[John Robertson]

"I've never met, or even spoken with, either of them, and I don't know their families or their friends, so I'd say I'm not really in a position to judge their character, or to rank one above the other."

This is beneath your usual responses. Never met them? Who cares.

Didn't make it to Vietnam, but I have an opinion.

Never had an abortion, but I DEFINITELY have an opinion.

I could go on and on, but the operating principle must be, You don't have to have first-hand face-to-face knowledge to comment on something. If that were the case, FR never would have existed. And a million other venues.

Jeesh.

[lugsoul]

Ah, beneath your usual responses. Why don't you address the issue you raised instead of some red herring apples-to-oranges thing?

There is, IMO, quite a difference between knowing something of an issue, or a thing, and knowing a person's character. You have apparently decided that you can judge a person's character by reading newspaper articles about one aspect of their life - or seeing them talk about one aspect of their life on TV.

I disagree.