OK, we have about 5 debates going on about the presidential elections, and two things are really coming out of it all:

One: We have some sharp divisions in this group as far as opinions go.

Two: On November 4th, either McCain or Obama will be elected president.

My question: With the various viewpoints, what will we do.

To those on the right (middle right, far right, etc) - what will you do if Barack Obama becomes president?

To those on the left (middle left, far left, etc) - what will you do if John McCain becomes president?

To all: What can we do to gain some unity in our country.

Note that, no matter what, there will be politicians, judges, reporters, bloggers, etc., who will make waves long after the election (saying this, people are still ranting about the 2000 elections).

But it is up to the individuals at the grass roots to make unity. So the question: How can we get there?

Folks, please make sure to keep the personal attacks out of this thread so we don't have to close it. You are welcome to attack the ideas, but once you start attacking each other, we will have to intervene.

Thank you.

GOD HELP US IF WE JUST SIT IDLY BY AND LET THIS PERSON BECOME OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. IT WOULD BE SUICIDAL FOR US TO DO NOTHING TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING. PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE ONES YOU VALUE, JUST AS I AM DOING. IT'S TIME THE 'SILENT MAJORITY' TAKE A STAND! GET OUT AND VOTE! PLEASE!

__________________

Agreed!!! I voted...too bad I live in liberal Oregon..

Here is something a bit off topic or maybe closer to topic than the recent postings... To be perfectly frank, I care more about myself and my weight loss journey than who becomes the next President of the USA. We're all here because we're all on the same journey. We may be at different mile markers on that highway, but we're all here for the same reason so I'm going to share the following post with you and hope to hear back from the rest of you on your progress to date:

Hello, my name is Donna and I'm a slow loser... I've been banded for 3 1/2 months and have only managed to lose 20 lbs. 13 of those 20 lbs were in the first 2 weeks post op. That means I'm averaging 1/2 a lb a week (discounting the first 2 weeks). My weight loss process has been playing with the same 2-3 lbs for a couple of weeks before dropping them for good and then 2-3 lb cycle again. I was exercising until my knee flared up with an injury while doing the couch to 5 k challenge. The doctor told me to rest it for a week or 2 until the pain went away and then resume exercising. Well, that was 2 months ago and as predicted by the doctor, the pain did leave in 2 weeks of resting but I haven't resumed exercising. I'm committing to restart exercising on November 7.

Donna,

20 pounds in 3.5 months is nothing to sneeze at (how would you do pre-band??)

on the other hand, this is the rants & raves section - where we normally talk about off topic (non WLS) stuff...

my suggestion, if you want to talk about slow losing (which yours really isnt, you've done well), i believe there is a 'slow loser' section.

good luck.

OK, we have about 5 debates going on about the presidential elections, and two things are really coming out of it all:

One: We have some sharp divisions in this group as far as opinions go.

Two: On November 4th, either McCain or Obama will be elected president.

My question: With the various viewpoints, what will we do.

To those on the right (middle right, far right, etc) - what will you do if Barack Obama becomes president?

To those on the left (middle left, far left, etc) - what will you do if John McCain becomes president?

To all: What can we do to gain some unity in our country.

Note that, no matter what, there will be politicians, judges, reporters, bloggers, etc., who will make waves long after the election (saying this, people are still ranting about the 2000 elections).

But it is up to the individuals at the grass roots to make unity. So the question: How can we get there?

Thanks LJM. It was my attempt to answer the OP's question re: how are we going to create unity after the election? We all have one uniting factor here so I just wanted to remind everyone here that for all our differences, we all have something in common as well.

I did not mean to get personal bethfromVA. You have repeatedly called me names, questions my intelligence and been very mean spirted. Way are your post so angry?

I did not mean to get personal bethfromVA. You have repeatedly called me names, questions my intelligence and been very mean spirted. Way are your post so angry?

Yes, I, too, have found this individual's posts to be mean-spirited and angry. They stand in sharp contrast to those of Gadget's who, although she shares the same politics, lack that bitterness and that meaness. Gadget remains respectful of other people.

I agree completely.

Thanks, guys, for your vote of confidence. I do always try to remain respectful, but I must say not everyone shares your view. I have been called all sorts of things on this board, including bitter, mean, hateful, spiteful, angry, intolerant, and judgmental. I have also done my fair share of responding "in kind" when I've been attacked (when I've been out of line I have always apologized). But it saddens me when these discussions come to personal attacks, because that means that the reall issues aren't being addressed and people's minds are being closed rather than opened.

I did not mean to get personal bethfromVA. You have repeatedly called me names, questions my intelligence and been very mean spirted. Way are your post so angry?

Actually that is far from true. I was attacking the CANDIDATES and you began making it personal towards me because I refuse to sing Hail Obama. And I don't believe I have called ANYbody a name here. Please go look back through the threads.

I did not mean to get personal bethfromVA. You have repeatedly called me names, questions my intelligence and been very mean spirted. Way are your post so angry?

Just to be sure I wasn't misinforming myself OR you, I went back through this entire thread I have not "repeatedly called you names or questioned your intelligence." You may consider my disagreement with the liberal progrom to be mean-spiritedness, but that is your opinion -- certainly not fact.

So if you wish to keep a decent dialogue going, I suggest you not lie.

Yes, I, too, have found this individual's posts to be mean-spirited and angry. They stand in sharp contrast to those of Gadget's who, although she shares the same politics, lack that bitterness and that meaness. Gadget remains respectful of other people.

I'm not surprised you are piping in as well. What you two fail to see was that I was vehemently attacking your savior, not YOU. When you didn't like the message, you attacked the messenger. It's the same MO from the left, constant and continual.

I have called NObody names (except the snide I made about saying I could have called clusk a bitch but I didn't) until a personal attack was made towards me.

But of course y'all see things the way you want to.

I was listening to the radio today - a national talkshow host who shall remain nameless.

Anyway, a woman was talking about how she had lost some friends because of the election. The host ***RUSHed*** to say that she had not lost friends, because if the liberals wouldn't be her friend because of her conservative beliefs, they weren't her friend.

No doubt, if her friends were not tolerent, than it was a shame.

But I have no doubt that, no matter who wins, there will be intolerance. I felt that the host "RUSHED" because he didn't even check if, perhaps, she was being intolerant of her liberal friends.

Really, I don't think anyone around here knows my politics. Yes, I have jumped in on the Obama side of the debate, but it might surprise many to know that, when I did early voting yesterday, I voted 90% for republicans. I voted for 2 democrats, one liberterian, and about 20 republicans.

The fact is, I have close friends who vote republican because of issues like pro-life and taxes, I have close friends who vote democrat because of issues like gun control and opposition to the war.

Yes, we should vote. Yes, we should vote our conscience. Yes, we should be willing to debate the issues.

But on Wednesday, we will still be Americans. In January when whoever is elected takes the oath of office, we will still be Americans. On election day, 2012, we will still be Americans. As long as we remain united, we will still be.

This thread was not meant as a divisive post, but in hopes of us uniting. I am not asking anyone to vote like I do... because I don't have your conscience.

I just want to see how we can remain united no matter who becomes president.

**** NOTE**** By my use of the word RUSH in my post is not meant to say that Rush Limbaugh was the talk show host that I was listening to - Although if you listened to Rush today, you might have heard a similar call...

I rest my case!

We all realize we want much the same thing. How we get there and who is driving gets to be an irresolvable point of disagreement.

Many relationships end because people realize the first sentence too late after engaging too much in the second sentence.