Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short (and Now Complete) Story, Updated with New Epilogue

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short Story | David Einhorn

bailed

Trigger warning: all of them

This is not about partisan politics for me, some people seem to think I‘m holding a personal grudge- I‘m not. This is about a person who gleefully jokes about racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist views pretending to be someone he‘s not. I was just trying to be subtle and not to go for the jugular. But, here‘s your receipts. You would have been shocked enough to screenshot too. People deserve to know.

Laalaleighh You might have to screenshot to zoom in. Fitting so much in a square wasn‘t easy. It‘s just a small sample of what I‘ve seen though. 4y

Chrissyreadit 😘 4y

MeganAnn ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I admire your bravery, Laura! 4y

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LiteraryinPA Thanks, Laura. Your posts help me recognize some people who I would do better not to follow. Sorry for all the pushback you‘re getting. 4y

TrishB I am saddened by this and I feel a bit of a fool. ♥️♥️ (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh @TrishB I‘m so sorry to have made you sad. I really didn‘t want to hurt anyone. I just couldn‘t stay silent about it any longer. But I hope you are okay and if you need to talk to someone about the disappointment I‘m here ❤️ 4y

Laalaleighh @LiteraryinLititz thank you ❤️ it‘s okay I knew this might happen. 4y

TrishB You haven‘t made me sad, the person posting these has. ♥️♥️stay strong. 4y

Laalaleighh @TrishB thank you love ❤️ still sorry to be the bearer of sad news ❤️❤️ 4y

LauraBeth @Laalaleighh was one of my first Litsy friends and I was so saddened when she left here a while back and now I know why. I‘ve unfollowed mrbook after seeing these screenshots as he clearly is presenting himself one way in his “real” life and a completely different way over here. I never see him post any book reviews so I‘m not sure what he gains from this community - 4y

Laalaleighh @LauraBeth ❤️you 4y

kylienoele I‘m sure this wasn‘t easy to do, but thank you! Really eye-opening. 💖 4y

Reagan @kylienoele very eye opening. Thank you for posting @Laalaleighh 4y

umbrellagirl Just wow. Thank you for sharing. 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB these aren‘t jokes. It‘s sad you see them as jokes. 4y

vivastory @EadieB These aren't jokes. He's showing who he is. 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB he‘s been mentioning Trump for years that was not the catalyst. It was downplaying the terrorism. He‘s not my friend. I don‘t associate with people that are casually racist, misogynist, homophobic or transphobic if I can help it. It says more about you that you think all of the above is acceptable than it does about me for thinking people deserve to know he thinks that way. See past the trump factor, this is about character. 4y

Laalaleighh I mean oh no I‘m terrible and mean to a person that participates in a space with people with marginalized identities and uses a shared love of reading to implicitly imply he is an ally to those people but literally shows disdain about their identities very existence on platforms elsewhere. And I think people have a right to know who they are truly safe with and who they aren‘t. And should have the info needed to decide for themselves. 4y

Laalaleighh If that makes me mean and nasty so be it. I didn‘t cancel anyone. I posted his own posts- the end. And honestly maybe just say racism and transphobia doesn‘t bother with you with your chest and go because posting someone else‘s words that they wrote doesn‘t make them low character. Looking the other way when people show their bigotry is low character. @EadieB 4y

Jas16 If someone came to me tomorrow and told me that one of my “real life” friends told jokes that were racist or transphobic or in any way bigoted I would no longer be able to count that person as a friend. I don‘t see why that would be any different on Litsy. It is not political to find hate abhorrent. 4y

