I would like to apologize to DU members for my past transgressions.

That's right. I have pissed off many of my fellow DUers the past couple of years for my shall I say, clumsy comments. I tend to speak off the cuff and quite often tend to offend quite a few people. I've ventured in the GLBT section and posted some things that weren't meant to offend but did. The sports section--- well...that's smack so what are ya gonna do. Israel/Palestine.... I'm out of my league there....

BUT GD is the section that I've most offended. Here's the thing.... this isn't a total Mea Culpa. I think that many of us offend without really meaning to offend. We say things not knowing that they are offensive and the good folks here at DU help us out by telling us why they are offensive. Some call them the nanny police---and believe me, sometimes the nanny police can be a bit too much.... BUT most of the time they are right.

The thing is.... I think that we are all good people and true Progressives with good intentions. We all want the same thing.... peace--- prosperity--- equality----privacy----etc.... We differ with small details on how things should be but we are similar with how we want them to be.

DU has made me a better person in so many ways. I just want all to know that my heart is in the right place and if I offended you, I'm sorry. We're in this together--- We all see the possibilities that are out there for a better world and we strive for that.

We will differ.... we will fight... we will flame.... but at the end of the day.... we will come together and be the better for it.

trumad

Humankind existence on this planet has had to fight and scratch, now it must make use of the wealth of knowledge to which it's been afforded.

And we must remain connected, to each other, not the power grid. MKJ

it's sometimes hard to remember how big a place this is, and how many people of varying viewpoints post here. Except for the trolls, I don't think anyone intentionally means to do harm.

everyone a pass - except I do correct factoids that appear to me to be in error - since the exchange of information is a prime directive here.

This is where you vent your opinion - no one is looking for a bar fight in my opinion.

offend but, you try to express things and sometimes it comes off as nasty ect. Or you try to post something sarcastic for a funny and it goes thud.
I also think with passions running high, sometimes people get oversensitive or overhyper in posting stuff.
I think we should try to be more understanding and accept people for themselves and quit being quick to condem someone who may have said something and it did not translate well.
It's hard to discuss and debate with keyboards doing the passionate argument.
anyway, I love your post and it takes a good person to do this.

and then when someone calls me on it... I offend again. and that's what I regret.

We've had our disagreements, but I don't think you ever *offended* me per se. At any rate, it's all good. Peace to you.

uly

I just want to back off a bit before I hit the keyboard. slow don and learn.

of course he doesn't.

Tru doesn't have gray eyes!!

:hi:

and damn did it feel good to tell him to fuck off. :D

:hi:

Hey, did you see the new pic of the Boy and me?

(he said, completely hijacking trumad's thread...)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=6089027

OMG,what a photo.

fun it was when they were 4, 5, 6... it seems as if I caught my breath and now one is driving, plays a mean trombone, will be 17 next month and is 6 ft. tall. The 13 yr. old plays a French horn, and is over 6 ft. The youngest is playing a clarinet, and he's rapidly advancing on me in height.

But I remember what they wore on the trip home from being birthed, and the quiet moments. The loud ones vastly outnumbered the quiet ones...

Just enjoy it!!!

We do have a tendency to forget there are real people on the other side. I'm guilty of this and have to constantly remind myself of that fact.

doesn't have a thick enough skin to be there anyway.

But I do respect your willingness to bury the hatchet with some and agree with you completely that we're in this together and are all fighting the same fight when it comes down to it. There is also always honor in admitting fault or flaw and extending a hand in apology.

So peace brother. Rock on.

together.

you NEVER, EVER, piss me off.

You make me laugh.

You make me think.

You make me smile.

You make me blink.

:loveya:

and I appreciate that. I'd love to meet you in person someday...and I think we will.

I'll wear an OJ mask.... of course you'll know who I am immediately.

If you play the Beatles' song, "You Know My Name (Better look up my number)" backwards, you can find out his middle name.

that is too damn funny!!

:rofl:

Dont bring me down,grroosss
Dont bring me down,grroosss
Dont bring me down,grroosss
Dont bring me down.

quick on your feet tonight, H20 Man! :spray:

i've always enjoyed your posts and it's a quite a stand up thing to do.

I have seen many come and many go, but it is always nice to see some of the old timers still around.
Yes, believe it or not Tru, you helped with my transition from the dark side in the early days. Besides who has not pissed someone off around DU that has been here any length of time. Peace!
:toast:

accepting your apology.

You have never offended me personally, but I can certainly appreciate your sentiment here, and I agree with every word you said in your post. We're in this together, and we shouldn't let minor disagreements disrupt us and get in the way of our common mission.

Peace to you, trumad. Keep fighting the good fight.

:pals:

I think this is a great reminder that we're all more alike than we are different here.

It's far to easy to be a poser on a message board, so I appreciate your sincere sentiment. Thanks for being real.

but certainly not with me.

But thanks anyway. :)

I hope you know how much I appreciate you. Yep - sometimes you have been a bit, er, in your face about things (or at least in the earlier days - I don't see it so much now - but that could also be because I "get" you know and appreciate and take in context so I don't read things as i might did I read you as just another poster I am not familiar with) - but often that same bluntness also had a bit of ironic humor, which I appreciate. I was so glad to see/read you when you came back after a hiatus.

