I could have done without that comment, too, Blue Cat. And I often find myself wishing people would be more respectful and courteous of other cultures here as well. In other parts of the board, comments such as that wouldn't be tolerated, but this is the politics area, where a more lax attitude about courtesy/insulting comments reigns. The politics and sexuality boards are the two areas of this forum where the rules of courtesy and language aren't quite the same as they are in the other areas. It doesn't always make sense to me, and we still occasionally ask people to tone things down here, but just be aware that politics is a slightly different animal from the other boards. This was even put to a vote a few months back, and the results of the vote were to have the rules in this forum be more relaxed than they are in others. (I voted in the minority--and it was actually a fairly close decision, as I recall.) Hope this helps explain things!