It can be fun sparring with another user if each side can be objective
Originally Posted by Willie Wanker
You provided three sources. One was from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank created by one of the Koch brothers. Another was from an author who is regularly published in The Federalist, a conservative publication that published an article recommending that people hold Chicken-pox style parties for the “Wuhan virus” (which is how they refer to COVID-19) indicating this person was an MD, when the author had no such degree and had his article had been turned down many other news sources before finally being accepted at The Federalist.
And yes, one of your sources was a repository of documents collected by a public university that was probably less skewed and fairly objective, but there was no content there which supported your specific argument.
So, no, you aren’t really being objective. Perhaps you believe you are, but what you are actually bringing to the table is not objectivity. One part of being objective is being able to distance yourself from your personal opinions, views, and perspectives. You’ve made a comment about “getting back to the trenches”; this just kind of sounds like you’re more about the “fight” itself than what it was about, and you have no interest in approaching this with an active mind. (Yes, I used “active mind” where most would say “open mind”. And if you understand the difference, then you realize I am far from a liberal).
My bet is you’ve never been anywhere close to being involved with federally-funded research grants, which is the specific portion of this topic that I criticized your statements on. You are questioning the integrity of something you’ve shown to lack an understanding of. As others have pointed out, there are systems of checks and balances (ex university oversight, peer review) established, that you seem oblivious to.
When you make pot-shot comments about something that you’ve probably read from a right-leaning source of information (based on your supporting articles) questioning the integrity of a system where a significant amount of effort and resources is expended just to maintain that integrity, you should expect a strong response.
And if you do this for entertainment purposes, then that’s just regretful.
Valkyra was right, this is not fun. You think you’re right because something you’ve read in a right-wing conspiracy rag, and I know I’m right because I’ve actually been involved in the process and have a solid understanding of how it works and it’s internal check and balance systems. Let’s leave it at that.