The minute we head off in that direction, you and others here snap into an odd crystalline mental state where I cannot even submit that a hammer will fall in a gravitational field if I let go of it, unless I actually do it in front of everyone. More extensive analyses of what would have happened given us leaving Iraq alone under the Argus-like gaze of the U.N., not to mention discussing certain foreign policy decisions that the Left has supported for the past decade or so, is pretty much useless under these circumstances.

As just one recent example, I pointed out that if we had not fought the first Gulf War, that Saddam would now be a nuclear-armed power, and cited evidence, including reports from the U.N. and other agencies, to that effect. No good. Or my assertion that bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda would have hated us just as much if we had only invaded Afghanistan. No good.

"You can't prove it would have happened because it didn't" is particularly amusing coming from some of the fans of global warming. I guess projections are just fine when it's projecting a movie you like. On other boards, I have dealt with economic arguments on Social Security and the like that are based on nothing BUT wild-assed guesses.

Some people even get incensed when they are told that being against the removal of Saddam is the same as accepting Saddam remaining in power. Even that simple binary seems to be too much.