The chief of police cars

I didn't resort to being a sarcastic asshole, why is it necessary now?

Bringing it up at all is silly, IMO. My argument (no need to put it in
quotes, it is a real argument not a metaphorical one) is that both
methods have merit. Top posting is, for me, actually a lot easier to
follow. I say that as I do the third option, which is to trim to
relevant text while preserving attribution markers, and then intersperse
comments as appropriate.

Actually, the business E-mails I am talking about may be added to for
months and may have dozens of participants.

I think if there is a difference, its that all the participants always
receive and look at all the business e-mails, whereas NG threads get
glanced at by an ever-changing group.