4 ms·

> "Someone needs to learn American History" Personal attacks like this add nothing to your comment. It would have been better to leave that sentence out, or r

> "Someone needs to learn American History" Personal attacks like this add nothing to your comment. It would have been better to leave that sentence out, or replace it with something less personal like "there are examples of worse behavior in American History". ----- "Not the absolute worst US presidential administration of all time" isn't really a compelling argument for why we shouldn't criticize this one.

dragontamer 12y ago
Oh, he can be critical if he wants. Open Criticism of presidents is what makes Americans strong. But when he says stuff like "like no other president before him" he needs to be ready for a historical counter-argument. I happen to know the history of several presidents ya see, and can see what Obama and Bush have done in context. These recent Presidents are actually quite good historically, despite their disapproval ratings. Movies and stories romanticize the past, forgetting major details like Blacks illegally sitting in the front of busses... or illegally drinking out of certain water fountains. "The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, All centuries but this and every country but his own." --- W. S. Gilbert If you are such a person, I will call you out on it. Criticize the president, for it is good. But if you start invoking history, be prepared for my counter-arguments.
- lotharbot 12y ago
  Counter-arguments are great. Personal attacks are not. You can make your point better by not making it about the other person's personal failings. Notice how I rephrased your point in my previous comment so that it wasn't about him, but was instead completely about history. It makes the point stronger.
  - dragontamer 12y ago
    And you can make your points better by attacking my central point. Besides, tracker1 isn't a child. If he is feeling uncomfortable with my prose, he can talk to me directly.
    - lotharbot 12y ago
      I don't have any reason to attack your central point (I find it mostly agreeable.) I'm not defending tracker1; I'm defending Hacker News. Personal attacks make HN worse. They are low-value phrases that sometimes drag down high-value comments. The guidelines [0] are quite explicit about this, and the current top story [1] is about trying to improve comment quality (a discussion which is, in part, related to an e-mail exchange that came in response to a personal attack directed at my wife in [2].) So, I reiterate: please don't make personal attacks on Hacker News. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html -- the paragraph with the word "shortened" in it [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8585597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8585597 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8552958 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8552958

dragontamer 12y ago

Oh, he can be critical if he wants. Open Criticism of presidents is what makes Americans strong. But when he says stuff like "like no other president before him" he needs to be ready for a historical counter-argument. I happen to know the history of several presidents ya see, and can see what Obama and Bush have done in context. These recent Presidents are actually quite good historically, despite their disapproval ratings. Movies and stories romanticize the past, forgetting major details like Blacks illegally sitting in the front of busses... or illegally drinking out of certain water fountains. "The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, All centuries but this and every country but his own." --- W. S. Gilbert If you are such a person, I will call you out on it. Criticize the president, for it is good. But if you start invoking history, be prepared for my counter-arguments.

lotharbot 12y ago
Counter-arguments are great. Personal attacks are not. You can make your point better by not making it about the other person's personal failings. Notice how I rephrased your point in my previous comment so that it wasn't about him, but was instead completely about history. It makes the point stronger.
- dragontamer 12y ago
  And you can make your points better by attacking my central point. Besides, tracker1 isn't a child. If he is feeling uncomfortable with my prose, he can talk to me directly.
  - lotharbot 12y ago
    I don't have any reason to attack your central point (I find it mostly agreeable.) I'm not defending tracker1; I'm defending Hacker News. Personal attacks make HN worse. They are low-value phrases that sometimes drag down high-value comments. The guidelines [0] are quite explicit about this, and the current top story [1] is about trying to improve comment quality (a discussion which is, in part, related to an e-mail exchange that came in response to a personal attack directed at my wife in [2].) So, I reiterate: please don't make personal attacks on Hacker News. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html -- the paragraph with the word "shortened" in it [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8585597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8585597 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8552958 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8552958