yeaaa!

[jobob]

Someone had posted:

"I was hoping not to see anything like this on my safe haven, TE.
Just so you know we are not all celebrating. I hope I am wrong, but I am terrified. Probably I wouldn't care so much except for Andy. The first steps will be to suppress any opposition, then the civilian security force, then who knows.
I couldn't even read this whole thread. I hope I am wrong."

People, this is precisely why I have objected so strenuously to political and religious discussions on this forum

Believe it or not, there are people on this forum who do not happen to share the political and/or religious beliefs of (what appears to be) the vocal majority of posters on this forum.

I think everyone's beliefs and convictions should be respected here.

And when people who don't believe as the apparent vocal majority encounter threads like this, they must be very intimidated and might even feel that they do not "belong" on TE.

Which is sad and unnecessary.

This, people, is why I stand firmly on my opinion that politics and religion do not belong here.

[Brandi]

Someone had posted:

"I was hoping not to see anything like this on my safe haven, TE.
Just so you know we are not all celebrating. I hope I am wrong, but I am terrified. Probably I wouldn't care so much except for Andy. The first steps will be to suppress any opposition, then the civilian security force, then who knows.
I couldn't even read this whole thread. I hope I am wrong."

People, this is precisely why I have objected so strenuously to political and religious discussions on this forum

Believe it or not, there are people on this forum who do not happen to share the political and/or religious beliefs of (what appears to be) the vocal majority of posters on this forum.

I think everyone's beliefs and convictions should be respected here.

And when people who don't believe as the apparent vocal majority encounter threads like this, they must be very intimidated and might even feel that they do not "belong" on TE.

Which is sad and unnecessary.

This, people, is why I stand firmly on my opinion that politics and religion do not belong here.

I would normally agree except for the fact that this is an exceptional election for both sides And being calm rational adults i don't see any harm in celebrating. But I am sorry if this hurts anyone feelings. There are a lot of hurt people out there right now and I feel for them. Sorry again if this upsets anyone. We can stop now if that would make people feel better.

[jobob]

Oh, and thank you to those who have posted here and on various other threads the little snarks about whether or not it's "allowed" to discuss politics on this forum - you know who you are.

Listen gang, I'm just trying to respect the views of everyone here. And to keep the intimidation factor down as much as possible.

And I do want to applaud you all for keeping it very civil and respectful throughout this long and sometimes nasty campaign (snarkly little asides and avatars and sig lines notwithstanding). Some forums have not been so understanding.

So cheers, everyone !

[Blueberry]

I debated whether to post this, and I hope others will read it in the helpful spirit in which it was intended.

There are lots and lots of threads and responses to threads on TE that I find offensive. I put them on ignore. There are some users I routinely find either offensive or to make too many personal attacks. I put them on ignore too. I'm in the minority on a lot of issues on TE - I either ignore them, or read them without letting them get under my skin. And no, I don't always feel like I "belong" here.

If folks don't want religion and politics on TE, that's fine. I think it's a fair choice. But I don't think it's appropriate to be selective about it and I think that would ban a lot of threads that others don't seem to have found offensive (just as an example - the recent tattoo thread -- it's an awesome tat, I wasn't offended by the thread, but the content of the post is predominately religious).

Respectfully,

CA

ETA - I'm not sure if I'm one of the people considered "snarky" or not, but yep - I got a little frustrated when I was attacked for complaining about TV ads (in a non-partisan way), and then others posted at length about political phone calls, etc. without being criticized. After that, I tried to keep my comments circumspect enough to not offend anyone. If by doing that, I offended, I'm sorry. However, the issue goes back to not selectively enforcing whatever the "rules" are.

[Brandi]

I just wanted to celebrate for a little bit this historical moment in our history. I am done I am not posting on this thread anymore. I want all to feel welcome I really do.

[OakLeaf]

Can I just add one other thing, by way of a very small consolation?

Our President-elect is the son of two people who could not have legally married in many US states when he was born.

I am the daughter of two people who could not legally marry in the state where my mother's home church was located.

