Right now, more than anytime in history, we need the Bowsers greatly to offset the absolutely unyielding rhetoric guys like you and Tom spout. You rail on about him not reading your posts and blogs but obviously you are completely unswayed by any sensible thing said by the other side.

I often have posted things that tried to be balanced and centrist and have been attacked savagely by the couple of conciliations I've made to some of the left's issues. At the same time if I put something in a post acknowledging some merit to an issue the right holds, you guys go off like you've been proven right on everything you believe. There's absolutely no humility to the hard-line conservative side. Tom will occassionally confess to being bothered by Bush's budgetary policies but those references are generally a tiny byline of a gung-ho us-or-them diatribe. The conservatives are creating the Bowsers of the world and it's kinda fun to sit back and watch you squirm a bit when he hits you back with the same ammo you've been slinging for years.

I've even called him on it a few times and you know what? He came back and debated respectfully without any attack.

Every concerned citizen in this country is hoping for a peaceful and progressive outcome to our problems in the Mideast and we'd all breathe a sigh of relief if the messages we get daily weren't so mixed coming back from there. Will the spark of democracy take hold in countries where we go in and topple evil dictators? Sure, some of the people will take that message and run but there are no guarantees that spark won't be snuffed out by enormous evil, pain and destruction that gets unleashed during military conflicts. Nobody knows how it will all turn out but we're certainly all entitled to our opinions without being belittled for them.