I’m stealing that line. It feels like the Internet has inspired a subset of people to play for that team and it’s so confusing as to why. I am trying to always “assume good intentions” as a rule now; I think it’s just deep denial about the world we live in and how free we really are.

It's a form of attempting to disconfirm your beliefs. If it's easy to put together an argument against yourself that you can't rebut, then it's a sign you need to think more. And you can't do that well unless you're in the habit of testing the weaknesses of every appealing new belief.

Oh ... Kay? The thing with that wonderfully high minded approach that seems to get missed: you can do that at home by yourself without involving me by musing out loud in a forum like just maybe you’re smarter than everyone else. You want to check yourself? Do it by yourself.

that works both directions. speculating about the potential legitimacy of every detail of an extraordinary rendition is not intellectual vigilance, it's simping for state terror and it disconfirms nothing.