"Tom, that's hogwash.
If I were so inclined, I could go back into this thread and cite at least a dozen times where I made it perfectly clear that I agree with you that the rules should be written in plain and simple, non-criminal type terms. In fact, the rule as I wrote it was in the affirmative for that very reason -- so that the folks out there can read the rule and know what they're supposed to do. So don't give me this gobbledygook about wanting the rules to be some sort of overlawyered, overnuanced "gotcha trap" because that's just a flat out wrong assertion.
In fact, now that I think about it, I seem to recall that a few pages ago, it was YOU that was over-arching and over-parsing the language of the Rules (not me), with that stuff to Sullly about "a" ball and "a" club, in the singular as opposed to the plural!"
Shivas:
The fact that there is any parsing of Rules words on this thread at all is the results of your questioning of the writing and interpreting of the words in the Rules by Rulesmakers.
I admit, and I've always admitted, that the wording within Rule 8-2b and even Dec 20-3a/2 is not as clear as it might be but the fact is it's apparently clear enough that no players or officials I'm aware of have been seriously confused by it in twenty years!
Pat and I are going to make a proposal about the wording re this putting practice to the USGA Rules Committee. I don't see you joining us or doing that. And why is that? Perhaps you're just more content to rail against the words in the Rules and the Rulesmakers on here rather than actually asking those who write the Rules for clarification in wording or in interpreting via a proposal.
I'm going to help Pat write this proposal but I feel the likely outcome of it will be not that they will make this putting practice a violation of the Rules but that they may put wording into either Rule 8-2b or perhaps Dec. 20-3a/2 that this practice of aligning an identification mark or line is definitely NOT a violation of the Rules of Golf.