The Curious Case of the Bloody Sock(puppet)

According to Wikipedia, a sockpuppet is "an online identity used for purposes of deception". Usually such identities are made from whole cloth, and used to promote ideologies or positions of the person or people behind the identities. Donald Trump's use of 'John Barron' as pseudo-identity/spokesman in the 1980s is an early example, but online forums all over the internet are rife with sockpuppetry.

While most sockpuppets use fake names and identities to advance positions or feign the existence of broad support for policies, the crack research team at GTB has found a recent example where a prominent persona has been co-opted in the name of radical loonbattery.

Once upon a time, Curt Schilling was an outspoken professional baseball player, an interesting mix of technophile gamer, student of history, jock, and conventional conservative. Since his retirement from baseball and the controversial failure of his gaming company, Schilling's identify was taken over by a caricature of a right-wing nutjob. This new 'Curt Schilling' has descended further and further into the fever swamps of the Breitbart/Infowars insane right wing. 'He' routinely retweets the most thinly sourced conspiracy theories as fact, propagates offensively sexist and racist memes, and insults 'libtards' on the regular.

After getting suspended by ESPN for a Facebook post that unfavorably compared Muslims with Nazis, the WWL finally suspended pseudo-Curt for his consistent assholery. Or, for promoting an anti-trans meme. But mostly for being an unrepentantly unprofessional asshole.

Schilling was chastened by ESPN's professional rebuke, and...nah, he wasn't. He just doubled down on being a wingnut online. Most recently, he conducted a highly scientific and obviously unassailable poll on the Presidential election. As you can see below, things look bleak for the Democrats:

When various commenters pointed out the fact that Schilling's Twitter followers almost certainly represented a biased sample set, fake Curt called them tools of the liberal media, and predicted a sweeping repudiation of conventional wisdom come November. Cool.

And finally, you'll be pleased to know that just yesterday, our man Curt (or the people that are controlling his identity) went public with his plans to run for President in 2024. Or by 2020, if Hillary Clinton 'illegally' wins in November.

I, for one, can't wait. A combination of unwavering certainty in one's position in the face of contrary facts, giant ego, disdain for people with dissenting viewpoints is both appealing and healthy. Run, 'Curt', run.