You’ve asked for advice: here it is.
If you are going to debate, get used to the idea that your opponent is seldom going to agree with you and even more seldom going to be polite. Few people can debate intelligently, the way most folk on the FRee Republic debate. Most other people are ignorant jerks.
The FRee Republic is great because you can practise your debating technique against some very discerning and intelligent opponents who, at the end of the debate, will not hold your viewpoint against you: providing only that you debated fairly and well.
When an opponent stoops to personal abuse you know that you have him by the goolies. It is called an “ad hominem” attack: attacking the man and not the argument. That is the time to go for the throat and drive your argument home.
“When you have your enemy by the throat, squeeze until his eyeballs pop out”, as somebody famous once said. Press your attack the instant he gets personal.
So in summary: man up, suck it in, and come out swinging. Liberals hate it when we do that!
The only reason I did not continue posting on my friend's page is because she asked us not to, and I respected her wish. Unfortunately, Dave felt he needed to take one last jab by calling me an idiot before being a coward and deleting his posts, then taking the “liberal high road” and making another post about being embarrassed about having his name on such a moronic argument.