I regard it a matter of common courtesy to indicate that you’ve read a post and what your “take” is on it.

like who the hell Ben Nelson is — key vote for Obamacare and famous for the Cornhusker Kickback — and why he’s diving out the window now, I would go find out. At the very least, I’d read the goddam link, and then I would read the auxiliary links and find a few references of my own to fill in the gaps.

By the time I was done, I would lay better than even odds I’d know more about the subject than the person who posted it in the first place.

The link I posted is actually a secondary link to a liberal source to avoid the mental blocks generated when information doesn’t come from a politically “approved” website. Most of the research I do is punching through to original sources to avoid this. Meanwhile, I get to digest a torrent of Maddow, MSNBC, Huffington, Common Ground, and others.

I like importing new data. To know things, instead of just believe them. I think research is fun.

Maybe I don’t get smarter every day, but I like to think I go to bed less ignorant than when I woke up.

A post which just references something without the poster’s “take” on it doesn’t indicate the poster has even read it, let alone put any thought into it.