Democratic Operative Totally Busted Posing As Racist Rand Paul Supporter

Here's the video:

And here's Jay's Analysis, where I saw it, and who even wrote some stuff to go along with the video.

PART II: The gentleman in the video, Tyler Clay Collins,  seems to have pulled down his Facebook page, which was located at http://www.facebook.com/tyler.c.collins?ref=ts. I grabbed a couple of screen shots of it last night, because I suspected it would only a matter of time before the Democrats claimed he is a plant. ( Note to Tyler - pulling the stuff down only makes you all the more pathetic.)

This first picture shows that Jack Conway is on his Friends List. Of course I am not implying they're friends, only that the idiot is indeed a Democrat.

The second image is that of MSU Dems, a group that he had in his "likes:"

Comments

[spinnikerca]

Scuz.

You know, before Fancy Farm I heard it wasn't so much that what you do there could propel you to victory as it was that what you do there can haunt your campaign thereafter.

I think we are seing that come true. I saw that guy's blog, too, and was looking for more info, myself.

[Laura Ebke]

Angela, you are SO darned good. You're RSE's resident "investigative reporter". Thanks for posting this stuff!

[kytyedey]

we should get someone to go to conway events with "grassroote literature" printed up with the website www.jackconway2010.com to pass out.

[JustaRed]

Dumb sons a bitches...should know better than to screw with us! We wrote that book!

[Angela Thorn]

It is all over the internet now. HotAir.com wrote about it and Breitbart.tv has it in their #1 spot. We scooped almost everybody, except the blogger that did the real work. :)

But our readers knew first!

[Laura Ebke]

Most hits we've had in a single day all summer :)

[kyhomeschooler]

Folks, it's called satire and it is what Steven Colbert does every night on his show. Get over it.

If you pursue this as some sort of Conway faux pas you will find

A: Tyler Collins was acting as an individual and the Conway campaign had no clue he was going to do it.

B: Tyler Collins parents are staunch, supportive, and active Republicans who also support their son in his quest to develop his individuality and are a lot more tolerant than you are and who probably won't appreciate their son being attacked.

C: By attacking him your are attacking his First Amendment rights under the Constitution to engage in free political expression

D: You will show yourselves to be behaving like paranoid fascists trying to deny constitutional liberties to U.S. citizens

I don't think this is an avenue for attacking Conway you should be pursuing. Why don't you stick to the issues that are relevant to Kentucky and the needs of the people in the state.

[kyhomeschooler]

The lie is the videographer stating that "so that was part of the Conway campaign, right?"

There is no evidence that Tyler Collins satirical theater was part of the Conway campaign. Just because Mr. Collins is a Democrat does not mean the Conway campaign had anything to do with his actions.

I was also at the picnic handing out political fans and believe me, nobody from the Democratic party or the Conway campaign had anything to do with my fans. It was just me and a friend that wanted to do something at Fancy Farm. We got together and made fans at my house, and I handed them out at the picnic. End of story.

The fact that Mr. Collins took off his persona at the end and freely marched with the Conway supporters is only evidence that he thought it was pretty clear he was engaging in satire just like Steven Colbert or Billionaires for Wealthcare. I mean, a tinfoil hat to "keep the government out of my head?" Come on folks, anyone could recognize this as satire and only someone with a guilty conscience would be offended by his presentation of the Paul positions. If you don't think he was accurate, you'd just shrug it off as distortions, the way I look at the lies told by Mitch McConnell et. al. during the speeches. I don't get my britches in a wad over it and accept the opposition has a right to their opinion even when it differs from my own. I also accept that in America Mitch McConnell and Republicans can get on a stage or Fox News every day and night and speak things that are blatantly not true and that is the price we pay for having free speech.

Your defensiveness and desire for blood over what is pretty standard fare at the Fancy Farm forum speaks poorly of your interest in taking the high road in politics.

Or maybe you don't really believe in the Constitution as much as you say (btw why are you always trying to amend it if you like it so much?).

[unclechopper]

kyhomeschooler,

The first sensible post I've read.

