If They Throw Down, My Money's on Lambert

Brian Lambert asks a damn good question:

What exactly is the deal with Buzz.Mn? The story goes that within an hour of Strib management posting an opening for editor of Buzz.Mn, the Strib's community-neighborhood chat forum, ex-Quirk columnist James Lileks appeared on the site, blogging furiously and announcing that he was in fact the new editor. (The site has now had four editors in less than a year, and the Strib posting did mention a "preferred candidate", which is inside-newspaperspeak for, "Don't bother applying").

That was about a week ago. So how come to date only one other Strib writer has contributed to Buzz.Mn? The thing is all-Lileks, and as we all know Lileks can produce a stupendous amount of copy. But how come it's him and him alone? Is there, as one dime-dropper told me, "a de facto boycott" going on? And how did Lileks end up with an editing job officially described as requiring, "the consummate team player"?

[snip]

I've told just about everyone that I don't want to get into a "thing" with Lileks, unless he wants to throw down over Iraq vis a vis the "war on terror" or the nauseating suckling he does off the starchy teats of fulminating half-wits like Hugh Hewitt. It isn't like it's a personal thing. Really. Well maybe a little. I'm not sure.