Goodbye Will Twain: A ratfucker unmasked

[Jim Lane]

312. We're just not communicating here.

Here's what you wrote, about me, that I responded to: "you have apparently deemed posts by a troll who sought to hurt Democrats by turning DUers against them with troll posts valuable...."

In this context, you clearly meant (dropping all pronouns for clarity's sake): "Jim Lane has apparently deemed Will Twain's posts valuable." What I actually wrote was that I didn't even remember whether I'd rec'd any of his posts, so you have no basis for saying I deemed them valuable. I was, as I thought was clear, making a broader point, namely to disagree with a blanket rejection of criticisms of Democrats (see DemocratSinceBirth's post in #269 for an example of the view I disagree with).

In that context, what I actually wrote was, "On this board, criticisms of Democrats are often more valuable than criticisms of Republicans." Did you note the word "often"? I didn't say that every criticism of a Democrat is valuable. I've seen criticisms of Dems that I thought were not well founded, and I've sometimes taken the trouble to dispute them. The cases where they're valuable arise because I'm more likely to learn something from such threads, whether I agree or disagree with the original post. The current discussions about TPP and TPA are a good example. People have criticized Obama, Warren, Wyden, etc. Other people have disputed those criticisms. I would rather read such arguments (if both sides stick to facts and logic) than read yet another post telling me that Rand Paul is an opportunistic flip-flopper. I already know that Rand Paul is an opportunistic flip-flopper.

If you value DU more for the times when we all have a good laugh at the expense of the Conservative Idiot of the Week, well, you're entitled to your preference. DU does do a good job of providing such threads. I would never argue that you should be embarrassed for enjoying or reccing them.