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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

gisterme - 05:53pm Jul 23, 2003 EST (# 13113 of 13267)

rshow55 - 10:32am Jul 23, 2003 EST (# 13110 of ...) http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?16@13.Z9exbJU7wf8.2132226@.f28e622/14789

My (and similar to jorian's) statement: Government officials have more important things to do than screw around with web forums.

Robert's response:

"...Well maybe,..."

Maybe, Robert??? Maybe top government officials have more important things to do than screw around with web forums????? You mean like run the country? Maybe??? Sheesh.

I think you intentionally keep your universe very small. No doubt that makes it easier for you to remain at the center of it.

"...but strange things do sometimes happen, and this forum may be an exception - ..."

Hope springs eternal.

"...it isn't typical in every way..."

I'll grant you that, Robert. That's because no other topical forum I've ever seen has continued to exist for so long with so much off-topic content. I'm beginning to think that maybe the NYT just keeps this forum going so that you'll stay away from the other ones. If that's the case then you really do make a difference. :-P If that's what's going on it's an example of the classic sterile fly strategy.

"...The idea that gisterme is "just an interested party" doesn't fit for me..."

Why not? Do you need the attention of important personages to prop up your ego? You just can't fit yourself into a picture where nobody you think is important seems to care what you think? When none such pay attention to you, do you need to fabricate some to fit the picture you see yourself in? It would seem so. I'm certainly not the lofty political personage that you so want me to be. You should just face that fact, Robert.

"...What he says is too well informed..."

Such as? You have access to all the same information that I do since you have a TV, an internet connection and eyesight. So, it's not different information that you're impressed by, Robert. It's just some common sense and a bit of intuiton applied to the same information that you're impressed by. That's the truth of the matter; so, if you're impressed enough by what I say to consider me "well informed" you should really think hard about the fact that I have access to no information that you don't.

It does seem that you're easily impressed, Robert. :-) If you hadn't said differently, I'd think you were a young and recent product of the public education system.

"...I've been working hard on the NYT Missile Defense board - and the significance of the effort depends on a judgement of how much rank and connection gisterme has..."

I wonder how you'll rationalize away that statement when you finally realize that I've always told the truth about myself...and who I'm not? Wow. Gisterme parodies Slowater paraphrasing Shakespere: "Methinks thou puttest an awful lot of eggs in one basket, Robert." :-)

Anyway, by your own admission, since I'm not the President, am no lofty political personage, have no connections and am not even in government at all, the significance of your effort on this board is nil. You said it better than I could have, Robert. As the old saying goes, "Occasionally even a blind squirrel finds a nut". Now all you have left to do is be honest with yourself.

fredmoore - 06:27pm Jul 23, 2003 EST (# 13114 of 13267)

Gisterme ...

Why do NYT keep this forum going? ... after the assiduous big cull you'd be a dummy if you didn't wonder about NYT's reasons. Could it be Robert? Could it be that it is a useful editorial sounding board? Could it be an NYT party-favour for some politician? Could it be Eisenhower's or Casey's ghost? Stay tuned for the answers to these and many more questions ......

wrcooper - 06:33pm Jul 23, 2003 EST (# 13115 of 13267)

As the French say, "Plus ça change, c'est plus la même chose." The more things change, the more they stay the same.

After long avoiding this forum, I decided--alas--to see what's going on. Lo and behold, I find that Bob's still tagging gisterme as President Bush. At least I managed to dispell his belief--by actually meeting Bob face to face--that I was journalist and author George Johnson, and Lou Mazza disabused him of the idea that he was a luminary who he was not.

gisterme, if you want to put an end to Bob's entrenched fantasy, you will have to provide him with proof of your identity. You might have to set up a call with him during a live televised Bush event attended by cabinet members Rice, Powell and Rumsfeld. The State of the Union would be good. But you'll need to figure out some way to convince him you're not a stand-in.

But of course you probably loathe the idea of divulging any personal information to someone you believe might be a tad...you know. I no doubt lost my mind temporarily in agreeing to the meeting I had with him. I thought it would have a salutory effect on him. That he'd realize that since he was wrong about me he might seriously entertain the possbility that he was wrong about all the rest of it. Well, it didn't work, did it? He and his wife concluded I was lying to them about a particular message I had sent--a parody in which I pretended for a second that I was George Johnson, to rib him. I didn't remember writing it, and they thought that was a falsehood. It wasn't. I'd probably had a drink or two and tossed it off in a fit of mean sport. Anyway, the beat goes on.

It's reassuring to see you folks are still at it. Some things go on and on, predictable as clockwork. My God, Bob's inexhaustible. He really does believe he's affecting national policy at the highest level right here in this little ole forum. He thinks he's got the president's ear, that he's front and center in a mighty clash of the gods, two titans, himself and George W. Bush, wrestling over the fate of humanity.

Well, good on ya, mates.

Cheers.

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