Informed Speculation

I, for one, know better than to grapple with that pugnacious pontificator Patterico, but the L.A. Times never learns. Earlier, Patterico spotted a cowardly move by Michael Hiltzik of the L.A. Times-sponsored Golden State Blog, who was engaging in a shell game with his readers by posting under his own name and two pseudonyms – sometimes using the pseudonyms to provide ‘independent’ backup to his own ideas.

It really is as bad as it sounds – and it wasn’t open to debate. In fact, the proof was so overwhelming that the Times shut Hiltzik down. This is the latest fairly high-profile embarrassment of a blogger, but lest anyone overreact, let’s remember two things – one, when you catch someone of a certain position cheating, that shouldn’t be a condemnation of everyone of a similar position – i.e., the fact that some accountants and lawyers cheat doesn’t mean we disparage the professions of accounting and lawyers (well, accounting anyway – just kidding, you wonderful attorneys!).

Second, it was another blogger that caught this blogger, just as it was bloggers who ended the brief WaPo association with plagiarist Ben Domenech. The watchdog functions far outweigh the regrettable incidences of unethical behavior. Tom Maguire sums it up in his own inimitable fashion:

As the famous saying goes, on the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.

However – they will probably figure it out if you are a horse’s ass.

(with a hat tip to Baseball Crank)…