Serious questions:
Do you think it was low budget for Mike Portnoy to rip Kevin Moore in Raise the Knife? - Maybe, but the song wasn't released on an actual album (yes, I know it was on SCORE). IMO, the lyrics in Looking Glass were much more blatant.
Or the fans in Never Enough? -- No.
Or his step-father in Honor Thy Father? -- Not in the least.
Strange.
Could you elaborate on what you find strange? The questions or my answers? :-)
I think what's strange about your answers is that it seems like you're fine with it when Mike does it, but not fine when John maybe does it.
You know, I'm pretty sure Mike said on either FB or Twitter a couple of months ago that he actually now has a friendly relationship with the stepfather he called "the rotted root in the family tree" in Honor Thy Father. Good that they've patched things up, but that song is on the record forever. I'd say that's a bit more questionable than some vague lyrics that maybe possibly could be about MP but probably aren't in The Looking Glass ("You are not content with being nameless and unknown" <-- this does not sound like a reference to MP, who was solidly a minor celebrity in 2010 and didn't increase his fame by leaving DT—and who is probably more famous than JP).
Personally, even if The Looking Glass is about Mike Portnoy (which it isn't), I don't have a problem with it. It's vague, there's plausible deniability, and it's clearly a subject matter that John felt strongly about. I think so long as you steer clear of names or identifying details, there's nothing wrong with writing a song about somebody who was important in your life. How would any breakup songs ever be written otherwise? Taylor Swift would have to retire from music (you know I'm just teasing, Tay
)! I also have no problem with Raise the Knife (and, listen, whether Mike was being fair to Kevin or not, I connect personally to the lyrics of that song, so I'm glad he wrote them). I also have no problem with Honor Thy Father. Most of all, I certainly have no problem with Never Enough. I think that's all fair game for subject matter. So long as it's not like "Kevin Moore, you ruined my life, here's this personal conversation we had between us that I'll put in a song in explicit detail just to spite you." I think it's also a totally legitimate opinion if you disagree with me about things like Raise the Knife and Honor Thy Father being fair game.
But I don't think you can say that Honor Thy Father and Raise the Knife are okay, but The Looking Glass isn't. I think you have to pick a standard and apply it the same to everybody.