There has been much specualtion in the blogosphere as to the identity of the anonymous blogger toiling under the handle of “Atrios.”
Is he Sydney Blumenthal?
Robert Shrum or an agent of Castro?
I think I may have umasked him after reading this post today:
1) Max notes that Jane Galt suggests that New Yorkers should use 2 X 4s against protesters if they are misbehaving.
2) I, after attending a protest, note that protesters were all very well behaved so that Jane Galt’s “Goon Squad” would be unnecessary.
3) Children protesting in Georgia were hit with a cinder block by someone driving by. I note facetiously that Jane Galt’s goon squad had gone to Georgia.
4) Jane gets lots of nasty emails apparently. Jane gets upset about all the incivility, and to prove her point has this parting shot to all the Saddam-sympathizers:
I’m not responding to your deliberate attempt to cast me as Bull Connor in your own private resistance fantasy in which you singlehandedly save the people of Iraq and the world by — agitating to keep Sadaam Hussein in power. If you can’t read and comprehend multi-syllabic words strung together in a long row, this is probably not the correct forum to remedy the situation.
And Mark Kleiman takes me to task for misrepresenting Jane’s words.
Well, whatever.
I don’t condone sending pointlessly obscene emails to anyone, and nor did I ask anyone to. But I find it a bit odd that someone has a problem with my linking of Galt’s calls for inappropriate vigilante violence to (admittedly different) vigilante violence on the grounds that doing so might cause some inappropriate emails. If my words are somehow irresponsible for that reason, then so were hers, which was the point of the ‘goon squad’ comment in the first place.
If that isn’t a patented “I am sorry it is your fault” Bill Clinton apology, then I just don’t know Bill Clinton.
Note the other weasel words- ‘Apparently’ Jane Galt is getting nasty e-mails- I guess he just doesn’t believe her. The “I note facetiously” is also charming- the post, you can go check it out for yourself, is in line with the same sort of smear Atrios levels at anyone with the slightest shred of ‘evidence.’
Atrios clearly is Bill Clinton. Note the frequent appeals for his followers to lavish him with expensive gifts.
For what it is worth, I am not serious.