Laalaleighh @jas16 exactly- hate is hate. Really well put: thank you 💙 (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh Well I don‘t have to label you with any other “crazy liberal term” @EadieB , you just outed yourself. Have a good night. (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB yeah. You are. With your own words. Anyone who reads them will know how you really feel. Go wherever makes you comfortable. I don‘t think we have much more to say here. Have a nice night. 4y

sprainedbrain Love you, Laura! 💙 4y

Laalaleighh @sprainedbrain 🥰 love you too, Jenni!!! 💖✨ 4y

batsy I feel the same as @TrishB as I had no idea. ❤️ to you. 4y

Reviewsbylola I feel very similar to @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I feel like Litsy is such an insulated place and that‘s why I LOVE it. We all add something different to the mix and it‘s very easy (usually) to avoid politics and discussions like this. I have plenty of people that I disagree with on FB and I either choose to ignore them or call them out as a see fit. I‘m wondering @Laalaleighh if you actually have a discussion with Jason on these topics when he 4y

Reviewsbylola posts them. I think the reaction to take screen shots and share them as opposed to having an actual discourse with Jason on FB is kind of strange. 4y

Laalaleighh @Reviewsbylola for the record I attempted a long time ago through discourse on fb comments under posts to share my concerns and I have many people that also were on litsy that can attest to that. It‘s not something I did rashly. He just let his guy friends in fraternal society do all the bashing and defending and he just sat back quietly and liked everyone‘s comments in the name of “healthy debate” I eventually gave up and just mostly quit litsy. (edited) 4y

Reviewsbylola Yeah, I mean it‘s not a good look for him. I just don‘t understand why that equates to quitting litsy. Wouldn‘t it make more sense to unfriend him on FB and unfollow him on Litsy? I feel like the nice thing about Litsy is that if there‘s someone you don‘t mesh with well you can easily engage in the community without having to be involved with that particular person. 4y

Laalaleighh @Reviewsbylola I totally understand where you are coming from- the difference is that I was in the very first litsy goes postal group that he organized- I‘m not going to speak for anyone else here- but at the time I quit I was much more enmeshed with him and his world than the average litsy user and he was a very large presence on the site. I couldn‘t just unfollow him as he had been-jokingly or not- ordained “the mayor of litsy” 4y

Laalaleighh @Reviewsbylola and he was involved in so much - including with people I really like and respect- that there was no way to untangle litsy from his presence. And seeing him have such an outsized presence in a group of mostly women and women that care about many social issues deeply when I knew how he expressed himself off site- it was too upsetting and frustrating for me to handle- So I just engaged less and less. I hope that makes sense? 4y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Reviewsbylola I totally agree... (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I wasn‘t spreading hate or bigotry, I was attempting to expose it. 4y

vivastory We present ourselves differently. Yet we have core values. What @laalaleigh posted was unknown to me as I have never had a FB profile. Had I known I would have not followed this individual & engaged over the years. I've been on Litsy for a little over 4 years & on twitter & goodreads for the same time. There is nothing on there that you could screenshot & post that would embarrass me.. Some of what was posted above could very very generously be (edited) 4y

vivastory construed as a joke, the rest are clearly labeled as observations. I don't need to enumerate the problematic memes, nor do I find any of them humorous & I don't want to “cancel“ someone. I do appreciate the transparency though. Again, there is nothing you could find on my other social media that you could screen shot that would run counter to the person that I hope that people know I am. The disconnect here is alarming. (edited) 4y

Reviewsbylola I completely agree @vivastory, I feel the same way about my own social media presence. I counted @Laalaleighh as someone I really looked forward to hearing from on Litsy and I think it‘s unfortunate that she is no longer present on here because of her feelings toward Jason. I think Litsy is what we make it, and I personally have not had a problem at all with disengaging from people (one person in particular comes to mind) that have been negative. 4y

Reviewsbylola And in response to your recent comments @Laalaleighh I hope that you‘ll return to Litsy now that some time has passed. I think if you were to block Jason maybe you would be able to find joy in the community again because the good so outweighs the bad. 4y

vivastory @Reviewsbylola *insert standing applause gif* 👍 4y

Laalaleighh @vivastory it was exactly the disconnect that made it when more egregious to me. There is nothing on any of my social media I wouldn‘t stand by everywhere. People deserve to know who they are associating with and befriending and letting into their life in whatever way social media friendship allows. 4y