You are so right - we will differ and fight and flame and come together and be the better for it. Outside of DU I relish this upcoming campaign (primary and general) - but inside DU - frankly I dread it. I remember how harsh it got, and how long the healing took. BUT in the end we DID come together. We did fight together. We did learn and get better. Wise words, tru. Wise words.

On a personal note: I hope that you don't mind that from time to time I make the football allusion joke - that comes from the context of a life-long fan of a college team (bball) that was once great and has been humbled in recent years (yours has not had that kind of humbling - believe me no comparison of your football team and the decade of near-great to mediocre, but never like it was years of IU bball). And the runnup to that game trashtalking was so reminiscent of the conversations I had with NC colleagues when I worked in DC - I just haven't had trashtalking rights for years. (Maybe Sampson will change that in the future...) - I do hope that you take the periodic ribbing in the spirit that it is intended - of fondness and humor. If not - let me know and I will expunge it from my repetoire.

Sometimes thats good and sometimes its bad. My problem is... I would go after those who didn't get where I was going with my post. Hence... a flame war.... deleted posts.... and a locked thread. It's as if I was picking for a fight. I have certainly mellowed the last 6 years.... GD and yes, the sports section which use to be the lounge. Wow... we use to have some flame throwers regarding college football. It was fun though....

to 'get' where someone was coming from, and understand their posting style (that is, their style - as in trying to provoke thought). Thus over a realtively short period of time begin to appreciate from where the thread was started. Much harder in a very, very large community - as that sort of "I get it" comes only from familiarity. My advice - keep posting as much as you are these days and more and more of the newer (and very sizable) part of the community will become more familiar and get to the "I get it" place. Okay - I say that selfishly - I enjoy reading your threads :-) Seriously, it is sooo cool how large DU has grown. Amazing. But one of the drawbacks is how much harder it is to get a sense of the spirit (context/intent) of other posters.

Ya - back in the lounge as a sports discussion spot - you footballers were a heck of a lot bigger trash talkers/flame throwers than we college bballers. Btw, I haven't seen some of your biggest fball antagonists (and fellow big-tenners) in a long time :-( I take it, then, that you get the spirit of my periodic references to the sports trashtalk days ;-) :hi:

Brings back the old days.

I should be so wise.

Thats what we're here for. Lets hash it out and make it a better world!

You've never offended me. I enjoy your posts, and your comments. Yes, as you say, we will all come together at the end of the day, and that's what counts.

:D

I don't get offended as often that way.

I can tell what was meant sincerely and what was meant to cause trouble.

I do let an awful lot of trouble posts go by and try not to show the hurt.

The posters know what they're doing when they do it. Everyone knows they live with themselves afterwards.

So what if there is an awkwardly worded post now and then, trumad - if people don't know your heart and intentions after all this time, then they never will.

You've been around a long time. Glad to have you here, warts and all.

I have no memory of you pissing me off, but I do enjoy a good tussle, so I may have welcomed it!

Peace to you.

...for the party. ...and my Girlfriend forgives you for telling her
"A 2 bit Slut would be a step up for you" ...and the little thing about
going through my upstairs rooms and then saying "I was trying to find the bathroom".

But then you got drunk, did "Wheelies" on my new lawn, screamed obscenities
at my neighbors, knocked over my mailbox and roared away ....

Um...Could you please return my Credit Cards? (they were upstairs)
...and not charge anything else on them?....

Your Pal: Bluejazz

the least intention of offending?

Sometimes, you just never know.

I try to avoid being offended if it is at all possible. On the internet, one has to. And anything you will say will offend somebody. It's better to risk the occasional offense than to stay silent.

It is very easy to offend when you are being sarcastic, and to be honest sometimes it should offend because it takes on some very offensive issues. That being said however sometimes the wrong people get offended, and I certainly apologize to anyone who was not meant to be the target of my jabs but took offense to a comment I made.

After today, with this breakthrough event, maybe you should change your signature from, "Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything....." Harry Truman

to something with a little more heart and soul.

Crap... I just realize that the Truman quote sounds like he's describing Bush!

Who is that child in that touching photo? Is that you holding him?

If Trumad has never offended you, does that make you less of a DUer?

:yourock:


I have of late been doing a lot of k&ring and messages with a smilely to communicate because I usually post with one foot in my mouth. I've had more than my share of not-so-lovely posts, but I've also had my share of people not understanding what I've posted and subsequently flaming me.

"DU has made me a better person in so many ways". Me too. :toast:

...a good reminder that we are all human.

That being said, I am part of the nanny police, I suppose. I cannot understand why talking about people who are not here makes people who share space and know each other hurl invectives at each other. Politics is handled in the Hill under certain rules of decorum, therefore I do not understand why when it goes to the citizenry it is expected to be a blood sport where everyone has to have a thick skin.

So when I see some nasty behavior, I sometimes post a nose-tweak to the offender. I can't help it , especially when I think it is bullying. To some I am an insufferable, self-righteous do-gooder who doesn't understand that this is the internet...the wild west. They may be right.

But I get a few "thank you" notes for it.

Peace

And I think your perspective is shared by many. Just by putting those vibes out there - you have added in a positive way to DU and the universe in general.

Good karma trumad :)

I'm grateful we do share common goals and values, and when we do disagree, it is (mostly) with respect and we don't march in feeble minded lock-step as so many rethugs do.

Yes, we DO come together. Just look at the last election!

peace~