[Professor S]

Typhoid, I'll leave you with this, and I say this in all seriousness. If you ever want anything you say, opinion or no, to be taken seriously, start informing the opinion.

The doctor comparison was valid. If you have an opinion on something as complex as world politics, why wouldn't you want to base it on facts. My analysis of world politics comes from careful analysis of news, both mainstream and otherwise. A doctor's opinion comes from years of study and practice. I am not claiming the expertise of a doctor, but I do take pride in my study of world events and using them to enlighten my opinions and challenge those opinions I disagree with. You seem to think that facts are subjective and evdience is not needed when it comes to opinion. Fact is NECESSARY for thought probvoking and enlightening opinion. Do I often cite the facts that I mention in my posts? No, not any more, but I used to consistently and accurately. But then again, I have a pretty good track record of not bullshitting the facts I post to support my opinion. I don't feel the need to cite every little piece of evidence anymore. But any time you'd like to challenge what I say with fact or citation, feel free. In fact I encourage you to do so. You very well could find something that I had missed that could change my opinion. It has happened more than once on this forum.

If you don't want to take the time to validate your opinions with fact and evidence, why would you bother posting them? Its masturbatory. You post them just to have them in writing.

I post political opinion, because I want to share that opinion and help others grow from it. I also read others opinions to help myself grow as well. There are all kinds of ideas and facts that have been posted here that have helped me form better ideas and opinions, even if its just researching them and finding flaws, if there are any. The act of being challenged causes the growth.

All opinions are NOT equal. There are idealists, philosphers, pragmatists and opinions makers. There are also fools. I beg you to avoid the latter.