Supple Cow

host, I think it's just as fair to challenge somebody to support a claim as it is to challenge somebody who systematically interacts with the board using very long, intimidating posts to try to be more 'user-friendly'. I'm not sure if this is the right place to say this because I know it's off-topic, but I've seen a lot of (direct and indirect) mud-slinging all over the TFP about you and your posts. Here's my opinion prefaced by some of my personal background that is relevant to my opinion.

When I was a kid, I was really good at Scrabble... for a kid. My big sister played with me all the time, but as I got a little older, she stopped wanting to play with me because I just beat her all the time. In fact, nobody ever wanted to play Scrabble with me more than once (or twice if they were very bored one day) because I beat them so handily that it just wasn't fun for them anymore. Then I got to college and met some people who could wipe the floor with me in a game of Scrabble. My first reaction was to stop seeking games with them. It wasn't fun to get utterly demolished, and with so little effort from my opponent. Of course, later I decided that it was better to play a monster of an opponent and get demolished than it was to altogether give up on a game I love. Heck, it just gives me a chance to get better at it.

Not everyone I know deals with this kind of thing the same way I did. In fact, most people I know chose the opposite response to the same stimulus - they stopped playing with me, as I said. What I learned is that I can have two approaches: I can demolish everyone I play with by maintaining a killer spirit while I play Scrabble and not have many (or any) playmates, or I can find constructive ways to bring people to the table and play with me. Since I've decided that I want to have playmates, I've learned a lot of ways to get people to play with me AND make it fun for everyone involved. The most successful one I've used is to give my opponent tips to improve their game, which also happens to make my lead seem less daunting. My skill at Scrabble isn't diminished when I do this.

The moral is that you clearly play the politics-forum-discussion game a lot better than most people around here. In fact, maybe you are winning the argument 100% of the time! (I really have no idea because I have a very hard time digesting or even getting through your average post.) Whether people are able to converse with you is a separate issue. In my limited experience so far, I have seen only one person go to bat for you - that's roachboy, who has stated that you post well-researched, quality information and suggested that the rest of us should maybe grow up a little and start appreciating it for what it is... or at least not knock it down.

Sure, people shouldn't knock you for it, but when that's the only defense for continuing your course unchanged, it's hard for anybody else to stick around. When somebody says, "you shouldn't tell me to play weaker words - you should just be better" then the people who are struggling won't want to play anymore. I honestly think you would have more of a leg to stand on (and more people to talk to) if you put a little more effort into giving others a place at the table. Enabling constructive discussion is possible without having to sacrifice the quality of your posts. I think the quality would even be enhanced.