John "Dennis York" Doe

I missed Tuesday night's meeting of the Madison bloggers thanks to a long day getting the Badger Herald ready to hit the stands next week. But apparently if I had accepted the open invitation, I would have happened across more than just my colleagues in the local blogosphere, as Lee Sensenbrenner of the Capital Times crashed the party in search of the elusive Dennis York's true identity.

And now the blogs are going nuts. Jessica McBride is scolding Mr. Sensenbrenner in a post today:

The obnoxious snoop who is trying to ferret out the identity of our pseudonymous blogging genius, "Dennis York", is none other than Lee Sensenbrenner of the Capital Times. It would be the Capital Times.

Meanwhile, Steve Stehling over at Standards and Grudges, the organizer of Tuesday's get-together, claims that he, like Mr. Sensenbrenner, knows who Mr. York truly is:

But I'm not telling anyone. I'm 75% certain at least ... The only clue to his identity I will give out is his middle initial. R

As for Mr. York himself, his latest entry on the matter seems to be threatening a Scarface-style exit. Creepy.

Ms. McBride is comparing the whole thing to the search for the true author of “Primary Colors” a decade or so ago. And while I will never forget getting to write the delightful line, “Based on the anonymous novel by Joe Klein,” in my review of the film, I have a sense that the stakes are somehow lower here.

As the Wisconsin State Journal noted in an article on Sunday, anonymity is easy on the Internet. Hell, I once wrote under the pseudonym “Red Velvet” back in my film critiquing days and I am willing to bet that if I didn't tell the story, people never would have connected the dots. (And people, please go easy on me with the link here. Let's keep in mind that I was all of 16-years-old when I wrote that one...)

Frankly, though, I'd be lying if I said the whole affair of Mr. York's true identity made much of a difference to me. Sure, learning the true identity of Deep Throat was exciting. But how many people remember the name W. Mark Felt now, just a matter of months later? And frankly, Mr. York isn't even on the same sphere as Deep Throat.

Those who insist upon noms de plume are always remembered by them anyway – the true identity is merely academic. High schoolers read the works of Lewis Carroll and Mark Twain even though neither man ever existed. And if you spend enough time in the grassy knoll reading up on conspiracy theories, you may discover that William Shakespeare, Jack the Ripper and Queen Elizabeth were all the same person.

Years ago, Harry Knowles told me who Moriarty really is. And I have long since forgotten.

So, yeah, I see where Mr. York is coming from. Then again, the editor in me also sees where Mr. Sensenbrenner is coming from.