I mean no disrespect when I say that in my view the "enough!" response is
unwise and that the delete button is a better choice.

It's true that besides the deplorable name-calling and shouting and
bickering, there's simply the irritatingly inconveniencing volume of
Hemings-TJ message traffic. And it's true, as some who exclaim "enough!"
have noted, that students of history, and of Virginia history, are not
likely to arrive at paternity certainty, though on both sides there's
plenty of paternity certitude. Nevertheless there's also plenty of factual
misunderstanding, as Professor Hardwick's survey experiment has been
showing. 

A few weeks ago I was bashed in a history blog for continuing to discuss
Hemings-TJ after having publicly argued, some years ago, that other topics
are far more important. Fair enough. But in my view Hemings-TJ is also
still important for a number of reasons, even though we can't achieve
certainty. And I learn things about Hemings-TJ by reading what my friends
in VaHist have to say.

I too wish that we could completely banish the name-calling, snideness,
sarcasm, ugliness, and rudeness that this highly volatile subject brings
out, and I wish also that  submitters would limit repetition to cases when
repetition truly seems sensible (as I will be thinking when I repeat what I
wrote on Saturday about the actual radius of the circle of paternity
candidates, which I believe involves scientific fact that has gone mainly
unrecognized). But in the end, I'd like to repeat what I asserted at the
top: the delete button is the best answer to this baby-and-bathwater
problem. 

Thanks.

Steve Corneliussen
Poquoson, Virginia

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