Juan Cole Pests [Jonah Goldberg]

As I've mentioned before, in my spat with Juan Cole way back when, I challenged him to bet me on Iraq's future (the winner would donate $1,000 to a relevant charity like the USO). He sanctimoniously declined, claiming even the suggestion made him sick (even though he made a similar bet before). Well, the deadline for the proposed bet is looming and various leftwing pests are clogging my email box saying if I have any honor I will pay up for a wager Cole refused to accept and denounced me for offering. Well, guess what? The baiting doesn't work. I will give money to war-related charities, as I have done in the past, on my schedule not that of these goads or Cole or anyone else. I will not announce it when I do it, which I have never done in the past because it's not anyone's business (even this post is somewhat sickening in that I'm even responding to these gadflies).

As a matter of intellectual honesty, I'm perfectly willing to admit that, had Cole had the courage to accept the wager, he would have won and I would have made good on it. But, since he didn't, I won't be jumping through hoops for this crowd beyond this post.

Complaining of Cole's "sanctimony" and "lack of courage" in not taking the bet, after his own boasting was proved wrong--what a lack of class. Does anyone trust that he would actually have "made good" on the bet?
- tom moody 2-05-2007 11:24 pm

Or as Matthew Yglesias put it (better): "The point, however, is still about the very, very poor prediction, not about Cole's skills as a gambler."
- tom moody 2-08-2007 11:14 pm