Laalaleighh @Reviewsbylola it has been some time and I have missed litsy terribly. I feel conflicted in leaving for such a long time because of my inability to separate disentangle litsy from one person- returning and exposing said person- and then picking back up again like nothing happened. I didn‘t do this to make litsy comfortable for me. I did it because in the wake of the terrorist event last week- these sorts of views are more and more alarming and 4y

vivastory @Laalaleighh I agree & I sincerely appreciate the transparency, but I wouldn't let him ruin Litsy for you now. I understand why it was difficult before, but I'd say Litsy has a lot more people to interact with now. As @Reviewsbylola said, you can unfollow or block him. 4y

Laalaleighh @Reviewsbylola in the world we live in now people deserve to know the truth about people. If said person hadn‘t downplayed the terrorist event and compared it to protests for racial justice I would not have done this. However this platform cares deeply about racial justice and marginalized identities and last week taught me that when people show you who they are, believe them, don‘t give them the benefit of the doubt. 4y

Laalaleighh @Reviewsbylola it‘s a privilege to give him the benefit of the doubt -because his views don‘t apply to me or my identity directly. and I know people have literally deleted their profile and created new ones with new names because of him or also left litsy altogether. I feel like a ton of regular people took their masks off and showed us their true self and going forward I can‘t in good conscience help people stay masked if I know otherwise 4y

Laalaleighh @vivastory @Reviewsbylola it means a lot to me that you want me to come back and I probably will. It wasn‘t an easy decision for me to make to do what I did because I care deeply about people and never want to be a source of deep pain to anyone. But like I said- last week taught me to put the concern of the collective over the concern of individuals and their comfort. (edited) 4y

TheKidUpstairs Hi Laura 👋 I haven't seen your posts on here for quite some time, but I remember you from my earlier days on Litsy. I always appreciated your openness and honesty, and I know you would have put a lot of thought into posting these things here. I just wanted to say thank you, and I appreciate you. I am happy to follow someone who i disagree with politically, but certain things go beyond disagreement to a place where I can not trust, condone, or 👇 4y

TheKidUpstairs ... respect. This is not "humour", it is painful and quite frankly dangerous (to be clear, i mean the things he has posted, not what you've said!). I am glad to know when people think like this, and I can understand why you'd stay away from Litsy because of it. Even if these things aren't posted here, knowing someone feels this way can make a space feel unsafe. But I do hope that you come back and post more, it will be nice to have you back! 4y

TheKidUpstairs (Ugh, I think the second part of my comment just disappeared into internet purgatory. I'll try again, sorry if it repeats!) 4y

TheKidUpstairs (Oops, nope, it's there! I'll stop bombarding your notifications now 💗) 4y

Laalaleighh @TheKidUpstairs thank you- I really appreciate you taking the time to make this comment. I did put a lot of thought into it and held off for years but as the reality of how people can turn dangerous thinking into harmful actions sinks in more and more I felt that to continue to stay quiet would almost make me complicit. Thank you for the support. It‘s always hard to a gauge whether you are doing the right thing- so I truly appreciate it 💙 4y

elkeOriginal Sorry I am late to this as I too was on a hiatus from Litsy. It made me sad to see Litsy friends hoodwinked by this person who was clearly here for the likes and not contributing meaningful content or a single book review. Authenticity is vital and calling out such insidious, two-faced behavior is important work - you made Litsy a safer place! 👏🏻👏🏻 (edited) 3y

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Laalaleighh

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, A Long Short Story | David Einhorn

I‘ve spent 3 years convincing myself not to do this because this community seems to be one of the few sources of fulfillment in his life but oh well.
This person who you all know and probably admire is a trump apologist and this person‘s politics is the reason I left litsy- because I couldn‘t stand to watch a man gain renown and leadership in a group of women when he actively and gleefully derides everything most of them stand for. Now you know.

