Politics In The Rain - Is It Going To Get Ugly??!!

Good Morning James Dray always good to hear from you - and I have no issue with anyone stating who they will vote for...sounds like you and your friend must have some interesting conversations along the same lines as my friend and I do!

They can be/are touchy subjects Hannah Williams - thanks for stopping by with a comment!

Hi Conrad Allen - I agree (without being agreeable)! Always good to hear from you!

Good Morning Kathleen Daniels - I certainly wasn't expecting that question to turn "political" - but it almost took on a life of it's own!

Good Morning Eric Kodner - always good to hear from you! I'll do my best to respond thoroughly to the points you made.

First, I used the crossed out term "lambasted" as a tongue-in-cheek "attention getter" - forgive me - it's my British humour learned when I lived there in the late 60s and early 70s in my formative years.  It sometimes falls flat in the USA, as it obviously did here - my apologies!

The reason for the question in the Q&A was simply that I came across the information, via FoxNews - but it could have been from a variety of other sources - just happened to be that one - and thought it would make for an interesting Conrad Allen type question.  Not for a moment did I think that it would spark any "political" discussion.

I was therefore somewhat surprised, although in retrospect it would have been far better to have used the link Fred Griffin provided later in the Q&A, to find your initial response that came across to me as "because it's Fox reporting it - it's meaningless".

The "conversation" did develop into examples , such as the "chinese drywall debacle", but I still find the total $ amount - the overall cost of government regulations - amazing.  By no means was I / am I suggesting that all regulation is "evil or unnecessary" - I'm still amazed by this particular price tag!

And I don't think the price tag exists due to one party or the other - it takes two to tango!

I didn't intend to make you feel "singled out" - I wasn't going to re-hash everything from the Q&A - instead I provided a link to the question - and your response was/is far and away the most prominent (most upvotes).

Public versus Members - when I returned to the 'Rain last year, after a few weeks I received a call from Margaret Rome, Baltimore Maryland - to share some tips on how to improve my blog posts.  One of those tips was that since anyone can "sign up" and become a member, the "best practice" would be to make everything "public".  If I have that wrong for this question and post - I'm happy to adjust it!  Margaret - your thoughts??

I certainly don't view you as an "Internet bully" of any kind - and hope that nothing I have written has caused others to make that false assumption.  You did have an "exchange" or two on the Q&A with other 'Rainers - but that's to be expected/hoped for - constructive disagreement adds value to a discussion in my opinion.

I did not consider anything you stated in the Q&A to be "personal" or an "attack" on me.

I was just surprised that the focus of the question shifted so quickly from the $ amount - to "disregard it considering the source" - to comments from "both sides of the aisle".

The underlying reason for my post was the thought that if what I thought was an innocuous question could threaten to turn political so quickly - what will the experience in the 'Rain between now and election day be like if other, not so innocuous questions and posts, are written in the future.

Am I interested in spirited debate - you bet!

Am I interested in a civil war in the 'Rain - not so much!

I consider you a friend in the 'Rain, my sincere apologies if anything I wrote caused you distress, it was completely unintended.

I hope I covered all the points you raised - if not - let me know and I'll address what I missed!

As you'll see from my comment #11 above Carol Williams - I agree!

Fred Griffin "We need to vote every incumbent out of office (Federal, State, and Local).  We need to elect people who will rein in this regulatory madness."  Agreed - the "establishment" really doesn't care about which party "wins" - as long as they all remain to "play the game".