[Posted first on another thread, but relevant here and on many

Considering the number of threads that start out as this one did, discussing a subject that supporters of the Bush administration would rather people not discuss, it may very well be that Martin Gibson is receiving PMs encouraging him to do what he does.

And what is it that he does? He jumps into a discussion, but not with any rational arguments; he just slings insults and abuse at those who have something reasonable to say, diverting attention from the subject to himself. And unfortunately, people fall for it when they could be—and should be—ignoring him and continuing the discussion. Rather than doing so, they spend their efforts slagging Martin Gibson, who doesn't really care because he's accomplished his purpose. He's ended any serious discussion on the subject.

It's quite possible that other people do PM him and encourage him to do this. As someone said on another thread, Martin Gibson is their performing monkey. Or to change the analogy, they encourage him, and he volunteers to become a red herring.

I suppose it's futile to tell people that the way to defeat him (and his puppeteers) totally is to simply ignore him.

Don Firth