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More caselist talk

I'm still figuring out the system here, and my attempts to cut and paste
have produced nothing but headaches, so I'm going to do this the
old-fashioned way: with my fingertips. In reply to my question about why
Tuna's caselist doesn't include names, Professor Bryant impugned me in
more ways than I thought would fit into one paragraph. He says my
phrasing "smacks of more heirarchy [sic]", accuses me of "constantly
playing the 'we're better because . . . ' game", and suggests that I am
"uncomfortable to tolerate a form of debate that takes a slightly
different perspective".

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. And distorted. Very distorted. Let's check what
was said.

First of all, I admitted ignorance and asked for guidance. If I
generalized a little, it's because my sources of information were
limited. So when I encountered Tuna's notice, which describd a
"discussion", presumably between higher-ups, and a "decision" to
withhold the detailed info, I assumed that it was an accepted practice.
Maybe I was mistaken.

I wasn't hierarchical, or bigoted, or any of the other things that
Bear's been trying to accuse me of being, which I've busily been trying
to defend myself against for a couple of days. My notes to him have been
replete with stipulations that CEDA has value, that lots of CEDA debates
are good debates, lots of CEDA debaters good debaters, and so forth. And
I freely admit that NDT leaves a lot of needs unaddressed, to which CEDA
responds admirably. I am not comfortable with many of the ways CEDA does
business, and am not shy about saying so, but have in no way made the
sweeping, generalized condemnation of which I've been accused.
(Interestingly enough, Bear's notes have been peppered with cutting
comments about CEDA which were quite sweeping and quite harsh at times.
At Baylor, we had a favorite bible verse about the mote in one's
neighbor's eye and the beam in one's own eye.)

Most interesting of all have been the other reactions. No one else seems
to have found this question offensive. The replies from Murphy and "Duct
Tape Man" were helpful, informative, and calm. The only thing I can
conclude is that someone is insecure, and that insecurity is causing him
to read condemnation into an innocent question.

Love Child
H: (706) 548-6041
W: (706) 542-3238
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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