Amateur Megalomania

A few weeks ago I posted a link to a blog dustup between Jeff Goldstein, of Protein Wisdom and Deb Frisch, of South(West)paw.  You can review the origins here.

What has started out as a very strange ideological feud has morphed into something far beyond absolute lunacy.

Before I go into it though, a word about the handling here.  I will not post a hard link to her site.  If you really want to find it, type deb then frisch and add the dot com.  I don’t want a hard link going into blog ranking sites and adding to her ‘popularity’ as these things are measured.  I would recommend that you go to donthiredeb.blogspot.com, a site ran by someone tracking this lunacy and providing a place where we can read about her without feeding her link counter on her site.

Also, those on Goldstein’s side of this are urging people not to comment on Frisch’s site or engage her directly in any forum, for legal reasons.

That being said, here’s the evolving story.

Dr. Frisch, PhD in Psychology (specializing in the psychology of decision making – oh, the irony), continued to post insulting comments on Goldstein’s blog after being forced to resign from her job for making threatening comments about Goldstein’s son.  She then proceeded to shift the commentary to her own blog, growing more and more vitriolic and crude.

So Goldstein clams up about the whole incident, retains legal counsel, and Dr. Frisch gets a temporary restraining order delivered to her door by the local sheriff.  Sensible people might think it would be a good time to shut down the blog and maybe take a little vacation to clear the head.

Dr. Frisch did the exact opposite.  She continued to post about Goldstein and his son.  She mocked the restraining order.  She stated IN WRITING that she would stop talking and threatening the Goldstein’s if they paid her (obviously the term ‘extortion’ is not taught at the PhD level).  She continues to fantasize in writing that she wants to parlay this whole episode into a spot on The Daily Show or to be recognized by Stephen Colbert.  She’s repeatedly said she planned on quitting her job anyway, yet still insists on collecting ‘damages’ from Goldstein for being forced to resign.

But she still wasn’t done.

She identified the Goldstein lawyer as a ‘shyster’, repeatedly.  She insulted the judge that granted the order and will hear the case.  She then lifted the lawyers picture from the legal firm’s website, posted it on her own, and mocked him, despite the very frightening copyright text on the legal firm’s site.

Today she’s posted a reply to the lawyer’s letter to her.  Here’s a sample:

[Lawyer]: Your actions to date violate several federal, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon statutes dealing with stalking and related matters, as well as the common law of those states. Your actions subject you to significant liability, including punitive damages.

Your actionable comments to date include:

1) A threat to sexually abuse the Goldsteins’ child;
2) Multiple threats concerning the death of the Goldsteins’ child;
3) References to Mrs. Goldstein in the crudest possible language;
4) Claims that Mr. Goldstein sexually abuses his child, or presents a danger of doing so. You have made this claim as recently as today.

[Frisch]: Let’s agree to disagree about whether my actions are actionable.

FACT: Your client was quoted by Kim Smith in the Arizona Daily Star on July 11 as saying he never felt threatened and

FACT: the best you could muster was a RO barring me from emailing the mofo.

Conclusion: your action suggests your hand is much weaker than your words imply.

Go lay your pathetic tuff shyster shtick on someone else, u mofo.

What is worse than a lawyer gunning for you?

A motivated lawyer gunning for you.

In front of a judge you’ve insulted, repeatedly.

I’m literally stunned.  My brain locked up for a minute when I read the entire text.  For a moment, I expected the lawyer to tap me on the shoulder and serve me for even reading this.

This is becoming a freak show of epic proportions.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so intent on self-destruction.

This isn’t a left/right issue anymore.  This woman needs serious help.  She’s lost her job, her partner has left her, her family is abandoning her, and her employability is going up in flames.

Filed under: Grab Bag