I keep noticing that whenever "liberal plants" are being identified at these rallies the offenders are, at least in all of the cases I've seen, obvious expressions of satire.

The observations you've made regarding the specific accusation against Mr. Collins and his "lie" will go unnoticed. People will see what they want to see.

[kyhomeschooler]

btw, Mr. Collins Facebook page appears to be alive and well. So another lie about this young man?

[kyhomeschooler]

@unclechopper--thanks for your concurrence.

--"Homeschooling: The World is Our Classroom"

[Eric Parks]

With regards to statement "A": We all act as individuals. How do you know the Conway campaign had no clue - especially if he had just allegedly bragged to his Conway friends that he was going to do it?

With regards to statement "B": Imagine that, his parents are supportive. As for tolerance, did anyone tell Tyler to leave or was he just an object of the camera man's focus due to his ill-timed "satire".

With regards to statement "C": What about the camera man's right to ask Tyler questions and seek the truth, whatever it may be? And how exactly were his free speech rights being attacked?

With regards to statement "D": A fascist is someone who favors strong central government. Rand Paul supporters appear to want less government so, while they may be paranoid, they're not fascists.

All kinds of dastardly things happen in politics. Many people will go to great lengths to put their side into power - even voting from the grave. If this gent was trying to smear the Paul campaign and was outed, then good job by the camera man. If he was not, then his form of satire was not well received, which is the risk of satire.

Anyone dressed up like he was should know that they're going to attract attention. Maybe he knew this. Maybe he was hoping to get on television as the poster child for the Rand Paul campaign. A democrat would hate for that to happen, wouldn't they?

[AngelaTC]

Uhm, you might need to clear your cache.

[Brian McAloon]

I disagree. Tyler no doubt is laying low and the poor baby had to take down part of his facebook page. Good that he now pays a price for lieing. Of course his parents should not be hassled but he should be hounded to the pits of hell. He is a liar and he got caught. Develop his individuality? At what? Disinformation and trying to stifle free speech which is what tyler and scum like him are trying to do. He'll have a tough time showing his face around and thats a good thing. Act like a dick and ya pay a price! Did his parents teach him that?

[Brian McAloon]

Nope. He had to take a lot down. Just a basic page. Maybe Tyler should make a public announcement. Be good to see him accused of being a latin hater. He is a typical lib tea party crasher type and he got caught. Boohoo, poooooooooooor tyler.

[JJ]

The importance of this fraud being exposed and documented is the following:

1. The mainstream media in the past on several occasions has either mentioned or suggested that significant elements of the "tea party" are "racists." This has included TV coverage of "racist" signs being held at tea party events. Any or all of these so-called "racist" supporters of the tea-party could in fact be opposition infiltrators putting on an act just like Tyler Clay Collins.
2. Jack CONway's campaign and the media together are trying like crazy to discredit Rand Paul as a person in any way they can, even if they have to lie. Example, Jack Conway LIED when he went on national TV declaring that Rand Paul wanted to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That was a lie, and again, playing the "race card" with this lie.
3. The press and opponents of Rand Paul have tried, and will continue to try, to desperately smear Rand Paul in any way they can, either in an organized fashion or acting as individuals.

Bottom line: anyone who sees Rand Paul's name smeared by tactics like making slurs about his supporters or ideas should in fact use this episode of trickery to think twice, and think, maybe, just maybe, the opponents are pulling every dirty trick they can think of to keep the public's attention away from the real issues that Rand Paul is addressing: a national debt that is way to high; government spending that is out of control; and a need to reduce the size and cost of government.

[kyhomeschooler]

Parks said in reply to kyhomeschooler...
"How do you know the Conway campaign had no clue - especially if he had just allegedly bragged to his Conway friends that he was going to do it?"

Because I was present and talked with Tyler at the picnic as I am acquainted with him. I'm one of the "Conway friends" but that doesn't mean we are campaign staffers. I was acting as an individual at the picnic too and the Conway campaign had no prior knowledge of my actions (making BP Republican fans). You can believe me or not, your choice. But if you want to accuse me of lying then it seems to lend credence to the tinfoil hat representation of your mentality.

