The author of this information, Jim Stix, lives in Philadelphia, Pa.


Were it possible to respect Linh Dinh as I had for many years, this response to his online opinions and lies about me would not be necessary. I have known Linh for over 25 years, and in the previous 6 months before our exchanges on his web site, I had become increasingly worried about his destructive behavior, hypocrisy and lies.

Linh had been involved in what was, as described by him to me, a loud and dangerous fight in a bar which resulted in his expulsion by the owner who knew him for over 30 years. People in the bar had become furious with Linh because of an article he wrote that was published online, in which he said things about people that were either true or false. (Linh had previously in one of his articles made up quotes that he attributed to me, and he refused to acknowledge or even care that I had not said what he wrote.) His writing about other people was hurting their feelings, and Linhs response was total arrogance and poor every time.
I had pleaded with Linh to go back into the bar that he was banned for life from, and apologize to the people who were upset with the article that he wrote which had them in it, and he refused over and over again. He just kept saying to me with a wave of his right arm , fuck it , or fuck them.  Linh essentially felt it was his right to hurt other people with his writings, in spite of the fact that he is hurting people who care about him and have cared about him for a very long time.

The main reason I went on to his web site and lied was because I wanted to see if when push came to shove, Linh would show himself to be a hypocrite and a liar. Sadly , with the removal of many of my comments, after months of complaining by Linh to his readers on his web site about his anger and disbelief and yes rage, that his and others comments were removed by another (progressive) web site, he ended up doing the same thing to me when given the chance. Linhs repeated attempts on his web site to have other people sympathize with him because his comments were removed by a (progressive) web site, become meaningless and sickly hypocritical when on a web site that he controls, he resorted to the exact same behavior. And his excuses were not far behind. His excuses for removing my comments, were not all that dissimilar from the reasons why the other web site removed his comments, but that did not keep Linh from complaining for weeks and months and  accusing the people (on the progressive web site) by name of being hypocrites.

My purposeful attacks on Linh were an attempt to find out if he would, if given the chance,  act  in the same manner as the people he had been screaming about and crying about on his web site for months. Because Linh  would not apologize to people that he had hurt very badly, people that cared about him for decades, I thought it time to find out what kind of integrity, if at all any, he did possess after all these years. When he removed my comments and proved to me that he was the hypocrite I suspected he would prove to be, I felt it necessary to end our friendship after all these years.

Linh had been kicked off CounterPunch because his stories were found lacking, in so many words, by the editors of the site, kicked out of a decades favorite bar for a violent drunken rage full argument over his article that he refused to apologize for, and tried to garner attention over and over again from readers on his web site because his comments were removed from a progressive web site that he thereafter attacked repeatedly.

Simply put, I was worried and deeply concerned for a man that I have cared about artistically and politically for a long time. And I  was concerned that his anger and arrogance and intractability would become fuel for more and possibly increasingly dangerous drunken outbursts that would result in his getting hurt. Linh had confessed to me on several occasions that he did something because he drank too much, and the anguish that I thought he was carrying around was dangerous. After getting kicked off CounterPunch, and barred from his decades long drinking buddies and counter, and the progressive web site that barred his comments and would no longer allow him to vent, I felt that his future had become precarious.

Linh may not realize this or care, but I worry about him,  and I want him to be well. Really. Sadly I know that Linh does not for what ever reason, as he has shown me personally on several occasions, give a shit about other peoples feelings after he has hurt them.

I apologize to Linh and his readers for lying on his little web site, just so that I could prove my point. My experiment to show ‘Linh Dinh the hypocrite’ to the world was terrible and successful.

Linhs opinions of me were wrought by the hypocrisy and lack of integrity that sadly and all too easily spew from his quickly cornered sodden brain.

The decades long bridge between us is no more. I have in the last few years of my life, removed the hypocrites and liars and people who show any willingness or tendency to hurt me emotionally or others for what ever reason. I can no longer support or encourage or have in my life, people who think that they are the only ones that matter.

Selfishness and hypocrisy are for the world and relationships ruinous.
I would wish Linh good luck, but because it will never taste like beer and cannot be sent through pay pal, he’ll have no need for it.

Regards, angrily and lucid after all these years,
Jim Stix

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tags: Postcards from the End of America. Linh Dinh. Hypocrisy. Donate.
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