The One-Armed Man

Or, "How Does It Feel?"

Editor's note: We continue beta-testing the change to one of the oldest editorial policies of "PRT is a Joke" IS A JOKE. For a limited time, The Name of the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist will be shown -- although special formatting will be used.

Now that Ken Avidor has had a few days to let things sink in, I now provide for him the following answer to the musical question, "Why Is PRT Promoter David Gow Tweeting About Anonymous Comments on a Crime Story?"

And by "for him," of course I mean 'for everyone on the internet'; I do not want to be accused of thinking my blogging is private.

Here is Ken's complaint:

The easy answer is I am mentioned in a recent City Pages article about a fugitive from justice, a former Green Party candidate for Ward 10 and a former friend of mine. I am quoted in the article saying clearly that Knapp should be brought to justice and that I had no knowledge of the crimes Knapp is accused of committing.

Here is a list of Mr. Gow's recent tweets about me... four out of five mention myself and the fugitive, Mark Knapp and link to the article :



David Gow's latest tweet says the following:

More comment in City Pages' #MarkKnapp story http://is.gd/5rtfq #Ken Avidor

There are two new comment(s) to the article. The first states the following:

So where's the photo of Knapp so we citizens can help capture him? Maybe Ken Avidor could could submit a perp sketch. Oh wait - after looking at his Petters trial sketches, that wouldn't help.

Well, there's a screenshot of Mark Knapp's old campaign website with a photo of him in that article.

The other anonymous comment Mr. Gow tweeted about says the following:

I never did trust that Ken Avidor. Cynicism is the easiest out. Interesting that the federal marshalls are visiting him. he just spent several weeks sitting next to his FBI buddies in federal court. Go figure. he is not one to trust

It is true that I sat next to the FBI during much of the trial, because that was the best place to sketch the witnesses. During opening and closing arguments, I sat far to the left side of the gallery to get a profile of the attorneys.

As for describing the FBI as my "buddies"... I have sent three Freedom of Information requests to the FBI for the audio and video exhibits shown in open court at the trial of Gary Dean Zimmermann.... and all three requests were rejected because the FBI said I needed a waiver from Zimmermann, which he refused to give me.

Do I support Federal investigations into economic crimes such as Ponzi schemes, bribery and identity theft? You bet I do. Do I think the investigations, trials and convictions of Gary Dean Zimmermann and Tom Petters were fair and just? Absolutely. Until Mark Knapp is apprehended, we will not know whether he is guilty of the crimes for which he has been charged. However, Mark Knapp's flight from justice is a crime. In order to apprehend Knapp, law enforcement came to my home and others... I don't have a problem with that. The Feds are working really hard to investigate and prosecute white collar crime... and they deserve our support. They have my support.

Do the PRT guys support the Fed's effort to investigate and prosecute economic crimes? [all ellipses in original]

Doesn't this seem a trifle bit much, a little too desperate to explain things to casual readers unfamiliar with the history? And therein lies the purpose of my tweeting about Mark Knapp's past ties to Ken Avidor: How does it feel, Ken? How does it feel there might be even the slightest, nuanced hint of the mere possibility of your name being guilt-by-associated with a disreputable person?

Because that's what Ken Avidor has been doing to PRT supporters for years. Even if all you do is say something non-committal about PRT, you might wake up the next day to find yourself in Ken Avidor's Pod Squad with Mark Olson (R-domestic violence), "Gary Dean Zimmermann" (GP-illegal gratuities), and the politically disreputable Michele Bachmann (R-Crazytown). (Think I'm exaggerating? Ask Julie Risser.^{1 2 3})

And now the clog is on the other foot. All I am doing is stating indisputable, objective facts -- that Mark Knapp is a PRT-hater, that he is a fugitive, that he is an ex-friend of Avidor, that he and Avidor used to co-author a blog, and that said blog has been taken down -- and look at how gymnastically Ken Avidor falls all over himself to distance himself from Knapp.

Think hard the next time you consider smearing anyone, Ken.

PS- Put the Green Party Gone Bad blog back up, Ken! What are you afraid of? Doesn't the work stand on its own?

gPRT The commenter's perp sketch joke also went right over Ken's head