I may disagree with you sometimes.

[MineralMan]

That does not mean that I am your enemy.

I may be vocal about my disagreement.
That does not mean I need to be silenced.

I may support a different candidate than you do.
That does not mean I am obviously wrong.

I may try to convince you to change your mind about something.
That does not mean I should be ignored entirely.

I may talk about something that doesn't interest you.
That does not mean it is a worthless topic.

I may have a very different life experience than you have.
That does not mean my life is meaningless.

I may look very strange or odd to you.
That does not mean you should look away.

We may be very different in many ways.
That does not mean we cannot work together toward common goals.

[Xipe Totec]

1. You're making it very hard to dislike you. Stop it!

[MineralMan]

2. LOL!

I'll stop at once! I promise.

[7wo7rees]

3. Yep! Forced to second your opinion. Damn! :) nt

[Martin Eden]

17. Third time is a charm!

I've certainly disagreed (sometimes very strongly) with Mineral Man, but I strongly agree with every this OP.

[Jim Lane]

4. Very good, and let me add one

You write:

I may be vocal about my disagreement.
That does not mean I need to be silenced.

My proposed addition:

I may be vocal about my disagreement.
That does not mean I think you need to be silenced.

My reasoning is that, for a political discussion board, this place seems to have some people who are awfully thin-skinned. Mere disagreement with such types prompts them to charge that you are trying to dictate their vote or prevent them from posting or whatever.

Everyone needs to recognize that, if you post here, there's a chance that another member (DUers being a highly opinionated bunch) will disagree with you. If you can't accept that, don't post.

[MineralMan]

5. I agree with that. It's sort of a corollary of my statement.

I'm not talking about discussion forums like DU, specifically. I'm talking about all places where people discuss things.

[sub.theory]

6. Very well said

Completely agree

[Koinos]

7. Excellent thread.

[MineralMan]

8. Thank you very much.

[Eleanors38]

9. Tolerance is not supposed to be easy. ^^^

[erronis]

15. You're right - tolerance takes more effort, more brainpower.

It is way too easy to fall into the trap that everyone who is not like me (I'm getting up there white man) is not worth our time of day.

My best learning experiences have been when I've made a snap judgement about a person - cubbyholed them into my limited slots - and then found out that I was totally / 180-degrees wrong. Each one of these, I hope, makes me be a little more willing to look, listen, and learn.

[delrem]

10. Since you dumped Sanders for Clinton because Bernie Supporters suck,

you've achieved perfect consistency.
Now waiting for the rapprochement with FR...

[Hekate]

12. Spreading peace and harmony wherever you go...

[Rex]

14. Why are you allergic to the truth?

Bothered by it are you?

[delrem]

19. She rec'ed the MM OP in question.

heheh. Too funny!

[Rex]

13. Yeah kind of hard to take someone seriously if they are that shallow imo.

Not just Sanders supports, DU Sanders supporters! That one is not even close to being clever imo.

[Hekate]

11. KnR

[murielm99]

16. Thanks, MineralMan. n/t

[Call Me Wesley]

18. So what? You're right, we're wrong?

Nice poem, though.

You have done the LGBT community on here pretty much harm and installed yourself as an idol of joking about their cause. Shall I look away, because you therefore look very strange and odd to me
and respect your vocal disagreement just for the sake of it?

We may be different in way too many ways.
That does not mean that your ways are on the right path.

And no, your not my enemy, and never were. You're just a lonesome keyboard warrior with a full blown self-esteem of sheer pity.

Common goals, my ass.

[MineralMan]

24. Please read it aloud. The "I" and "you" are interchangeable.

We have many common goals.

[Gothmog]

20. Great OP

I agree with your analysis

[MineralMan]

21. Thanks.

[ncjustice80]

22. Who is this targeted to?

If it is liberals of different stripes (We're a big spectrum!) I understand. But I don't see any common goal I could possibly have with a conservatard or tea bagger.

[MineralMan]

23. Democrats, primarily. Anyone can be the "you" or the "I" in the post.

However, it can also apply across the board. In this country, everyone has a vote and a voice. Without some sort of cooperation, our society can't work. So, we do have to communicate with a broad spectrum of people, with many different beliefs and priorities. That's reality.

[aikoaiko]

25. So want to make Minnesota Nice now?

How nice for you.

[MineralMan]

26. Not a bad idea, actually.

The "I" and "you" in my post are interchangeable.

[aikoaiko]

27. That's a nice afterthought.

I don't do Minnesota Nice because its passive-aggressive, fake, and/or patronizing.

[MineralMan]

28. It should go without saying.

As any person is reading it, that person is the "I" in the text. The OP is not about me. It is about all of us. Too subtle, I guess, but perhaps not for everyone. Try reading it again, but disregard who wrote it. It's original with me, but directed to everyone. You are the "I" in the post when you read it.

[aikoaiko]

30. I find this OP and your replies to me inconsistent with your "big reveal" post in GDP.

You declared yourself an enemy because you didn't like supporters of a certain candidate.

[MineralMan]

31. I did nothing of the sort. I made a statement about my

own, individual decision. That's all. Whether that's relevant to anyone else was not my concern. I believe that some Sanders supporters are damaging his campaign, and I want to support someone who can become President.

[aikoaiko]

32. I will remind you of your words.

Sanders supporters are making enemies, not friends. That simply will not work, and I will not support it.

[MineralMan]

34. I remember my words just fine, thanks.

I'll give you an example. This morning, one of the first threads I read on DU was one that seriously misrepresented Hillary Clinton's response in Iowa to a mother whose child is dying. Here's the link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=521122

That's what I was talking about in the thread you quoted. As I said, that strategy will not work, and I will not support it. There are many such examples, both here on DU and on many other websites on the Internet.

The OP for this thread is not about that. It's about something altogether different, although it could be applied to the post you quoted from, as well as to almost any discussion. This thread is far more general than specifics about a single election or a single candidate. I'm sorry you cannot see that.

[aikoaiko]

36. As was said earlier, HRC better hope Bernie supporters and liberals don't follow your logic for...

...deciding whether or not they can support her based on what HRC supporters say and do if she is the nominee.

You can write a little ditty about respecting each others opinions and working for common goals, but you didn't apply that to Bernie supporters.

We don't have to keep discussing this anymore. You'll get lots of support from HRC and OM supporters for your posts and anyone who doesn't really follow your posting history. On the face of it, its a very nice OP.

[MineralMan]

29. How about just nice?

I'm not a native Minnesotan, anyhow.

[DFW]

33. That makes two of us. I'm not a native Minnesotan, either.

Come to think of it, I've never even been to Minnesota. Actually, today is one of those rare days when I am actually back in Dallas. It won't last!

As for your OP, for the second time today, I'll remind you of a post of mine from 2008, when things were equally as acrimonious around here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3369762

[MineralMan]

35. Thank you for your link. Well said!