Juan Cole, who doesn't get the television time that he used to, has been reduced to appearing on webcasts from makeshift studios. It's a completely apt setting for his nutty theories. [Careful there, Professor. You're dangerously close to dissing us "home journalists" here, but I like you, so I'll let it pass. -Sol]

See, for example, the first segment of a homespun interview Cole gave to a Daily Kos blogger named Markinsanfran, a.k.a. Dio. (You'll need Quicktime to view it.) Here Cole offers an account of Daniel Pipes' Campus Watch that goes way beyond claims he's made in the past. It turns out that Campus Watch, which began by putting up "dossiers" of links on Cole (and others), wasn't acting alone! "If you followed Pipes around, I think you would probably find that he did have some kind of consultation with Israeli officials at some point about all this. I couldn't prove that but I wouldn't be surprised at it." Of course! It's the Mossad! Yes, it's hard to imagine mild-mannered Pipes going after Cole without prodding from Tel Aviv. And those email spammers who hit Cole's mailbox and sent out spoofs? Another revelation! "I'm quite convinced that the individuals behind this cyberspace harassment were right-wing Zionists and very possibly settlers on the West Bank." Of course! Settlers! They're the only ones mad enough at Cole to spam him, and they've got nothing better to do!...

...Campus Watch wishes to state on the record that these both are false claims. It challenges Cole to prove them or retract and apologize for them. Campus Watch does not "consult" with any government, nor does it encourage spying on anyone. (It does encourage students suffering from politicized classrooms to make known their problems.)...