Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgaryborn
I conclude that you and Gates are cut from the same cloth. It is no wonder you are so zealous in defending that pompus race baiter. Gates thinks he knows what racial profiling looks like when he has only ever read about it. You think you can read a little bit of Massachusetts case law plus a police report and know more than several police officers with years of experience upholding Massachusetts State law.
More than likely all you are doing is parroting what some liberal talking head from MSNBC told you would have saved Gates in a trial. It amounts to the defence's best argument given without complete knowledge of the Prosecution's case against Gates. That would include the testimony of the other witnesses(including officers) and whatever case law the Prosecution would site. It is pretty easy to win a case when you are the only one presenting arguments.
Gates is trying to put the incident behind him now that it has backfired on him and exposed his own racial hypocrisy. Maybe you should too.
|
I really should no longer be surprised, or even outraged, when your "contribution" to a thread such as this one takes the form of this kind of nonsense.
Firstly, let's address the substance of your argument. Essentially, you don't bother refuting my claims at all, instead imputing to me actions that are not mine (watching MSNBC) and opinions I don't have (that I know more than a cop about Massachussetts law) when the truth is you know nothing about me at all. This is known as the
ad hominem fallacy. It's particularly common among people who know that they have no chance of winning an argument on the merits, so I'll draw
my own conclusions there.
Essentially, when you participate in a converation like this with the sole purposes of delivering "zingers" and "scoring points"--then you're not really contributing at all. Really, there are two types of posters: interesting and boring. Those that are interesting provide some sort of grist for the mill--that is, they bring something to the table that others can digest and either respond to or re-interpret--and we can form a stronger total opinion as a result.
To his credit, jolinar did (finally) do a little research and provide something useful. I don't always love his tone, but I recognize that it's hard to measure that sort of thing on the internet, so credit where credit's due--he provided a useful link that helped me tto understand this issue a bit more profoundly.
All you've provided so far is an ad hominem attack, an inaccurate statement about Gates' biography, and a link to a story that had already been linked.
That places you pretty firmly in the "uninteresting" category. And I think in future, that's how I'll treat you. It's sad, because I sense that you really are smart, and could, were you so inclined, be a valuable contributor to a community such as this one. There's nothing
inherently wrong with your political views--but you have no idea how to talk about them with people who don't agree--and that's kind of sad. As a result, you tend to seem shrill and irrational rather than measured and thoughtful. A key test is this: are you capable of changing your mind if presented with a compelling argument? Changing your mind is hard sometimes--but I've done it in this very thread, as you'll see if you look at my first post, which takes a very different stance than I've since taken on the issue.
But if, as I suspect, no argument will ever convince you that you've made an error, then you have to ask yourself if you're thinking rationally at all. One of the main ideas of debate is that we present ideas that may be logically tested, and discarded if they are found wanting. I've noticed that when you make an argument that is exploded, you usually just find a different one, generally one that is equally vulnerable to an attack on strictly logical grounds.
I do want to add one last thought--and that is sincerely to apologize if this post came off as insulting. I honestly don't mean to impugn
you. I don't know you at all--perhaps you're a great guy. But your contribution to threads like this isn't valuable at all right now. And that's not because of your
beliefs; it's because of your rhetoric.