Pewsitter: Brilliant Irony or Self-Parody?

I had never visited Pewsitter* before, and had only heard of it, in online passing, until about ten minutes ago. I don’t know about their history or mission of anyone (that I know of) who writes or works there. My sense, prima facie, is that much like The Vortex is made in the image of the O’Reilly Factor, Pewsitter is an imagus Drudge. So be it. My comparison here is simply that: a one to one comparison.

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Recently Simcha Fisher posted a fiery post, critical of Pewsitter’s phrasing in a headline about rape. The post consists of a screen shot, as evidence, and the follwing commentary:

It seems fair to surmise that, despite her outrage (which seems understandable considering the subject matter), Simcha’s protest here is qualified: She first admits that Pewsitter is using a headline as-is from another source. She then extends her critique to make the claim, however, that Pewsitter frequently takes liberties with headlines.

I don’t know what to make of these claims, since I am unfamiliar with the site. But  Pewsitter’s response to Simcha is as follows:

Remember: The only issue relevant to Pewsitter in this case is Simcha’s accusation that they take liberties with headlines. Considering the original post and the bold headline it generated, this is surely either a brilliant moment of irony or self-parody. The other links lead me to suspect the latter, but I remain hopeful that it is the former.

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There is much to be said for collegiality and peace among the blogs, but it does not seem healthy to exercise a timid caution in the face of things that may in fact be harmless, but nonetheless very funny. This strikes me as one of them.

*I’ve ommited links to both Pewsitter and Simcha because I do not want to give the impression that this is trying to stir up trouble or drumming up cross-posting page views.