Kieran: Lost me there, bud. He posted a comment on a public BBS. I made a reply. It appears that reply doesn't meet your standards and you are trying to tell me what to say and how to say it. Or am I misreading you?
You are mistreading me a bit.
He posted an obviously political comment - not hiding it in teh least. Instead of replying to his comment with you own political comment, you have accused him of making a political comment as if it is somehow unethical or invalidates the content of his comment.
I did not argue your right to post that - I did not say you should not post whatever you wish. I just said that this particular post of yours was not the best example of episemology you are capable off - as we all know.
You seem to avoid a point he was making by attacking him for the very fact of having a political opinion and posting it in a political forum. In fact he started his own thread, not infringed on yours or somebody else's.
He invites a discussion and you are making a point that his discussion is not valid, so his claims should not be addressed or considered. But nobody makes you participate in this thread at all.
There are plenty of posts each of us does not address or consider - by ignoring them, not pointing out the personal flaws of a poster.
Hey, just because I grew tired of your "doom-N-gloom" drumbeat doesn't have to mean I don't think you're very smart. Post like this more often and I might change my mind.
If you grew tired of my posts, I regret that, but - respectfully - it is only a reason for you to stop reading them for a while, not for anyone else to do anything different.
In this particular thread I only spoke along the lines of this discusison and you were the one to drag in here my "doom-N-gloom" posts from other threads.
You are absolutely not obligated to participate in every thread I post and I will hold no grudge against you.
On the other hand, whenever you decide you have anything to contribute or you want to change my opinion through argument on the issues, I will greatly appreciate your input.
The only thing I ask is to read what I type carefully and to reply to what I said, not to some views attributed to me that I have never subscribed to. If I seem to make a contradictory statement, I would rather have you ask for clarification and wait with launching an attack.
And while it is your prerogative to question anyone's motives for posting rather than address the views, it is not productive as discussions go. If you dislike someone's motives, you have a much better chance to change them by successfully arguing against that person's views than by declaring which motives are bad wad which are good.
Regards,
miko
