Rich, you have no idea just how right you are.
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I find, as I age and mellow, that the thrill of showing someone just how right I am, and just how wrong they are, just isn't there any more. Instead, I have discovered, I find that when I try to do that, all I end up doing is splattering myself with embarrassment.
Maybe it's because my day job is all about fighting with others for fun and profit, but I think what we have in common here is vastly more important than what's different, and I hate to see people spoil that.
I "would not take" (a Texas expression) for the friendships I have made here, and through my pilot activities (in general) and PoA (in particular), I have a new (to me) network of true and valued friends, and these are the kind of people upon whom I KNOW I can rely in a time of need... and you know what? Not a one of 'em have I chosen based upon commonality of political interest.
I am not going to take a big steaming crap on my friends, here or anywhere else, and I bet that, upon reflection, none of you all want to do so either.