>As the smiley indicates, it's a dig, a tease.
Well, sometimes smileys can be too clever by half. I think Dwayne called you and Chris on such like a little while back. :-)
>Do you really think that
>I believe some living thing (X) is better than some other living thing
>(Y)? And if I did, that saying so would actually help my cause?
But it could be construed that you're saying it by not saying it, so even with a smiley face I'm not sure you're helping your cause.