David A. Darlington, chairman of the Rhode Island authority, said in a statement, "We strongly believe in the merits of our position, and we believe that Rhode Island residents are entitled to a discounted rate, and we intend to defend that position".
Even the first lady's advisers had difficulty arguing the merits of that position.
They urged Mr. Holder to exercise restraint and prosecutorial discretion "regardless of the legal merits of this position".
Regardless of the merits of its position, many of the arguments that have been marshaled at Apple's feet in recent weeks set a dangerous, potentially pernicious trend.
Regardless of the merits of her position, her tone surely stuck most Iranians as threatening -- exactly the opposite of the attitude America needs to convey.
"Typically, after the conference the agent speaks with the parties separately, advises them on the merits of their position, and explores a settlement," he said.
Whatever the economic merits of his position, making the stock market his bogeyman is less politically incendiary in an election year than the traditional central banker's warning that too many people are working and earning good money.
This protester uses modes of communication unlikely to persuade others of the merits of her position.
A recent annual meeting of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association featured a session devoted almost entirely to a debate (between Ameriks and Breazeale) over Reinhold's actual contribution to post-Kantian philosophy and the merits of his position.
"We're trying to disconnect the raising of money from the substantive act of lobbying -- of persuading the members of the merits of your position -- so that you're arguing on the merits, not because you can raise $50,000 at a lunch the next week," Potter said.
Regardless of the merits of his position (Palin in fact conspicuously flew her sudden son-in-law-to-be to the Republican Convention to sit next to his bride-to-be to demonstrate their "family values" and turn a liability into yet another sign of her ideological purity to score political points), he projected strength and conviction, something Americans want and expect from their leaders.
