Mall wrote:

"which may explain why the thing I am most convinced of at this point is that civil discourse is not your strongest suit."

On a good day, on a really good day, I might be as competent at civil discourse as you are. In general, subtlety and irony do not work on racing message boards, but even if they did work, I'm not sure I'd bother using them against someone who deploys "civil discourse" against a depressed little girl while refusing to criticize any other riders.

"my arguments have been labeled "inane","

Wrong. "Inane" is too weak. I called your argument "insane."

"Not even the great Daniel Webster could enter a debate in support of a "girl" who he described as "kind of cute", who used to bounce around, "short dress flying every which way", and convince anyone that his motivation for entering the fray was to advance women's right to be treated equally."

You persist in trying to kick me out of a feminist sorority that I was never asked to join. My models for ideal female behavior, as far as attitude is concerned, are Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct" and the Italian girl in "The Last Seduction." Like Camille Paglia, I'd like to see them go back to naming hurricanes exclusively after women.

"my second suggestion has to do with the Derby List...The impression I was left with when I contacted the individuals you put me in touch with, however, is that instead of saying that you are not a member of the List, it might be more accurate to say that you are no longer a member. If this is true, why wouldn't you take it as a sign that it just might be possible that some of the debating tactics you favor are, shall we say, a mite bit out of bounds?"

Here your discourse is much closer to libelous than civil. I got those email addresses for you because I wanted to help you. I had never seen a message board used better than the way you were using this one. As I told a mutual friend of ours, "We need more Malls." I have NEVER been a member of the Derby List. I have NEVER exchanged a word with any of those three men. I got those email addresses by going to the Derby List archives (escribe.com) and reading countless posts until I found ones in which those men revealed their email addresses. Now you're trying to make me wonder which of those three men (whom I have never spoken to) knows me and dislikes me. Apparently, you consider this sort of BS to be civil discourse. Nice work, Mall.

Mark O'Keeffe wrote:

"If men had treated women with respect from the beginning, we wouldn't have so many feminst bitches running around today
trying to be like men."

Since you aren't the type to make wild allegations, there must be some truth in this. Perhaps these women really aren't that scary once you get to know them. Put your fear aside and engage them in civil discourse.