Here is something to consider:
A Freeper, Billthedrill, suggested this the other day. I think this is a very wise and helpful standard, and very fitting considering the recent unpleasantness.
He wrote: We would all be better off if we would ask the other party what he or she thinks instead of telling them. It's almost always a mischaracterization, and it brings more heat than light.
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Sounds like a great idea. And by the way, Free Republic is the best site on the net and will continue to be. The thousanads of witty, bright, and decent posters make it so.
Exactly. Just like e-mail, it is difficult to tell the tone of something you're just reading on a message board. I think there is a lot of defensive-ness (is that a word?) going around. Much more so than there used to be here. People aren't ALWAYS trying to insult or ridicule.