Rude - I don't mean to be critical and I am sorry if perceived that way. I just want to offer an opinion which came about as a thought from your post which I quoted above. I value and enjoy this forum and want to mention something that could become a potential issue for the forum in the future.
Rude - you mention that you were forced to leave Facebook due to the exposed hypocrisy of others. Based on the context of your post above, I am assuming you are referring to hypocrisy in the political arena. In my experiences, Deadheads come in all political shapes and sizes. It is a strong possibility that there are many here who disagree with your political leanings and may even be staunch supporters of our current administration. You have made many political statements in recent months, and I must admit that I am always curious if there will be rebuttals to follow. Fortunately, there have not been many. The reason I say fortunately is because my fear is that too much political discourse would ensue. Soon enough, people would be tuning out of this site for exactly the same reason you have chosen to leave Facebook. In my opinion, it is best to leave politics out of the DSO Forum...no matter how self-assured one is that he/she is on the correct side of the discussion.
For the record. Just in case you are wondering what my motivation may be in the above statement, I agree with many of your political statements and disagree with others. I would certainly enjoy talking politics and societal issues with someone like you. I like talking politics with intelligent, well-informed individuals. You are certainly that. I am a down the middle Independent with some left and Socialist leanings, as well as some right and Libertarian leanings. However, in these crazy times, any safe-haven where politics are off-limits is a welcome reprieve. I have always viewed this music and the community surrounding it as the world's greatest safe haven. We unite and find value and love for each other through our shared love of this music ...which helps us to accept, respect, and welcome our differences in the world at large.
Rude - I take no issue with your political opinions. I just think about your Facebook statement and by extension the possible same thing occurring to the DSO Forum. I am quite confident that there are a multitude of political opinions amongst this group. If everyone posted political commentary with regularity....this site could very quickly erode into something completely unrecognizable and not all that pleasant.
Perhaps I am looking at this the wrong way. I recognize that I am a bit of an outsider here. I like using this platform as an on-line community to discuss matters of Grateful Dead and DSO. I love that it's here and I enjoy reading other people's thoughts on my favorite music. That being said, I am aware that that this site also exists as a means of communication for a group of tour friends and therefore my thoughts above may not exactly apply. Perhaps political commentary on this site should just be viewed as banter amongst friends. Either way.....at least we all know we can agree on black licorice.