Mall wrote:

"The idea that one cannot offer an opinion on the judgment of a woman jockey without 1st, or at the same time, also condemning male jockeys makes even less sense..."

The idea that you would bash a depressed girl while refusing to criticize the countless riders who did essentially the same thing, and in effect established the precedent for keeping quiet about such things, strikes me as odd. Since we lack statutes, think of this as common law. Julie's conduct can't be judged properly without examining the precedents.

"makes even less sense than the implication that I am a sexist."

To conclude this, you would have to put emphasis on a word I avoided emphasizing. Read the sentence again, this time putting the emphasis on "find." I do NOT think you are a sexist, but I can understand how you read it that way.

"And while we're on the subject of sexism, which has nothing to do with the question on the table, isn't one of the basic tenets of feminist ideology that men demean women when they are presented as passive objects in male fantasies?"

This is such a preposterous joke that I can only respond in kind. In my best fantasy, Halle Berry is not even remotely passive. (Be sure to see the cover of "Cosmopolitan" before it gets yanked.)

"Again, the question you still haven't addressed"

Bob Barry handled this beautifully. I would like to associate myself with his remarks. Be fair, Mall.

"I am not in a position to address your comment that I am "skipping history as tragedy and heading straight to history as farce" because I have no idea what you are talking about."

That's a famous line from Karl Marx. History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. You are skipping over all the precedents and attacking only Julie, and it's farcical.

"This started out with me expressing my disapproval, for safety reasons, of Miss Krone's decision to continue riding, without telling anyone, after she was diagnosed as clinincally depressed and after she started taking powerful presciption drugs."

You did more than that, Mall. You didn't care for her Hall of Fame speech, either. Don't pretend this is only about safety.

"There has never been any suggestion of prosecution, never any suggestion that her decision was a crime"

It's pretty obvious that we're not in court. "Selective prosecution" was a metaphor. I have a hard time believing that you didn't know that.

"In light of the circumstances, do you agree or disagree with her decision to continue riding?"

If riding makes Julie feel better, I want her to ride. Now give me your lengthy condemnations of the other sinners, starting at the top.