A correspondent writes (Saturday, March 19, 2005):
"Prof.
Lipstadt's blog is now being run by a couple of
refugees from Nizkor and alt.revisionism. Dave
Gehrig is an old hand, employed to respond to any
contentious posts, while it appears from Ms. Lipstadt's
latest post today [Saturday, March 19,
2005] that the site itself is actually being run
by Hilary Ostrov, who used to run Nizkor with
Ken McVay. You're right, she is no diarist.
Another correspondent reports (Saturday, March 19, 2005):
"Deborah Lipstadt's on line blog has stopped allowing
anonymous entries. Their policy changed overnight,
curiously -- just after a conversation [we three]
had with David Gehrig. We all made anonymous
entries in the later half of the blog. Please have a look
and see the conversation that led up to the cancellation
of the "anonymous" blogging feature. Now you have to sign
on as a blogger, which doesn't require any sensitive
information, but of course gives them a window to keep an
eye on you -- if you choose to use the account.
Due to the quick response from Lipstadt's website, our
theory is that she hires people (probably PhD candidates
or undergrads for credit!) to keep the content of her
website "kosher"-- at least on average. She never counted
on her site being used to undermine her attempts
to silence you. Well, a blog that won't let you blog
won't keep people's interest for long.
In trying to silence debate on her own website, she is
tying her own hands. Keep up the good work, I sincerely
hope that C-Span doesn't weaken -- we have all called in
expressing our support for your interview."
David Gehrig in denial A correspondent
reports (Sunday, March 20, 2005): "Gehrig made a tart
response to your note [above] about Lipstadt's
Blog, and is now engaging in Posting Denial, claiming
that he has nothing to do with either Nizkor or
alt.revisionism. In fact, a search reveals that he has
posted 8,500 comments to that newsgroup over the years,
7,700 in the past five years. That comes out to a little
over 4 smart comments a day, every day, for five years.
And he seems to sincerely think that his comments are
bothersome to you. There's an expression that applies
here: Get a life.
The reason this is relevant is that it underlines the
metamorphosis of Lipstadt's site. Originally, it was no
doubt meant to record her personal impressions, as well
as the hoped for ecstatic reviews, as a means of
promoting her book (and there's some delightfully stupid
stuff in the January archive). Yet the blog has now
degenerated into another playpen for her fans from Nizkor
and alt.revisionism, as she has ceded control, and
perhaps interest, and at minimum demonstrated an
inability to respond to criticism. Anyone consulting the
Lipstadt blog now should be aware of this.
A correspondent reportsd (Sunday, March 20, 2005) 5:10
pm: "All comments have now been removed from Lipstadt's
Blog. Since it no longer allows interaction, it is no
longer a blog. That didn't take long. . ."
5:13 pm: Another correspondent confirms: "I saw on
your web site that Professor Lipsatadt had topped
allowing anonymous comments on her blog. Well you might
be interested in hearing that she has gone one step
further and apparently stopped allowing comments at all.
She has also deleted all the comments that had already
been left (including one from me which I had posted in my
full name)."
..... but since she will not allow anyone to challenge
her views, why should she be believed?
Monday, March 21, 2005
[Deborah Lipstadt explains
on her website why, unlike David Irving, she will no
longer invite comments]:
No More Comments: A
Sad Policy Change
WHEN I first created this blog, my blog mentor
London's Sashinka, urged me to allow comments. It
will give you an opportunity to enter into a conversation
with people who are interested in your work, she told me.
I was delighted by the idea and enjoyed the early
comments.
Then the antisemites, deniers, and kooks came out of
the woodwork. They began to post long email message, most
of them filled with drivel trying to prove all sorts of
absurd things, e.g. Irving is not a denier and he did not
lose the lawsuit.
I stopped commenting and left it some stalwarts to
engage these people.
Yesterday, I put a stop to the whole thing. I decided
that I don't have to provide a platform for these people.
Some people told me that they learned a lot from reading
their comments. "I knew these people were out there," one
person wrote me, "but I never saw them 'up close and
personal.' Ugh."
There are, sadly, many places on the Internet to see
them "up close." But no longer on this blog site.
posted by Deborah Lipstadt @ 7:27 AM [Monday,
March 21, 2005]
