soooo......Please read

[crazylegz70]

Now that I have officially made everyone upset on the politics side of the forum, I would just like to apologize for some of my posts. I realize that you guys feel very strong about the upcoming election and I shouldn't have posted some of the things I did. I also realize that you have your opinion and I have mine and that We all care alot about our country and we all deserve to have gun rights. I really did not mean to offend anyone and took alot of the comments personally (first mistake) Please accept my apology and feel free to post your thoughts....Sorry Guys!!!!

Lance

[wtnhunt]

Good post here Lance and I will ad my 2 cents for what it is worth.

Political discussions can get very personal with everyone having different situations and opinions, and they can obviously get pretty heated too. Despite some of us having some differences in opinions, which is perfectly normal, most of us for the most part come here for the same reason. Best advice I can give is to try not to take comments in hot topics too personal, and remember that when replying.

There have been recent requests to lock a thread, and some comments made that probably were not made intended to hurt anyone's feelings. Believe it or not there has actually been a lot less editing in this room so far this political season than what I was afraid there might be given the nature of politics and what we face, which in my opinion says a lot for our members here and their consideration for other members.

[Hoosierbuck]

I think most of the civility is a by-product of a general consensus. Hard to get bent out of shape if everyone agrees.

For the most part, I mean.

HB

[slugshooter]

Take some advice from a former political forum rabble rouser. I joined the forums in 2003, once the 2004 elections got under way I found myself in the political room more often than not. Some of the older members remember this time very well. One piece of advice I can give you is that while you may have differing views, stick to them. It may cause you some grief, but in the end, you will at least be respected for sticking to your beliefs, even if they aren't popular. The problem with an online forum such as this is that people get to know you by what you type and base their opinion on you because of that. Over time, members either get to know you by other things you write so they can better understand you, or quicker if they take the time to PM you and get to know you that way. The only thing that would need to be apologized for is if you make a personal attack on someone, which I think we have all been guilty of from time to time. One option is to reread what you write before you post it, if there is a personal attack in there, edit it out. The only thing you will get from a personal attack is a lot of grief and members taking sides, which in the end, since we are all hunters on here, we are ultimately on the same side, regardless of political differences. There is a way to have a civil political discourse without immature attacks on another member which only riles everyone up and makes any argument you are trying to make pointless because no will give you any credibility. We all have our own specific issues and problems that we deal with on a day to day basis that are unique to the individual, therefore, one's political leanings tend to reflect that individuals life experiences and beliefs. I consider myself politically moderate, whereas four years ago I had a more liberal slant, but there were a lot of things and influences going on in my life back then that swung me in that direction. There are some issues that I side more closely with the Democrats, and there are some issues that I side more closely with the Republicans. My feelings are that in this day and age, the American people cannot take a hard line approach to any one specific political agenda because all it does it cause the other side to stonewall and fight. I believe that there is a common ground that we can all reach on issues that most affect us as Americans, rather than continuously fighting back and forth. The only problem is, if both parties would agree to be bi-partisan and seek to find a common ground on the issues, then there would be no political analysts, pundits, lobbbyists, consultants, spin doctors, commentators, bloggers, or anyone else that stands to influence our decisions. Sounds kinda nice doesn't it?

[oldksnarc]

Hey. Slugshooter and I used to snipe back and forth at each other. But, then....

All puppies and kittens are born liberal. They become conservative when they open their eyes.

LOL

[stevebeilgard]

no apology necessary, lance. this is a political room open to all ideas. i'm personally glad we're not all in lockstep. while most here are against obama, you have a right to your opinion. (even if it's wrong. lol)