My friends, no standard is too low

I still read my former neighborhood's message board. It's your basic Yahoo group, and it was a good way to know what was going on in the hood.

They were a crowd of ... well, we'll just say they were something else. Not all those people, but a lot of them. Talk about superficial.

But that's not even the point here. The topic has turned to politics. First, when it became all about the election, some people got upset: Too many political posts; the posts are too long. So the moderator created a separate group.

I guess I would argue about censorship and freedom of speech - which several people did. After all, you can delete posts with subject lines you don't like, or you can subscribe to the daily digest and only read the posts you are interested in.

No, no, people whined. But these people whine about everything - their latest gripe is that photographers are using the neighborhood parks to take family photos, without paying for the privilege (it's not required) AND parking on streets near the park.

You've got to be kidding me - this is your biggest gripe?

But I digress. So now there is a separate political group. And these people are just nasty. Texas is a red state - we all know this. But some - and please note that I say some - of the McCain supporters have become vicious. Here is an actual excerpt from one post:

"If you are even considering voting for Obama, you're obviously an
ignorant waste of space within this country and please move to some
other country because you are clueless and I will meet you face to
face and discuss this in an adult matter to show you that you are
NOT as smart as a fifth grader.

Are you really that much of an idiot to not realize how Obama lacks
the personal character to become President, to not realize that he
is corrupt. Here is my personal attack on anyone stupid enough to
vote for Obama because honestly, you lack any sort of education, you
seriously should not be allowed to vote because you have no more
intelligence than my five year old. If anyone who is voting for
Obama would like to sit down and talk about this in a public place,
please, please e-mail me personally and I will show you a shiny
quarer [sic] that will make you change your mind because you have no more
intelligence than that quarter."

Wow.

I should also mention that, on a related note, one woman refused to concede that words like "disrespectful" and "uppity" had any racist connotations - just refused to believe it.

Some days, I just have to stay away. I know, I know - I don't have to read this stuff. But then again, I do. I have to remind myself why this election matters.

You know, I am not anti-Republican. Trust me - my best friend is a - gasp - Republican. Truly - she and her husband both. But I like them, for any number of reasons. I can respect her views because she does not call me - how did he put it? - "an ignorant waste of space within this country." We differ on some issues, but I completely understand and respect why she votes the way she does, and if she didn't respect my views, I'm guessing we would not be friends. Our kids are great friends, and she and I have so much in common. I truly cherish and value her friendship, so how she votes is the least of my worries.

My point? We are all going to have to live together when this is all over. A little civility would go a long way.