Again, as the only mod online at the time, I was in a rush and didn't notice that he mentioned he verified through his Twitter (there was no link so I just saw a linkless post, which is always an automatic deletion for Rule 4). I repeatedly invited him to repost it, once someone pointed out he verified through twitter, but he still hasn't reposted, so I'm reposting for him as a gesture of good faith:
Seaman's post:
"Character attacks against me won't slow my coverage of Pizzagate, nice try. They haven't so far, and they won't, ever.
Most members of the community are savvy enough to spot an opposition research style character attack when they spot one, which is what that is. I've already addressed those claims in numerous videos, and won't be too detailed here as I don't want to repeat myself:
1) I am not promoting Pizzagate or information related to it to sell an out of print Internet marketing textbook I wrote eight years ago. That doesn't make a lot of sense and fails Occam's razor test.
2) My Wikipedia page containing my list of prior outlets and work I've helped break was deleted during this ordeal. It doesn't make me any less of a real journalist. The "stunt" I orchestrated while an intern at Gawker Media, now defunct, was approved enthusiastically by their video editor at the time. My "boss" at Jezebel, an internship I was no longer showing up for because I considered it a joke, became angry as she thought I was carrying out publicity stunts without her permission, when I had simply gone over her head. She published a second, friendlier piece on me after I met up with her and she saw the whole picture.
3) My choice to cover Pizzagate remains mine alone. It seemed newsworthy, it seemed in the public interest, and I don't like the idea of elites getting away with child torture and endangerment. It's not the first time I've raised outsized attention for a cause I thought the media as a whole was not reporting properly, nor was I alone in the effort- as anyone with a brain knows, Pizzagate is a global movement with thousands of people researching it and spreading the word. I threw in what I could, which was a popular YouTube channel and an equally popular Twitter account.
4) My research assistant regularly reads this subreddit and others. I don't personally come here usually, as the attacks like that one make my blood boil yet I don't want to give them any attention with an individual response. Also, I have a ganglion cyst on my hand which only recently burst, it makes typing more trouble than it's worth for me.
Keep up your research, recognize the paid attacks and divide/conquer tactics, and thank you all.
David"
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NotHereForPizza ago
Great. I'll consider this the first step.
Now, can we do something like a montage with timestamps where you're documented as having deleted posts where we can match that with the times Seaman's posts showed up?
It sucks you have to hold people's hand through this, but when people talk about how technically illiterate the average US citizen is, they aren't exactly joking. Work a held desk job, I assure you that my point will be proven on the first day.
I agree with @newwordlahead 's point, though. It sucks that this has come up, but the mods need to continue to be honest with us, need to be willing to go out of their way to prove themselves when the need arises, and need to be closely monitored. Transparency is absolutely necessary at every stage of the game. It certainly comes with the territory.
I know I'm annoying a lot of you guys, but this whole scandal with Seaman is most likely to happen again. Even if I have to take the hit this first time, proving to you how important this type of dedicated transparency is will really set the ground work for how everyone involved handles a situation like this in the future.