Less, by your cherry-picked definition of "smear", criticizing Hitler for his genocidal policies would be a "smear". Try these:
smear n. a false or unwarranted accusation
smear n. a usually unsubstantiated charge or accusation against a person or organization
smear n. an accusation which is unpleasant, unreasonable or unlikely to be true and which is made publicly with the intention of harming a person's reputation
Nothing you posted above even begins to suggest that Root's article unfairly characterized Ruwart's positions. I agree with you that attempting to distinguish anarchists from libertarians is inaccurate, but that's hardly a "smear". Your charge of "smear" here is so intellectually lazy as to nearly itself qualify as a smear. You did the same thing to me when you said that by criticizing Ruwart's positions I was "trashing" her and trying to "purge" her. It's beneath you.
If the point of radicalism is to "hold high the banner" of pure principle, then don't whine about "smears" and "purges" just because some of us don't salute.
