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Comment by JoeCortopassi | Hacker News Reader

Before I say anything, I did read everything you wrote. That being said...

The birther movement pains me every time I hear it. It is the worse logic I have ever heard, and I immediately lose respect for any person that mentions it like it's possibly true. It pains me not just to see this stuff here rather than reddit, but the fact that enough people upvoted this so that it would get to the top of the 'Ask' section of HN. I wish the government never would have released Obama's birth certificate, because it only serves to somehow validate that the birther's claim "might" be true and thus must be disproved.

To the original poster: Don't take this personally. I actually enjoyed hearing you breakdown how this pdf was composed. Not only would pdf composition/hacking articles be interesting, but they would also be appropriate for HN. Write a blog, I'd check it out...

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The anti-birther movement is more concerned about attacking birthers than ending the whole the issue. Legitimate questions should get answers. Are you into censorship too?

Legitimate questions should get answers.

I've had a policy for some time, where any time I see "common sense" in an argument, I discount the entire thing.

It looks like I'm going to have to institute the same policy for the phrase "legitimate question". The same thing keeps coming up in "truther" arguments as well, and this will help me filter those as well.

ADDED:

Are you into censorship too?

You need to get a handle on what that word actually means. Deciding that something's silly, and that we'd all prefer to ignore it, has absolutely nothing to do with censorship.

...should get answers

You are functioning as the heckler in a "Heckler's Veto"[1]. By constantly insisting that your "legitimate questions" must be answered you interfere with the conduct of any other discourse.

[1] http://www.rbs2.com/heckler.htm

Well, FWIW, I'd continue my line of thought and argument, but not if I'm going to martyr myself in the process. Common sense, dipshit.

Seriously? I'm totally indifferent to Obama. This isn't even about censoring material. This is about a whole group of people who think they can make accusations, then consider their accusations confirmed if the accused does not make every effort to disprove. THIS IS BAD LOGIC. As hackers and programmers, we should be able to see the logical steps that take place in this thinking and realize it is flawed.

If you want to attack or discredit Obama, thats fine. Just do it in a way that doesn't sound like a bunch of third graders arguing over someone having coodies. This inability to think critically is destroying America. We've become a nation of people that emulate the talking heads on t.v. that do nothing more than argue over each other until one gives up.

You do kinda have to admit that presenting an "edited" birth certificate is very unlikely to end the debate. What was wrong with a normal, plan scan ?

Of course that doesn't mean there's an illegitimate president. Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.

And there's certainly no shortage of stupidity on both sides.

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