response 97 of 140:

Dec 18 22:53 UTC 2003

  I don't think he owes Mickey an apology.  I think the offense stems
  from differing interpretations of what gull wrote, that Mickey has
  chosen the most objectionable interpretation, and that another quite
  justifiable meaning is probably what gull had in mind.

  If I write a statement of the form "Texans enjoy <x>" you can choose
  to read that as "all Texans enjoy <x>" or you can accept that what I
  almost certainly meant was "many (possibly most) Texans enjoy <x>"
  I doubt we'd even be having this discussion if the claim in question
  was something like "Texans enjoy barbecue", even if a Texan respondent
  had piped up with "I'm a militant vegetarian and a Texan and *I* don't
  enjoy barbecue," because none of us would think that gull had meant to
  imply *all* Texans by such a statement.