Reply To: Is it really because you are the problem?

[Just Iron]

A reasonable response, Deerey. Thanks. BPG and Bucks were obvious examples of dissenting voices to cite. I’m surprised that you think that Bill hasn’t pulled back. Bill’s and my spat was more ‘off forum’ but leaked on to here.I do think it would be disputatable that I would be the one having the biggest ‘beef’ with Bill on forum topics.
I also do think that there has been a tendency to make things personal instead of engaging with the substance of posts. Some posters,for example, obviously feel passionately about the Israel issue and I think that this passion can make people unreasoned. I was unimpressed when my 3 points re the Hamas sourced casualty figures were never acknowledged and instead met with personal and negative comments.( I have tried to ‘stay low’ on this but, at risk of playing the ‘martyr’, have far more skin in the game than the average poster. This risks putting more petrol to the flames but my son in law .. 40 year old father of my 3 Israeli grandkids … has just arrived back from the Gaza area and our daughter has sent us the clip of the kids welcoming him back. They have connection with families whose Dad’s are never coming back. I mention this to try to illustrate to the forum some of the personal pressures I have been navigating.) My ‘amateur psychology’ may well be provocative .. tell me anyone who finds it easy to have their motivations challenged. But the challenges I have made were not out of spite or to try to be ‘top dog.’ They were made to confront the notion that it’s valid to respond to challenging perspectives by ignoring substance and throwing out personal insults.
Finally .. thankfully I hear someone say :) … I am always happy to be helped. I don’t care where it comes from as long as it’s real. Trump has many flaws and I could list them. Any assessment of previous ‘admiration’ on my part surprises me. I wish there were other more attractive options for my American family at present. But we don’t always get our wishes. What I would say ..again.. is that sometimes we have to go with the most attractive of pretty crummy options. The lesser of evils and all that. It seems to me that the term ‘racist’ is bandied about alot at present .. the ultimate character assassination. That’s actually where I joined this particular thread if you recall. I was hoping to explore that issue ..but I was disappointed that you made the assertion that I wasn’t to be taken seriously. Linking Trump to ‘racism’ is clearly self evident to you and many others. I would be interested in your definition of racism and, from that, to see the the examples in Trump’s history. I don’t like racists and would never vote for a racist.

An after thought. You assert that I should ‘well know’ that within ‘the basic rules of engagement’ everyone is welcome. If that is to be lived up to in future then posters, especially mods, should be quicker to push back on those who assert that someone is posting under another name so that all the ‘sins’ of others can be layed at their door. Equally a mild reprimand might be in order when someone gets irritated and tells another poster to ‘do one.’ It would feel more welcoming then.