Dilbert creator's ever-worsening P.R. crisis
Scott Adams defends his self-congratulatory commenting and weighs in on the Obama chimp controversy. Make it stop
BY MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

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Adams didn't invent the art of defensively conversing with or about oneself on the Internet – the practice of sock puppetry has a long and ignoble history. Five years ago, New Republic scribe Lee Siegel was suspended after the revelation that he'd been posting on his blog's forums as "sprezzatura," a fan who opined that "Siegel is brave, brilliant, and wittier than [Jon] Stewart will ever be. Take that, you bunch of immature, abusive sheep," and told another poster who'd questioned his identity flat out that "I'm not Lee Siegel, you imbecile." And in 2007, Whole Foods' chief executive John Mackey, celebrated advocate of truth in labeling, was revealed to have spent eight years hiding behind a fake identity on Yahoo boards to disparage competitors, promote his company's stock, and even praise his own alleged good looks. His alter ego, Rahodeb, once took the time to note, "I like Mackey’s haircut. I think he looks cute!"

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