NavList:

Trevor K wrote:

"It really doesn't help to throw out gratuitous insults by implying that
your correspondents are ignorant of the basic literature on topics under
debate."

 

WHAT THE??!! You have got to be kidding. Trevor, I have NO IDEA what has you so enraged (yet again!). You are inventing insults where none were made.

 

And Trevor wrote:

"Nor is it helpful to try changing the subject by pointing out the rather
obvious truism that it was no disgrace for an American sailor to serve
before the mast."

 

That's an "obvious truism"?? Well, go figure! As for changing the subject, this is a conversation, Trevor. It is natural and normal for the subject of conversation to shift and evolve. You have no business attacking me for the behavior of normal conversation.

 

And Trevor suggested:

"Finally, I suggest that you put a little more study into historical
topics before sharing your conclusions with the wider world. "

 

Nope. I will continue to converse on this list as I see fit. If it doesn't meet your personal, highly idiosyncratic conditions, well, too bad.