Heather said:One (hopefully) final note on this: I never used the word "offended." I merely said that it was an unfortunate moment in the interview (again, on the "bad day" comment), and then I analyzed the various ways in which it was unfortunate in the posts I did on this topic in response to what was being said here.
I actually think disagreements can be useful in that they help to sharpen one's own argument, or can point to weaknesses in one's argument, which opens up new things to think about. It's in that spirit that I like to discuss and analyze. But unfortunately when there is disagreement things can get polarized, and then there really is no useful debate going on since the subtler points get overlooked.
Just a note Heather that I don't think you need to justify your comments, if that was your intention here - I thought what you wrote about Putin's comments was insightful and I didn't get the impression that you were offended at all. Plus, it led to a fruitful discussion and personally, it forced me to straighten out my thinking on the matter. So, all good! :)