August 17, 2008 05:46 PM UTC

An Open Letter to ColoradoPols Nation

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• by: Cartesian Doubt

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

I call us a “nation” as a play on something my favorite professor used to say about college being a nation of different ideas, beliefs, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

We all come from different backgrounds and political affiliations, but we all ended up here, for whatever our reasons. We share our political passions and ideologies. We’ve built a rapport with each other, agreeing and disagreeing with varying degrees of civility.

Contrary to popular, I don’t like criticizing my government. It can sometimes be counter-productive to building a society. But, in cases of a lapse in common sense/morality/ethics, I feel it not only necessary but our duty as citizens.

I think to a great degree our ability to disagree with civility is lost, especially with the freedom of anonymity that the Internet allows us. We have greater freedom to have our voice be heard (or in this case, read). That has its virtues, but can also be a vice.

I sincerely appreciate the opinions of everyone who posts here, whether I agree with you or not. That of course excludes shills, trolls, and people just here to pick a fight. They add nothing to the discourse, and get in the way of reasoned debate.

I believe that here in this forum, we have the ability to  learn about policies that are important to the people of Colorado, and to learn about the opposition and the reasons behind their opposition. I see this site as an extension of my education, a ground-level seminar on state politics and policy.

I understand that our passions can sometimes get the better of us, and we say something regrettable. It’s unfortunate to read name-calling and personal attacks coming from both sides of a discussion. I’m as guilty as anyone, but I’ve tried to be more engaging and rhetorical lately. I think attacks are unnecessary and counter-productive to what I think we’re trying to accomplish here.

I think the community that we’ve all had a hand in building is a worthwhile arena to exchange ideas and debate our differences with civility and respect, regardless of our place on the political spectrum.

For my part, I’m a moderate pragmatist Democrat who favors capital punishment and less government intrusion in personal affairs while helping those who truly need it. I’m in the middle of the road, slightly left-leaning fiscally, and slightly right on social issues.

I’d like to thank everyone for being a part of our Pols Nation, where no opinion is wrong, just not right.