I actually tried to delete that message -- I feel awful for my harsh tone, and am having second thoughts re: the way I worded some of the things.

I take back anything personal and insulting I may have said, and I hope for forgiveness from Opie Yates. I may not receive it, but that's a whole new discussion.

This does not mean my opinion has changed one iota. I still believe in real freedom, not some politicians' idea of it that entails them spying on me, restricting what I put into my own body or deciding what I watch on tv or read in the papers. I want to live a little - a lot of it.

I felt that the poster took messages in a partisan, political way, even when they were not political in nature at all. Again, we've all, each of us, complained about the powers-that-be in our lifetimes. That's always been a fact of life. Government sucks. We said it in 1920, in 1940, in 1960, and so we say it today.

It's only now, in this day and age where the general population is so polarized and divided based on political ideology, that most innocent remarks are taken in a political way. As a result, lots of conservatives take any critique of the government as an attack on the right. That right there shows me a lot of hostility.

I enjoy political discussion, and I do hope that we'll be able to do some of it, however heated, in the future, right here on this board. I believe some debating is possible within the constraints of the current rules and regulations, and I think many people actually have an opinion worth sharing.

That is why l love America btw. We can freely discuss and debate, and vent our opinions without fear of repercussions. Where is the patriottic Graemlin with the US flag?? Oh well, this one will do for now

Red