So, someone from DU contacted my boss at truthout

[WilliamPitt]

Here are a couple of portions of the email he was sent:

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Marc, I am unable to continue supporting Truthout at the level I am. I am giving more money to you guys than I am to Dean, and since I am not a person of great resources, I cannot continue to do that.

(snip)

If Pitt continues this vendetta against my candidate, Dean, I will discontinue support for Truthout totally.

---

This is a search string for my name in google:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22william+rivers+pitt%22

Take some time and go through that, and see if you can find one instance anywhere in my published work where I said one bad thing about Howard Dean.

The one place you will find mention of Howard Dean in my published work is the long, luxuriant backrub of an interview I gave Dean back in May. This interview ran on the front page of his website for days on end, and is at least a small reason why his internet outreach was as successful as it was last spring and early summer.

The only place I have spoken negatively about Howard Dean is right here, in this forum. Not on the street, not in truthout, and certainly not in front of the thousands and thousands of people I have spoken to across the country over the last few months. I was always, in fact, quite filled with praise for the man. Many DUers have seen me speak, and if any of them can bear witness to my speaking a bad word about Dean on the stump, I will publicly eat my words.

So, my "vendetta" has been pretty limited, wouldn't you say? It's pretty hard to run a "vendetta" using only one forum on a web board.

No, some Dean supporter from this forum reached out and attacked me in my place of work, a place where no harm has ever or would ever come to Mr. Dean from my hand. We were, in fact preparing to organize another interview with him, a follow-up to the previous love-fest that would surely have been at least as friendly. I'm sure I'll still do it, but I sure won't post it here.

truthout is a non-profit organization that survives on donations. This person knew exactly, precisely where to hit my boss. She used the word "vendetta" and then said "I ain't paying." It was perfect.

I have not yet spoken to my boss about this, but since he forwarded the email to me with the note "We have to talk tomorrow," I can guess the content. I'm going to have to defend my ability and right to argue my views on an internet forum that I have been participating on for more than two years. I'm going to have to do that because someone could not leave it here, but had to go after me at my place of business.

I've decided not to bother. In a way, this is surely just another lame variation of the standard "I'm leaving DU" threads that pop up from time to time. I posted one or two of my own way back in the day. But this one is pretty much solid.

I suppose I could just stay out of this forum, but that would not solve the larger issue. Now, I have to wonder if anything I post here might get used against me with my employers by someone here who doesn't like what I have to say, or can't defend against what I am saying.

Anyone who thinks, "You should have known" should know that I have posted here, at length, every day, for almost a thousand days straight; I've been a bestselling author for over a year; I've been writing for truthout for over two years, and this is the first time a fellow DUer has used my statements here to attack me with my employer.

The idea that one can wage a "vendetta" against a national candidate from within a web forum within a web forum is pretty out to lunch, as far as I am concerned. That one is so absurd it really doesn't need to be elaborated on.

But now I have to worry about that. I hope this particular person is quite proud of her work. "Vendetta"? Attacking someone at their place of work is a vendetta. This is a web forum.

So that's that. I'll be lurking, because I'm not going to abandon the news source this place is. But don't expect to see my name popping up here anymore. I'm totally bummed and angry about it, but that's the way it has to be.

My friends know how to get hold of me, and so does anyone else who wants to. I offer you two toasts:

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be at your back, and may the devil chase you every day of your life, and never catch you.

And my favorite:

Confusion to the enemy.

See ya.

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I have edited this post to remove some pointed and unnecessary references to 'Dean supporters.' I don't think 'Dean supporters' are responsible for this. One person is responsible for this. I'm sorry for using the broad brush.