I know I am not the only one who has noticed this - even as we move into the holiday season, threads are becoming increasingly hostile. There's been a lot of rancorous debate recently.

I'd like to set this thread up a little differently from previous "Say something nice" threads. You don't have to say something nice about the previous poster, rather you must pick someone with whom you seem to have the most vociferous disagreements, and say something nice about them. You may pick more than one person if you like.

I will start:

I really respect Carlitoswhey. We seem to always disagree, but even when we are engaged in the most heated fencing, he always tries hard to keep the heat on the issues, not on the debaters. And fencing is a good analogy here, because when the debates are done, there is no personal baggage. Carlito and I trade friendly messages about music. At the end of the day, he lays aside the heat of battle, knowing that those who disagree with him are still smart, good people who merely hold different views than his own.

Aevans176 and I seem to always butt heads on these forums. I can't really think of any debates where we have seen eye to eye. However, I know that his convictions are based on a strong Christian sensibility. I know that outside of partisan issues, our lives are probably not very different. We both love our families and strive to behave courteously and ethically. It is apparent that he holds his political beliefs because he truly thinks that the most people will benefit from the positions he holds. And I can respect that, even though I may disagree.

Cheers to both of you, valiant warriors of online debate!

And please, let's try to use real, heartfelt praise, not 'faintly damning' praise - you know what I mean!

QH, you couldn't be more correct. I believe that at some point during the Merry Christmas thread I attempted to turn the corner into "give everyone a hug" (sure- but tell them Merry Christmas when you do it!! LOL) I don't suppose it worked very well.... (it's cold here in Dallas this week and I've had entirely too much Starbucks some mornings!!!)

I believe that QH and Victoria Silverwolf are assets to AD. I rarely have heard a condscending word uttered in either of their debates, while often reminding people of the "open hearted" nature of the other side of the fence for some of us "staunch conservatives". It reminds me often (while I really should be working) that there are people that genuinely care about the person next door, and I believe that if we were talking about gardening or our favorite cold beer... we could hang out more than amicably.

Merry Christmas y'all

I'll interpret this as mentioning a poster I have debated on the other side of.

Sleeper is a sincere family man who seems to have worked himself into a position of reasonable prosperity by following his convictions and handled, again as far as I can tell, the trauma of Katrina with calm, cool determination.

I hope Biloxi is making progress these days.

Sleeper also is a focused debater who knows the value of staying on topic.

Merry Christmas and God speed for a return to normalcy in the not so distant future.

I don't want to see this thread run away... so I thought that I'd also give Mrs P a little thumbs up. (except for the one time she called me spoiled!! ) Her debates are always even keeled and seemingly from a mother's perspective. I applaud her consistency and understanding.

It's Christmas (chrimahaunakwanzakaa! lol), y'all can come up with something lovely to say I'm sure of it!!!

If it makes you feel better Quark, it's not confined to AD

My wife works at Wally World and comes home daily of late daily with tales of people not on their best behavior. Not only customers towards store personnel, but customers towards each other, co-employees, etc.

It is always sad to see fellow humans behaving that way, even more so on what should be a joyous time. Perhaps too much "pressure", perhaps because we are shunning the Christ in Christmas.

Anyhow, A Merry Christmas to all, or Happy Festivus, or whatever you are inclined to celebrate. Just don't do it while or before driving this season

ONE MORE THING...

I forgot to mention my buddy on the other side of the aisle Nighttimer. I believe that he has my picture on a dart board somewhere in his house, but I imagine, as I've mentioned before, his passion is unmatched and unparralleled. I believe that this idealism is what envokes change in this great nation . Liberalism is the backbone of many great and needed changes in the US society, and I believe that Nighttimer is a pillar of "progressive" thinking in many lights.


Kudos to you NT...

Aevans is already taken. He's been done already. My best comment is that he is a Texan. Next to America, Texas is my favorite country.
That should be enough for him.

