The Man Behind 'The McCain-Palin Mob'

A Barack Obama supporter in Ohio with deep roots in Democratic politics -- and a 2001 sex-related felony conviction to his name -- is behind two new confrontational videos that bait ignorant people into calling Barack Obama a terrorist.

The first video was released Wednesday and has gone viral. It currently has more than 1.1 million views on YouTube. Part II went online a day later and is well on its way to viral status, with more than 145,000 views. [snip]

The media may not be as eager to tell the public about the man behind the camera, however. His name is Tim Russo of Blogger Interrupted. Russo has a sordid history - see the May cover story in the Cleveland Free Times. Here are a few facts to keep in mind about Russo: [long list of slime-ball antics - snip]

Sadly, their antics appear likely to become commonplace in the final days of Campaign 2008. Another Russo-like video from a McCain-Palin event in Pennsylvania also went viral last week.

The question is whether journalists will reward these people with the spotlight they seek or expose them as the politically suspect agitators they are...

[how modern 'news' is made - Recommended > ]

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