"With regards to statement "B": Imagine that, his parents are supportive. As for tolerance, did anyone tell Tyler to leave or was he just an object of the camera man's focus due to his ill-timed "satire"."

I stood nearby listening as a Rand Paul staffer begged him to remove the Rand Paul sign from his back. He was persistent and spent quite some time trying to get him to change his costume. That counts as trying to deny him his free speech rights. He was an object of the camera man's focus because of his satire but it was not "ill-timed", it was entirely appropriate to the Fancy Farm Picnic venue. Of course Collins would attract video focus, what is an error here is the incorrect assumption of the videographer that Collins was working for the Conway campaign.

"With regards to statement "C": What about the camera man's right to ask Tyler questions and seek the truth, whatever it may be? And how exactly were his free speech rights being attacked?"

addressed above. Of course the cameraman has a right to ask, and he has a right to make false statements about his interpretations. I'm just saying they are false. And of course if someone publishes false statements that are not political satire they could be sued in some instances. And when they put video up with captions such as above, they should expect comments about mine calling them on their deceptive practices.

"With regards to statement "D": A fascist is someone who favors strong central government. Rand Paul supporters appear to want less government so, while they may be paranoid, they're not fascists."

This is pretty convoluted reasoning you have there. Your party platform doesn't have anything to do with your behavior in particular circumstances. Just because you want less government doesn't mean you can't engage in contradictory behavior. You can be a Paul supporter and be against abortion and support government restricting individual's freedom to obtain abortions. You can be a Paul supporter and engage in authoritarian behavior against individuals when you disagree with their views. People hold theoretically incoherent positions all the time. "In political discourse, the term "fascist" is commonly used to denote authoritarian tendencies" (wikipedia).

I don't expect that Mr. Collins expected his form of satire to be "well-received" by Rand supporters. They didn't like my BPRepublican fans either, and I wouldn't expect them to. But a number of pro-Democrat picnic attendees loved my fans, some of them likely enjoyed Mr. Collin's theater, and some less political attendees could probably care less. He wasn't there to get a vote on how many people liked what he was doing, he was just participating in the political theater of the picnic and adding to the traditional colorfulness of the picnic. Was he trying to make a point that you disagree with? Sure. But that isn't "evil" or "dastardly" and it has nothing to do with Jack Conway or his campaign, which is about representing Kentucky and not about political theater at Fancy Farm.

Our country is hurting, elections are important, and while diversions like Fancy Farm are designed to get the base enthusiastic and ready to donate and knock on doors and make phone calls, you need to keep that in perspective. So get yourself all outraged that the opposition makes fun of your candidate's positions, send a check to Paul and volunteer for his campaign.

But "dastardly" "a liberal plant"--hyperbole that is inaccurate and dishonest. A plant is someone who comes to your meetings and interacts with you, not someone engaging in political theater solo like this.

[Schadenfreude]

The 1st Amendment doesn't condone fraud. Anyone who pulls his social media when the heat gets white-hot has got something to hide. He's getting his due fisking.

[Tim R]

You build a straw man argument about stifling this jackass' free speech, which completely misses the point. How tingly lefty reporter legs would get if they had a few pictures of these "satirists" smack in the middle of a Tea Party, or a GOP rally? The MSM screams racism and points to the tea party, especially when you and your "satirist" friends are in the pictures. If you simply must dress up and show off your ever so cleaver "satire" then do it somewhere else, or dont lie about who you are, and why you are there. BTW, bet you cant guess how much money BP gave to Obama? Heres a hint, its WAY more then nothing

[Eric Parks]

"You can be a Paul supporter and engage in authoritarian behavior against individuals when you disagree with their views."

Congrats on your excellent example of democracy. I guess, then, that pretty much makes everyone on both sides of the aisle guilty of fascism (or communism if you prefer), unless you are willing to become a libertarian like me. If so, welcome!

