It makes my brain hurt to see renowned academics stoop to the inevitable *argument* of last resort made by every half-baked conspiracy theorist: the *paid shill* attack. When it is the argument of first resort — then, oh my — the writer occupies the same league as the neo-Flat Earthers.
Extrapolating from the rather entertaining Godwin’s Law, in which every debate will eventually devolve into invocations of Hitler, anyone who invokes the paid shill *argument* loses the debate immediately — whether or not they make use of the stylistically preferable ALL-CAPS format.
But what a stroke of serendipity — to publish a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Theory when it just so happens that MacLean’s audience has already been primed by WaPo and the NYT to be in full conspiritard mode, and will frantically snort up any new conspiracy theory, no questions asked, like it’s cocaine.