Ian Murphy

On Thursday I emailed him to request an interview. The reason: On Wednesday he had published the “50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010″ on his website, Buffalo Beast (not even a distant cousin to The Daily Beast. The site is a Buffalo-based publication originally founded by Rolling Stone‘s Matt Taibbi. Taibii no longer has any affiliation with the publication.) Those who made the list included Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson (#38), accompanied by a uniquely nasty writeup fitting of “Mean Girls” the movie, four Supreme Court Justices, Celeb chef Paula Deen (#50), President Obama (#14), Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y. #40), FNC’s Roger Ailes (#11), House Speaker John Boehner (#15), Big Government’s Andrew Breitbart (#18) and well, at least 41 others that make him, as he put it, “want to vent your spleen.”

Late Thursday night he emailed back, saying to forgive his being a “little crazy”, but how did he know I wasn’t actually Carlson? I was willing to play paranoia — I told him to look me up and get in touch with my Manhattan-based boss. I offered email, phone number, whatever he wanted to alleviate his near Bellevue-worthy mental state. Hours later, he emailed me back from another account apologizing profusely for his weirdness, saying if he hadn’t “ruined” things he’d really like to be interviewed. I suggested 3 p.m. He said he had to drive his “dumb roommate” to the auto garage but he was free at 3:30.

Friday he phoned me on Skype — he has no cell phone. “Too poor for such luxuries,” he said, laughing. For the first 10 minutes (at which point I’d asked no more than basics about the site) he probed further on whether I was working for Tucker or associated with him in any way. Outside of a lie detector or genetic testing I wasn’t sure how to assuage his feelings.

I questioned him more. And let’s just say I now desperately need to buy a pair of those preppy Breton-red pants and maybe a Circa 2006 red polka dot bow-tie…

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.