"Ron, you make a very good point, even if it's not quite what you intended. You got into the argument with Shambles rather late, didn't you? Why did you feel like you 1) needed to do that, and 2) wouldn't do any harm by doing it?"

Jeri, you are right. Your comments actually do fit in with what I was trying to say. We are all humans. Yes, I got into the "discussion" with Shambles rather late - after I kept seeing references in threads I found to be more important. After a lot of searching and thinking, I realized that Shambles made some very good points. He does appear to have been singled out, and there does appear to have been good reason to do that.

Why did I enter in? Because I could. There were no rules stopping me.   Seeing moderators and other respected Mudcatters having at it made me feel that my comments were not out of place. It wasn't a private battle. The problems reflected what I saw at the core of what made Mudcat a good website.

Did I feel that I would be doing harm? Not at first. I soon realized that I was becoming part of the pack mentality that was ruining this website. There were no groundrules that prevented me from doing so, especially when I saw respected Mudcatters and moderators doing the same.

"The bottom line is there will always be people who will jump at a stupid argument without regard for how it affects others. "
And there will always be people who sit back and do nothing when there is a problem.   I realize that some of my comments were out of line and out of place, but as 3:15pm guest pointed out - none of us are angels and faultless. The point is - how many people recognize that and try to change? How many people recognize that and gather strength in their convicition?   Nothing is black and white. This is not a yes or no discussion, no matter how simple some of us try to make it. We are dealing with human nature her.