Posted: Sep 28, 07 8:22am
This is a group for liberals and conservatives who are beginning to suspect that, just maybe, listening to each other, giving the benefit of the doubt, and finding areas of common ground and shared values between us might be more important in the long run than scoring points and winning battles. Moderates and centrists are welcome, of course, but nothing would make me happier than to see self-confessed wingers being cordial to each other.
If you want to criticize, attack or demean, feel free to do that - elsewhere. There is certainly no shortage of places for that - like in congress, for example. But in my house we will be nice to each other. Them's the rules. If you don't like 'em, start your own group.
And I don't just mean polite argument either. I mean no argument. If you disagree, don't say so. It is ok to say "I thought you made a good point about..." Or, "I understand that viewpoint better now." It is not ok to say, "I see your point, but..." No 'buts'.
I'm serious! I don't mean to sound like the mom at the big Thanksgiving dinner, but really, if you can't find something nice to say, don't say anything at all. Think of it as a game, with certain things you can't say, like the board game "Taboo!"
I'm not sure how this is going to work - maybe we start with something safe, like trading recipes for Mom's Apple Pie. All I know is that something like this is needed before we tear this country apart. We're good people here. Let's not forget that.
