This is the tale of an Iowan named PBrunsel, his two siblings of questionable existence, and how their strange tale is woven into the very fabric of our forum's history.
Of course, we may never know the true story of PBrunsel, Hawkeye, and Karl. While PBrunsel had been an integral part of the community for two years, Hawkeye and Karl were more recent additions to the forum. The three all claimed to be brothers, and each seemed to have their own quirks about them. PBrunsel viewed Herbert Hoover with intense adoration and was the nicest guy you could know. Hawkeye hated liberals, loved his gym class, and enjoyed making ridiculous claims. Karl, well, he just liked turtles, and throwing parties that you weren't invited to.
PBrunsel accepted that his brother Hawkeye was a bit extreme, but always maintained that his brother was completely genuine. However, controversy arose when Karl made a post that was clearly meant to be posted by Hawkeye. One might assume that, being brothers, the latter might have posted without realizing the former was still signed on to the forum. However, once the out-of-character post was noticed, guilt was obvious in the immediate response: for the next several hours, every post made by both Karl and Hawkeye were systematically deleted wherever possible. The few that couldn't be deleted- posts in closed threads, as well as the OPs of topics on certain boards- were edited to show a single punctuation mark.
The truth had apparently surfaced: Karl was Hawkeye's sock! However, questions still remained. Hawkeye made a final post, confessing that his account had been entirely fake, before leaving permanently. Hawkeye's confession as a completely fake provocateur directly contradicted PBrunsel's constant defense of him as genuine. As time passed, more and more of Hawkeye's unique bombastic style could even be seen in PBrunsel's own messages. With one brother being a sock, many wondered, might not the second one be as well?
While PBrunsel adamantly maintained his own innocence in the affair, many posters began their own research into the matter. An anonymous source presented StatesRights with several incriminating links wherein PBrunsel (or rather, the man behind the user) had written many caustic diatribes in the precise style of his "brother," seemingly proving that the most congenial member of the Atlas was bewilderingly the sockmaster of its most uncivil. This greatly disturbed even his closest friends:
Oh. My. God. My jaw literally dropped when I visited the one Xanga site. That really is all of PBrunsel's info (screenname, MSN, etc.). I can't believe this. I am very disappointed. I considered PBrunsel a good friend.
I don't say this as a joke, for the record - maybe he has some split personality disorder. We all knew PBrunsel as a very kind (sometimes too kind), intelligent young man. Now we find out that on his own website he adopts the crazy personality of the one we now know as Hawkeye. Very, very odd.
I felt really bad when I read his farewell post. The part about going through real life problems was especially sad (for example, losing his girlfriend of eight months really sucks). But now I see it as nothing more than an attempt to gain sympathy. I am so disappointed right now.
Others, such as
Cas Max Power, were unconvinced:
I think PB's joke Xanga site was obviously fake. It reminded me of Maddox the pirate.
Some posters didn't even seem to notice the outside websites, instead determined to prove PBrunsel had lied about Hawkeye, with no consideration of the contemporaneous efforts to connect the two as a single person.
I can't believe this is still being debated. What more proof do you need than "Hawkeye" admitting this whole thing is a joke? Not to mention his massive change in personality from all of the previous posts to the last few.
PB, on another thread, offered to "stand for questions." So I asked. I saw three things:
1. PB changed his story.
2. PB got defensive; he got defensive because I googled his last name (which I have avoided posting, but which he has posted on this site) and the word "teacher."
3. PB didn't answer the questions.
At no point have I suggested "PB = Hawkeye," though it is possible. I've only looked at what he has said about Hawlkeye and what evidence there is about "Hawkeye." They don't jibe. Now, until a this, I had no real questions about PB. Now I do.
PB, if he is to have any respect, needs to explain what is going on.
However, questions were never answered. PBrunsel left the forum shortly thereafter, maintaining his innocence to the end.
