At 10:40 PM 6/5/2004 -0700 Doug Pensinger wrote: >Get a grip, John, it's just a dumb joke.
Yes, but I think that it is worth noting that jokes can tell a lot about ones attitude. Personally, when I am around friends of mixed political persuasions, I generally avoid partisan jokes. I'll freely admit that I enjoyed Bill Clinton jokes as much as the next Republican - but I would generally save them for situations in which I knew that the groups shared a common set of partisan leanings. This List has often been compared to a large cocktail Party, and I know that I would be uncomfortable telling a Clinton joke among a cocktail Party of my friends with mixed political leanings. In this situation, at a cocktail Party I would probably have had some nonverbal ways of communicating my uncomfortableness with the joke. Without such recourse, however, I simply pointed out that I happen treat Brin-L as a place for the vibrant exchange of ideas - and that I generally refrain from sending things like jokes and partisan talking points/propaganda that would presume that the recipients generally agree with me in the first place. In my humble opinion, such tacit "rules of engagement" will contribute to the intellectual vibrancy of the List. Others' opinions may vary..... JDG - Not sure if there was a better way for me to put this, Maru.....
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