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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

gisterme - 02:51pm Aug 3, 2003 EST (# 13230 of 13267)

"...And gisterme thinks doubting his infallibility or veracity is "abnormal" too..."

I'm certainly not infallable, Robert, but you'll never find anybody who tries harder than myself to be truthful.

That you doubt without cause is what is abnormal.

When you make your spectacular claims of identity for myself and other posters you do so as if your conclusion should be obvious to all. All should trust in the mysterious Showalter abilities of divination, even though Showalter is himself apparantly incapable of trust. Sure. What a double standard. And when those posters deny your claims you practically call them liars. That's what's abnormal.

Let's be more specific. You're initial claim for me was that I was the President's National Security Advisor. When I told you straight away that I wasn't, you practically insisted that due to your (unspecified) "good reasons" I was lying. Then you decided that maybe I wasn't lying about that after all. You decided that I was really the President instead! When I told you straight away that it wasn't so, you, due to your (secret) "good reasons", again called me a liar (in so many words) and are still persisting in that.

That's what's abnormal, Robert.

It should be obvious to you that I can't be both the President and Ms. Rice; yet you've claimed and argued just as vehemently at different times that I'm both. So your powers of identity divination are proven to be both dysfunctional and illogical. That you're so blind to your own inconsistancy is really abnormal.

As I said before, I think that that "abnormality" must be because you simply don't remember what's been said from day to day. The only other reasonable explanation is that you're just intentionally dishonest. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and choosing to believe the first possibility. Why can't you give others the benefit of the doubt, Robert? That you can't do that, well, that's abnormal.

The fact is that I'm neither the President, his NSA nor any other kind of government employee. Robert, you've made me very glad that I've chosen to maintain the anonymity of my moniker on this forum. If I hadn't you'd probably just be claiming I'm lying about that too and am really some poobah anyway. After all my identity wouldn't fit the profile you've apparantly attached to gisterme. More importantly, I think that maintaining the anonymity has lead to performance of an inadvertant public service. Why shouldn't your bizarre and (in my opinion) abnormal behavior remain on dispaly as a warning to all?

wrcooper - 03:10pm Aug 3, 2003 EST (# 13231 of 13267)

Showalter thinks he's been communicating in this forum with President Bush, Conodoleeza Rice, or other high-level officials in the Bush administration. He insists on this, based on no firm evidence whatsoever. He similarly insisted that I was author George Johnson and refused to take my word that I wasn't, assusing me of lying. Even now, after he has met me in person, he refuses to openly acknowledge he was wrong and apologize for having insulted me.

Yes, I think he's paranoid. Does that mean he's psychotic? No, in my humble, definitely unprofessional opinion. . Just confused and troubled, with delusions of grandeur, perhaps. He's stated several times that he has calculated (how, I can't say) that his forum writings have saved thousands of lives worldwide by influencing national leaders toward peaceful resolution of their nations' problems. Good heavens! What hubris!

I think his various statements in this forum, regarding what he considers to be his persecutorial treatment at the hands of mysterious government forces, etc., and his belief that his ramblings have had world-wide impact at the highest levels of power, back up my charge he's paranoid and grandiose.

Besides that, he's afflicted with hypergraphia. I have never come across anyone capable of posting the same prolix, repetitious blather so tirelessly with no apparent awareness of it.

So, okay. He has no sense he did me wrong by having accused me of lying? That fits with everything else I know about him. If he admitted wrong, he'd have to open himself up to the possibility that he's been out to lunch about everything else he's claimed, especually his overblown beliefs about his importance in the grand scheme of world affairs.

Yeah, Bob, no offense, but I think, as a casual observer with no psychiatric training, you do have serious head problems. I hope you get the help you need.

gisterme - 03:48pm Aug 3, 2003 EST (# 13232 of 13267)

"...Gisterme , I think what I said about your identity in... remains reasonable..."

Robert, it is impossible for that which has never been reasonable to remain reasonable.

lchic - 06:17pm Aug 3, 2003 EST (# 13233 of 13267)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Who's Who?

Who WAS Who?

What's in a mind?

What's in a head?

Who's Who?

Who WAS Who?

Just looking in from down at the U

:)

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