So I will bring forth from the AD deck
Bikerdad
I don't particularly debate BD much. I, however look forward to his posts whether i agree or not.
Bikerdad's posts are hard to beat, you cannot shut him down easily. His arguments are strong and he wields critical thinking skills in his debates like a blade. He also puts a lot of force into his comments without getting hyper in his responses.
Most formidable.

he doesn't post often--which is a good thing for some posters here--but his are always good for causing disruption and I am sure several of the more liberal posters have shot whatever beverage they were drinking at the time through their nose while reading his posts.

Sometimes I feel old. Some of those times are when I post pessimistic things based on what I have seen before in similar circumstances, and I often become quite strident in my attacks on the President for his invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq. The timetable thread was one of those times. But this post is not about me.

This post is about bucket. She possesses a vitality and an optimism that are evident in the way that she writes. She has strong faith in the human spirit, and she loves her family.

While I disagree a lot with what bucket writes at times (and vice versa!), I admire her passion and acknowledge her joie de vivre.

Paladin Elspeth has such passion for the causes, ideas, or points she supports and manages to harness that energy and turn that into articulate and informative discussion.

While she'll not take any quarter from her fellow AD'ers, she gives none either and makes sure you bring your best game in a debate. That facet of her personality is tempered with an understanding and tolerance for her ideological opposites.

She is a great person and I'm glad to have run into her a number of times here, because in doing so it makes me a better debater.

Well I rarely get to say anything nice to most of the people here at

Sooo....those I clash with the most or most fiercely would be moif and Paladin.

Paladin is most often really courteous ..except to Bush that does not bother me one bit...and she comes up with clever little slogans all the time..like the one about "Chicken soup for the Iraqi insurgents soul" She also comes across as very honest and wise.

Moif had a baby and it seems to have spun a little positivity into his outlook on the world..thankfully! he used to really depress me with what seemed to me an incessant negative view of our world because I am a hopeless romantic about all things in life.
He also keeps the anti-war advocates on their toes because he is very much proactive when it comes to defense. He just has his own ideas on what constitutes a defensive action. Oh yeah.... and he has some Romani in him

Well, what can I say? I'm such a pessimist

I'll say something nice about Titus first since you seem to have missed him though

Titus is a fine, upstanding member of the community. He is well articulated (usually) right on the mark and makes some acute arguments that inspire introspection.

The place just wouldn't be the same without him

And...

Bucket is a fun member of the forum who argues with great passion and strength and is a good ally to have in a debate

She also has a really nice smile

Moif is one of my favorite [or favourite, if you will] International AD'ers, even though I always forget that he's Danish, not Dutch [or is it the other way around?]. He is always very precise in what he says and backs it up to boot. Though I very rarely agree with him foreign policy-wise I always have to carefully re-examine my position after debating with him. Keep up the good work Moif.

CP

Be nice to ConservPat? This should be easy. I'm always interested to see what he's got to say because he's always concise, articulate and makes very solid arguments. Most of the time it seems like his posts are so short, but they contain so much. He always keeps people grounded in their thoughts and hardly (or maybe never) responds out of line, with malice, or takes cheap shots. He's a true asset to AD, no doubt about it (and he likes the BoSox and Lewis Black, Woo!).

I hope no one thinks I skipped over Titus (especially Titus) on purpose..the instructions were to pick anyone not the next in line.

Besides I wouldn't really have a need to publicly make any sort of amends with Titus because I haven't really had much interaction with him in debates...except maybe immigration? Not because I am avoiding you Titus, just seems our interests differ.

What I like about Titus is the fact that he won't back down. Whether I agree or disagree with Titus I sense I'm dealing with a little bulldog. He should adopt a bulldog for his avatar.

I also appreciate Titus's honesty and willingness to acknowledge mistakes. His problem with the military is one example.

I could choose many of the distinguished ladies and gentlemen on the opposite side of the aisle, of course, but I will limit myself to one.

Aquilla seems to epitomize the optimistic, "Morning in America" side of modern American conservatism. He genuinely sees the United States as a "shining light on a hill."

