Don't attack Sammitch with name calling and assumptions about his person or judgement. Instead make a factual counter-argument to disprove what he said (if you can).
I plead guilty, your Honour.
But using the words "pretentious" and "pseudo-moral" renders you equally guilty of ad hominem attack. ("Pretentious" I generally accept, although in this context it makes no sense and I gather it was just you shooting without aiming : "pseudo-moral" probably means that I maintain a morality which is not yours.)
I at least attacked Sammitch on the basis of being both narrow-minded (admittedly ad hominem) and using casuistry (that a passport would define the difference in someone's worth). Lucid, and to the point, I had thought. Never mind.
Damn, Dave, we can discuss a shitload of issues peaceably 90 percent of the time, but I make the point that the alleged torture victims don't have the same rights as people who hold citizenship in my country and you bitch at me for being narrow-minded? You know me better than that. With all the issues we've respectfully disagreed on, I wouldn't think you'd come out swinging on this one. I never attack you personally, and prior to this you've never really attacked me personally. I dunno what the deal is, but it's kinda disappointing, given that you always struck me as a reasonable guy.
Edit - long day at work... Casuistry - I got that one right on my GRE vocab exam, but it's one of those words that you just don't get to pull out in conversation that often. For one, I never attempted to define someone's worth by their citizenship. I probably could've worded things better, but honestly my only point was that people in this thread were so concerned about the detainees' 'rights' that they started extending them privileges constitutionally reserved for U.S. citizens. These are war criminals awaiting trial for war crimes, and as such Geneva is prevalent here. You could argue forever whether the interrogation techniques in question constituted 'torture', but I'll save you the trouble - at no point was a single one of the detainees in immediate danger of permanent physical harm or mental duress. How the hell do you expect to get information out of people if you're not gonna lean on 'em a little?
Quote: "Talk, damn you!"
"But it hurts!"
"Ohhhhh, all right, loosen it up a bit..."
Massive props to anyone who ID's that quote.
Last edited by Captain Sammitch; 2005-11-215:05 AM.
You know me better than that. With all the issues we've respectfully disagreed on, I wouldn't think you'd come out swinging on this one. I never attack you personally, and prior to this you've never really attacked me personally. I dunno what the deal is, but it's kinda disappointing, given that you always struck me as a reasonable guy. 
