Hmm, so there's more to the story, eh?
Still, Ellison looks the fool here to me. Here's why.
1) That thesis statement retort he gave. While elegant and, uh... lengthy, it's
way too pretentious and overdrawn for me to take seriously. I think a five sentence paragraph probably could have done the trick there.
2) Neither Gabe, Tycho, or Harlan were trying to be intentionally mean in the scenario. Tycho was a bystander, Gabe was simply trying to make a taunting quip (not trying to engage in a real verbal smackdown), and Harlan was (allegedly) just joking around with a member of the audience. Did Harlan storm off stage? Maybe, maybe not. But I trust Gabe and Tycho enough where even if they did misunderstand his previous "insult", they didn't flat out lie. In the end, Harlan took offense, and G & T saw him as an ass. Since heresay over the past several decades or so seems to confirm that Mr. Ellison is indeed an ass, I say... what difference does it make anyway?
3) I didn't see Gabe as approving of the hacking attempts. He was surprised and awed by how loyal PA fans can be, but he was very clear about how misguided the attacks on his webmaster were. Yeah, he probably should've phrased it better. But he doesn't quite have the gift of word that Tycho has.
4) Uh... I never really liked Babylon 5. Too pretentious. Kinda like Mr. Ellison.
