Response to (and blocked by) Professor Jonathan Turley

First, from JonathanTurley.org:

Here is what the Salon writer posted on our site:

To Set the Record Straight: As the author,I feel qualified to say without equivocation that the referenced story is satire. While certain (linked) elements are factual and I thought worthy of shedding a little light on, I simply figured it was only a matter of time before Mr. Robertson would say something appalling (as he seems to after every major catastrophe like 9/11 and the Haiti earthquake) to blame the victims for bringing God’s wrath down upon them. And as it has recently come to light that Mr. Robertson has made his own “deal with the Devil” — in his case, Liberia’s Taylor, why not have him defend, as he did, in Taylor’s case to the American people and President for the purpose of enriching his bank account as opposed to his soul, someone who seemed to have much in common with Taylor? While I apologize to those who have been upset by this story (believing it was real), in my defense, I offer subtle hints included in the text of the piece, such as the fact the (the dead) “Pinochet … could not be reached for comment, even by Robertson…”

The problem is that this is not April 1st and the satire could have been based on an actual story.

And now, the response blocked by Professor Turley’s site:

Professor Turley,

I thank you for updating this post to include my comment.

While I am a great admirer of your work, I do, however, take exception to your comment: “The problem is that this is not April 1st and the satire could have been based on an actual story.” on a few counts…

1- Anyone who bothers to check my blog should plainly see that the vast majority of the content is satirical, so much so, in fact, that when I recently did a purely factual piece, I made sure to include a ‘disclaimer’ indicating that it was NOT satirical.  I cannot accept responsibility for any lack of fact-checking by those who have re-posted it.  Responsible bloggers, such as yourself, at least were responsible enough to question the veracity of quotes attributed to Robertson.

2- All satire has its basis in fact.  This piece is based on the many ‘real stories’ Pat Robertson has generated after previous disasters.

3- Regarding ‘April Fools Day’, as soon as Mr. Robertson and others I use as subjects for my work confine their hypocrisies to a single day each year, I will be thrilled to do the same in calling them out.

Respectfully yours,

Lloyd Woltz (a.k.a. The Desperate Blogger)

Just sayin’…