Hot-tubbing in madness

I'm more of a lurker than a participant in the Great Online Conversation, but the past month has sucked me into a truly bizarre spectacle.

Dr. Deb Frisch, a self-proclaimed Moonbat and "the Ann Coulter of the Left," decided to stir up trouble and get herself banned from Protein Wisdom, a site run by Jeff Goldstein.

He didn't ban her. But her comments became outrageous enough to prompt her to submit her resignation to the University of Arizona, and her continuing comments on her own website, on Protein Wisdom, and in the comments of other blogs, earned her a temporary restraining order last Thursday.

The initial situation has been mentioned on Fox News, in a number of newspapers, and on countless websites. She has been immortalized in the Urban Dictionary as a verb and adjective. Dr. Frisch's subsequent antics have been less thoroughly covered, but a website dedicated to spreading the word of her behavior in her own words, Don't Hire Dr. Deborah Frisch,
will keep any univerity's HR division occupied for hours.

Unfortunately, Dr. Frisch scoffs at suggestions that her words are costing her dearly.

I do hope that she'll learn soon. She's invested a lot of time and money in that fancy education (in, of all things, decision science) and it's a shame to see her efforts sacrificed on the altar of her raging ego.

But...it's also compelling, in a cataclysmic sort of way. Rarely in the history of the Internet as someone so publicly, so thoroughly, sullied their own reputations, and each day she finds ways to further muddy her prospects. At first there were earnest pleas for her to seek help. Then, as her legal situation darkened, offered sound legal advice. Now, most of the well-meaning comments on her site have dried up, and the jackals descend, urging her to keep up "teh crazy".

I know now what it must be like to be in the audience at the Jerry Springer show. You wouldn't want to be those idiots on stage, but dang they're entertaining to watch.