[cardcrimson]

Pet peeve, but an "ad hominem" attack does not mean a personal attack; it means an attack on an argument that relies on attacking the person making the argument.  Since Gu did not make any sort of argument, an attack on her is just personal, not ad hominem.

An ad hominem attack would be to say that your arguments in support of Gu are garbage because you are a no-good Harvard alum (my recollection is that this is where the Crimson comes from in your username).

BC

Thanks for the reply and clarification; I'm just trying to understand. So calling an incoming freshman a whore is okay. Saying a post is callous and ignorant is okay. Accusing the poster of said post of being callous and ignorant is not okay. Tis a puzzlement for me.

To further my confusion, here's a definition from Dictionary.com: ad hominem

adjective

attacking an opponent's character or motives rather than answering the argument or claim.

Seems to me that there was a lot of attacking Ms. Gu's character and motives rather than answering her argument for competing for her mom's home country, China. 

Sometimes, verbal comprehension is tough for me, I'm just an engineer from Stanford, with another degree from a small school on the Charles. I still can't grasp the distinctions. . . .

[cardcrimson]

Pet peeve, but an "ad hominem" attack does not mean a personal attack; it means an attack on an argument that relies on attacking the person making the argument.  Since Gu did not make any sort of argument, an attack on her is just personal, not ad hominem.

An ad hominem attack would be to say that your arguments in support of Gu are garbage because you are a no-good Harvard alum (my recollection is that this is where the Crimson comes from in your username).

BC

Thanks for the reply and clarification; I'm just trying to understand. So calling an incoming freshman a whore is okay. Saying a post is callous and ignorant is okay. Accusing the poster of said post of being callous and ignorant is not okay. Tis a puzzlement for me.

To further my confusion, here's a definition from Dictionary.com: ad hominem

adjective

attacking an opponent's character or motives rather than answering the argument or claim.

Seems to me that there was a lot of attacking Ms. Gu's character and motives rather than answering her argument for competing for her mom's home country, China. 

Sometimes, verbal comprehension is tough for me, I'm just an engineer from Stanford, with another degree from a small school on the Charles. I still can't grasp the distinctions. . . .