yekke2 –
Yes, but the point here (more than just what I said in my long megilla above) is that your argument is not intellectually honest. Besides, of course the Talmud is a valid source of proof for him. Since you accept the validity of the Talmud, if he is trying to prove that a concept fits in to your belief system, a proof from the Talmud is certainly valid.
HaKatan –
I don’t know why you are calling this pshat in the Gemara in Sukkah anything less than objective. It is the obvious, clear understanding of it, and the fact that the Maharsha says another pshat doesn’t change that. Regardless of whether you think the pashut pshat fits with the mainstream Yiddishe Hashkafa, it would be intellectually dishonest to say that such an understanding of the Gemara is “twisted.”