PS writes again:
I am demanding you remove what I wrote from your site. That was private e-mail-not some bullet points you could take and dismantle for your nine readers.
It seems rather odd to be perturbed at the thought of having one’s feeble attempt at criticism exposed to an audience of nine, especially since I did not and will not reveal PS’ identity or email address, but strange are the ways of Man. At least he’s willing to admit that his points, such as they were, were indeed dismantled.
Now, as to the etiquette of publishing one’s incoming email. If two individuals are engaging in private communication via email or any other form of communication and one party suddenly publishes that communication without permission from the other, that is a clear breach of trust and etiquette. However, one does not have the right to abuse another individual via email, as PS did, and expect that unprovoked attack to be quietly and privately endured. Furthermore, the original purpose of this blog was to provide me with a means of addressing numerous emails that are similar in content in one shot, so no one should be surprised when I do so.
Many people email me and request that I not respond via the blog. I never do… although I’m under no obligation to respond via email either.
Now, it’s important to underline that there’s nothing wrong with expressing one’s opinions about another individual, much less that individual’s publicly expressed ideas. I have no problem with PS or anyone else attacking my columns and blog posts. But to expect one’s unilateral attacks to be protected by the person assaulted is really a bit much, even if they are embarrassingly inept.