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Its quite dangerous, not to mention sort of useless, to try to reconstruct an identity out of a few scraps of public writings. Like the writings attributed to Duley, the public writing of Ivins represents only a moment in (personality) time, which may be reflected in the person's larger worldview and actions, or may not. Such writings are even more misleading if, as in Ivins' case, the letters show large gaps of silence as well. Just as one example, a several odd and passionate letters to the editor spaced out over several years may only indicate a compulsion to have one's opinions heard, or a need to shock with one's opinion, or any number of a dozen other things that can't be inferred from the actual content of the letters.
What's most important, heaven forbid any of us end up at the eye of a similar investigation and our posts from GG's column are unearthed and studied for insight into the workings of our warped minds.
