The more I read on this story, the weirder it gets. I will attempt to give the abridged version for those who aren't interested in reading a very long account of the events.
The story begins, mostly, with Neil agreeing to go and speak at a smallish library for a fairly large speaking fee (as he doesn't want to be a speaker and it takes away from writing time). He asks how they can afford to pay his crazy fee and they tell him it is money that the state has put aside to encourage writers to speak, etc. Neil puts it better than I ever could hope to.
So Neil does the speaking engagement, takes the fee and gives it to two charities (since, as he says, he's a writer, not a public speaker), and generally has a good time. He figures everything went smoothly. Fast forward to yesterday (is this even possible?)...
Apparently Minnesota Republican Matt Dean decided he wanted to make a name for himself by attacking Neil personally, calling him a thief for accepting his fee and even going so far as to call him a "pencil-necked little weasel".
Neil, of course, took umbrage to this and didn't care much for being used as a political football. Thus began the twitter comments by Neil, and a link to the guy's website. Unfortunately, he Penny Arcaded his site by doing so.
Does Mr. Gaiman gloat over his success? Of course not. He apologizes for unintentionally crashing the guys website.
Dean, who then got an earful from his mother (I'm not kidding)[url], apologized for the pencil-necked weasel comment, but not for saying Neil stole the money.
The nice thing about all this is it illuminates what happens when a very nice person who happens to have a fairly large fan base (1.5 million followers on Twitter alone) encounters a bully politician. Every once in a while it is nice to see the politician lose the exchange.[/url]
The story begins, mostly, with Neil agreeing to go and speak at a smallish library for a fairly large speaking fee (as he doesn't want to be a speaker and it takes away from writing time). He asks how they can afford to pay his crazy fee and they tell him it is money that the state has put aside to encourage writers to speak, etc. Neil puts it better than I ever could hope to.
So Neil does the speaking engagement, takes the fee and gives it to two charities (since, as he says, he's a writer, not a public speaker), and generally has a good time. He figures everything went smoothly. Fast forward to yesterday (is this even possible?)...
Apparently Minnesota Republican Matt Dean decided he wanted to make a name for himself by attacking Neil personally, calling him a thief for accepting his fee and even going so far as to call him a "pencil-necked little weasel".
Neil, of course, took umbrage to this and didn't care much for being used as a political football. Thus began the twitter comments by Neil, and a link to the guy's website. Unfortunately, he Penny Arcaded his site by doing so.
Does Mr. Gaiman gloat over his success? Of course not. He apologizes for unintentionally crashing the guys website.
Dean, who then got an earful from his mother (I'm not kidding)[url], apologized for the pencil-necked weasel comment, but not for saying Neil stole the money.
The nice thing about all this is it illuminates what happens when a very nice person who happens to have a fairly large fan base (1.5 million followers on Twitter alone) encounters a bully politician. Every once in a while it is nice to see the politician lose the exchange.[/url]