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No rigorous definition of any of these terms seems possible, and the questions they exist to address are unavoidably important. The mechanisms we built to address such questions appear to have collapsed, and there does not seem to be a way to replace them.
I got called out for "doing a bit" yesterday, but I'm honestly not sure how anyone here or elsewhere thinks the conversation is supposed to go. There is no common ground sufficient to build a productive conversation on. You see a ton of people in this thread freewheeling because they can't get that through their heads; they still think we Americans are a "we", that the factual or philosophical or political or tribal markers they're trying to cash in still have something approximating an exchange rate. They think there's still ground under the feet, something firm, a source of traction, something other than empty air and a pavement rapidly approaching.
I understand the feeling; even now, reading your description of the situation, I want to start laying down the facts, because I know you're a reasonable person, and surely you can be reached... But reason isn't enough. I could claim it's because you aren't reasonable enough, unlike virtuous people like me, but the slightest amount of self-awareness shows that to be a clown's argument. You have facts of your own, those facts are assessed by worldview and axioms just as mine are, and that's that.
The concept of actually reaching some productive level of agreement on the problems at hand is, at this point, completely laughable. If it's not possible at our current level of escalation, it's not going to get easier two or ten or a hundred escalations further down the line. The very concept of reconciliation has passed beyond the bounds of plausibility.
Sorry, I might not have been clear with that.
What I was trying to say is: the FBI managed to piss off most everyone in the preceding years. General Republicans by soft-balling Hillary. Hillary supporters by going after her at all. Every other Democrat by failing to bury Trump. Diehard Trumpers by going after him at all.
Yes, this is stupid and contradictory. It's also sufficient to explain why the FBI might try to avoid commenting on the veracity of a source.
Anyway. I'm not sure I follow you, regarding the fruitlessness of discussion.
Maybe I just feel like the pavement has always been there, always approaching. Each child born around eighty years from splattering across an alarming area. Might as well have some fun while we're at it, no?
If you're like me, you get some satisfaction from writing. You struggle, sometimes, to arrange the words just so--but it is the right kind of struggle. Other humans on the screen trigger interest, confusion, perhaps even disgust or righteousness. You desire to express those emotions. Here we have a forum that tells you to do so, by all means, so long as you can follow certain constraints. This selects for certain emotions more than others. You come to the Motte when you want to experience that cluster of thoughts and feelings.
If this doesn't resonate with you, then why are you here? What drives you to come and prognosticate? When people accuse you of "doing a bit," they are confused at the mismatch between your sentiment and your actions.
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