Well, I quickly found Stan Jones' website and email address and asked him if he was Billy Muldoon. He replied. But I don't quote private emails without permission, so I went to bed last night without posting. This morning I got an ok. Here's Stan Jones' response to whether he is Billy Muldoon:
Steve:
When Billy Muldoon was still around, I steadfastly refused to discuss in any way anything I might know about his identity, and I suppose I should continue to do so, even though he's gone. So, my lips are still sealed, unfortunately.
Best,
Stan Jones
I'd say he could be running for vice president with a non-denial like that. And for those of you who have had the pleasure of reading Billy Muldoon, well, it brings back fond memories.
Billy's covered his tracks well and I couldn't find any cached copies of his blog to compare with, but I do have this quote from a post I wrote June 2007 when Billy was debunking a bogus George Washington quote that conservatives were citing all over.
If, like Billy [Muldoon, the blogger], you ripped open this morning's ADN to read the latest from Dandy Dan Fagan, you may have thrilled to the righteous thunder of this passage in his opening paragraph:You be the judge, but I think Doogan's off the hook on this part.
In 1797, George Washington said it this way; "Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. Government is force; like fire it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.
?Hay problema? !Si!
As mentioned previously on the Fires, any time Dan gets within spittin' distance of a testable proposition, he's apt to get it wrong, and this is another such case. It turns out that the Father of Our Country never said no such of a thang! You can read the debunker here at an excellent reality-check site called Bartleby.com
I know to an absolute certainty that Billy Muldoon is Stan Jones, another former Daily News reporter. Billy Muldoon is not Mike Doogan.