4 ms·

>the "big guy" referenced... Remarkable to see the "it wasn't him, and if it was... and if he did, he didn't... and if it is..." play out in earnest.

ModernMech 4y ago
That’s not at all what I’ve done. It’s called arguing in the alternative and it’s a form of discourse typically found in legal proceedings to argue against anticipated counterpoints. The idea is to show just how far one is from properly supporting the assertion. You can’t claim Joe Biden is corrupt because someone was trying to solicit a deal from a family member. In order to make a convincing case, the parent would have had to show Biden not only knew of the communication but also was receptive to it. The mere existence of an inbound solicitation is not evidence of corruption.
- SlickNixon 4y ago
  >That's not at all what I've done. It was an uncharitable characterization, my apologies. >The mere existence of an inbound solicitation is not evidence of corruption. This is true. The counterpoint is that there's a lot of evidence that people found solicitation of Hunter Biden worthwhile (illustrated by the fact that they kept paying him). A healthy skepticism suggests those payments were not made on the basis of his business acumen, in the same way we can suspect purchases of his paintings were not made on the basis of his artistic skill.
  - ModernMech 4y ago
    You can be skeptical, but the answer to the question “What was actually on Hunter Biden's laptop?” is not “Joe Biden (AKA "The Big Guy") was taking a cut from Hunter Biden's ridiculous business dealings with foreign entities”.
    - SlickNixon 4y ago
      Hold on, pump the brakes. How do you know what is or isn't on the laptop?
      - ModernMech 4y ago
        The laptop has been in the possession of partisan actors and has been examined forensically. I’m assuming everything and anything on the laptop that could possibly implicate Biden in so much as a parking infraction has been released. If your implying there may be heretofore unreleased information from the laptop, that would be the first time I’ve encountered that notion.
        lazyeye 4y ago
        Here's the reviews of "Laptop from Hell" https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Hell-Hunter-Secrets-President/dp/163758105X#customerReviews https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Hell-Hunter-Secrets-President/...
        SlickNixon 4y ago
        I appreciate the input, but I'm going to do a heel-face (face-heel?) turn and say that I trust that book about as far as I can throw it. There's an entire industry dedicated to rapidly churning out books on right-wing culture war topics, and the quality tends to be low. I have, in the course of my travels, been told many times that I need to read such-and-such a book on a topic before I can "really have an opinion". I get the taste in my mouth that such books tend to serve a defensive role in conversations (like barbed wire, with a machine gun pointed at it) instead of an educational one, and put the recommendee on the back foot where they're refusing to read a source as offered. It works because--going back to point 1--there's so many books out there that reading them all doesn't scale and never will. They take far, far more than they give. The youtube videos of the genre "three hours of some guy talking into the camera" occupy a similar niche.
        lazyeye 4y ago
        It sounds to me like you are just providing a rationalisation for a closed mind. There are plenty of smart people on the right, and lots of bad behaviour on the left that needs highlighting (and vice versa). And of course it's only people in opposition that will do this. We can't rely on the media because they are clearly partisan, so to dismiss anything beyond the media leaves you in an information desert basically.

ModernMech 4y ago

That’s not at all what I’ve done. It’s called arguing in the alternative and it’s a form of discourse typically found in legal proceedings to argue against anticipated counterpoints. The idea is to show just how far one is from properly supporting the assertion. You can’t claim Joe Biden is corrupt because someone was trying to solicit a deal from a family member. In order to make a convincing case, the parent would have had to show Biden not only knew of the communication but also was receptive to it. The mere existence of an inbound solicitation is not evidence of corruption.

SlickNixon 4y ago
>That's not at all what I've done. It was an uncharitable characterization, my apologies. >The mere existence of an inbound solicitation is not evidence of corruption. This is true. The counterpoint is that there's a lot of evidence that people found solicitation of Hunter Biden worthwhile (illustrated by the fact that they kept paying him). A healthy skepticism suggests those payments were not made on the basis of his business acumen, in the same way we can suspect purchases of his paintings were not made on the basis of his artistic skill.
- ModernMech 4y ago
  You can be skeptical, but the answer to the question “What was actually on Hunter Biden's laptop?” is not “Joe Biden (AKA "The Big Guy") was taking a cut from Hunter Biden's ridiculous business dealings with foreign entities”.
  - SlickNixon 4y ago
    Hold on, pump the brakes. How do you know what is or isn't on the laptop?
    - ModernMech 4y ago
      The laptop has been in the possession of partisan actors and has been examined forensically. I’m assuming everything and anything on the laptop that could possibly implicate Biden in so much as a parking infraction has been released. If your implying there may be heretofore unreleased information from the laptop, that would be the first time I’ve encountered that notion.
      - lazyeye 4y ago
        Here's the reviews of "Laptop from Hell" https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Hell-Hunter-Secrets-President/dp/163758105X#customerReviews https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Hell-Hunter-Secrets-President/...
        SlickNixon 4y ago
        I appreciate the input, but I'm going to do a heel-face (face-heel?) turn and say that I trust that book about as far as I can throw it. There's an entire industry dedicated to rapidly churning out books on right-wing culture war topics, and the quality tends to be low. I have, in the course of my travels, been told many times that I need to read such-and-such a book on a topic before I can "really have an opinion". I get the taste in my mouth that such books tend to serve a defensive role in conversations (like barbed wire, with a machine gun pointed at it) instead of an educational one, and put the recommendee on the back foot where they're refusing to read a source as offered. It works because--going back to point 1--there's so many books out there that reading them all doesn't scale and never will. They take far, far more than they give. The youtube videos of the genre "three hours of some guy talking into the camera" occupy a similar niche.
        lazyeye 4y ago
        It sounds to me like you are just providing a rationalisation for a closed mind. There are plenty of smart people on the right, and lots of bad behaviour on the left that needs highlighting (and vice versa). And of course it's only people in opposition that will do this. We can't rely on the media because they are clearly partisan, so to dismiss anything beyond the media leaves you in an information desert basically.