i don't need the ignore function, i'm never offended

guess i'm built wrong cause i haven't run across a single post in all the time i've been here that so offended me that i had to put the author on ignore, or alert the moderators. this doesn't make me superior in any way, i'm just saying that nothing i read here seems to offend me in any way, and i don't see why some folks get so outraged and indignant and offended.

what's wrong with me? i'm from missouri, a southern state i'm told, yet i'm never offended by being thought of by some as a yokel or hick or southerner or a redneck backwoods gomer. none of that is true. and i've never read a thread on religion, pro or con, that so inflamed me that i felt compelled to jump in the fray and start flamewars.

when people totally disagree with my ideas and ramblings, i appreciate it, but i don't get mad about it, honest. if i open up a thread and read it, it's my own damn fault if i don't like what i have read. but even then, no one was actually harmed, right? we are all sitting at home in comfort typing away with people we've never met, probably never will, exchanging ideas, knocking heads, and in the process, learning.

i love all the colors expressed here. i love reading the letters to the editor in the papers, i love call in controversy shows, and i love cspan, because, ideas are debated and discussed and fur flies and voices are raised and progress is made.

people should not get so easily offended by other people's ideas and opinions, and they should learn about debating manners and diplomacy.
i have learned many things here, and i have changed my behavior in regard to starting threads and responding to people, because i enjoy it so. i've started flame threads, and i've been scolded and alerted and ignored and thanked and trounced and through it all, i've never been offended. i often offend others, but that can't be helped i guess.

if you are a catholic, and criticism of catholicism offends you, maybe you should avoid suspicious threads. and if you do join in the discussion, don't be surprised if you are offended. the same goes for dean supporters versus kerry supporters, or kucinich haters versus gephardt haters. or southerners versus yankees, or atheists versus the faithful. debate all you want, make your opinions known, roll up your sleeves, yell and scream, it's fun. but don't get so bent out of shape and blow a gasket in the process.

it's easy to ignore people without actually relying on the ignore function. i don't have anyone on ignore. i see a lot of posts that say, 'i've got 36 people on ignore, and i've never been happier'. seems silly to me. if you can't read other people's opinions and ideas without imploding and descending into insults and name calling, maybe you need a different hobby.

if a person posts a thread criticising certain israeli/palestinian issues, stand back. or a thread about pedophilia involving men of the cloth of ANY sect or denomination, look out. if the existence of a diety is posted on, take cover. north vs. south? brace yourself.
dean vs. gore, buckle up. opinions are what they are. words. thoughts. ideas. they are not stones or bullets or daggers, they can't hurt you.

just be glad we 30,000 blowhards are not in a big room together somewhere, drinking too much and coming to blows, in the flesh.

Should use this as a FAQ or introduction or something. Damn good.

DAMN good.

I often get into a thread that makes me angry but usually learn something from it. Well stated Mopaul. Thanks.

Yep. That's why they call it ignorance.

...but I'm beginning to wonder if most DU posters understand that our very democracy is in danger of melt down?

- Looking at the level of apathy on this board and the US in general...there's a good chance GWB* will stay right where he's at while the rest of us squabble about whether living in the north or the south is the best.

- I feel like a Roman...watching everyone fiddle as the flames lick their asses.

and they all have to do with bushco. 9-11, who, what, where, when, why? and i wish i could get more people involved in my insane delusions about 9-11. it really consumes me, and eats at me, and i don't understand why we are all not in the streets exploding over it.

but i have learned to place it in the back of my mind just enough to allow discussions on other subjects, and to try to live as usual.

you're right though, we should be discussing the perilous situation we are all in right now, right here, in our faces.

...with the biting sarcasm that gets to the point.

- But I've noticed a trend...as hundreds of new posters join this forum: Stolen election and 9-11 threads are attacked as 'conspiracy theories' posted by 'conspiracy nuts' and dismissed or ignored.

- The people who ignore or dismiss the 9-11 threads don't seem to understand or care that the Bushies attained ALL of their illegal powers from this brutal act of murder. Americans...and especially DUers should be up in arms about the Bushies obstructing justice and investigations into this mass killing on American soil.

- 9-11 is the key to Bush's* downfall and the restoration of democracy.

that you are never offended. I see that I have failed to piss off everyone. Back to the drawing board...

(Term courtesy Opus -- from the late, lamented Bloom County) :-)

...articulating for me too. I couldn't agree more.

Disagreement and dissent and discussion are good exercise for the brain.

or is it Hear Hear!

At any rate I agree 100%.

Bob D.

I am more bad that anyone can say.

The worst insult is a compliment to me.

flame wars just warm my cold cold cold heart


i wish - but i do try to take it all in stride. we should all do the same

What's the point of being on the board if argument doesn't energize you rather than offfend you??