Immigration

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
You draw on your opinion and the opinion of US government experts on Latin America for your conclusions. We the readers, have no basis to judge your opinion and the government experts on Latin America have been, historically, obscenely wrong...

I do respect the fact that he never claims, Well, trust me, because I know shit you don't.

xoxoxoBruce, did you miss this part of my previous post?

Amusingly, tw still hasn't quite figured out that I never intended to engage in the immigration debate. I recognized early on that tw is a fanatic on this subject who is simply proselytizing in the Cellar. My only purpose was to moderate tw's definitiveness so that other Cellarites would be aware of tw's use of propaganda technique.

Your statement, "You draw on your opinion and the opinion of US government experts on Latin America for your conclusions.", was completely irresponsible. An area study resource that I've used [one of many resources], previously adopted for use and distributed by the US government, was prepared by Foreign Area Studies, The American University, under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program (note the paragraphs titled Academics and School of International Service (SIS).

In one C.A. country area study handbook, with only a few hundred pages, the bibliography is 18 pages long and cites many in-country sources (civilian and government) in addition to both kinds of US sources. There is even a disclaimer to the effect that it should not be construed as an official government position, policy, or decision. Might the US government ultimately somehow exercise editorial control? Possibly, just as tw selects what information he presents to you.

Keep in mind that area studies are only base documents. They can; however, be useful in putting todays events into perspective. There are continuing area assessments to be researched which are used to revise the published area studies every decade or two. All of this may not even include classified information not available to the authors. If you want to scrutinize a basic foreign country study prepared by a "government" agency, you can order your own from Uncle Sam. They are currently prepared by Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under their Country Studies/Area Handbook Program. They contain enough information (especially historical) to expand one's perspective on contemporary issues just as having access to classified information expands one's perspective. tw has presented neither of these concepts. tw selects and presents only chronological bites which support his agenda.

xoxoxoBruce, I realize that you are just trying to do what's right (fair and equitable) from your perspective. I'm not convinced that tw is just trying to do the same. tw gives the me the impression that to him, the end always justifies the means. When perspectives differ, methodologies take on increasing importance. We have to avoid falling into the same trap that tw has (i.e. presenting our own conclusions as infallible).

BTW, first you say "We the readers, have no basis to judge your opinion ..."; then, turn right around say "Well, trust me, because I know shit you don't." Isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?

[xoxoxoBruce]

No. I didn't miss your speech about not wanting to enter the immigration debate but couldn't pass up a chance to dump on TW.

BTW, first you say "We the readers, have no basis to judge your opinion ..."; then, turn right around say "Well, trust me, because I know shit you don't." Isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?

That's very funny when you edit out

and the government experts on Latin America have been, historically, obscenely wrong.

TW, long winded and abrasive, at least cites his sources and gives the reasoning behind his views, beyond opinion. I don't believe he was advocating dumping resources into Latin America, only leveling the playing field so they can compete with us(US). I don't agree we have the responsibility to help them compete against us but that's just my opinion.
I do respect the fact that he never claims,

and replace it with;

then, turn right around say

Your statement, "You draw on your opinion and the opinion of US government experts on Latin America for your conclusions.", was completely irresponsible. An area study resource that I've used [one of many resources], previously adopted for use and distributed by the US government, was prepared by Foreign Area Studies, The American University, under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program (note the paragraphs titled Academics and School of International Service (SIS).

Oh, I see. I'm irresponsible for pointing out you were using government information that has been historically, obscenely wrong, but you're not irresponsible for using it. Well OK, at least you cited some sources.