Alan, you didn't find this stock before Mako so you are probably not familiar with its history before that. The SP ran to ~$5 in December 2014, then it settled itself to $3 - $4 for several months. Stock correction is normal after a big run with people taking profits. Then the SP slowly dropped to $2.50 in August because B-ABSSSI Phase 3 and uplist didn't happen and some investors became impatient. That's when Mako attacked.

I despise the short and distort tactic which was illegal, but the shorting itself was legal IMO. Leo never once mentioned naked shorting during the legal battle. Aspire was a much bigger factor after Mako because Leo was forced to sell a lot more shares at much lower prices. No one was talking about Aspire or manipulations when the stock was doing well.

I hope you see why I disagree naked shorting caused the SP to drop 90%. To answer your question, I believe the bashers will disappear when Leo announces a deal. They know their FUD will no longer scare people. I also believe there'll be much less blaming on manipulations and naked shorting when the stock is doing well. That's just human nature.