PubliusPundit has the most interesting of several posts I’ve read about Adam Gadahn, the Orange County loser who finally managed to get his name in the papers by joining al Qaeda and making a videotape encouraging his fellow Americans to convert to Islam or die. Surely I’m not the only one who thinks that mockery is not enough, that we ought to be spreading rumors that he’s a deep-cover CIA agent, rumors specifically designed to get him killed by his new friends. A videotaped hanging (or worse) would be the best deterrent to future traitors.

These rumors would have to be subtle, but not too subtle, to achieve their intended effect. Perhaps various bloggers and commenters could claim to be high-school classmates and drop hints, along these lines:

• “Let’s not rush to judgment. There’s more to this story than we can tell. Perhaps in ten years or so, the truth will come out.”
• “He always seemed a sly one, and loved to impersonate people he despised. I’ve seen him go in a CD store and convince the employees he was the new regional manager and they were all going to be fired if they didn’t do everything he told them to do. He kept it up for a whole week.”
• “He was always embarrassed to admit it, because it didn’t fit his heavy-metal image, but deep down inside he was really patriotic, and a devout Christian.”

Of course, these would have to be judiciously mingled with denunciations, and the ideal ratio would be difficult to estimate, even approximately.

I can only think of one reason not to spread rumors that would get Adam Gadahn killed by his new friends: there’s a one-in-a-thousand chance that he really is a deep-cover CIA agent.