What is a personal attack?
A personal attack is a message, posted in the context of an argument, in which the poster makes unfriendly remarks about another list member instead of addressing the specific points made by that list member. A personal attack often takes the form of a comment such as, “you have no idea what you’re talking about,” an insult such as “based on your postings I can see that you’re incompentent,” or a rhetorical question such as, “how hypocritical can you be?” The “no personal attacks” rule is intended to apply primarily in the case of messages and responses on the list. Personal attacks on someone not known to be a list member, such as the proprietor of a local business or a public figure, are similarly discouraged, but are not specifically part of this policy. Similarly, attacks on the list as a group, such as “you’re all a bunch of nincompoops on this list,” are discouraged, but not specifically part of this policy.
