Donald Douglas: Pathetic and Insecure (but proud right wing squirmer)

At least partially in response to a month old blog comment posted elsewhere, where I suggested that, regardless of what Donald's hit counter is showing him, fewer and fewer people are taking him seriously as a political scientist, a college professor, or a blogger (folks do often watch train wrecks or the mentally ill ranting in public, but that doesn't mean they like or respect what they're seeing and hearing) Donald brags about his blog hits and a recent NYT quote (while simultaneously pretending not to care at all about any of it, natch), saying

"Nope.

Nobody respects what I have to say, nobody like the New York Times or anything, at "Occupy Wall Street Quiz"

Poor Donald... He really thinks the following quote shows that someone at the New York Times actually respects him or what he has to say:

Not surprisingly, many on the right squirmed to find the Tea Party drawn into the discussion. Among them was Donald Douglas at American Power, who wrote, “The comparison between Occupy Wall Street and the tea parties is bogus, of course.” He continued:

And it’s frankly obscene that folks think Obama should benefit politically from these protests. The White House has been in bed with Wall Street. The dilemma for the Democrats is how they can channel the protests against the Republicans without getting caught up in a generalized anti-government tsunami in 2012. As was clear at the press conference yesterday, the president will basically lie through his teeth, blaming the economic crisis on his predecessor and waging a morally bankrupt class war on the high-income earners.

Is it cool to be quoted in the New York Times? I bet it is... But does that mean they respect what you have to say? Not necessarily. (In fact, it looks to me like they were just looking for right wingers who disagreed with the comparison between the OWS 99% and the Tea Party, and Donald's post was one they found... And for all we know, that may've been just a matter of when he hit the "post" button... They were looking for right wing squirmers, and they found one in Don...)

But to me, all of that is beside the point...

The real question is, what would the New York Times think--indeed, what are any of us to think--if they were to read the piece he just posted, where Donald's first thought after seeing himself quoted in the New York Times was to lash out at me? How much respect can anyone have for a guy who, as a result of being quoted in the NYT, feels compelled to write such a nasty little post? What does it say about his professionalism, his decency, or even his emotional well-being? How does it reflect on Long Beach City College, where he is an associate professor in the political science department? What does Donald's post say about him as a professor, a political scientist, or as a person?

The big bad secret is that THAT was my point in making that month-old comment in the first place. Donald Douglas isn't very well respected in the blogesphere (edit: blogosphere), and one of the main reasons is that he's a petty, thin-skinned, vindictive blowhard who cannot resist lashing out personally at those with whom he does not agree politically or socially, regardless of political ideology or past friendship. Dr Douglas sees those he disagrees with not as wrong or ignorant, but as evil and as enemies, which is sad for him, and none too pleasant for anyone who has to spend time in his physical or even verbal presence...

I mean, go back and reread Dr Douglas' post... How pathetic and insecure does one have to be to turn being quoted in the New York Times into some silly and fact-free attack post, especially in response to a month old blog comment?

Perhaps one day he'll grow up... ...but sadly, it's just as likely that perhaps he never will...