Well, I can see our civilized little thread below on global warming has degenerated into another brawl, although I must admit the participants on both sides of the issue were doing their best to keep things civil and informative. For a while.

Until, of course, SDAI's snide little intrusion ("Quit rocking the boat!"), based on no personal interest or honest criticism, just a malicious, sarcastic provocation designed specifically to precipitate conflict. Those who jumped in after, on both sides, somehow missed entirely how they were suckered in and seem to be oblivious to how they were manipulated and provoked by this shameless maneuver. They also failed to notice that the instigator of this knife fight then quietly disappeared out the back door leaving them to eviscerate each other. Well, he did not go unnoticed, and neither was it unprecedented. This is exactly the sort of deliberate and unprincipled rhetorical trick that has contributed to the toxic atmosphere on these boards lately. It is precisely the tactic Al-Quaeda is using in Iraq to generate civil war between Sunni and Shia.

This was not a joke or satire designed to poke fun at your opponents, and it was not a flame, an honest and public challenge to someone you violently disagree with. It was a very deliberate and calculated strategem to stifle dialog and replace it with hatred so that compromise becomes unachievable and honest persuasion impossible. Well, it isn't going to work any more. We can't stop you from doing this, but now we know what to look for and we'll recognize it when we see it again.

Squat and rotate on that one, Vortex-boy.