This is an interesting community of athletes, all with some very common goals and aspirations. Some of you are awesome (at our sports) some of you are pretty good, and others are on their way to becoming good, great or awesome.
Somehow (and I'm beginning to realize that it's silliness) we have begun generating these OT threads, usually about politics, although occasionally light-hearted topics, which are well worth the bandwidth. While freedom of speech is an American tradition, maybe going for political and/or religious topics isn't such a good idea on a non-political, non-religious web forum.
In any event, I'd really like to see the OT threads at least maintain a level of civility. That can only be accomplished if people discuss the thread topic, instead of attempting to marginalize their opposition.
So let it be known, if you're debating:
1- Affiliation - I am an independent libertarian. Don't waste your time dissing the Republican party, because I'm not a member. However, if the person you're debating IS a Republican, just pointing that out doesn't make him or her wrong. In fact, if you assume that it does, you're an idiot and you've just lost the debate.
2- Disrespecting an individual (e.g., McCain, Kerry, Bush, etc.) is not disrespecting or disparaging the military or the Guard as a whole. If someone says Kerry is a phony, or McCain isn't a hero, or Bush took the cowards way out, that doesn't reflect an opinion of any particular branch of the service, or other members thereof. If you respond as if it does, you're an idiot and you've just lost the debate.
3- Viewpoint - Identifying a certain idea as common to a specific individual (Rush, Hannity, Curic, Lauer, etc.) doesn't mean that the idea is invalid, nor that the person citing the idea is a devotee of that particular celebrity. To dismiss an idea because it came from Rush or Katy Curic simply demonstrates that you're an idiot...
3a- Attempting to marginalize your opposition by calling them a dittohead, or a left wing socialist, or other cheap insult, is also idiotic. If you can't debate on point, you're an idiot...
I hope I'm being clear here. I've gotten into several silly pissing contests, and the others involved know who they are. Their arguments break down, and suddenly I'm a fascist, a dittohead (I rarely listen to Rush, probably less than the guy who called me that) a heathen and a disrespecter of the flag and the military. These characterizations are cowardly and false, and I daresay they wouldn't be made if we were all hanging out after a race somewhere.
I regret having allowed idiots to draw me down to their level. I'll be doing my best to ignore idiots in the future.
Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...
Somehow (and I'm beginning to realize that it's silliness) we have begun generating these OT threads, usually about politics, although occasionally light-hearted topics, which are well worth the bandwidth. While freedom of speech is an American tradition, maybe going for political and/or religious topics isn't such a good idea on a non-political, non-religious web forum.
In any event, I'd really like to see the OT threads at least maintain a level of civility. That can only be accomplished if people discuss the thread topic, instead of attempting to marginalize their opposition.
So let it be known, if you're debating:
1- Affiliation - I am an independent libertarian. Don't waste your time dissing the Republican party, because I'm not a member. However, if the person you're debating IS a Republican, just pointing that out doesn't make him or her wrong. In fact, if you assume that it does, you're an idiot and you've just lost the debate.
2- Disrespecting an individual (e.g., McCain, Kerry, Bush, etc.) is not disrespecting or disparaging the military or the Guard as a whole. If someone says Kerry is a phony, or McCain isn't a hero, or Bush took the cowards way out, that doesn't reflect an opinion of any particular branch of the service, or other members thereof. If you respond as if it does, you're an idiot and you've just lost the debate.
3- Viewpoint - Identifying a certain idea as common to a specific individual (Rush, Hannity, Curic, Lauer, etc.) doesn't mean that the idea is invalid, nor that the person citing the idea is a devotee of that particular celebrity. To dismiss an idea because it came from Rush or Katy Curic simply demonstrates that you're an idiot...
3a- Attempting to marginalize your opposition by calling them a dittohead, or a left wing socialist, or other cheap insult, is also idiotic. If you can't debate on point, you're an idiot...
I hope I'm being clear here. I've gotten into several silly pissing contests, and the others involved know who they are. Their arguments break down, and suddenly I'm a fascist, a dittohead (I rarely listen to Rush, probably less than the guy who called me that) a heathen and a disrespecter of the flag and the military. These characterizations are cowardly and false, and I daresay they wouldn't be made if we were all hanging out after a race somewhere.
I regret having allowed idiots to draw me down to their level. I'll be doing my best to ignore idiots in the future.
Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...
Why is it important to take a deep breath while talking about germans