Let's just leave politics completely alone. I may well be over reacting. I would like to have discussions about lots of things, including politics in a civil manner. But it seems to me that that is not possible in today's climate. We have had threads that touched on racism and homophobia on this forum where folks have said, "Hey! It is just a joke! What's the problem?", or "I have good friends who are _______", but ________". Well, there is not a problem, if those issues are discussed in a manner that acknowledges what might be offensive to somebody else. But that is not the way it happens. First we set up a group of people as being something other than normal, then we ridicule them. Hey! it is all in good fun! Right? Well. the folks who make humor for a living, movies, and TV shows usually do a pretty good job of this, and if they mess up, they are pretty good at making up for it - anonymous people of internet forums, well, not so much. You can make fun of me all you want, just like we do the aggies and the sooners, but leave politics, sexism, racism, and homophobia out of the discussion. THAT is how I understand it is supposed to work. This thread did not start in this manner, but when a discussion starts with, "I do not mean to be ________, but ..., well you can pretty much bet that their intention was fully meant to be ________. And you can bet that they will be the first to get irritated that you brought it up.
