Fifteen minutes of fame

One of my most frequently visited Web forums is Free Republic, the enormously popular conservative news/opinion site that even radio heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh use for show prep.

A few days ago, I posted (under my handle "RansomOttawa") to a FR thread regarding NY Times Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman and his accusation that President Bush's secret Thanksgiving visit to Baghdad constituted "deliberate deception." I quote my contribution to this thread in its entirety:

What are you going to do about it? Rescind his Pulitzer Prize?

(I was referring, of course, to the Pulitzer won by the Times for the sycophantic "reporting" of Walter Duranty from Stalin's Ukraine, which the Pulitzer committee recently decided not to rescind despite the fact that Duranty's rosy picture of life under Stalin was totally fabricated.)

Today I logged into FR to discover that a few Freepers had brought my attention to the fact that I had been quoted by Nicholas Stix at TooGood Reports, another popular conservative news and opinion site, in this morning's Spotlight Commentary, "Does the New York Times Wish the President Dead?" Stix writes:

In Friday's New York Times, Jacques Steinberg and Jim Rutenberg reported that, "To Philip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, that briefing appeared to constitute 'deliberate deception.'"

My question to Taubman is, "Did you mean that as a compliment or an insult?" Because you can't have it both ways. You can't constantly complain that the president is an imbecile, and then get angry, when President Gump fakes you out of your shoes.

(At Free Republic, FReeper "RansomOttawa" overdosed on irony, challenging Taubman, "What are you going to do about it? Rescind his [Bush's] Pulitzer Prize?")

Hey Stix even quoted me in context. I can't think of a more fun way of getting fifteen minutes of fleeting fame than getting some serious mileage out of some gratuitous sarcasm.

(The ensuing chat on FreeRepublic is here).