originally posted by Loren Sonkin:
You know its a weird thread when Mr. Dressner is the sane voice in the crowd, but his post was well said. I am amazed how worked up some in the online world have gotten over this.
Also, I know e-mails are not private, but at the same time, we all have an expectation that they will, or at least should be. I hate to see private exchanges being made public.
I think there are a few things going on here.
The first is that many people were amazed to see two unknown people brought in to the WA staff with questionable credentials, thus, there has always been suspicion.
Second, there have been rumors swirling around the wine industry of questionable professional conduct by Jay Miller for some time. Combine this with the constant harangue about how the WA is the consumer watchdog in the wine world and folks are rightly peeved. They have no one besides themselves to blame for the target on their backs.
Third, the increasing douche-baggines displayed by the folks who are in charge and moderate the Squires bored along with an increasing sense that they are not exactly upper percentile in intelligence.
Combine all that with the interwebs, a respected wine writer being pummeled in a strange way and this is what you get. When you are a public figure, you have to manage that and be aware of how your actions are perceived, not just whether you can lawyer them. While there has been an increasing protection of brand Parker, there have been fundamental miscalculations in how that brand is managed and preserved.
Personally, I think we are watching the long slow death spiral of the Parker brand. It's sad really, because he made some very good professional choices in hiring David and Antonio and could have taken the WA in a different direction and a broader respectability. Instead, he also helped some friends and that has bitten them in the ass. Hard. This has happened to me and it is a rotten feeling.