Yes it's extremely sad to see those same traditions - and many of the same laws - being revived to discriminate against another group of people. But there is hope, I must believe it.

[kermit]

Optimism is a beautiful thing. It is hard with the recent economy and war to be hopeful about anything. If people are happy, thats good. I just hope that nothing changes for the worse, and as he himself said "there will be setbacks" and that will stink. The country is definitely going to change.......

[Cataboo]

I think most of us could have a more heated argument over whether steel, titanium, carbon, or aluminum frames are a better ride.

[VeloVT]

I'm truly sorry if I have offended anyone. I don't know if anyone has me on ignore; I hope not, that would make me really sad. I mean well.

However, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to survive in the world every day if you are intimidated by someone having a different view than you. As adults, I think we should be able to accept that we will have differences.

And as for this political discussion -- I think it's perfectly fine for anyone to disagree with Obama on policy issues (reasonable, smart people disagree all of the time), and also fine for anyone to express a wish that McCain had won. Of course there will be disagreement on what is good for this country. However, to suggest that Obama is a fascist who will turn the USA into a police state ("The first steps will be to suppress any opposition, then the civilian security force, then who knows") is not substantive political disagreement, it looks dangerously close to baseless hate-mongering. If you can offer a convincing justification for that view, though, you might be able to get me to change my mind. That's the thing about political discussions -- every view is admissable, but every view is also fair game. You have to be willing to accept those terms not only for others' views, but also for your own. Maybe that IS a form of discussion that TE cannot handle -- and I guess that's OK -- but I also think we all need to have thicker skins sometimes.

Originally posted by Jobob:
Oh, and thank you to those who have posted here and on various other threads the little snarks about whether or not it's "allowed" to discuss politics on this forum - you know who you are.

you're welcome, Jobob !

[salsabike]

Someone had posted:

"I was hoping not to see anything like this on my safe haven, TE.
Just so you know we are not all celebrating. I hope I am wrong, but I am terrified. Probably I wouldn't care so much except for Andy. The first steps will be to suppress any opposition, then the civilian security force, then who knows.
I couldn't even read this whole thread. I hope I am wrong."

People, this is precisely why I have objected so strenuously to political and religious discussions on this forum

Believe it or not, there are people on this forum who do not happen to share the political and/or religious beliefs of (what appears to be) the vocal majority of posters on this forum.

I think everyone's beliefs and convictions should be respected here.

And when people who don't believe as the apparent vocal majority encounter threads like this, they must be very intimidated and might even feel that they do not "belong" on TE.

Which is sad and unnecessary.

This, people, is why I stand firmly on my opinion that politics and religion do not belong here.

YES. I think this is exactly right. There are other places for political discussions. I would really like EVERYONE on TE to feel welcome here.

[snapdragen]

Which is why I asked that everything remain in this thread. I'll leave it to Susan and Jeff to decide if it stays or goes; but last night was too big to not let everyone express their feelings.

I spent most of the night on another forum, we ended up with over 400 posts in one thread -- all civil, all respecting each others beliefs and choices. Lots of good natured ribbing, and joy from both sides. (I haven't looked at it today, who knows if it's still a pleasant read)

Someone had posted:

"I was hoping not to see anything like this on my safe haven, TE.
Just so you know we are not all celebrating. I hope I am wrong, but I am terrified. Probably I wouldn't care so much except for Andy. The first steps will be to suppress any opposition, then the civilian security force, then who knows.
I couldn't even read this whole thread. I hope I am wrong."

People, this is precisely why I have objected so strenuously to political and religious discussions on this forum

Believe it or not, there are people on this forum who do not happen to share the political and/or religious beliefs of (what appears to be) the vocal majority of posters on this forum.

I think everyone's beliefs and convictions should be respected here.

And when people who don't believe as the apparent vocal majority encounter threads like this, they must be very intimidated and might even feel that they do not "belong" on TE.

Which is sad and unnecessary.

This, people, is why I stand firmly on my opinion that politics and religion do not belong here.