Many Big Head DC readers were not surprised yesterday after Wonkette was lambasted across the Internet for using what many perceive to be antisemitic words to refer to Jews. As some of our readers have noted in the past, the site often uses homophobic slurs when its editors refer to the gay population.

What did take many media insiders off guard was Wonkette’s reaction to the controversy, with editor Ken Layne threatening to sue the site that claimed Antisemitism in the first place — for libel, of all things. In an effort to tone down the rhetoric (at the request of his bosses, we’ve learned), Layne later said that he was trying to be funny.

“It seems like pure bluster from Ken, doesn’t it?” pondered one Reason magazine staffer who’s familiar with the situation. “My guess is he got flustered by a bunch of attacks and decided to take some aggression out on this blogger.”

The same source noted that Layne “does seem to take a lot of vacations.” So maybe he’s just stressed?

But was he also joking and/or stressed when he said Gawker’s “shareholders” would not be pleased that a Jewish blog would question Wonkette’s writings? Nick Denton, the owner of Gawker Media, of which Wonkette is part, has never publicly said the company has shareholders.

Despite the scandal, some said it’s par for the course considering the source. “I don’t think that Wonkette is antisemitic, unless of course you consider that they’re pretty much anti-everything,” one Wall Street Journal reporter told us.