CarolC,

I'm going to call you on some of this stuff. I am not doing the same things I accuse you of. First of all, although my quotes are not precise, and therefore could fit the definition of "misquoting," I did a good job in each case of paraphrasing what you actually said. So:

on the issue of supporting human rights, you said "I can't speak for you. I can only speak for myself."

My paraphrase: "I really couldn't say [whether Nerd supports Human Rights]." I think this is pretty fair.

Second, when you said:

"Are you saying that these things justify the massive human rights abuses that Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinians? Because if you are, you would be advocating collective punishment, and I'm sure Hitler would be proud of you for that."

I generalized to "are you saying that X applies, because if so Hitler would be proud of you,"

Again, I think, a pretty fair paraphrase.

Now, what I actually said was "Somewhere in the back of the Jewish mind, there is always the question: What if I have to go to Israel? Will it be there for me? That is something, I think, that can never be engrained in your psyche because you live in a Jewish neighborhood."

You quoted me thus: "And you're right. I will never have the degree of indoctrination that you have recieved about the 'history' of Israel." The only thing your statement had to do with mine was Israel. I was not talking about history, or indoctrination, nor I think did I seem to be doing so. I was talking about the future, not the past. But by putting "you're right" before an invented statement that no-one ever made before now, you are indicating that this was what I said. Like in "you're right, Nerd, you ARE an asshole!"

If you had said, "Nerd, your words suggest that you have been indoctrinated," then I would have disagreed, but not taken offense.

I did not, as you say "tell you your meaning." I was careful to use the word "suggest" in describing what your words only suggested. Insoe cases I had to use the word "suggests" three times in a sentence. (Does this suggest that I am obsessive about shit like this? Perhaps!)

But honestly, CarolC, when you say "are you saying such and such?" Nine times out of ten, the person on the receiving end will take that to mean that you think that IS what he or she is saying. To use that construction without intending the person to draw that conclusion is unwise, as you will be misunderstood.

As for your comments to me, I refer you to my post of 10 Mar 04 - 12:07 AM, which I quote in full (and expand upon) below:

BTW, carolC, I was not referring to your comments to Fred, but the one you made directly to me. After I attempted to be inclusive and to respect your point of view by saying

"I trust that both of us support Human Rights"

You responded with.

"I can't speak for you. I can only speak for myself. I am in support of human rights. For everybody"

So to break this down, I said "this positive attribute belongs to both of us"...which was a compliment to you. And you responded with "well, I believe it belongs to ME, but I'm not sure it belongs to YOU," which was at least a slight, and perhaps a direct insult, to me.

It's like when someone says "now, now, we're all adults," and the response is "well, I'M and adult, but I don't know about YOU!"

If you honestly tell me you did not mean this specific quote in that way, then I'll believe you. (But please tell me how you DID mean it, then!)