Elizabeth2 This is not okay. I can‘t put into words how wrong this is. It is so sad that you felt a need to call someone out in this manner. I guess all I can say is aren‘t you the lucky one that right now you are in the majority. Put the shoe on the other foot. Those that talk about tyranny, about totalitarian and authoritarian rule - tyrants and dictators do not get censored. The ones doing the censoring are the dictators and tyrants. 4y

Bookwormjillk I don‘t agree with him at all, but I also don‘t think that you should have posted this. As far as I know he has never posted anything like this on Litsy so what is the point? Give people here enough credit that we‘ll read and make up our own minds, not be swayed by someone who happens to have a lot of litfluence. 4y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I‘ve been thinking all morning about this post. I‘m just very bothered by it. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and views and shouldn‘t be judged for them. I have so many friends on here and I have never even thought about what their political views are and I would never base a friendship on that. Why is it ok for some people to post their political beliefs, but not ok for others? Jason has always been a positive presence on Litsy. @MrBook 4y

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Reecaspieces @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks amen! 4y

Reecaspieces Why would you even post this. This is just political agenda. He never posted this here. YOU did! It is his opinion. You don‘t have to agree with it. And you don‘t have to be mean and post this. He always just has bookish posts here. He never post his politics on this social media. 4y

Reecaspieces @EadieB 👏👏👏 4y

Reecaspieces @Elizabeth2 👏👏👏 4y

Reecaspieces @Bookwormjillk 👏👏👏 4y

Laalaleighh It‘s not stalking- when racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist, etc. posts show up in my Facebook news feed I‘ve screenshot them. I didn‘t go seeking them out. I screen shot everything I see that makes me pause and think- good or bad- there‘s 32k screenshots on my phone and I‘ve had my phone for 3 years- hence... 3 years of posts that shocked me so much I screenshot them. If someone is going to be called the Mayor of Litsy... (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh then maybe they should be held to a higher standard than the average user? I know so many women that quit this site Bc they couldn‘t handle him talking about books dealing with the lives experiences of people of color or LGBTQIA etc when they knew what he and his friends said and joked about in other places. (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh Furthermore- it was the way he downplayed the terrorist attack on the US Capitol as being less than what it was through posts like the ones above that finally broke me. We no longer live in a world where we can be polite about political “opinions”. People just tried to kidnap and murder congress to stop a peaceful transition of power and they are still organizing more violence online as we speak. Anyone that wants to compare that to any other ... (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh form of protest or downplay the absolute treasonous severity of it- isn‘t merely exercising their politics. He‘s “The Mayor of Litsy” and this site is full of people whose identities and beliefs he gleefully derides that innocently interact with and trust him. You wanna be mayor of a place full of people that care about racial justice and are afraid of creeping fascism??? People deserve to know your publicly stated views on said topics. (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh If nothing I posted was horrific and it‘s just a political opinion then there should be no problem with me posting it. You could post anything I‘ve ever written (and I write a lot) about my views and beliefs on any public forum and I would have zero issue with it because I stand by what I say and I‘m the same person everywhere. I didn‘t post anything truly heinous because I wanted to be sensitive to what anyone of any identity might see. 4y

Laalaleighh @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Reecaspieces @Bookwormjillk @Elizabeth2 @EadieB my response and explanation above. ⬆️ 4y

BeansPage Wow! This post is absolutely disgusting. Litsy is supposed to be a place about books not politics. This app has never been for or against anyone in the political arena. We all have our views and that is fine. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Jason having his own views on politics. And the fact that you are trying to slander somebody else in some sort of smear campaign is dispicable. 4y

