Kevin Drum, aka the Political Animal at Washington Monthly, aka, the former CalPundit, has kindly weighed in with his take on my critique of the Harvard Law Review, and the resulting brouhaha. (For my review of the whole business, start here and follow the links.)

Mr. Drum, it is worth noting, is one of the most mild figures in the blogosphere; unlike present company, Mr. Drum might actually be voted “nicest political blogger alive.” Thus, it is all the more striking how the whole affair struck him:

“I’ve been following the whole thing with one eye, and while I have no sympathy for the ID jihadists I admit that all along I’ve had a sneaking feeling that, in fact, maybe it really was a bit inappropriate for an influential, tenured law professor to write such a blistering attack on a lowly student. Positions of power and all that, you understand.

“Today, though, I finally got around to reading VanDyke’s note (warning: large, slow-loading file) and I immediately changed my mind: Leiter probably went too easy on this cretin.”

It’s not that often that someone suggests I’ve gone too easy on my deserving targets, but, suffice it to say, Mr. Drum may be right. I thank him for adding his comments to the debate.