It's only McCarthyism if the "bad guys" do it; right, Professor Cole?

Juan Cole is a professor of Middle Eastern Studies and blogger who has made factually inaccurate statements and troubling "elisions" in his blogging -- most recently in statements he made in response to the terrorism in London. When another professor (prominent historian of the Middle East Martin Kramer) dared to call Cole on his mistakes, Cole launched a request for "oppo research" on Kramer, asking people in the blogosphere to check into Kramer's background and ties with Israel (and possibly the Mossad!); he later removed the request from his website, but Kramer has a cached version of Cole's request. Martin Kramer has responded here. His post provides a short history of the dust-up and all relevant links.