Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been...

...a member of the Minnesota Organization of Blogs? While most sane folk would not consider whether an individual chose to have their blog associated with something as frankly insignificant as the MOB to be a matter of any import whatsoever, a story in this week's City Pages on
Dan Lacey from faithmouse shows that you should never underestimate the ability of unbalanced, obsessive stalkers to make something of nothing:

Avidor swung back: "Please describe your 'fall from grace.' Answer these questions, Lacey: Are you still opposed to a woman's right to choose? Are you still a theocrat? Are you still a right-wing Republican? Are you still opposed to same-sex marriage? Do you still admire George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Alan Keyes? Do you still support the M.O.B.'s right-wing crap? Do you still hate the ACLU that protects your right to create and sell your explicit sexual artwork (porn)? Do you think you should make money exploiting the political movements you stridently opposed? That's the tune, so.... Dance, you right-wing theocratic monkey...DANCE!!!"

Smears, slander, innuendo, defamation of character, guilt by association...why some might almost call that "McCarthyite," but of course only right-wing theocratic monkeys would stoop to using such tactics, right?

You don't suppose that Avidor's rantings are more about a fellow cartoonist being recognized and rewarded for achievement while he continues to plod along in his dismal little fantasy world of delusion and desperation? Nah, it's all about the principal.

I'm pretty sure that I met Dan Lacey at one of the early MOB get togethers. He seemed like a nice enough guy. If his political views have changed over the years, I wouldn't besmirch his name or attempt to have him barred, blacklisted, and banned. The story notes that Lacey also moved from being an Evangelical Christian to a Catholic and I hope he finds a welcoming home in the church.

His artistic endeavors seem to be doing pretty well now that he's entered his "pancake period" and, judging from these comments, he doesn't seem overly concerned with what the likes of Avidor think about him:

"I'm not a monkey for any one side, like you continue to be," Lacey responded. "You imagine my cartoon matched right-wing ideology completely, but it never did. I guess you missed my cartoon of Faithmouse beating George Bush over the head with a Bible, or of Andrea Merkel going at George with a strap-on, or of Taint being John Hagee's whore. In my humble opinion, this misunderstanding on your part is a result of your being a militant, one-note dumbshit."

Rarely has an artist captured a subject's character so perfectly.

[Postscript: Based on claims in this story that Dan Lacey has flipped his political views, the Nihilist In Golf Pants has filed an injunction demanding that City Page's retract their 2007 Best Conservative Blog Award from faithmouse and instead award it to a blog which better fits the description. That blog just happens to be Nihilist In Golf Pants. The Nihilist will be stopping by this weekend to pick up the award Dan. He also might want to talk to you about a Charlie Weis pancake painting.]