Reply #120: The Heat Would Have Had A Different Quality, Sir

[The Magistrate]

And yes, there would, among friends as we all really are here, been more room for reasonable discussion of differences. Not everyone would have taken advantage of it, but it would certainly have been there. Where differences are real and substantial, there is no need for smear and ad hominen: where they are not, these things are necessary if one is determined to prevent the discussion arriving at a 'kumbaya moment', where both sides agree they really pretty much are on the same page. Often here that is true, but saying so is not much fun, and does not satisfy the combative spirit many are endowed with.