[Hoot Gibson]

I think  there are people who take message boards and what is said on them way too seriously. Everyone is anonymous here. Old School doesn't care less what people say about me or accuse me of. I'm here for the sh!ts & giggles.

Accusing people of felonies in an online forum is wrong and should not be tolerated by anybody. Yes, in general people are anonymous, but most people also have friends and acquaintances online to whom they are not anonymous. When I requested that the lifetime ban that I had requested be lifted, I agreed to make a better effort to follow the rules.

It is tempting to engage in retaliatory name calling, but I am making an effort to stay on topic and making a good faith effort to follow the rules. I don't enjoy tightly moderated political forums, but I also don't enjoy forums in which members are free to personally attack people without limits. Moderators walk a fine line, and I don't want to make things any tougher on them.

At the end of the day, my enjoyment of exchanging third-grade level insults with people ended when I was promoted to the fourth grade.

Who promoted you to fourth grade? I want the teacher's name, Hoot!  ( Just kidding you, Hoot! lol)  Mrs Gray promoted me to fourth grade. Fourth grade was the worst grade of my life. Teacher was mean as could be.

I enjoy good political discussions and like hearing diverse views that challenge my own. But a debate hall is the best venue for something like that.  I honestly don't know what is really accomplished, though,  by debating and arguing on message boards. No one's mind is likely to change any at all. It just ends up being a bunch of senseless arguing , trolling, hijacking of thread topics and people getting their feelings hurt. I've been guilty of some of that, at times. Not much is really accomplished at the end of the day. I'm here to entertain folks and be entertained by others. You're a very smart guy, Mr. Gibson. I disagree with you a lot more than I agree with you but I can respect your intellect and your  desire for an honest discussion of issues.

Mrs. Martin promoted me, but I am pretty sure she passed a few decades ago. One of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Susan Dorn, taught me during fourth grade. She was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone.

I don't think anything is accomplished in online political forums. The best thing that happens from time to time is that somebody posts something that forces you to see an issue from another perspective. I had a very good friend in college who was an Iranian who fled Iran and had to leave his family behind when the Muslim terrorists overthrew the Shah. I can still remember how he opened my eyes to the wastefulness and ineffectiveness of American foreign aid.

Our late nights drinking shots of tequila and discussing politics never changed any of my voting decisions, but hearing first hand about tractors bought by American taxpayers rusting away in the middle of Iranian fields because of the inability of farmers to get parts to repair their tractors was a lesson that I will never forget. The worse thing about the tractor story was that many farmers had sold their plough horses when they received their shiny new tractors. Many farmers were left with no means to work their fields except their own hands and they blamed the U.S. for their situation.

Very little has changed since my college days at UK. When I hear that Joe Biden is threatening to withhold military aid from Israel until Israel sends "humanitarian aid" to Gaza, with the knowledge that Gaza is ruled by the same Hamas terrorists that launch rockets into Israel and slaughter innocent Israelis in unprovoked attacks, it makes my blood boil. I hope that this country is never in the position of having to cave to such blatant attempts of extortion. Both parties are responsible for Israel not being at peace with its neighbors.

Whether you were a fan or Rush Limbaugh or not, he was right when he said that wars do not end until one side wins and the other side surrenders. Aiding both sides in a war may fill the pockets of defense contractors and politicians, but that policy does nothing to bring about peace. American taxpayers have been funding a stalemate in the Middle East since the late 60s.