Last week an outside link to Big Hollywood led me to a leftist blog I’d never heard of that goes by the name of Sadly, No! For lack of a better term, here’s a portion of their, uhm, mission statement:

Sadly, No! is a liberal/progressive humor site based in Germany, originally as a project of founder Seb, but since 2004 operating as a group blog, currently with American contributors. It has daily traffic between 7,000 and 15,000 visits. …

The site’s main running joke is in finding embarrassing slips or untrue statements by conservatives and linking to a refutation, saying, “Sadly, No!”

Well, even Germans need a hobby, though it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that “sadlyno” is the German translation for “get a life.”

Last week Sadly, No! decided to target John J. Miller’s Big Hollywood article about his novel “The First Assassin.” Violating their own mission statement, the attack wasn’t based on any “embarrassing” or “untrue” statements made by Miller. They just found it oh-so hilarious that the novel is self-published. As a snark attack, it’s Gawker-lite — and Gawker isn’t all that impressive — but here’s what’s especially confusing…

Ridiculing a self-published novel are writers working for a … wait for it, wait for it …. self-published blog – a self-published blog with fewer daily visits than my local Home Depot. In their mission statement, Sadly, No! claims to be a “humor site,” but these self-published authors obviously missed the chapter on “Irony” in “Building a Poorly Trafficked Humor Website for Dummies.”

They must have also missed the chapter on “clever.” The best shot they could come up with at us was “Big HollyButt.” And I must admit that my first reaction to “Big HollyButt” was an apology email to Gawker for the comparison. Better yet, the very same people who squeezed “Big HollyButt” out of their own Wit Machine actually have the sand to criticize Miller’s prose.

To be fair, Sadly, No! does have something more to offer than just a breathtaking lack of self-awareness. Like most Leftists, they have a mean streak a mile wide.

When it comes to sarcasm and snark, all’s fair on these here Internets. But Sadly, No! isn’t content with a written assault because they’re not really a “liberal/progressive humor site.” What they are is a Leftist Rage Machine who close their post with marching orders to their minions to go on Amazon.com and trash Miller’s book with negative reviews — a book none of them have read.

True to form, the minions complied.

Their willingness to cross this line does, however, help to explain a lot about Sadly, No! For starters, the site’s lack of wit and humor suddenly makes sense. “Funny” can come from dark places like anger, but never cruelty.

Finally, anyone who suggests spamming a novel with negative reviews has to know that such an act could someday backfire on them. Of course, in order for that to happen that someone would actually have to write a novel. My guess is that the Sadly, No! contributors know they have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Maybe they possess more self-awareness than I give them credit for.

Side Note: One way you can help to combat “Sadly, No!” and their online vandals is to rate the Amazon comments and report the reviewers. The phony reviews are obvious.

Better yet, purchase John’s book for the holidays, read it and give it an honest review…