mem (11/16/82)
c My apologies to you people who are reading this article, which is directed primarily at John Hevelin. I have been publicly insulted (I must say that it is most unpleasant), and I feel that that deserves a public reply. ----- I expressed no opinion on Proxmire. I made no indication of my personal stand on arms reduction. I gave no pro-nuke view. Nor, importantly, did I give insults (such as "mindless"), use irrelevant descriptions ("passing wind"), or use obvious sophisms ("knee-jerk"). The phrase "knee-jerk" comes from the involuntary muscle reaction caused by hitting the tendon just below the knee. It is used to describe standard reactions to standard stimuli; especially to statements or actions which are not particularly well thought out. It refers especially to your whole article, since you reacted to your own thoughts, and not to what I said. Name-calling is a technique used when intelligent arguments are either not to be had, cannot be originated by the name-caller, or are not expedient. This technique is unfortunately effective. Humorous but meaningless phrase-turning is used to show the wit of the person making the remark. It has no other merit. ----- If you would care to discuss interpretations of defense-oriented referendums, I would be happy to do so by mail, following a public apology from you. Mark Mallett
REM@MIT-MC@sri-unix (11/18/82)
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM at MIT-MC> Shouldn't defense-oriented referendums be in ARMS-DISCUSSION instead of in SPACE??