-israel-vote-clearing-way-for-condemnation-settlements.html

Actually, I think when guys like you, Ball, Christie, Spencer, McKittrick and McIntyre and a host of others like Myron Ebell have the ear of power, magic things will happen and no undercover ops will even be necessary. As an aside: Someone needs to educate young Ms. Kushner (Ivanka). She has  apparently drunk a little too close to the alarmist’s Kool Aid jar .

It will just take one more deep insider to blow the whistle along with your constantly showing the fraud and telling the truth. Then, their house of cards will collapse.
The article I sent yesterday  about the homogenized data is a retired guy who was an insider. Too far removed from today’s clique to have great impact, but another voice in the wilderness trying to get out the truth. I’m very much looking forward to Gavin’s retirement. Maybe they’ll give him a gold plated ice crystal so he can watch it melt from his living room couch…:-)

What I really like about your blog is that you use easy to understand graphs with explanations that are not just in graphic form (your GIF’s), but easy enough for even Al Gore (the un-educated public)  to understand.

It’s also why you’re such a threat to them.

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So Bill clearly has some reservations about the whole “undercover ops” idea. But since he’s a big fan of Tony Heller, I feel confident I can convince him they are justifiable and so I lay out a strong argument to back up my fascist statements and couple them with an “I was once like you” sentiment:

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There is a close tie in between terrorism and climate alarmists. This is something I often bring up:

https://twitter.com/SteveSGoddard/status/516196966926389248
https://twitter.com/SteveSGoddard/status/508699542447857664

I know this isn’t politically correct, but we are engaged in an ideological war. And this is a war in no uncertain terms. Western civilization itself is at stake here.

We cannot pussyfoot around. I don’t use the term “climate terrorists” as a joke or loosely. As soon as we recognize Michael Mann is, in fact, a terrorist, we can dispense of any niceties.

I understand your restraint. It is not easy to break the chains of liberalism that has taken hold of our society. I, too, used to have reservations about “dirty” tactics. But once you can get over that, it is liberating and powerful. War is not pretty, but it is sometimes necessary to defend ones values.

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To which our unwitting fool replied:

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Yet another – +100!

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And then a short while later, he sends this email to let me know he is warming to my baldly fascist sentiments:

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Tony,

I read what you wrote. I’m coming more and more around to your way of thinking.
Sometimes I still think I can bring a knife to a gun fight (euphemistically of course).

After what Obama did today at the UN, I realize the “Mann’s of the World” will not rest or fail to try any tactic to ruin Western Civilization.
Mann is in it for the money and the power. He’s a small mind with a huge ego. So is Obama, but his aims are far more devious.

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I figured my experiment was over at this point and had come away with a clearer idea of how fascism can be justified by cloaking it as an act of war on some imagined enemy. But then, the following day, our budding Jewish Nazi sends me a series of emails full of climate denying bullshit. One of which was this:

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Tony,
More on the collusion of the “narrative” of the glow-bull warming scam.
Political Science used to displace real science.
Bill

https://fabiusmaximus.com/2016/12/19/use-of-narratives-in-climate-science-research/

Disturbing research about the use of “narratives” in climate science papers

 

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At this point I, pulled out all the stops and launched a fascist rant with the mask ripped off:

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Right. This is what liberal democracies lead to. It’s all fanciful, wishful thinking that climate scientists try to bend into reality. 

On the larger scale it all leads to chaos. That is why authoritarianism is called for at this point in history. While we could never utter these words just a few months ago we all knew this to be the truth deep down. Like-minded individuals like us must not be afraid to come to this realization that we need to seize power for ourselves to drive out the forces of chaos from the planet. 

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To which Bill said:

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Tony,
I love it when you tell it like it is!
Merry Christmas! – Happy Hanukkah.
Bill on a yacht where it’s [REDACTED]!…:-)

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Yes, Happy Hanukkah and Heil Hitler to you too, Bill!

The following day, Bill sent me another email which I received just a few minutes ago while putting the finishing touches on this blog post.

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