Expressing a different point of view should not result in being banned from anywhere.
Unless you happen to a conservative invited to speak on a college campus.
Right, "Head Mistress" that's the problem with our country. Sure glad you nailed that one. Too bad conservatives are never given a voice In our country. Right. You should probably get that microwave out of your house. You never know...
I don't know Jeffrey from a hole in the wall, but this thread has all the makings of a conspiracy theory. I guess that's the state of the union now. Just say any damn crazy thing no matter what the facts are.
As Senator Daniel Moynihan once wisely said, "You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts."
Seriously, I have never, ever, in over thirty years of being online (remember CompuServe?), met a more vicious crowd than this. And to think that most boaters I meet are delightful. I guess most boaters I meet are actually boating and not posting thousands of messages on TF. Really. If you look, the average number of posts by those on this one dreadful thread is in the thousands.
Yes, it's that's bad. I own a trawler and would like to think this is a useful resource, but the amount of hate and arrogance here is astonishing. I would rather teach myself and possibly fail miserably, than spend more time listening to the "experts" here.
I tried to participate back when we bought our boat and was instantly attacked by many of those who seem to live on this forum. It was stunning. But six months later I can clearly see that it's standard operating procedure for TF.
I am certain many of you will spend many hours telling me how wrong I am. Knock yourselves out. I will point out that there is a reason that the vast majority of the posts here are from considerably less than ten percent of the users. No one else stands a chance. As a newcomer, I know I sure didn't.
I would LOVE to be able to participate in engaging, educational, thoughtful, helpful conversation about the boats we all love, but I guess it can't be here. How sad is that?
Having said that, some of the users here share tremendous amounts of useful information and vast experience. I just wish I didn't have to wade through so much crap to get there.
To those who rise above, I thank you. I have learned much. To the rest, I beg you to look in the mirror and consider whether I have stated anything of value here, or if you immediately just start calling me names, which, unfortunately, is far more likely.