In another thread, it appears that the identity of the artist formerly known as JTS is none other than.... Brian.

Given the amount of crap that CCR took (at the hands of Eric B., LG, et al) because it turned out that she happened to be the daughter of one of the County Commissioners, I wonder if we aren't owed a wee bit of an apology.

Sock puppets deserve to burn in hell - and I find myself in the rather awkward position of agreeing with Ike AND Levi.

No, Bridger - there is no comparison. As far as I know, JT never defamed anyone's character or blatantly lied about the commissioners - he merely provided satire.

Annette flat out lied and defamed my character. He false statements were specifically designed to create damage, and they did.

JT's comments were designed for education and entertainment - nothing more.

Besides, you should learn the definition of the word sock-puppet before you use it. I don't think it applies here.

I have no idea what the definition of sock puppet is - y'all can sort that out. But Bridgier, did we read the same string entitled Nothing that become Something that CCR (lamentably, I'm sure) initiated? I'm thinking we must have read different ones, cuz in the one I recall it was CCR who was hurling most of the crap.

As for JT, I can't think of any satirist worth his ire that would apologize. I think most people in this community are thankful that Brian provided such concise social commentary along with a healthy dose of infectious humor. A little comic relief was just what the doctor ordered to cure those ambulance blues.

"A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception within an Internet community. In its earliest usage, a sockpuppet was a false identity through which a member of an Internet community speaks while pretending not to, like a puppeteer manipulating a hand puppet.[1]
In current usage, the perception of the term has been extended beyond second identities of people who already post in a forum to include other uses of misleading online identities. For example, a NY Times article claims that "sock-puppeting" is defined as "the act of creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one's self, allies or company."[2]
The key difference between a sockpuppet and a regular pseudonym (sometimes termed an "alt" which is short for alternate, as in alternate identity) is the pretense that the puppet is a third party who is not affiliated with the puppeteer.
The first known usage of the term was on July 9, 1993 by Merciful Lee Dickens in a posting to bit.listserv.fnord-l, but was not in common usage in USENET groups until 1996."

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ock_puppet

Unless a 'sock puppet' is someone who has the hand of another's up his **, thus speaking only what the hand owner wants said.....

However, I do not think in this instance Brian was lead by anything other than humor and his own beliefs. However, if someone is a conspiracy theory kind of person, this story is a good place to start.

Working for Eric doesn't help his case at all but I think in this particular instance, due to the outrageous nature of the satire, his objective viewpoint is protected by the lack of actual mexican, talking horses.

10 points to anyone who can write a coherent sentence that runs on longer then that one.

Just 10 points? Nah. Now, if you throw in an actual, talking Mexican horse (that speaks multiple languages) - well, then that would make it worth the effort!

Here's a good conspiracy theory....maybe Brian was doing the comic to try to get Brandt elected...and then, in a couple years, HE himself was going to run for election against his neighbor, Milo Huber. At this point, both Eric and Brian would work their own little secret agendas to turn Custer County into a theme park/vegetarian refuge. Eventually, they would butt heads on certain issues, and would have to declare war against each other's districts...a war with many losses, brother fighting brother, until all that remains is Gary Matthews's district....and Gary, it will turn out, is the mastermind behind the whole thing. Perhaps evidence will arise that Mr. Matthews commissioned the creation of the comic under the secret-code name "Snuggle-cakes" in order to increase his grasp on Custer County.

Then again, maybe I was just having fun with the comic program on my Mac, and it turned into a good creative outlet that brought smiles to a lot of people's faces. Plus, I knew that if people discovered who I am, they would be paying more attention to my political "connections" than to what I was actually saying.

If all this means I'm going to burn in hell, then I'll pack extra marshmallows.

There ya go. Brian apologized profusely and completely. Any questions? NO? Good. OK. Brian, thank you for 12 (or was it 13) great strips (comics!). Namaste.

Time to lighten up. I thought this was about Third Rock From the Sun...which is starting on TVLand. My favorite episode is the one with the sock monkey!

Did I accidentally apologize? GUH! If so, I totally take it back. The only thing I'm sorry for is not putting together the final comic. BUT, I promise that once I get settled in I will add the final chapter to the Commissioenr's Corner.

Let us hope that the ninja ambulance team's jurisdiction only extends to the county border...otherwise, I'm in trouble.

Brian - I guess I didn't do a very good job in my previous post. I guess I should have used an emoticon like this to make my tone more apparent. Still, a satirist as good as you should recognize sarcasm when it is foisted upon him. --- Adios, amigo.

I always thought sock puppets were more like this

Wikipedia is the ultimate scource for the term "Sock Puppeting". Duz it apply here?? When you SPIN the bottle, no matter how many times it is SPUN, seems it always points in one direction. Come on back Mary Quintas wherever you are.

I believe Brian is a nice guy who got caught up in a scheme that became more popular than originally imagined. Then the charade had to continue. Burn in Hell, no way. Maybe only a bad choice that got out of hand. Ike

Ike:

Very nice. I'm truly impressed (and I'm not being a smart arse either).

Ike's taking the high road. If you're ever looking for Ike (or Denny Green), check out the high road.

No one but a Vikings fan will get that, sorry...

No scheme, Ike, seriously. I acted completely on my own. I did the comic because it was neat to hear people talking about my work, and having no idea who I was....kind of like Zorro, only without the mask and slightly less sword skills.

If I had been "scheming," don't you think I would have been trying to glorify Eric more...or myself even? Had my comic been about "glorification" it would have been far less effective, and a lot less funny.

Geesh...now I know why writers hate analyzing their own work.

Brian,
IMHO you would have been better served by letting your farewell on the, What I will miss about MC thread stand alone and not post on the Sock puppet one.

While I can understand the idea of not "burning any bridges",please go back to the archived threads beginning b/4 and after the CCR fiasco thru the satire comic ones. Note your posts as well as Eric's and LGs. Check your posts to each other. Was your project such a secret that even your wife did not know? Ike

Ike, does it bother so much that you didnt know? Give it a rest dude! Brian, best wishes and good luck!

I'm surprised anyone was surprised by this confession. I thought we all figured it out ages ago. They were funny. They were done by a friend of Eric's. So what? The humor still stands. LOVED the horse!

Another case of pulling the trigger before the gun clears the holster.

Um, Bruce where you been bud. Check my post on the old Commissioners #10 thread 6-21. Also the 6-23 one on the commissioners # 11 thread. Ike

Humor me, Ike. Why do you care who wrote the comics? They were funny, they were accurate, they were satire. You remind me of the Muslims being all upset over the cartoons of Mohammad.

You could be killed just for saying that, Bruce. By the Muslims, I mean.

Dang, Ike....those other threads kind of just show that you are freakin' nuts or senile. Why did you want to bring those up?

I have to admit that I found Ike's "obsession" a bit disturbing. Bringing LG into the fray didn't exactly help his case, either.

Call the vote!!

Ike is:

a) Senile
b) Just plain nuts
c) Overly obsessed and bored
d) Secretly Brian and LG's long lost adopted son.

Cheers!
FH

...who votes (c).

I guess I'll probably vote (c) as well.