A Mann Named Sue

Michael Mann, the scientist con artist behind the "hockey stick" climate change predictions embraced by the AGW crowd, got his little man-panties in a wad over a recent Mark Steyn article in National Review. Now he's threatening to sue NR and Steyn.

This is A Good Thing. I'll let Rich Lowry of NR explain why:

Usually, you don’t welcome a nuisance lawsuit, because it’s a nuisance. It consumes time. It costs money. But this is a different matter in light of one word: discovery.

If Mann sues us, the materials we will need to mount a full defense will be extremely wide-ranging. So if he files a complaint, we will be doing more than fighting a nuisance lawsuit; we will be embarking on a journalistic project of great interest to us and our readers.

Yup. If Mann files a suit, it means that all his internal documentation -- much of which already exposed him as a fraud in the ClimateGate email scandal -- will be open to National Review's lawyers, to be dragged kicking and screaming into the harsh light of the courtroom.

It is also worth noting that everyone who has sued Mark Steyn has ended up sorely regretting it -- something which a mere moment's reflection would tell anyone is a bad idea. Think on it: you are proposing to turn loose in a courtroom the wittiest, most incisive, intelligent, and well-informed political writer and speaker since Bill Buckley. A courtroom, where eloquence, wit and intelligence count for everything...

Please sue, Michael. Pleeeeease?