5 Feet of Fury

‘They’ve gone door to door in mostly black Birmingham neighborhoods, leaving fliers that portray me as a liar and racist’

This is quite simply the weirdest thing I’ve read in a long time:

…two weeks ago, with the county in financial crisis, I wrote a light-hearted column on celebrities (nine white and five black, for those counting) who lived through bankruptcies. An internet commenter demanded to know why I had not listed my own bankruptcy. I fired a denial, believing he had the wrong guy. I checked the record moments later and, well, I was the one who was confused. (…)

I knew they were coming. We at The News have known they were coming for weeks because a highly personal, highly technical plan was leaked to us in February. I can’t now prove its origin or claim it as solid proof.

But it did outline a plan for trying to discredit the paper — and me specifically — as a way to please a client or clients. And while I can’t say for sure who wrote it, I know now that steps it outlined have come to pass.