RE: 'News, Reasoned Discourse, Opinion and Some Humor'

For the record, this type of BS (see link) is exactly why I refrain from posting anything on this board that can be interpreted as a personal attack.

Please don't make more out of this than it really is. If we get overly concerned about how someone else might interpret what we say here, we might as well not say anything at all. After ten years of politics, I'll tell you that people who don't like what you say can find a way to take it as a personal attack regardless of your intent or how careful you are to couch your terms.

As for ad hominem itself, I think it is generally a bad idea. In formal debate, anyone who resorts to it has lost the high ground. However, in some cases, especially when the subject you are addressing has already resorted to it, making an ad hominem remark can be the best way to get their attention. And in the case of remarking on the written word of others, ad hominem is kind of pointless, but it can make for readable punditry and is generally somewhat harmless.

Before you accuse me of hypocrisy in this case, I urge you to remember what I said in the preceding paragraph and to re-read what I said, especially about Lewis Carroll's letter to the Stokes Fishwrap. While the remark about overcharging widows walks the line on ad hominem, it is intended to illustrate the shameless hypocrisy of Carroll's attack on the Stokes Commissioners for what he perceives to be callousness. Rest assured that the remark isn't out of thin air, either. It is based on a personal account of actual events.