[Taika]

I think it is absolutely appalling to exploit racism for political gain. The Conway campaign should be ashamed!

It's odd though, even before this incident, most homeschoolers I know (myself included) support Rand because he doesn't want the federal government controlling education... I wonder if this person is any more real than the one in the video? :O

[kyhomeschooler]

This was not a Tea Party rally, it was a bipartisan political picnic with a number of people in costume engaging in political theater.

I personally would not recommend the particular form that Tyler's political expression took, but I defend his right to do it without being harassed. That is not a "straw-man argument" it is a real issue and libertarians ought to be defending his right to political expression. (and you might notice I call myself kyhomeschooler and that's for a reason--and I spent a lot of time reading a lot of libertarian writers relating to our family's decision to opt out of public education).

One reason his theater is ill-advised is exactly as you speak--it allows you to ignore the racist or xenophobic elements in your midst and claim they are "satirists." But that doesn't make it so.

Another reason I would not recommend his particular choice of expression is that it generally is not good political strategy to make fun of voters/supporters of a candidate, and it really is irrelevant to the actual candidate and their positions what the supporters of that candidate are saying. All candidates from both sides are going to have some supporters that are wacky, strange, express inappropriate attitudes etc. and we should not judge candidates by their supporters' behavior.

[kyhomeschooler]

You can bet I'm real, and my totally homeschooled kids are now young adults. I began homeschooling in the 80's and I've read tons of libertarian philosophy, thank you. My daughter absolutely adored The Fountainhead for awhile, although she remains quite the liberal Democrat.

And again, satire is not fraud, and this was not a Tea Party rally, it was a bipartisan political picnic where a number of people dress up to score political points. Some Rand supporters (I have no idea if they were sponsored by the campaign) were dressed up in black hoods with death masks and had to be asked by the picnic organizers to remove the hoods or leave because they were scaring children at the picnic.

Tyler Collins still has his Facebook, he pulled it down briefly when the harassment started.

And Tyler was not affiliated with the Conway campaign, he was acting independently at the picnic like a lot of people do.

[kyhomeschooler]

I actually agree with you about Conway's statement that Paul wanted to repeal the Civil Rights Act. I happened to be watching when he said that and I immediately thought to myself "that's not what Paul said" and I winced, as I like my politicians to score points with honesty and not spin.

But I also watched Paul's interview with Rachel Maddow and he didn't come out of that looking too good either, and he was spinning (and avoiding giving an honest answer) as fast as he could in that and other interviews on the topic.

So we have two candidates willing to spin for political points and mislead, what else is new?

I agree that everyone should be skeptical of media portrayals on all sides, and should focus on the issues. However, some things do go to character, which research has shown is one of the prime determinants of how a voter makes a decision on a candidate. At any rate, attacks do need to be investigated for accuracy and it is best to look beyond sites on your own side of the political aisle for balanced information.

[kyhomeschooler]

The only person this is likely to haunt is Tyler Collins. Conway had nothing to do with his actions.

And Tyler is, after all, quite young.
We all make mistakes, more of them at that age.

And I am guessing this will be less damaging to him in the distant future if he stays in politics than Aqua Buddha worshipping college days of Rand Paul.

[kyhomeschooler]

You can find authoritarians and moralists on all sides of the political spectrum. And extreme liberal utopianism can certainly lead to authoritarian and fascist behaviors.

No thanks on the invite to libertarianism.
I've read extensively on the topic and it's not consistent with my moral philosophy.

Which btw, have you ever read "Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?" by Harvard philosophy professor Michael Sandel?

They also have a free online course based on the Harvard course. Interesting discussions of utilitarianism, libertarianism, Immanuel Kant, Rawls etc. if you are of an inquiring mind and like to think hard and outside your echo chamber.

[SC Homeschooler]

"You can bet I'm real, and my totally homeschooled kids are now young adults."

How does your liberal democrat daughter reconcile her home-schooled education and her belief in a competent, benevolent centralized government? If the government couldn't be entrusted with her education, what other areas of life should be considered beyond its ability to regulate?