On Fri, 4 Sep 2009 17:49:07 -0700, "Sal M. Onella"
wrote:


"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
.. .

... attacking a persons background, education, personality, appearance,
and wallpaper is little better than a character assassination and
should be avoided. Discuss the ideas, not the person.

Nonsense. Personal attacks are the surest way to victory. Study any
successful politician and you will have no need for me to explain further.

I said "avoided", not eliminated entirely. There are places where
character assasinations are both useful and successful. As you
indicate, politics is one of these. There's also advertising,
competative bidding, and stealing someones girlfriend. All is fair in
love, war, politics, advertising, but not antenna design.

Examine the dreck that fills up your mailbox on Friday and Saturday before
any election day. It's not pro-candidate; it's not pro-anything; it's all
god-damn-my-opponent -- and they're called "hit pieces" for good reason.

You're being too generous. It has been demonstrated that candidates
can win an election without ever mentioning any issues. Even the dead
have won elections. However, none of these politicians have ever
designed an antenna, so I suspect that this phenomenon would not be
particularly applicable.

Saint Edward of Massachusetts, aka Teddy Kennedy, was civil when it suited
him but he engaged in the vilest of character assassination* the rest of the
time. It didn't matter as long as he could cast his target upon the trash
heap.

Hint: You don't make it to the top in politics (and business) without
stepping over a few bodies. Much as I would like this to cease, I've
seen no indications that this will ever change. However, with debates
over antenna design, we still have the option to act in a reasonably
civil manner. In general, most of those posting questions and answers
in this group are quite civil and usually (not always) concentrate on
the merits of the design or problem, rather than attacking the
invidividual. Simply demonstrating that there is a class of
politicians that violate good taste, proper manners, and logical
arguementation, does not automatically give everyone in this newsgroup
a license to act in a similar manner.

*Bork was a man's name. Senator Kennedy made it a verb.

Name calling also is common. Same logic. Just because politicians do
it, doesn't license everyone to follow in the same manner.



--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS