Wow, this thread blew up in a bad way... that's what I get for setting off a fire cracker, and then leaving to go work on my car.
I'd just like to appologize for my some of the things I've said in here. If anyone, esp. Mike felt offended or personally insulted, it wasn't my intention.
Mike, I've got nothing but respect for you, and your achievements, and your wonderful family. I consider you to be somone that tells it like it is and not one to hold punches in a heated debate, and I assumed that you'd be able to take my comments at face value and not read any malice or disrespect into them, as there was truly none intended.
The whole spelling thing isn't really that big of a deal. We all know that spelling errors and typos are common when you're pounding out a post in a heated debate, and normally I'd just ignore them since normally they have no bearing on someone's argument. I guess I just couldn't resist to call you on the "but edjumacation ain't no that impertant" argument.
We all have strengths and weaknesses. (Hell, I'm the guy that uses a calulator to play darts because I can't subtract 17 from 299 in my head) Just because you're bad at spelling doesn't mean we don't think you're smart... I think everyone that knows you personally knows how intelligent you are. Just remember that spelling and grammar effect your argument on a written forum. Simpy proof read your post and/or hit up spell-check before clicking the submit button. I make just as many errors in my posts as you, I just don't submit them.
As far as political debates on the internet... well, they almost always turn out with people disagreeing, and no-one really ever changes someone else's opinion. But these threads aren't worthless... even if we have to agree to disagree, the process of debating does actually allow us to analyize our beliefs, and discover other points of view (even if you don't agree with 'em). To be honest, I think the world would be a better place if everyone participated in semi-civilized discussions like these, because then there'd be far less people that just mindlessly believe what the media tells them, and more people that think for themselves.