Incredible, you found some xanga sites. Keep the heck out of my private life States. I don't go on witch hunts against you. My brother decided to get rid of a xanga site when he wanted a new one, so please stop.
I am only PBrunsel,
I have strived so hard to do good. I have tried so hard to do right. I have given as much to this forum as I have taken. My friends, I can no longer take these insults on my character. I have never given one, not one, inclination that I am a liar. That StatesRights, a man whom I have defended throughout my time at this forum, would so attack my character and rub my good name in the mud makes me sick.
Today I lost my girlfriend for eight months, and I cried my friends. I cried tears of disappointment, now I cry tears of bitter regret towards this forum. I today weep for I now know what misery feels like.
I leave now with a quote by Herbert Hoover, “Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as knowing what to do next”. I know what to do next. I shall request from Dave and IP ban for Hawkeye, Karl, and myself, and we shall no longer “humiliate” this forum with our presence.
Thank you to Ilikeverin, NewFederalist, Texasgurl, Keystone Phil, MasterJedi, and Everett who have stood by me, you who are my age (speaking to Phil most of all) shall be leaders amongst men and Presidents.
Old posters never die, they simply fade away.
Afterwards, two competing schools of thought developed: the "one brother" and "two brother" theories. At the time, the former belief was almost universal, with debate being limited to whether PBrunsel had multiple personality disorder or if he just made the Hawkeye account to vent. At any rate, PBrunsel returned to the forum after less than a year, but rarely posted anything besides sporadic updates to his timelines. He eventually stopped posting entirely after several more years, not once admitting that he was Hawkeye- but also never thereafter mentioned a brother, let alone one that was once on the forum.
Years later, some members of the "Two Brothers" school continued to infer that PBrunsel's own guilt was merely an assumption:
Here's basically what happened:
-Karl posted a post in response to Hawkeye counter-arguments in Hawkeye's style.
-StatesRights brought this up.
-Other posters began to investigate things like PBrunsel's school district's site and discovered holes in Hawkeye's story.
-Others pointed out Hawkeye's posting schedule didn't match his story either.
-A blog was also discovered by PBrunsel written in Hawkeye's style.
-"Hawkeye" basically came out and admitted to being fake, never specifically saying he was Karl but leaving it implied. He then deleted all of both Hawkeye and Karl's posts.
-PBrunsel was confronted about this, and still stuck to his story, claiming the blog was a joke and that Hawkeye was lying just to protect him. Few believed his story and he was basically exiled from the forum.
-As all of Karl's posts had been deleted as well as Hawkeye's and all evidence of the scandal, people forgot about the details and then simply opted to blame PBrunsel for it.
And I have a bit of a talent for identifying fake posters. I don't see it as too difficult to determine if someone posting inanity is a true nut or a caricature. Though I'll admit I sometimes have difficult determining if Straha is serious.
Proponents of the two competing schools even co-opted unrelated threads for the occasional debate.
That wasn't PBrunsel. I'm now convinced I'm the only one who actually remembers how that whole incident went down.
No, there were posts that were meant to be posted by Hawkeye which were under PBrunsel's account, and possibly vice versa. There was also a lot of evidence that Hawkeye's real-life persona was entirely fabricated and actually belonged to PBrunsel.
No, the posts in question were supposed to have been posted by Karl, PBrunsel's brother. Hawkeye was a creation of PBrunsel's brother and PBrunsel played along, to the point of continuing to claim Hawkeye was real after he was exposed as a fake and this was admitted by both "Hawkeye" and Karl.
We may never know the truth behind this forum legend. For those who knew him, PBrunsel will be remembered as a good man. However, this controversial past scars his legacy. While the evidence is damning, reasonable doubt still among the forum; as years past and fewer posters remember the man, the arguments become increasingly irrelevant. He is a giant of the forum's past, a relic from an era that most forumites today have never known. Perhaps then the adage is true: old posters never die, they simply fade away...