Unfortunately, most of the purblind sycophants of people like David Westerfield and Ted Maher lend their support for the most ephemeral of reasons.
In Westy's case, it was because his brother was quoted in the news as saying that Westy was a Republican. That gained him an INSTANT fan-base on FR.
Maher is a former Green Beret, and therefore above reproach no matter what the evidence shows.
For all our vaunted collected genius, FR sure has its share of emotion-drenched, reason-bereft obsessions.