It’s an Internetz drama!!! – an ending

Yesterday, I brought to light one of the most ridiculous and hilarious Internet flame wars (of sorts) I’ve ever seen, between Libertarian blogger Ed Brayton and small-time wingnut (and big-time Internet Tough Guy) “Pat”. The whole thing was so funny, I couldn’t help but post it in its entirety; and now, we have an ending to the thrilling saga. Once again, taken from Ed’s blog simply because I can’t possibly put it better than he does:

It seems that our new friend Pat has finally recognized the wisdom of that old saying to the effect that when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging. He declares in his presumably final post on the subject that "The Ed Brayton war is over, please." I've got news for you, Pat. It was never a war in the first place, it was just an opportunity for you to humiliate yourself by revealing just how stupid and pathetic you are.

As the late great Bill Hicks once said of the first Gulf War, "It wasn't really a war. A war is when two armies are fighting. So it wasn't really a war. The Persian Gulf distraction is more like it." Which is all this has been.

In his latest missive directed towards me, he expresses amazement at the fact that I would attempt to dig up his real name and address, and post them to my blog. That, my friends, is one of the greatest equalizers in the business; I have seen many a "Shit Talker," if you will, who find themselves wanting to behave like dressed down school children, when they find their personal information exposed.

Well no, Pat. Your silly threats didn't equalize anything, it just showed how juvenile, petty and ridiculous you are. For crying out loud, you were the one who claimed he was going to have me put in jail for "stalking" for nothing more than responding publicly to things you wrote publicly. Then you went and exhibited genuine stalker behavior yourself. And you're too stupid to recognize just how absurd this made you look. That's what makes this all so amusing.

What Ed Brayton will not tell you, is that he threatened me with legal action for posting the address.

No I didn't. Here is exactly what I told him:

You didn't get my address, you got my uncle's. I'd suggest taking it down. That kind of thing can cause some pretty serious legal problems for you.

I also said explicitly in my own response yesterday that I wasn't going to do anything in response because his veiled threats were never of any concern to me. What's he going to do, borrow his mommy's car to come beat me up? But if it hadn't been taken down, my uncle might well have decided to do something about it and that would be well within his rights. He didn't have a damn thing to do with this until this pathetic asshole decided to post his address and phone number and explicitly invite others to pay him a visit.

Now we get to some serious, professional-level projection:

I do not wish him harmed, I see him as an overgrown errant schoolchild. I see him as someone who was beaten up by bullies in school, and who now, to feel somewhat important, he must mock others to feed his need to boost his own ego and look cool for his friends.

The formal name for what Ed has is called Napoleon complex or as it is called in circles of men of base mentalities -- Small Man Disease. The best way to describe it is this, Ed is such a insecure person, that he feels the need to mock, make fun off and put down those around him to make himself look good. I have known many people that are like this; and it is quite the tragic thing to witness, because people that have this horrible problem repeat the same cycle continually.

Seriously Pat, after the display you've put on here, that kind of projection is nothing short of delusional. Let's recall the facts:

You were the one who showed up here after you saw a post you didn't like to tell total strangers "fuck you" in response.

You were the one who wanted to have me put in jail for "stalking" for criticizing something you wrote.

You were the one who then responded by publishing what you thought was my address and phone number and invited your friends to pay me a visit.

You were the one who posted your own blog hit numbers to establish your credibility, blissfully unaware that you lose very badly by the very standard you were advancing in your own defense.

And you really don't see that little screed above as a textbook example of psychological projection? Let me tell you why I really did this, to disabuse you of your silly armchair psychological analysis: Because you are exactly what you just attempted to project on to me, an ignorant, reason-deficient, and sad little man who makes up for his inability to think coherently by striking pseudo-macho poses.

But you are wise to end the whole thing because, as I said before, you are in way, way over your head. Then again, it's clear that you would be out of your depth in a mud puddle. You certainly aren't in any condition to fight a war with anyone. The truth is that you've been little more than an amusing distraction for those of us with an IQ over room temperature and an actual career. Cheers!

Damn, I don’t have “an actual career”. Does that mean I don’t get to be amused by this little kerfuffle?

Well, glad to see it’s ended, anyway. It would begin to bug me soon if Pat got has ass handed to him any harder.

(via Dispatches From the Culture Wars)