Infopimp (Richard),
Yes, in my opinion you can say something like the above to me, without risk of persecution. It's not enjoyable to hear, but you have responsibly stated your opinion and position on something that happened in this forum.
And if you or others believe that my post which you quoted above was out of line, I can accept that, as long as you/they do in fact read what I said: That I respect and appreciate bbscout, but that I wanted to defend a friend who was being unfairly characterized.
If bbscout leaves this site because of what I said, then I apologize not only to him (and I have already sent him a message saying that I am very sorry if I offended him), but I also apologize to present and future members who would lose out by not having him here. It would truly be a loss to this site.
Maybe I put my foot in my mouth and sounded like I was criticizing one person when I was only trying to defend the other. But I still believe in my right as a member to defend a friend publicly against something that was posted publicly.
Julie