<<I think a gadfly should add at least an original thought.>>
I would respectfully disagree. A gadfly just needs to display a prodigious degree of ignorance, bigotry, hatred, cruelty, callousness or irrationality - - all of which Rich possessed in abundance - - just to get me all riled up and ready to let him have it with both barrels. I think I did some of my clearest thinking and best writing just from a burning desire to squelch that asshole after some particularly nasty post.
If I were responding to a bunch of mealy-mouthed liberals in here, the most I would be able to muster would be a tepid "Right on!" or "Well said!" without rising to any kind of challenge and without feeling the NEED to respond at all.
Asking for originality from a conservative is like asking for pears from an elm tree - - conservatives are by definition wedded to the past, to the old ways and old traditions. They don't WANT to innovate and they shouldn't be expected to come up with new ways of seeing or thinking. The old ways are good enough for them in all respects, which is why they are conservatives in the first place.