I think Keedy said it best with the comment about shaking hands after a good match.

We're all a little long-in-the-tooth, and that alone has us having seen many things (good and bad) and developing opinions often based on burned fingers. Because of that, everyone's experience and viewpoints are different, and we can get rather intense in our sharing.

The trick is to accept that people believe what they believe in good faith. Granted, the capacity to share in good faith is quite variable among those who visit here, and that can make for hard times and ruffled egos.

What is interesting are discussions (and that can be a stretch of a term!) where at times the idealists and pragmatists try to explain themselves to each other, and neither can accept it when the other fails to change sides.

We all have a lot to learn from each other when we share our opinions and, more importantly, the reasons for our opinions. We still may not agree despite the added shared information. Some may even feel that "changing sides" on an issue is too ego-defeating and fight even harder by making the discussion personal. At our ages, we should know and act better than that.

There are a lot of very smart people (idealists and pragmatists from both major parties, the minor parties and independents) who visit this board, and they all provide different views of the political prism. That's healthy and very American.

So, in this verbal hockey game, as long as it ends with a virtual handshake, and an occasional real one to include a $1.75 margarita at LSL/SS some evening, AND with mutual respect, then let the games continue.....

However, we all should be above personal slamming. It accomplishes nothing, especially when we are all (or will be) neighbors. And within TV, we're a little more than neighbors, since we know that the odds are we may be each other's last neighbors to boot. That alone should keep us respectful to each other.