If you can't figure it out yourself, Ben, the odds that I can figure it out for you are very low, indeed.
You're dodging the question. Smearing someone's reputation and then refusing to justify the smear is an incredibly sleazy thing to do.
Don't explain it for Ben. Explain it for Vinod, Jun, and the rest of the community. Even if you don't think Ben could understand the issue (not that I believe for a second that your claim to this effect is anything but an excuse to avoid answering a question with which you are uncomfortable), the others deserve an explanation.
Full disclosure: I work for Ben. But I disagreed with him on the issue of dotLRN governance, and spent a fair amount of time trying to convince him that Al's plan was the better one. And though I disagreed with him, I strongly believe that Ben's rejection of Al's plan was entirely principled, and that he had no ulterior motive for that rejection or for refusing the dotLRN gatekeeper position.
