Reply #157: There's another reason you're missing.

[immune]

"There are only two reasons for repeatedly demanding information your interlocutors could not possibly produce: either you A) don't know that such information is generally unavailable, or B) you know that it is, and you're demanding it for that reason."

When someone keeps hinting at being in possession of "secret" knowledge, which you say they should not have anyway, and they use that premise to disparage the credibility of others, what is the proper way to go about .... encouraging .... them to admit they're blowing smoke if they are unwilling to back up their claims with facts? Or is one to just blithely accept that everyone is forthright and honest while they're blasting away at other people's reputations?