Choices

[NoBushSpokenHere]

Scrolling down through the posts in this forum, perusing the headlines, clicking on those with intriguing headlines and also on those mundane headlines, I am reminded of perhaps the thing I like the most about this forum. The choice to read, or to skip a post. At times I read and enjoy the comments to follow on down the thread. At times, I open the post, quickly skim and go to the next.

Amazed and sometimes amused at how many believe they can convince others to choose to switch sides because of the words contained in their post. Negatives against negatives, seeking to destroy the oppositions words. The line drawn long ago on the battlefront, the sides armed with canons of accusations, suppositions and just plain words. Hard to end a battle while it rages so deafeningly.

Reminded of the times I would hear my parents arguments. One side against the other with no in-between. As a child, I learned the full battlefront would not be halted until both just became weary of the shouting or when one would leave, later to return with either more peace or more animosity toward the other. I learned quickly to stay silent during the fighting. It only served to raise the decibels of the accusations and threats.

Choices made at such a young age, to resist fighting within my home carried through to my adulthood. I learned when one side wanted to have an unhealthy argument to either calmly state my opinion and wait on the opposing side to either calm down or debate in a healthy dimension.

I found if one joined the unhealthy debate, there was no means of reducing the escalation until either one side triumphed or one side retreated. The "mine is better than yours" diatribe in an unhealthy debate stalls on the starting line.

Choices I made long ago to join this forum (sometime after Gore was kicked in the face by the Supreme Court and before John Kerry's campaign against George Bush), gave me a sense of peace to be among like-minded people. I have enjoyed being here (my political home) for the most part. I have enjoyed healthy debate and many interesting discussions. This forum, however, has become reminiscent of the early years of my life. Days I would just as soon forget. Days where bickering became arguments and arguments became stalemates.

One thing about those early teachings of life that I will always remember, my parents sometimes would unite out of a shared concern against a cause or forgotten foe. Maybe it is time we choose to unite against our foe?

[NoBushSpokenHere]

1. More on Choices

We can choose to be divisive or we can choose to unite. Yes, we can unite regardless whether you support Obama or if you support Hillary. The primary will be settled one way or another, but the General Election is what we should all be focusing on. I would rather be uniting against McCain than arguing about which of our candidates is the best candidate. Wouldn't it be a more valuable use of our time?