I don’t expect we’ll ever agree about this, so I’ll move on now. I have my own thoughts about what motivates Dale, so I thank you for encouraging me to go a bit deeper into his psyche than I would have done on my own. I’ll leave you to your blog in peace.

But seriously, he knows exactly what he’s doing. The quote there was simply an attempt to delegitimise my questions. All the evidence suggests that the root of the problem is that Iain believes he can say anything he likes on his blog and get away with it.

If he’s going to continue to spin ridiculous yarns for party political advantage while pretending to have a proper blog which allows readers to challenge his claims in a reasonable way, he’s going to continue to get called on it.

“Garry, it is clear that Ireland is using you and Scotch as his sock puppets. If you want to lower yourself to that level that’s your decision.”

it’s delusional.

I should have said I came to my own conclusions about his mental well-being, and this was before I had read your blog. In any case, I read your comment about “mental illness” to be a joke about your own behaviour, not his.

BTW, if you take a look at my blog, I make no pretences about my own mental stability. Being “off your rocker” is a perfectly respectable place to be, but you should make efforts not to annoy others unnecessarily when you are there. I make a special exception for Dale, though, maybe because he’s such a frothing at the mouth Tory.

1. I do not operate down at Iain’s level and have no wish to encourage anyone else to either. Quite the opposite, in fact.
2. I do not agree. Iain shows no signs of mentally illness. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

Feel free to comment but please don’t post any more accusations of that sort, even if meant humorously.

[Stern Tone Off]

Like many people, I do feel strongly about those who judge others by standards they themselves to do not meet. I also have a strong aversion to being fobbed off.

On the post, don’t worry about this consuming me too much. As the conversation with Iain unfolded and he repeatedly attempted to fob me off, I realised that a post would pretty much write itself. It did. I’ve taken longer to write shorter pieces than this.

Also, I now have a post I can refer back to if and when I decide to write about his antics in the future. I doubt he’s going to stop posting silliness like his 4:3 format is a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy blunder. As you say, hard to resist pointing out the absurdity and irony in that sort of thing. Anyone who queries the tone of any future posts or asks why I didn’t try to discuss whatever it might be in the comments at IDD can now be directed here. It might even be a time saver.

http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-did-bbc-not-name-shamed-labour-mp.html

He takes the BBC to task for not naming an MP who is (in his words) “reprimanded” by a committee. But on reading the report (which he even links to) you find that the complaint wasn’t actually upheld. To be honest, I can’t help laughing when I see such clangers, and I am now starting to believe the man is barking mad.

I hope you don’t take this last little bit as a lecture. From the length of your post I can tell this was something you just had to get off your chest. If the guy really is off his rocker, I am afraid not amount of reasoning with him will help, and indulging in too much of it may actualy be injurous to your health. I’m not putting it quite as bluntly as “get a life”, but try not to let it consume you too much

Loving your last paragraph, btw.

I see that Iain has now deleted some of the images including the one I’d linked to in my last comment. Hands up who thinks he’ll offer an genuine apology for claiming copyright on someone else’s work and spending eight months ignoring the request that he stop doing so.

(Clue: he doesn’t appear to have removed the © tag from all the other artwork by all the other people. And I only had a quick glance but he’s missed at least one of Tim’s.)

Though he did call me Tim’s mini-me on mine. I really don’t know what the answer is to Mr Dale. Leaving the politics aside he is continually inaccurate and careless, he rarely corrects his mistakes or apologises over false allegations, he jeers and sneers often proactively, he doesn’t do the right thing on hat tips and credits, he is forever accusing others of being obsessive or mad or pathetic or rude or “typical”, he thinks he is the only thing I ever blog about as he doesn’t look at the other 80%, and last Monday he was incredibly rude to Rupa Huq on his mass media TV programme when she wanted to talk about my post about George Galloway.

Dale said: “Oh, he is obsessed” in a totally non-obsessed way thankfully. You’d think he’d be glad I’d blogged about someone else.

He puts himself at the centre of the solar system and is continuously up himself and then he complains that we planets and moons don’t orbit his greatness in silence and/or awe, or with fulsome praise.