And represents?
Jack Cluth runs the Lefty blog People’s Republic of Seabrook. I first became aware of Jack when, long ago, he commented on the Kalashnikitty t-shirts that an AR15.com member was making, and the “boys” version that I rendered:
I’m no defender of assault weapons, but even I have a sense of humor, and this graphic IS very well done.
—
Hey, it’s only a t-shirt.
I didn’t read all that much of his site, but I thought at the time, “here’s someone with at least a sense of humor.”
The next time I encountered Jack was when he hosted the Carnival of the Vanities #122. My entry that week was the technical opus Why Ballistic Fingerprinting Doesn’t (and Won’t) Work. Jack’s comment:
I’m hardly a gun advocate, but it’s tough to argue with an argument this detailed and well-constructed.
OK, that’s fair, and pretty generous of him.
Now, I’d not paid much attention to Jack since then, but for some reason last December, I clicked on over to his site and read a few posts, and got to one that made my blood boil. Jack and I traded some comments over it. On top of that, Jack posted shortly afterward a “cartoon” of Tom DeLay behind bars with a shirtless prison guard behind him. My comment at the time:
In true compassionate, inclusive, diversity-embracing Leftist style, Jack’s most recent post suggests that he’s in favor of the homosexual rape of prisoners by prison guards. So long as the rape victim is a Republican.
But his side deserves to be in charge.
Jack took exception to that, too.
Jack was so perturbed by my criticism, he named me one of his “Wingnut of the Year” winners.
Rather than attempt to engage in a reasoned, intelligent debate, Baker for some reason seems to think that I actually care what he thinks of me. Better to be thought a troll and a fool than to spread your ignorance and narrow-mindedness all over your weblog and remove all doubt, eh?
We traded comments in that one, too.
Today’s post, however, goes back to that Tom DeLay “cartoon” – the one that Jack insisted I was misreading because I was a “wingnut.”
One of Jack’s defenders wrote:
Kevin, I see a guy in the background. Visored cap, blue jeans, no shirt.
No gun. No badge. No icons of authority. Built like a lot of cons who’ve done some time with more access to the weight room than the law library.
So he’s another guy behind bars with DeLay.
Big fat hairy deal.
My reply:
“No gun. No badge. No icons of authority.”
Check the cap. It’s a military uniform cap, with a badge dead center. And that strap across his chest? That’s part of what’s called a Sam Browne Belt, part of a police or military uniform.
Denial is not a river in Egypt.
Read this post by Jack, put up just yesterday: They’ll be easy to spot…they’ll be the ones wearing the starched brown shirts and the Sam Browne belts. Apparently Jack knows what a Sam Browne belt represents now.
And apparently he doesn’t like being reminded of it. He seems to have removed my comment to that effect at his post.