So, am I a liberal hack who's out to destroy the American family, or am I a fine writer who's standing up for truth, justice and the American way?

Depends on which e-mails I choose to believe.

The response to last week's David Letterman-Sarah Palin column was hardly surprising. I knew that when I took Letterman's side and criticized Palin, it would turn out just as it did.

Well, that's not true. I got a lot more support than I expected. Yes, there were e-mails like this: "Who knows whether you wrote the piece on Letterman/Palin because you are so dumb you thought it would be funny or because you thought it would get you extra reader attention. Either way, you should resign or be fired — preferably the latter. The sooner the better."

But there were also e-mails like this: "Amen and right on … . Keep up the good work and truthful commentary."

And, "Thank you for your comments, I read your column regularly, and agree with you about 75 percent of the time. Even when I don't agree, I appreciate your perspective. On this article I agree 100 percent."

I couldn't be more thrilled by the response. When you write for a living, it's always gratifying when you evoke a reaction. Even if people disagree with you.

But it's also sad that we live in a world where everything has to be a conservative-liberal battle of ideologies. Even when that's not the subject of the discussion.

Frankly, between the liberal vs. conservative and Mormon vs. non-Mormon bashing in the comments section of our Web site, it's not an intelligent discussion.

Here's a quick look at the various attacks launched against me and my (mostly) humble responses:

 You're a left-wing liberal trying to tear down Palin and the GOP.

Despite the accusations of political partisanship, there was none in that column.

Just because I criticized a conservative does not make me a liberal. Using that logic, I must be a right-wing conservative because I wrote a strongly worded column calling Lawrence O'Donnell — MSNBC contributor and Democrat — a bigot for his religiously motivated attack against Mitt Romney.

Gee, maybe some of those who think I'm so dumb now thought I was pretty smart then. And vice-versa.

My political views don't matter here. And they weren't expressed.

 How dare you defend those jokes Letterman made?

I didn't. It's right there in black and white: "I'm not defending the joke."

 But he told a joke about raping a 14-year-old!

No, he didn't. You can argue semantics all you want, but it never happened.