Don't you mean 'by' T_J? I never saw Jorge attacked with the same kind of insulting, unsubstantiated and generally contemptuous tone as he repeatedly used on others. I called him an ass, but only after days and weeks of him calling me a liar, an idiot, a lunatic, etc. over and over, and then running away when challenged to back these up. He also repeatedly called me a Democrat, socialist, partisan, and said that my anti-war stance was due to my hatred for Bush...and when it was pointed out that none of these were true, and that I supported Bush pre-war, he would ignore it or say I was lying...and you think he's the victim?
I think Jorge cuts his legs right out from under his argument with name-calling; heck, we all do when we resort to that. But Jorge gets ganged-up on like no one I've ever seen. The return of the Cadre of Back-slapping Liberals for sure! On a sidenot, why did you support Bush at one time? Any particular reason or more of a Gore-is-insufficient thing?
1) I agree that the insults don't help, nor the incredible hypocrisy of complaining/reporting others re: responding in kind, but I honestly don't think T_J makes valid arguments at all. There are those who I disagree with who do, but T_J usually resorts to the insults when his arguments go nowhere. 2) You may be right about T_J being ganged up on...now. But it's nothing compared to what I and others went through before and during the war. Until T_J has people tell him they hope he dies, invited him to leave the country, gets called traitor, etc. I say whaa whaa. I actually meant to leave this subject alone now, and should. 3) It was partly Gore is insufficient, but I also loved Powell, admired Bush's record of non-partisanship in Texas, liked his attitude towards uninvited nation building, and a few other things. It is sad that almost everything I liked about him proved false or he has reversed his stance on...and now Powell is getting out.
Yeah, I've about had it with these verbal brawls. I enjoy the people in here too much. Call me pathetic, but I work for myself and alone much of the time. The folks in here have become like my officemates! I haven't had any officemates in about 15 years. I read some of those exchanges in the other thread and concluded it's just not worth it. Call me naive but I would never expect anyone to be anything but forthright and truthful in here. I'm trying to tone down and not be so over-reactive with people, but it is my nature to cut straight to the heart of the matter that I perceive to be in play.
I've absolutely been guilty of going too far in my political posts, attacking posters at times, namecalling, etc, and I'm mostly sorry for it. There have times I've just given back as good as I've got and I don't regret that at all. That said, I've had thoughtful debates with Refman, Max, giddyup, Mr. Clutch, Manny and others with whom I have deep disagreements on various issues. With each of them, there have been misunderstandings or cases of one or the other (usually me) going too far, but in each of those cases there have been sincere, successful attempts to mend fences and keep a respectful dialogue going. And those have been the conversations I've enjoyed most here. I like all of those guys. Even after many, MANY heated arguments with Jorge, he made the kind gesture of coming to my play and we got along fine. I don't think there's a single person on this board that I wouldn't get along great with in person. It's hard to remember that sometimes, but it's worth the effort.
