Let this be a lesson to me

Following the post earlier I received a number of communications either from Benjamin, or from Craig Brown. I reproduce them in order below. I won't be taking comments on what follows because, frankly, it can't be improved upon. That's my view.

1. Dear David

I was sorry to read the post on your blog devoted entirely to me. It is somewhat bizarre. I have to say, I simply contributed two comments to your blog; both short, and not personally abusive.

For that you say:

"He works in Hong Kong, I think. God knows what as, since he has the mentality of a moderately clever, but destructive, nine-year old. Here are his first (and last) contributions to this blog, posted simultaneously.... Benjamin, fairly obviously, is a waste of psychic space. Nevertheless,for this one post only, I invite others to contribute their favourite examples of Benjaminism, whether from the man himself, or from others of the same genus."

This is directly personally abusive, as well as being intrusive. It is also inviting others to be personally abusive. Your behaviour is absurd and over the top. I have saved your blog post to my computer (screen capture) and I will be contacting the Times as to whether they think your behaviour is appopriate of a columnist; ie. the  public personal abuse of a complete stranger who posted two benign comments to your Times blog.  Remember its a Times owned and branded blog, so I think they would be quite interested.

I would welcome your comments.

Best regards,

Benjamin Mackie

2. Sent to the online editor, copy to me.

Dear Sir

I alert you to a post written by David Aaronovitch on his Times blog:

This is the full text of the post, and I attach screen captures [the blog text on Benjamin arrives is appended in full - DA].

I regard this post as very personally offensive, defamatory and unfair. I am not known to Mr. Aaronovitch, and I merely left two humourous, benign and inoffensive comments on his Times blog.

To speculate publically about my place of work, my life and make an insulting personal attack like that, quite out of proportion to anything I have said or done, and deliberately banning any public right to reply on my part in the comment section, is appalling.

I would like to know whether the Times newspaper approves of its website being used by its columnists in this way. Does it approve of launching personal attacks on blameless private individuals like this? It seems to me a quite inappropriate use of a Times blog.

I would be very interested in your response. I am quite prepared to take this matter further with more senior people at the Times newspaper if necessary. I request a complete retraction of the post and it replaced with an apology.

Yours sincerely

Benjamin Mackie

3. Sent to the online editor and me, before any reply had been received to the above.

Dear Sir

Earlier today I sent you an email alerting you to David Aaronovitch's decision to personally abuse me and then open the comments up for others to continue the abuse and lies about me without any chance of me replying in comments.

Since then I have monitored the comments today at David Aaronovitch's Times blog and notice that an additional have now been added by various people. Some of these comments - which I am barred from replying to - contain more more abuse, and are highly inaccurate.

For example this one (of which I also attack a screen capture) which is ludicrous and defamatory:

I would like to commend David Aaronovitch for taking the very courageous and sensible decision not to allow Benjamin to comment on this blog, as is indeed David's perfect right. Many people here may not know Benji very long, or too well, and think this is almost a tad unfair - indeed, Benji has become somewhat of a cult figure that stoppers often like to defend just to annoy people. However once you've experienced the constant little digs and mocking over a long period of time, you've seen the totally impenetrable mindset, the inane line of argument, the endless coming back for more, and seen how he peddles the same irritating line forever until everyone gives up and then declares he has won - especially when there's a big story around that you care about and he doesn't - you'll know why David has taken this marvelous and correct decision. Don't let Benji's regular guy pretence fool you for a second - there's a reason why no one who has known him more than six months rarely engages him again; once you've been in battle and smelt it up close, you never forget it - guys who spent six months in a fox hole back in Nam tell similar stories.

The fact that Benjamin, a guy who endlessly goes on about people having the right to say whatever they want in the 'free market of ideas' - and, incidently, is a huge David Icke fan - is making all sorts of ludicrous and revealing threats against David further down on this thread at Harry's place, proves David's point adequately.
http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=5094

Can you imagine such a bully allowed to run his reign of terror here?

This is absolutely unacceptable and must stop. David Aaronovitch is using a national publication as a forum for the personal abuse of one individual who he does not know, and who has done nothing against him. And not only his own abusive comments directed at one private individual but a number of other comments deliberately solicited by himself.

This must stop and full apology given.

Yours sincerely,

Benjamin Mackie

4. My reply to Benjamin

Dear Mr Mackie,
Thank you for your e.mail. I must say that it raises a few problems. The most obvious of which is that I have no idea whether you are "the" Benjamin, or not. In fact I can't be at all sure that there is just one Benjamin. If there is, then he spends a great deal of his time contributing to various blogs, and all the information I have about him comes from his own contributions. In that sense it is hard to understand the accusation of intrusiveness. You can't easily intrude upon that which is so readily exhibited.
Let us suppose, however, that you are indeed the Benjamin who has his own blog and contributes so promiscuously to other blogs and messageboards, and has done for several years. In that case I'd refer you to one of the first posts on my own blog when I said that I wasn't prepared to publish comments from those whose intention it was to sabotage discussion. Then, earlier this week, two comments turned up in the comments box, on two separate topics, both from "Benjamin" and both of which contributed nothing, other than to convey a kind of bored, languid contempt. They were exactly the kind of comment that I didn't want. By contrast, if you look at the comments on the Danish Cartoon furore, you can see that almost all the other people who comment here manage to contribute an opinion, however trenchantly expressed.
However, if it makes you feel better, I am prepared to publish this correspondence - in full - on my blog. And if you want to begin to post comments that are not a childish attempt to wreck other folks' exchanges, then I might even publish them.
Keep well,
David A

5. Benjamin's reply to my reply

David

Yes, please publish this correspondence.

Do you think it's an appopriate use of the Times website to insult people you know little of, and perhaps more to the point, does the Times newspaper think this is an appropriate use of its facilities?

Have I ever launched a public personally abusive attack on you, Mr. Aaronovitch, and published it in a national newspaper?

What precisely do you know about me Mr. Aaronovitch, and is your sumnation (sic) of my comments on blogs fair and accurate?

Is your judgment of the two comments I did make to the Times blog (consisting of two benign sentences) fair?

Are you also aware that inviting comments about me without giving me the right to reply simply invites further personal abuse of me, and further inaccuracy?

Whatever the perceived faults on my side, is such an act fair and democratic?

I hope you and your employers (the owners of the website you are privileged to write on) can answer some of these questions.

Best regards,

Benjamin Mackie

Comments

[bugiewugie]

1 2 3 testing testing to see if you're really not taking comments while you're in Miami.

[Josh Scholar]

Ah yes, Ben Mackie. The commenter who launched a thousand kill files. See: http://weblog.nightstudies.net/?p=38

My kill file started as an experiment by another reader of Harry's place that made one that only deleted Ben Mackie's posts. He called it "Make it stop!" I can't link to that because Harry's place doesn't have searchable comments.