The immortal Roberta Flack once released an album entitled "Quiet Fire" and that's a phrase that I think best describes Victoria Silverwolf. Ms. Silverwolf is the Quiet Fire of America's Debate.

I lament the dearth of women on this board at times. Oh sure, there are some who are very passionate, outspoken and fierce debaters. Daffy Girl, Hayleanne, Lesly, Mrs. Pigpen, Artemise and Paladin Elspeth are among the distaff superstars of the board.

But it's Victoria along with the equally capable, Cyan who seem to hang back a bit and keep their heads down. Ms. Silverwolf doesn't always initiate the grand debates, but she does enhance them by the calm, clarity and critical thinking she brings to her posts.

Though she isn't the type of personality to pound the table or even to turn it over she always brings some smart ideas to the table.

Victoria Silverwolf is the kind of poster that makes this board the unique place that it is.

I'd like to put in a good word about Julian, since I am constantly admiring him for the interesting topics he comes up with!

I also enjoy reading turnea and Victoria Silverwolf. Several times I have been able to see things from a perspective I hadn't considered before.

And even though we rarely agree, aevans176, DaytonRocker, and BikerDad certainly keep me on my toes.

Ever since joining AD soon after it's inception, one segment of posters have continued to amaze me with their grasp on logic, rationality and insight. Those would be our younger set of members. (just saying that makes me feel old though........)

I'll likely forget to name some that are an asset to AD, but two stand alone as an inspiration to civility and intellect: Turnea and VDemosthenes. At around 20 and 15 years of age respectively, I lament that I was not as tuned in and aware at those ages as these two are.

Thanks for making great!

on edit: I failed to realize part of the Quarkhead's point to the thread, when he stated You don't have to say something nice about the previous poster, rather you must pick someone with whom you seem to have the most vociferous disagreements, and say something nice about them.
I usually agree with Vdem and Turnea......oops

So many to choose from!

I'm going to go with DaytonRocker, since our vociferous disagreements have a fairly long history at this point. Due to his various positions - fairly liberal on foreign policy and fairly conservative on domestic policy - I've concluded that he's either remarkably complex or seriously deranged. As this is a "say something nice" thread, I'm assuming it's the former.

DR is certainly hard to budge once he has taken a position and one has to admire his fortitude. Because I find myself agreeing with him on occasion and vehemently disagreeing on even more occasions, one can at least be certain that he is not simply parroting opinions received from a favorite pundit and that he weighs each subject before committing to a position, as we all should. Unfortunately, that can be fairly rare - and DR is a constant reminder that not everyone can be easily pigeonholed, which is always worth bearing in mind.

Mmmhhhh There aren't that much people that I usually clash with. I always try (I will admit that it doesn't always work ) to understand opinions of other people and try to reason why they have formed a opinion that is completely opposite of my own. Besides that one of my main reasons of reading all those nice, interesting and sometimes strange posts is to get a better understanding of U.S culture and ideas.

In general I mostly 'clash' with the more conservative members of the community. I realise that there is a wide difference between my own views on the world and theirs and I am slowly starting to understand their position on many things, although I must admit that sometimes I fall from my chair with disbelieve.

I remember having some discussions and clashes with Carlitoswhey, with Aevans176, with DaytonRocker and LordHelmet (among others), but I will add that I really respect all of the posters mentioned and always interested in what their opinion is.

I would like to clash sometimes with Wertz Moif, Julian, Paladin Elspeth, Nighttimer, Quarkhead and Vermillion among others. All are really good and clever debaters that demand alot of peoples debating skills. Only problem is that in general I agree with them.

P.S. Conservpat


He is Danish, I am Dutch.

Holy Moly Nighttimer used to get me so mad!

I absolutely disagree with everything he says almost 99% of the time but I'll be damned if he isn't well informed and quite witty. He has great references and pulls knowledge from a wide array of topics.

Here's to you Nighttimer.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Quanza or nothin at all...which ever you prefer most. Here's to you