Judith Regan's Flack Calls Me a Fascist

One year ago, Judith Regan got herself tagged as an anti-Semite after implicitly comparing herself to a victim of Nazi persecution.

No one seems to have told Regan's publicist, Allan Mayer, who wrote over the weekend to inform me that my coverage of her lawsuit against News Corp. is "characteristic of the totalitarian style." Yup, that's me, ol' Brown Shirt.

Here's the whole letter:

Jeff: I write as a representative of Judith Regan. Hannah Arendt noted that it is characteristic of the totalitarian style to substitute questions of motive for questions of fact. This seems to be no less true in the blogosphere, though for "motive" one might substitute "tone." Certainly, your musings on Judith Regan's case seem singularly unconcerned with the facts of the matter - namely, that the defendants named in her lawsuit participated in a campaign to destroy her reputation and credibility because they were (and are) afraid of what she knows about Bernie Kerik and Rudy Giuliani. To make such an assertion without any evidence to back it up might indeed be "bizarre" and "paranoid," as you maintain. But that happens not to be the case here. There is hard evidence corroborating Ms Regan's claims, and when it is introduced in court (as it will be at the appropriate time), I hope you will have the grace to apologize for your gratuitous insults.

A.

Let it be said: If "hard evidence" emerges that News Corp. fired Regan to protect Giuliani's presidential ambitions -- and not just because she had become a liability from a PR and management perspective -- then yes, I will apologize. Hell, I'll go on her Sirius show and apologize in person if she wants.

But I suspect the most likely outcome of this whole thing is an out-of-court settlement of some sort. News Corp. would be foolish to let this go to trial, and not just because Regan doubtless has some genuine dirty laundry she could air, whether Rudy-related or not.

No, I think News Corp.'s position is weak because the "anti-Semitic" slurs it took as cause to fire Regan were arguably not anti-Semitic. Regan allegedly said that several Jewish executives arrayed against her constituted a "cabal" -- an unfortunate choice of words to be sure, but no more proof of anti-Semitic sentiment than George Bush's use of the loaded term "crusade" was proof of his intent to lead a holy march on Jerusalem.

She also allegedly called on the members of the "cabal" to show some sympathy for her plight, saying, "Of all people, the Jews should know about ganging up, finding common enemies and telling the big lie." But likening herself to a Holocaust victim wasn't anti-Semitism, just bad taste -- and who didn't know she was capable of that?

But, then, you might expect me to be quick to excuse anti-Semitism, on account of my fascist leanings and all.

UPDATE, 11:28 a.m.: It turns out Fortune's Roger Parloff is a totalitarian, too. He got the same letter. Thanks to Zack Roth of the Observer for pointing it out.