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Last month, my wife and I went to Oklahoma to welcome home a nephew from Irag. He had done three rotations and was finishing up. He and I and two other of his uncles talked into the wee small hours one night. Two of us had been in Korea and the other in Vietnam. We came to the conclusion that all wars are pretty much the same, just fancier hardware.

When I got home, memories came flooding back to me. I made contact with some more veterans and had some more conversations about what was going on, in their view.

Now our President is engaged in talks to determine the best course of action in Afghanistan. He is (rightly in my opinion) being cautious. As a country we are pretty evenly split from what I can gather: 49% say President is taking too long to decide, 50% do not. 52% think he should listen to the generals while 48% think he should take other matters into consideration. At the same time troop build-up remains unpopular. Only 10% of us think that Afghanistan will have a stable government in one year, and 1/3 say it will never happen. Overall 56% of Americans oppose sending more troops, while 42% favor an increase.

I'd like to know what this group thinks. Let's try to keep it as civil as possible with a minimum of insults.

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I just spent a week visiting friends in Texas. These are some of my oldest and dearest acquaintences despite the fact that we have always been on the opposite ends of politics. We have managed to maintain our relationship by steering clear of political arguements and name calling.

During my visit, I found that their TV was tuned to Fox News a majority of the time (with an occaisional side trip to soaps/Jepoardy/sports). When there was a lull in the "remember when" conversations, I watched Fox. I believe that doing this has given me a better understanding of conservatives, especially ones that post here. I am not saying that all people on the Right watch Fox constantly or listen to Rush/Sean/Glen (yes, the pickup radio was tuned to those guys) all the time. My point is that people who are mainly exposed to conservative talk, TV, Internet sites have their political views set by this exposure. The same is true of those of us on the Left who watch MSNBC, and listen to Air America.

My point is that I now understand where people are coming from in their views. I have always tried to respect anyone's view - that is the way I was raised - not necessarily agree, but respect. The way that some people present their views and their comments on other peoples' opinions is another matter altogether.

So, in the future, if I disagree with you, know that I still respect what you believe in.

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http://www.politico.com/new...

I like two things about this.

1) Affirms my faith in Americans of both parties.

2) Poll was commissioned by Democrats

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I would have thought the Republicans, being the Daddy Party, would be more careful in trying to reach out for more voters.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogre...

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This is a great web site and this article should warm your Republican hearts.

http://www.fivethirtyeight....

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I read this last night and thought appropriate, funny, but apt.

We are all Americans and want the best for our country. Yet some of us think the current President is a communist cult leader trying to brainwash the nation's schoolchilfren, and others of us want the last President dragged off his ranch in handcuffs. It is time to check the state of our union. My proposal is that there is a way to end the bitter bickering over health care, abortion, affirmative action, religion in the public square, taxation, torture, and the proper role of government. It is called secession. Extreme? Yes, but extremism in defense of our nation's sanity is no vice. Since we're already segregrating ourselves by what we watch, listen to, and read, why not go all the way?

In a new nation fashioned out of the red states - call it Limbaughland - the federal tax rate could be cut to 10%, Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security would be abolished, abortion would be illegal, gays would be closeted again, and Christianity would be the official state religion. Anyone could buy any kind of gun, no question asked. In the blue states, called ObamaNation, the federal tax rate would top out at 90%; all employers would institute quotas for minorities, women, and less-abled persons; and you'd get your health care from a single-payer system like Canada's. Fast food and guns would be banned, while gay marriage and marijuana would be legal. Voila! No more rancor, leaving only one reamaining problem: What would we all feel so aggrieved about?