The election in Florida, etc. An open note to Jazzoctopus.
I wasn't at first inclined to reply to your reply, as I know for sure this isn't the forum for political debate. We have better fish to fry here, and there are plenty of other places to go to indulge your taste for partisan politics. I have no more to say on the issue at hand, but I do have a couple things I want to say to you, Jazz, and also for the benefit of the rest of our cyber community.
Firstly, I commend you for having a real commitment to the principles of our government, for the amount of time and trouble you obviously devote to learning the issues and facts of our political scene, and for the skill with which you express yourself. Frequently, one begins to despair of the future of our species when you look around and see the miserable excuses for human beings that hang around on street corners, malls and other adolescent haunts, not to mention the ones being locked up in distressing numbers for crimes ranging from nuisance to capital grade, while at the same time 50 guilty ones go free for each one put away, because there are too many to successfully prosecute. Then we come across someone like yourself. It's a joy to see a young person with a passion for something, maybe for a number of things/causes/interests. No great objective, or even a small personal one, was ever accomplished, or ever will be accomplished, without someone, or a number of individuals, with a passionate devotion to seeing it accomplished. So, don't let anyone or any setbacks, diminish that passion until it has run its course.
Of course, speaking as a member of the community, you have to realize that the passionate individual can be, and usually is, a real pain in the ass to everyone else. It's your responsibility, as a gentleman, to minimize this (I don't say avoid it entirely, because that's impossible). This will take, on your part, a lot of toleration for the views of others, however repugnant they may be to you. You have to do what does not come naturally to someone your age -- LISTEN, really listen not just pretend, to the other side, and make a genuine effort to see your opponent's view. Then, if you still disagree, do it like a gentleman. I think you really know what I'm getting at here.
Lastly, please keep in mind, that passion, while useful and even often necessary, is counterproductive, and even highly dangerous, if not governed by principle, good sense, and good taste. Some of the worst crimes in human history have been committed by people who let themselves be overmastered by their passion for what started out as a good cause. And every day, there are people whose dreams, projects, businesses and even their personal lives, are crashing down in failure because they will not, or can not, impose on their passions the limits which humanity, principle, morality, common sense, or good manners dictate.
Here endeth the sermon. Personally, I'm glad to have you around and I encourage you to keep on giving us the view of an enlightened young member of our community, even if I don't agree with your views, and I certainly won't agree often on politics. On other subjects, we probably have more in common than you would imagine.
