‘Hat of the Day: Brian Leiter
Law professor / blogger / a-hole extraordinaire Brian Leiter has joined the ranks of Metropulse-bully Brian Conley and is attempting to out Juan Non-Volokh in retaliation for having the audacity to disagree publicly with Brian Leiter.
What is it about guys named Brian and their obsession with pseudonymity? Maybe Dick Cabeza should change his name to Brian, too, just to keep things clear.
UPDATE: Leiter has expressed second thoughts about publicly identifying non-Volokh. That’s progress. Now all he needs to do is to apologize for being such a prick over the anonymity non-issue to begin with.
June 22nd, 2005 at 3:38 pm
I googled his name and “anonymity” and you are on the money using “obsession” to describe his seeming hatred of non-attributable opinion.
I think that is a natural reaction for one who has an investment in the liberal championed speech codes and ‘verbal harassment’ rules that attempt to control the expression of opinion on college campuses. If you can’t identify someone who disagrees with you, how can you punish them for their opinion?
Thank heavens for groups like F.I.R.E and people like David Horowitz.
June 22nd, 2005 at 4:28 pm
HOO boy: I just read the original (with, for starters, an undated update non-Volokh is accused of not reading – when was it there? Well, it follows a first update in which he begins his attack)) and then the second, the actual attack.
Let me add a bit. My goodness. Prof Leiter is not only what we used to call “a piece of work”, but internally inconsistent. He says “Disagreement is a necessary, but not a sufficient occasion for harsh language: the disagreement also has to be stupid or absurd or, in short, intellectually and morally dishonest, and so not worth its time.” All emphasis is in the original. This, after his own “pathetically dumb Clayton Cramer”, and “Mr. Non-Volokh lets Mr. Cramer’s nonsense pass” remarks in the same post? I wonder if Clayton, who is building a house and could use money, will bring slander charges?
June 22nd, 2005 at 4:55 pm
Nah, he won’t. Given the lack of a clear definiton of “pathetically dumb,” anyone who sued over the phrase would have to be “pathetically dumb” indeed, which Cramer isn’t. Leiter? Maybe.