You don't seem to know what it means to defuse a situation. It means to make a situation less dangerous, embarrassing, or tense. Burt did none of these things. So, no. He did not. In fact, he failed on an order of magnitude not fully realized until Scratch burns his home to the ground. He actually creates a far worse situation, and yes, all of what I said is true about the escalation of the situation, and how Burt's exacerbation of it all proves to be a direct cause to events that follow. You don't need to believe me, you can listen to the tape.
But your Burt love is commendable.
p.s. (no intent to be with the following) Etal is a village in Northumberland, England. Et al. is an abbreviation of et alii (et alia [fem]) meaning: and others--which is what I believe you were going for, hence the correction.
Oh well, I am sure your "correction" is well practiced. But, if you think I am going to worry about that level of detail in a casual post you are nuts. If you are so literal that you had trouble parsing the sentance or it somehow makes you feel superior, i feel sorry for you. However, if you are going to take the time to correct me, you should do it correctly. I am pretty sure it should be in italics.
I feel really bad for you. I thought your delusions had diminished and your ego was more in check when you changed your forum name. I was wrong.
Unload on me and maybe some sort of transference may brighten your day. I am done with this sub-thread.
Bookmarks