You appear to be very passionate about a book that you haven't even read.

Don't mistake persistence for passion. I am passionate about intellectual honesty. Also, I am retired and I have (mild) COVID, so it takes very little passion for me to hang out on Medium and write whatever comes into my mind.

The purpose of this article was not a book review.

That might actually have been interesting and informative and relevant to readers.

It was simply to speak on the irony of someone who professes to be an expert on a subject to flub her response.

Once noted, does the concept really require "speaking on"? Please don't project your passion on me.

I will never concede to sympathize for this woman who just based on her appearance will receive far more support an accolades than most.

I haven't urged sympathy for her, just intellectual honesty about how important her TV appearance is to the subject she wrote about.

This is not a crusade for me. It was a moment in time that has passed.

If only I would let it.

If you want to know what I've done on Medium, you are more than welcome to read my articles and learn for yourself.

Oh, you're an author who can't remember what she wrote? I would have to read all your articles, whereas you need only recall them. Doesn't seem too much to ask, does it? So I'll take that answer as a "no" and move on.

I find it strange that you are so dialed in to someone you apparently don't know anything about and haven't even read her book. But you are ready to grill me on an article that I was entitled to write. Very telling indeed.

What does it tell? To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, any sufficiently persistent denial of nonsense is indistinguishable from obsession. I am not passionate. I am stubborn. I believe you picked this fight with Ms. Mandel because you believe that embarrassing an opponent detracts from her case. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time and I hope I live long enough for it not to be the last.

I don't question your entitlement to write the article. We are all "entitled" to do things we shouldn't, and being entitled to do them doesn't make them unassailable. You are entitled to the article, and I am entitled to say it's driven by political animus but contains no political argument. In that sense, I find it disingenuous. YMMV.