CS: Your response to RSo’s Chofetz Chaim proof is telling. I think you guys are so used to the Chabad Rebbe being a daas yochid on everything that you don’t know how to react when someone brings a proof that might agree with him. This whole debate is on a shittah of the Chabad Rebbe, don’t you see how it doesn’t make sense to bring proofs from the Chabad Rebbe in such a debate? If you refuse to bring any source other than the Rebbe (probably because of the whole “bittul to the Rebbe” thing) then you can’t really expect to get anywhere debating people you will bring sources from anywhere. It’s like bringing a knife to a gun fight.
As far as the difference between what the Chofetz Chaim says and what the Rebbe says, it does kind of seem like semantics based on how it’s being represented here. To me, the biggest proof is in the pudding: whatever Chabad did differently in their approach to awaiting Moshiach caused Meshichism; our approach didn’t. No matter how much people avoiding bringing that in, that’s what this debate is really about.