Because I only value decorum up to the point at which its violation makes me feel better about myself...

. . . I will now post some of the emails Jeff Goldstein has sent me over the years.  After all, as one of his own commenters wrote, "[he] has it coming."  And he does.  Still, for the better part of two days I clung to the high road.

Then I realized that I'd never stop crying myself to sleep every night if I let this stand.  Goldstein had left me in a bind: either I spend the rest of my nights choking back sobs, or I do something that disgusts decent people and have the sycophants who comment on my blog write insulting things about Goldstein on my behalf until I cared even less about the opinion of someone whose opinion means nothing to me.  What choice did I have?

Goldstein's not some random internet someone—he's someone whose opinion I claim not to value and he is out there, right now, writing critical stuff about an issue I claim not to care about.  If ever a situation called for an uncalled for breach of etiquette, it is this one.

So, without further ado, here's the email Jeff sent on 29 May 2006:

Thanks for XXXXXXX. I haven't XXXX XXXXXXX of XXXXXXX since XXX XXXXXXX, but I would XXXX to XXX XXXXX XX XXX XXXXXXXXX at some point.

I would go on, but as it continues in the same offensive vein at some length, you can get the flavor of it from that excerpt.  This one from 1 June 2007 is truly explosive:

I XXXXX I XXXXXXXX on the XXXXXXXXXX on the XXXXX example from XXXXX and XXXXXXXX in my XXXXXX XXXXX to XXXX this XXXXX.

I could hardly believe it either.  Even though I was privy to the particulars of that situation, I recoiled when I read Goldstein's take on it. Who says such things?  More to the point: who says such things about them?  I should have been outraged then, but to my eternal shame, at that moment I thought the matter had been settled and better left alone.  I'm going to make up for that now by doing what I should've done then:

I'm going to publish Goldstein's home address.

I encourage anyone who thinks he needs to be punished for saying that about them to go to the following address and make your displeasure known:

Jeff Goldstein

XXXX XXXXXX XX

XXXXXXXXX XX XXXXX-XXXX

You know what?  I do feel better.  I should act on my basest instincts more often.

Comments

[The Modesto Kid]

Very nicely set up, sir.

[happyfeet]

It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice. I learned that from Alyssa Milano and by God she's absolutely right about that. She just got married to an unattractive well-connected rich person. So also what I learned is it's nice to be attractive but it's more important to be rich and well-connected. I guess maybe her last name isn't even Milano anymore. I'll have to check, but everyone involved here needs to ask themselves WWAMD I think.

I'm very disappointed in how cavalier you internet people can be with each others' feelings.

[JPRS]

As a former toadying sycophant, I am outraged and disgusted by your brutal put-down of poor Jeff. For shame! Someone as clever and brilliant as yourself shouldn't have to... Oops!

[SEK]

Very nicely set up, sir.

Thank you much. It'd have been even better if TypePad stopped reverting to earlier drafts every time Firefox crashes, but what can you do? (I can close the TypePad editor when done writing, so Firefox doesn't reload it automatically whenever it recovers from a crash, that's what.)

I'm very disappointed in how cavalier you internet people can be with each others' feelings.

My feelings weren't hurt, happy. Far from it: I thought it hilarious that a group of people who are pissed at me on Jeff's behalf (because of what I wrote him in that email) are making fun of me for having a group of people who are pissed at Jeff on mine. I mean, the inability to see the irony is precious. Who could be upset by that?

As a former toadying sycophant, I am outraged and disgusted by your brutal put-down of poor Jeff.

I am too! (And will be even more so in the future, when someone links to this post and claims I'd really posted his emails and home address and only redacted it when everyone got mad at me for doing so vile a thing.)

[SEK]

FTR: You know what's funny? When people get angry at TypePad for sending an automatic trackback to a site linked in the post.

[happyfeet]

I still think there's a big question mark as to how much influence the domestic terrorist academic loser had on the little president man's book about how sad he was his daddy was an alcoholic commie what never loved him. I'm not content to wait for the USA Network Original Movie to get an answer. We should put the question to many lterary experts and others I think... just toss the question around and see what we come up with.

[SEK]

happy, I assure you that there is no credible evidence that Ayers had anything to do with Obama's book. Remember when I proved that if you use Cashill's definition of "A-level matches," then the 1967 Illinois Commission on Automation and Technological Progress also co-authored Dreams From My Father? That was me being a literary expert and stating that, even if it turns out that Ayers did write Dreams From My Father, the evidence Cashill provided doesn't meet the minimum requirements of any rational evidentiary standard. For example, 99 percent of the non-place-name words used in Dreams From My Father also appear in the King James Bible, but I don't think you'd want to accuse King James of having written Obama's memoir, now would you?

[Wax Banks]

Goldstein's site is a fucking wasteland. Best to let him wither and waste away.

Though there is one classy fucking commenter over on the thread in question by the name of 'Bored.' I like the cut of his/her/its jib.

[happyfeet]

We'll see. He's a big money whore I bet at the end of the day, and we'll get a better feel for how he writes down the road I guess as he goes from publishing deal to publishing deal. Mr. psycho (who is a scathingly smart PW commenter) thinks or at least thought that Obama wrote Dreams, and Mr. psycho is scathingly smart, so it's definitely possible that Barack wrote his own book, I'll grant you that.

[Richard Pennyfarthing]

I don't know what they have to say,
It makes no difference anyway,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
No matter what it is or who commenced it,
I'm against it.

Your proposition may be good,
But let's have one thing understood,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
And even when you've changed it or condensed it,
I'm against it.

I'm opposed to it,
On general principle, I'm opposed to it.
-Groucho

[Chris]

Oh, oh, oh, Mad Libs! I love these. You forgot to include the types of speech, but I'll make do :

Thanks for TOMATOES. I haven't ASKED REGINA KING of ARMADILLOS since after LABOR DAY, but I would WORK to MAKE BUNNIES OR TRY WATER SKIING at some point.

That was fun.

[J-hoosier]

"FTR: You know what's funny? When people get angry at TypePad for sending an automatic trackback to a site linked in the post."

Actually, that got me quite angry, right up until the time I read this comment and realized that it was an automatic thing. Not that I ever ranted about it in anyone's comment section, but I certainly had lots of angry thoughts whenever I saw them pop up.

[SEK]

Actually, that got me quite angry, right up until the time I read this comment and realized that it was an automatic thing.

You know what's funny about Jeff getting upset at automatic trackbacks? This:

"Slam-dunk rebuttal"? SEK says Anderson spoke to Cashill. Cashill denies this.

So, automatically generated trackbacks are inherently offensive and must be deleted, but vaingloriously barging into the comments with a link to something you've written is the stuff of polite society? Hypocrisy, thy name is Goldstein.

[Ahistoricality]

Scott, you actually had me going for a moment there, and I admit, I was looking forward to the results, and prepared to excuse them as in extremis. As the man said, nicely played.