On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, SlimVirgin slimvirgin@gmail.com wrote:
I agree. But he had NO reason to check Crum once he discovered that Wiktumnus was an editor who is known to him. Once he knew that, there was no reason to proceed with the check of Crum. Lar was on a fishing trip.
Lar might simply have wished to complete exonerating Crum in his own mind, in fact. Quite often I'll check everyone mentioned in a complaint even if already it looks like the accusations don't check out.
I also want to take issue with your allegation that Wikitumnus abandoned that account solely because (a) Lar checkusered it, or (b) because Lar told his wife about it. As I recall, a good part of it is that he realized that actions like that which aroused WR's suspicions were not a good idea if one wanted to keep one's previous identity a secret. Even without the checkuser, people were already wondering who Wikitumnus was and might be able to figure it out.
Lar is foolish, IMO, to contribute to WR; it's a shifting mess of crazy and often malice, and I feel that listening and engaging with paranoids and obsessives to that degree can affect one's thinking. On the other hand, I do not think he's doing so with any bad intent; I feel it has to do with a belief in engaging critics and listening impartially to all sides – noble intentions even if a bad idea in this case.
-Matt