General Discussion

...I post on myriad subjects which comprise what got me writing in the first place.

Issues that lead me to get a computer and put away the lined, yellow legal pads which I'd used for years to write out my opinions and essays, and OFTEN getting published by WaPo in my early days which would likely rankle more experienced writers.

My main issues of concern are civil rights and anti-war - any war. I find justifications against war in every military engagement or attack; even advocating against the 'just wars' that President Obama spoke about in his Nobel acceptance speech.

I take the time to read and understand all of the issues behind what I write about. That doesn't mean that I don't make mistakes, or express opinions that some may disagree with, and I think that's just a natural part of political and social event debate and discussion.

What I don't understand is this childish labeling (of a senior citizen) like we're in a high school cafeteria, instead of actually engaging in discussion on the points I raise in my posts, of Garland or any of the myriad other subjects I take the time to understand and relate here.

It seems like gamesmanship, and I think that's a terrible waste of effort for anyone actually interested in getting their own viewpoint across.

It looks like more of an effort to marginalize people who disagree with something or the other supported from the forum or discussion, and that's just an anathema to support or solutions.

We're just a microcosm of the country in this forum, and you can't actually control the mass of opinion out there by playing off of people you happen to relate with on social media. I realize it can appear to be a good and productive fight.

But support comes from presenting ideas in response, or maybe opposition to what others think, believe, or express in this public forum. There's a real lost opportunity, imo, that results from stifling views (other then republican politics) which can be advantaged to draw contrast to one's contrary own.

Now, I'm increasingly less interested in expressing how I feel these days. I can see the value decreases in relation to whoever might care. But I've never thought I had some monopoly on discussion or views here, so much that I was dominating anything to the degree that anyone should feel their own is threatened to be obscured by my own.

I even made an effort to refrain from piling onto Israel with my opposing views to their actions in Gaza; for one simple reason: I'm not here to oppose DUers. I come here to express my opinion and help inform folks of things I imagine they might not have seen yet.

And I occasionally try to spread a little hominess and joy.

Maybe some perspective is in order here; hopefully, it can lead to understanding how name-calling and labeling according to your own personal views isn't actually the best way to get your own message (ostensibly in support of Israel here) across.