I’ve been trying very hard to simply ignore or delete the obvious hate mail without responding. But the ones with a hint of reasonableness I’ve been trying to reply to even as I have a lot of work to do. Here is an exchange I just had which might give a glimpse of what I have to put up with. I’ve abbreviated his email name to protect his identity:

Email from “Dsander”:
Subject: “Just so you’re clear”
“You’re going to have a hard time making the case that a professor in any field, any department, who has achieved tenure at the University of Michigan is somehow suspect or incompetent. Wrong school, wrong argument.
Why not stop making a fool of yourself and drop the whole spat with Prof. Cole? People are laughing at you and some of them are those one would think would align with you.”
Response from me: “thanks, but i’ll take my counsel elsewhere. I don’t plan on carrying this on much longer though. But just so you’re clear LOTS of people are perfectly open to the idea that a tenured professor at the UNiversity of Michigan can be wrong. That you think otherwise is baffling to me.”
Second email from Dsander: “Hint for you Fat Boy … those aren’t “people” … they’re your right-wing ‘droids. Enjoy …”