BeansPage Do you feel better? Do you feel superior? I sincerely hope so. This post is vicious and malicious and shows us just how much of an empty person you really are. 4y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Laalaleighh The posts wouldn‘t show up in your newsfeed had YOU not requested to be HIS friend on Facebook. I know that he told you that he posts political and religious beliefs that everyone may not agree with and that you said you were “very tolerant.” Why stalk him and over 30k photos?! That is unbelievable 😳 4y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @SumisBooks yes!!! Amen! 4y

Rebellioustacos I have kept quiet on Litsy for some time, even changed my handle because of him. He has ruined a book club I‘m in and has hurt many friends on and off Litsy with his words and actions. I believe that Laala posted this as a warning to tread lightly when it comes to him. He may seem charming, but he is very misogynistic once you get to know the true him. 4y

Laalaleighh @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks that‘s a misunderstanding- I have 30k screenshots of like- everything I see anywhere. I take a ton of screenshots, words, art, photos, books I want to check out later etc. I don‘t have 30k screenshots of him lol. I just have 3 years worth of things that shocked me so much I automatically screenshot them. I haven‘t counted them but maybe like 50-60? Over 3 years? On this phone. That I took with no agenda. 4y

Laalaleighh @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks yeah I did say I could handle his politics 3 years ago when he was someone that was directly before me in a book postal group and I had to text on the regular and liked him as a person and then I spent a long tome trying to engage with them and understand but his boys club ruthlessly respond to women that don‘t agree with them and he just stands back and silently approves. And over time I found his two different... 4y

Laalaleighh @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks personalities too reprehensible to continue to interact and it ruined litsy for me. And once again I didn‘t stalk him. I don‘t have 30k photos of him. I have 30k screenshots on my phone of everything I have screenshot everywhere in 3 years -most of it is pictures to paint or books to read or articles to remember. I have like maybe 50 screenshots from 3 years of posts showing up in my newsfeed. That‘s not stalking. 4y

Laalaleighh @Rebellioustacos I‘m so sorry you had that experience. I no longer participate in this site really- but it‘s people like you that I know have been hurt by interactions with him that are the reason I posted this. It‘s just a warning for other people who might not want to open themselves up to someone that seems harmless when so many people have actually felt harmed. I don‘t mind being the person that takes the heat. Someone had to call it out. 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB I actually don‘t want the attention. I‘m not trying to hurt him. I just think that this platform is full of people that inhabit identities and experiences that deserve to know who he is so they can make an informed decision about whether or not they want to trust him. Obviously anyone that doesn‘t feel an issue with his publicly stated views will continue to interact. I just know too many people who got hurt before they found out the truth 4y

Laalaleighh I stayed friends with him long after I knew his politics. I even debated him all the time and didn‘t mind. It‘s the way I saw them evolve over the past four years and the people I‘ve seen hurt that changed how I saw him. Not everything is done to hurt someone or for attention. Sometimes truth just deserves to be brought to light when people have an outsized influence on a community. That‘s all. 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB I have warned people I know - but I don‘t know everyone. Like I said. Anyone that doesn‘t feel like what I posted is a big deal will continue to associate and the people that do have issues with it and what it implies will be forewarned and avoid possibly getting hurt. I would direct you to @Rebellioustacos comment to see that hurt has happened to multiple people and it has ruined this app for many. I‘m not doing this maliciously. 4y

Laalaleighh Also sorry that downplaying a terrorist attack and attempted coup on our seat of government by white supremacists and people in camp auschwitz sweatshirts and 6 million not enough shirts and others who organized with the full intention to kidnap and murder our legislative branch was the straw that broke the proverbial camels back for me- but it was. (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB respectfully you don‘t know how he‘s hurt other people and if this is harmless politics than it shouldn‘t hurt him. I‘m not a malicious person. This is to protect people. And you don‘t have to deliberately hurt people to hurt them. If someone trusts you and then finds out you support things that invalidate their identity or their fight for fairness and justice- that‘s harm. (edited) 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB they broke into our Capitol with zipties to take hostages and shot into the chambers of congress and brought IEDS and napalm and erected gallows to hang the VP and the trump appointed pentagon staff slowplayed the relief from the guard and some of the Capitol police let them in and they bludgeoned an officer to death and stole confidential info and smeared feces in the rotunda and had an armed stand off with secret service... 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB and trump told them to March on the Capitol said you don‘t take back your country without strength- had people speaking telling them to kick ass- his personal lawyer called for the vp to be executed he refused to send the guard so pence had to do it and he watched it on tv while his vp coordinated the rescue response and then he told the people they were very special and he loved them! 4y

