I hope you're around long enough to read my reply, and I'm sorry if I seemed to imply that you were one of those simply determined to smear the president. When I wrote that maybe you were one of those people, I truly meant the "maybe" aspect. I couldn't tell whether you were sincere or whether you were baiting us. Likewise, when I spoke of "the rest of us," I wasn't trying to be exclusive of you but to draw a line between those who have looked into the matter and those who wouldn't care what the truth was.
It is unfortunate that concise explanations of the president's prior service have not been made more public. The story that I wrote came from reading several fairly long online articles and I think from the president's campaign autobiography. It's still my paraphrase, and it would be nice to have a similar paraphrase from someone who could speak with more knowledge and authority than a regular guy like me who has tried to research it on the web.
I don't think your rough introduction to Free Republic came from your support of Senator McCain as much as from the way you phrased your initial comments. I'll admit that I have serious reservations about Senator McCain, but at times, I have also been a strong critic of President Bush. There are Bush supporters on this forum who have said some pretty hard things to me during and since the 2000 election. I've become angry and said some pretty hard things in return. We all get pretty passionate, and when someone says something that sounds similar to liberals' attacks against us, we sometimes respond pretty hard. Your post had that feel to it, and that led to our suspicions.
Whether Free Republic is a place that would be worth your time is for you to decide. I hope you'll check out some other threads and see how things go. You may be one of those people who is frequently at odds with the prevailing opinions, but if you can be tactful when tact is needed and play rough when you must without breaking the rules, you might find it an interesting place.
All the best,
Bill
Gee... I don't know, Bill. This is exactly how Howard Dean describes himself! However, I guess if I can make it through a year in Vietnam, I can survive Free Republic. This is more scary (and has more landmines) but I'll try. Thank you for a generous and classy reply. Appreciated more than you know.
--Bob