Soccer Dad

Retraction

It appears that I drew an improper conclusion about an extreme left wing Jewish blogger. He denies having fed his frustrations about having LGF and Cox and Forkum nominated for JIB awards to the loathsome General and suggested that the General take off on some of the other nominees. I was wrong to have accused him of that. Apparently the General did more work than I gave him credit for. And I was wrong to have ascribed his motives to jealousy.

However, I have nothing else to take back.

On Friday, I became aware of a blogger who had unfairly critiqued a two month old post of mine. Despite his prominence in the blogosphere, I had never heard of him before because I don't frequent establishments that peddle such nonsense. His critique was both ugly and unfair and he extended the same contempt for a number of other pro-Israel bloggers.

Given my lack of prominence and the age of the post, it made no sense to me that he would have found the post; after all there more than 20 entrants in category he was commenting on. It did not (and frankly still does not) seem likely that he came to that post unless he had been directed there.

About the same time I noticed that DB, whom I had stopped following closely, had started writing about a "General." Maybe he had written about the General before but it hadn't made any impression on me. I realized that DB was referring - positively - to the same guy who had defamed the pro-Israel bloggers.

Finally, after Shabbos, DB wrote a flattering review of the loathsome post, expressing no qualms about the honesty of the remarks or the extreme language that was used.

I put two and two together and came up with five. Since I must accept DB's denials of having fed selective quotes to critique to the General, I retract my accusation of his having participated in it and having done it out of jealousy. I should have given him the same benefit of the doubt that he regularly denies his targets.

And that is what bothers me about DB's defenders. What he did in embracing the General with no qualms or reservations is his typical tactic. He knows that it's wrong (or maybe he doesn't) and won't back off unless he's called on it. There's a difference between being provocative and obnoxious and he doesn't understand it. (And I'll admit to having crossed the line in my anger over the weekend.)

But his unqualified endorsement of the General's post, to my mind, is still upsetting. I don't buy any after the fact qualification. If he didn't understand how unfair and vicious the General's post was he has no moral compass. (The very dishonesty of the General's post undermines DB's point about how pro-Israel partisans who disagree with DB are actually hurting Israel. Anyone can misconstrue another's argument.)

So I am asking DB. Please remove me from your blogroll. I do not wish to have anything further to do with you. I do not accept your apology (frankly I haven't read it.) It's the way you play and you're not changing.

Posted by SoccerDad at January 15, 2006 11:42 PM