Will we ever be able to disagree without being disagreeable?

From MSNBC

McCaain:
I don't trust Obama," a woman said. "I have read about him. He's an Arab."

McCain shook his head in disagreement, and said:

"No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about."

He had drawn boos with his comment: "I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States."

Obama:
"I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other," Obama told supporters in Philadelphia. He said McCain "has served this country with honor, and he deserves our thanks for that."

This really isn't too much different that what's been going on between the TRR and RFP. It's easy to get polarized when you are in conflict with others.

The TRR may actually believe that they are helping the town with their behavior. There is really nothing wrong with a respectful dialogue between members of the community that disagree with each other. In fact, as we've said before, we think is actually quite healthy... as long as it stays respectful.

Steve and I have very different opinions on the presidential candidates. We had what I believe to be a healthy dialogue, around our beliefs. Towards the end I think we even found some common ground. We both believe in capitalism and we both don't want to see a "redistribution" of income. I would still like to see the poor taxed less; he seems to believe that the rich pay far too much in taxes. So what? We're both entitled to our opinions. I respect Steve for engaging in this dialogue in such a respectful way.

Things get bad when these differences of opinion become personal, and we have seen that way too much on these bogs. It's not the differences in opinions in town that originally caused the RFP and the RVFP to exist. It's the personal nature of the attacks on people. That is wrong and it's the main reason we have so much strife in this community. As long as it continues, the battle will wage on.

Members of our community are angry at the way the TRR has hurt so many residents of this community. Many are outraged. The TRR has been a powerful influence in this community but their power has been largely based on their ability to attack anyone that stands in their way on their road to making sure they get what they want.

When people engage in such behavior, they usually end up hurting themselves as well as their targets.

In response, members of this forum have been pretty hard on members of the TRR. If anyone were to track the dates of these posts, they would easily see a pattern of us rebuking the TRR after they were blatantly hurtful to others, like they most recently were to Selectman Adley.

You can feel the hate and scorn in that article. As others have said on here, I don’t believe that people that engage in behavior like this should be representing this town in any capacity.

BTW, as I’ve said before, Selectman Adley has nothing to do with this site. I don’t believe he has even posted on it. We hope he reads it. We hope all the selectmen and town officials read it. We hope that it sometimes give some fresh perspectives that are so healthy to have in town.

If I were to write an open letter to the TRR, it would once again ask them to stop their personal attacks that have wreaked so much havoc on our town. I would ask them to engage in respectful dialogue about our differences of opinion. I would ask that we learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.

TRR, the ball is in your court…