re: #81 WindUpBird

See Cyan, this is what I’m talking about. I am specific to a small amount of data, and so many more people go with non-sequitir responses. This is what is wrong with politics so much nowadays, and even the intelligent posters here fall into the same trap (myself included.) You make a point, fully expecting to be informed if you are wrong (lord knows half my posts say “I could be wrong” or “correct me if I’m wrong” and I usually have to put in a rejoinder just to keep the snark away) and you get complete trashing of the person you ask about. I ask, does A have any credibility on point B, and someone says, A did this mean thing and is a douche, they aren’t credible. That doesn’t answer my question, that’s just an emotional response to something that guy did. Being an asshole or jerk does not automatically make your information wrong, but people will spout this drivel as if it ends the debate. It’s saddening, and the really bad thing is, Cyan was respectful, answered the question directly, and was so much more persuasive than a drive by non-sequitir comment.

I know what you mean about CJ monitoring, but usually that the guys who are jerks and disagree and are offensive. Usually you can be pretty damn snarky and rude if you’re on the “right” side of the issue. It’s why I said I’d rather be wrong sometimes with good reasoning then right with bad reasoning. The same is true with attitude, because if I ask a simple question and someone is correct but an asshole, why would I want to throw my lot in with them?