I have had an odd relationship with Bernie Goldberg. Although he has been nice enough to write the forewords to a couple of my books, we have never met. Somewhere along the way, we began exchanging email, and for a while he was posting some of my articles on his website. Then one day, he let me know he would no longer be running my stuff.

Although he claims not to subscribe to political correctness, I suspected that I must have crossed some imaginary line he had in his head when it came to writing about Muslims, urban blacks and homosexuality.

I didn’t take it personally. After all, it was his website. He was well within his rights not to post articles that offended him, even if they were written by someone he referred to in his forewords as the latter-day Mark Twain.

The way I looked at it, Mrs. Twain is known to have often told her husband to tone things down. So, at least I was in good company.

But Goldberg continued to share his articles with me. I didn’t always agree with him, but once I had stopped watching Bill O'Reilly, it was the one way I could know what was on his mind.

Every once in a while, I would alert him to a typo. Occasionally, I would let him know if I particularly enjoyed a piece, especially if he came up with a line I wish I’d written.

So, it was that one day I received a piece he’d written titled “Defending Donald Trump — No Matter What.” With a title like that, I had a pretty good idea what to expect.

When I finished reading what I regarded as a diatribe, a piece in which he came right out and said that a lot of us in the pro-Trump crowd were so lame that if he actually shot people dead in the street, we would continue cheerleading for the president.

He was certainly entitled to his opinion, but so was I. I sent him the following email: “Dear Bernie — when you started off by describing Trump as an egotist and a blowhard, it occurred to me that you might be writing about Bill O'Reilly. Your reference to Trump’s craving for adulation, applause and ratings, certainly sounded familiar. Maybe it’s got something to do with some guys being too rich and too tall for their own good.

"I don’t disagree with some of your points, but Trump has only been in office for a month and I think you have to cut his fans, I being one of them, some slack. After all, they have been justifiably frustrated and angry for the past eight years. What’s more, they have had to put up with a media that in the main provided cover for the worst president we’ve ever had and then continued, as much as they could, to do the same for Hillary Clinton. The brown on their noses certainly isn’t the result of exposure to too much sun.

"Now that Trump has been elected, the media elitists have suddenly become bulldogs who wrap themselves in the First Amendment and feel obliged to turn every molehill into Mt. Everest if they think it will diminish President Trump. How often do any of them take Chuck Schumer, Al Franken or Elizabeth Warren, to task for slow-walking Trump’s cabinet choices through their Senate hearings? When do they ever mention obstructionism in connection with the Democrats after over-using the word to describe congressional Republicans since 2009?

"And, finally, I think everyone, including you, understood that Trump had his tongue wedged firmly in his cheek when, during the campaign, he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and it wouldn’t cost him a single vote. When you wrote it in your column, you didn’t sound as if you were joking or engaging in hyperbole. You merely sounded as contemptuous of Trump supporters as Jake Tapper, James Acosta and the editorial board of the New York Times. Sincerely, Burt”

In response, Mr. Goldberg wrote: “Hi, Burt. Hope all is going well.

"Coupla things. Yeah, I could have been writing about more than a few of the folks on TV…they have a lot in common with Mr. Trump.

"Re the media: I wrote a whole book about how they fell in love with Obama…and since Trump became president I’ve talked and written about how they deserve a lot of the heat they’ve been taking. And you’re right that they apply two different standards for O and for Trump. If they like you, they go easy. If they don’t, they don’t.

"So far, we agree. But on your last point, not so much. Let me try to explain my position. If Trump had said he WOULD shoot somebody (for whatever reason) and not lose a vote, I’d agree that his tongue was firmly wedged in his cheek. But — and this obviously is nothing more than my opinion — when he said he COULD shoot someone and not lose a vote…I don’t believe he was kidding. I think he really meant it. Such is his immense belief in his popularity. And you’re right again, I wasn’t joking when I said he could shoot a few reporters and his most loyal fans would have cheered him on. I meant what I said — literally.

"Here’s the thing, B. I don’t know if you ever hear from that particular section of Trump’s supporters — the most avid, passionate ones. They’re not like you and me and most people I know. I obviously could be wrong, but I believe they wouldn’t care even if he did that. Hey, they’re reporters — what’s the big deal?

"Remember, they didn’t care when he insulted McCain, a POW who spent 5 years in prison…or when he shamefully mocked the disabled reporter…or when he made fun of Carly Fiorina’s face…or when he said the Bush administration lied to get us into war…or a hundred other crazy things he said. Why would a mere shooting…of a reporter, no less…bother them?

"Contemptuous? Yeah, I guess you can say that. If I were doing straight reporting, I’d either keep it in check or decline the story. As a commentator, I’m breaking no rules.

Til next time…Bernie”

In response, all I could say is that, although I didn’t get his distinction between would and could, I was also put off by some of Trump’s comments during the campaign, but that I underwent what you might call a religious conversion once the decision came down to Trump or Mrs. Clinton. And in the end, I became convinced that he alone of all the potential GOP candidates could have defeated her.

What’s more, as unseemly as some of his comments were, they connected viscerally with Republicans who were sick and tired of pusillanimous candidates like that very same John McCain, who couldn’t even bring himself to connect Barack Obama to Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright in 2008, lest the NY Times stop referring to him as a statesman.

But at least Mr. Goldberg, intentionally or not, confirmed my suspicions as to the reason he’d stopped posting my articles. Clearly, in style if not content, I reminded him too much of Donald J. Trump.

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I am happy to report that my latest book, the very wise and hilarious “Angels on Tap,” is now available from Amazon. It is the source for the upcoming feature starring Ed Asner, Marion Ross, Jamie Farr, Ran Masak and Alan Rachins, that I wrote and co-produced.