Quote:
Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
Dave, I really had full intentions of leaving OT, and you in fact were part of that. We've exchanged a few PMs RE: our pal Geoff and said nice things about each other's projects.
I've always worried about OT bleeding over into tech and classifieds and your post somehow really magnified that concern.
That said, and really, if I have the strenght, this will be my last political post here in OT, I'd want to know what you mean by political spin. Either Bush, Cheney, et al said those things, and I included full context, or they didn't. the above are 100% bona fide quotes.
This is where I really give up. I am constantly providing full disclosure, contextual facts to support my claims, but they are never good enough.
I love debate, really thrive on it. I've got republican friends with whom I really mix it up, but there's always pizza and beer afterward (the great unifiers) but more than that, people listen to points and concede them, they don't just stack on denial after denial, aren't hypocritical and they don't manipulate facts, speech and context to serve their goal.
In short, they are real debates where ideas are exchanged and MINDS are actually changed. this is just people doing their best to prove their points, usually falling very short, and just ending up in insults.
I've yet to see someone change their position after someone else -- side independent -- provides incontrovertible proof.
Take care and see you on the tech board.
Shaun
|
Actually Shaun, I was throwing you a bone - I meant the spin of the people you were citing, not any spin you were introducing to prove your point. I'll admit that when squeezed, everyone you cited has indeed downplayed the singular role of OBL with respect to the overall hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban members in Afghanistan.
Truly sorry - as I was really slammed today at work and for the 30 seconds I logged into PP today, that was all the time I had to draft a response.
The facts as I understand them are is that troop deployment levels in Afghanistan have not decreased since the war in Iraq began - that is, we have not decreased our scope for hunting down OBL and his cronies.
Don't get too frustrated - this OT board drives me nuts too. "My side" has the Strombergs and Mulhollands, and "Your side" has the Red UFOs and on-ramps. I think in between those extremes the rest of us may have passionate views, but a lot of the rational discourse gets sidetracked by the aforementioned weirdos and the inability to accurately express body language and expression in a typed message. Smileys notwithstanding.
Example you cited is indeed perfect - you and I have exchanged plenty of offline and online communication without incident and my previous two posts on this thread were not intended to be incendiary. Our views politically may quite different but I imagine we'd be able to discuss them rationally over several rounds of brew. I also imagine we'd tire of it before long and switch to cars, sleazy parts sellers, and small business ownership.
I LOVE YOU MAN.