Strange But True: The Hiltzik Saga Continues

After all the hoopla surrounding the outing of the L.A. Times' Michael Hiltzik as someone who has responded to his own posts and commented at other blogs under varied pseudonyms, you'd think his fellow Times employees would be on their guard, right?

Unbelievably, another person with a Times address has been leaving posts at Patterico's website today defending Hiltzik. "Masha" has also posted pro-Times posts in the past.

Is "Masha" yet another Hiltzik pseudonym, or someone else at the Times with an anonymous axe to grind?

In either case, why would a Times employee, commenting from a Times account, be unwilling to post under his or her true name? One possible reason: the posts reveal the political biases that the Times would like to pretend its employees don't have.

The Times also might not like its employee calling respectable attorneys such as Patterico, Hugh Hewitt, and the Power Line lawyers "fascists."

This raises further questions about the overall judgment and maturity level of Times employees.

A comment left at Patterico's website exclaims "Good grief. It’s like cracking open a rotten egg, isn’t it?"

The Tribune Co. and the Times need to get a grip on this situation, and fast.