December 2, 2009
Hall monitors have been the bane of my life. I've always hated hall monitors. All through school, I was never good enough to be one, and the ones who were, always seemed to catch me and punish me every chance they got, which, I seem to remember, was quite often. So, it's a little ironic that as the co-moderator of this site with Trish Brink, now I are one.

Furthermore, it's not my idea of fun to tell other people when to shut up, or even when to tone it down. After all, I've made a career out of being outrageous, crude and rude.

As Doc Holliday croaked on his deathbed, "This is funny."

So, here we are, fresh off a blood bath precipitated by some irresponsible jerk who posted a blog about the Autry and their upcoming show on all things Brokeback Mountain.

I choose to look at it as a family spat. And yes, I was the jerk who published the damn thing, thinking we would get a rise out of people.

Oh, did we ever.

In spite of the trauma, I believe that on the whole, the conversations were lively and spirited and the give and take was stimulating and thought provoking. I especially liked the various takes on John Wayne and his military issues and I thought both sides gave compelling reasons.

But, as we all know, from there things got a tad dicey. Here's the bottom line for me:

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion—but no one is entitled to use hate talk to anyone.

If you'll adhere to that one rule, we will be fine. I'm happy to report that everyone has calmed down and we seem to be back to being a family again. Which is to say, just wait until the next holiday, when Uncle Ernie drools on his bib and starts talking about illegals.

"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress."
—Thomas Edison