[WikiEN-l] The 3RR is an electric fence, not an entitlement.

[Mark Gallagher]

G'day Silverback,

> On 10/10/05, Tony Sidaway wrote:
>> Well, do you not see that all you're talking about is a tit-for-tat
>> affair? What does the issue of killing people trying to escape Cuba
>> have to do with the question of whether we call Batista or Castro
>> dictators? Both of them instituted a government by force of arms,
>> so they would both fit the traditional standard. Shah Pahlavi, for
>> that matter, when dismissed by Massadeq, was reinstalled by
>> military force, so I guess we could call him a dictator too. But
>> the editors of the Pahlavi article, for whatever reason, are not
>> squabbling.
> 
> You can call it tit-for-tat, but when a clique has control of a page,
> and is claiming a certain standard in rejecting your edits such as
> "dictator" being POV and pejorative even when applied to a world
> class dictator like Fidel Castro, you can at least embarass them some
> with their hypocrisy if they insist on maintaining the term for a
> petty corrupt dictator such as Batista.  His oppression only extended

Ah!  Now I see your problem.  It's not that they alone are POV-pushing. 
  Both your side and their side (whoever they are) are POV-pushing.  The 
real issue is that they're *better* at POV-pushing than you are, and 
therefore getting away with it while you are not.  Well, my heart bleeds.

Now go back and re-read the post where Tony quoted the [[Hitler]] 
article as an example of How To Deal With Bastard Dictators Without 
Calling Them Bastard Dictators Because Readers Are Smart Enough To Work 
That Out.  You may like to ask him (nicely) to make the same point to 
your opponents in whatever petty edit wars you've been engaged in 
lately.  That way every POV-pusher can receive Enlightenment at the same 
time!

Remember, we are writing an encyclopaedia, not a particularly 
poorly-written high school argumentative essay.  You present facts, you 
do not draw conclusions: that's for the reader to do.  If I read on WP 
that Castro shoots people who try to leave Cuba, I'll immediately leap 
out of my seat (dislodging the cat), and scream "he's a bastard!"  If I 
read on WP that Castro is a bastard, I'll start to wonder why I'm 
bothering to read such a bloody awful encyclopaedia.  D'yer understand?

> to the measures necessary to keep him in power and luxury.  There  is
> a difference between being anti-democratic for selfish reasons, and
> essentially enslaving (because they can't leave) a pool of cheap
> labor to implement your grand plans for the economy.

Now you're getting into ideology, and ... well, off-topic.  That's not good.


Cheers,

-- 
Mark Gallagher
"What?  I can't hear you, I've got a banana on my head!"
- Danger Mouse


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