Chrissyreadit @Laalaleighh I prefer to have masks off. I take personal integrity very seriously. I‘m frustrated that a handful of people hijack posts in my safe litsy space and spew tolerance for hate. I equate it to people who consider some white supremicists to be fine people. Agree to disagree does not work if I‘m agreeing to someone‘s right to oppress and marginalize others. 4y

Chrissyreadit I wish you would post more, just block more liberally. 4y

Laalaleighh Sorry I don‘t give treason the benefit of the doubt. There‘s also tapes where trump admits to bob Woodward he purposely downplayed covid - he thought it would only hurt democratic areas- he didn‘t want to incite panic, etc. His friends and family also used their knowledge of the pandemic to buy and sell stock and body bags and coffins. But that‘s irrelevant. I don‘t blame him- I think if you downplay treason and terrorism people deserve to know 4y

Laalaleighh @Chrissyreadit thank you - I agree. And maybe I will. 💙 4y

Laalaleighh I also take personal integrity seriously @Chrissyreadit and that‘s why I finally made this post. 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB the 6 million was in reference to the people that wore shirts saying 6MNE (6 million not enough) - referring to Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust - not a number of people who organized the Capitol attack. And the Capitol not being protected when trump fired the or made to resign the top 5 spots at the pentagon post election sounds more like a coordinated coup than an attempt to embarrass trump. 4y

Laalaleighh Also I never said all Trump supporters are white supremacists @EadieB - but white supremacy is not a deal breaker for them and apparently neither is attempted overthrow of government. 4y

Elizabeth2 @Laalaleighh where are your sources for the above information about what happened at the Capitol? I have not heard many of the things you mentioned. 4y

Laalaleighh @elizabeth2 which are you referring to? I will happily give you sources to anything specific you want. 4y

Laalaleighh @EadieB which comments? As I said I‘m happy to give sources. 4y

Amandajoy I debated whether or not to respond to this, whether my two cents meant anything. I try to be careful about political posts for a variety of reasons, but there is a difference between political arguments & intolerance. I see a lot of the later lately. I‘m not a fan of “cancel culture”, because I do believe people deserve a chance to do better. But I also think there are some things that aren‘t up for debate. ⬇️ 4y

Amandajoy I don‘t have to be tolerant when someone tries to tell me what I‘ve seen with my own eyes is not true or when they are reciting conspiracy theories or when their views are misogynistic, racist, homophobic, or otherwise intolerant. I sometimes think learning someone‘s views can taint your image of them, but I also think you get to choose what you will and will not tolerate. ⬇️ 4y

Amandajoy Thank you for your post. While it forced me to wrestle with uncomfortable feelings (sometimes my inner people pleaser is frustrating), it also helped me decide the types of people I do and do not want to support. (Sorry, didn‘t realize that was so long.) 4y

Laalaleighh @Amandajoy thank you. You understand my motivation. 4y

Laalaleighh To everyone else: @EadieB @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Reecaspieces @Elizabeth2 @SumisBooks please see my most recent post and if you still think I‘m horrible and empty and malicious and whatever else you are entitled to your opinion. But I think people deserve to know 4y

Amandajoy I do, and I appreciate it. 4y

elkeOriginal Thank you for bringing visibility to the issue. I find it admirable that you stand by your post and feelings when clearly others have deleted their comments against you and your post. Stay strong. Keep shining a light on the shittiness and Litsy (and the world) will be better for it. 3y

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