jj@alice.UUCP (03/28/86)
It's interesting, having read Cramer's article on RayGun and Tim's comments, that Tim and Mike have matter-of-factly beaten up on Cramer for saying "RayGun is a great president", and such things, when Cramer hasn't said any such thing. Cramer very carefully said that "Reagan is at beast a mediocre president". This fact (YES, FACT) has been (I won't suggest a motive) misrepresented by Sevener and Mike H, in their articles where they argue against Cramer's "defense of RayGun as a great president". If Cramer had said that, the linking of an unpopular idea to him would be reasonably honest, but as it stands, it represents a misrepresentation of what Cramer said, and the only concievable effect of the misrepresentation is that is that it co-opts the uninformed reader's information ast to the beliefs of the original poster. Coincidentally, it also provides a a position that can be attacked, after having the original premise (RayGun as a liar) yanked firmly, completely, and conclusively out from under them. In the past, I have also had my arguments routinely misrepresented by several persons on the net. This sort of behavior continues to be present, and happens often enough that it feels as though it can only be calculated, and an attempt to OFFENSIVELY CO-OPT one's debate opponents and try to link them with ideas that one believes to be unpopular. I propose that UNTIL net.politics is free of these deliberate, misleading, counterproductive rhetorical ploys, it is useless as a discussion medium because of the ideological censorship implied by coopting all those who do not espouse that "RayGun is a liar" <or what have you>. Furthermore, I propose that the continued use of these ploys represents an attempt at CENSORSHIP of opinions, facts, and philosophies which are counter to those who use (whether or not deliberately) misleading debating techniques. I propose, that because net.politics is effectively being CENSORED by this tactic (reminds me of a few elections we've seen around 1960!?) it should be removed, as censorship is counter to net policy. (Yeah, I know that's circular. Tough! CENSOR CENSORSHIP!) -- TEDDY BEARS UNITE! HUG A SHY PERSON TODAY! "And the words o' the song were a thousand years long, and to learn them a long thousand more." (ihnp4;allegra;research)!alice!jj