Patterico catches LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik using a couple of sock puppets. Hiltzik admitted making the posts but denied that they were deceptive. I disagree. It is not deceptive to use a pseudonym, but it is deceitful to have two identities pretend to be different people and support each other.
Still, his reponse is more honest than Michael Fumento, who I caught using a sockpuppet, and responded with three posts on his blog and a whole pile of comments on other blogs. He called me a liar, claimed that I was insane and falsely accused me of using sock puppets myself. What he didn't do was deny that Tracy Spenser was his sock puppet. Nor would he admit it.
More like this
Please forgive the ScienceBlogs nepotism this time around, but by far the most amusing thing I've seen on the Internet the last few weeks is SciBling Chad Orzel's video of the Bohr-Einstein Debates.
New Scientist has an article on sock puppets (subscription required):
Back during the DonorsChoose fundraiser, I promised to do a re-enactment of the Bohr-Einstein debates using puppets if you contributed enough to claim $2,000 of the Hewlett-Packard contribution to the Social Media Challenge.
During this year's DonorsChoose fundraiser, I promised books as prizes to people who contributed to my challenge.
The LA Times has suspended Hiltzik.
I think it deceptiove to employ sock puppetry to promote or defend yourself, especially if you often chastize others for using sock puppets. Thuis is just what creationist Walter ReMine has done. Pretty pathetic, really.