TePaul,
I think my problem (no doubt shared by others) is that we ARE interested in Merion, its evolution, etc. If I was smart, I would have never posted on any of those threads, because I really don't know much, etc. But, I was interested.
I am kind of surprised at how many calls for "academic rigor" have been made here. Previously, it was a discussion group and all knew it was mostly opinions, with occaisonal links posted to old mags and pix, as was done this morning to Golf Illustrated through the USGA. For me, those were the best parts of the recent discussions - I can look at the pix and decide for myself what they mean. (For the record, I do see some CBM, albeit not perfect copies in the original old greens.....3 is called a Redan and 9 looked more of something like a Biarritz in the early photo than it does now, for example)
If nothing else, I suppose these threads may redefine what can be posted under an "In my opinion" piece here. Even the internet has to grow up at some point!
That said, I never got the impression that DM or TomMac had anything but respect for Merion, as do I. I think they truly believe that CBM should get more credit, while you don't. But, "Agenda" is a funny word. A democrat will say a Republican has an "agenda" whereas their proposals are nothing but "what's best for America." And, vice versa.
Both sides, IMHO, have "tortured", parsed and interpreted (and misinterpreted) the meaning of different writers and their words. Having read most of these threads, its clear that there are some variances in the contemporary record and it seems to be a matter of who do you believe. I doubt any of them thought there would be an internet argument a century or so later when they wrote those words!
I agree with you that the familarity we have among us on this web site can be misleading. If you in "real life" have some documents that Merion or others say you should keep to yourself, you must do that. No one here has any "right" of any sort to them, even if they have the interest.