This thread went way off the deep end !!!!

 

I'll second that. I starting reading this trying to fine a few posts about trucks but they are few and far between. I made it to the point where someone commented on many countries including my own nation of Canada claiming it was dead to them and they wouldn't even capitalise the name of the country. Whatever, that's fine, people are free to speak and apparently say whatever comes to their mind. For my part I come here to get and share information about Ford trucks with other members regardless of there nationality, political or religious beliefs.

Most forum moderators steer clear of the these types of discussions along with other controversial subjects that move the discussion away from the main purpose or topic of the forum. Allowing threads that isolate, polarize and otherwise engage members in volatile discussion that have very little to do with the topic of the forum, in my view at least, is not a good practice. Anyway I have a choice, I don't have to read it.

 

The thread remained VERY civil and there was NEVER a single complaint. That's why they let it ride - and I appreciate that. Too often, overzealous moderators shut things down because someone said, "Boo!". When there really aren't any issues, life is too short to get your panties all in a bunch, I say!

 

Beautiful dog!

 

Agreed. That's one good looking Riley!

Here's a shot of our F350 in the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area in the Northeast Kingdom of VT (the wildest part of the state). The truck's high clearance and ruggedness shaved 12 miles off of the round trip hike to my work site.

 

Here's the F350 and the ORV 20FQ in at a work site in the Adirondacks. The astute observer will note that I'm often in old timberlands ... my work is involved in restoring Northeastern forests typically after rape-and-run clearcutting. This trip was notable for the discovery of nesting peregrine falcons, the first record of them in this part of the 'Dacks, and a testimony to the restorative power of nature.

 

 

Pretty cool area for sure...I think near the tiny towns of Brunswick and Ferdinand, VT...right along the NH border with the CT River. I don't live too far away, we've snowmobiled around that area in the past.

 

Exactly. Most of the West Mountain WMA is in Brunswick, just south of the massive Conte Refuge. It is a remarkable landscape. Conservation work in that area supports snowmobile trails, hunting, etc. to help keep that fragile economy intact.

 

I guess I'm an exception. I'm an independent. I bought the truck to pull a camping trailer and explore our public lands. I didn't buy it as any sort of political statement.

I believe we need to balance our budget and pay down our debt (even if that means raising taxes). Domestically, I think we need to live-and-let-live (you could marry a horse if you want, that's your business). Regarding bathrooms...you stay in your stall and I'll stay in mine. We need to preserve our public lands. Only actual human citizens should be allowed to donate to political campaigns (and only a modest amount)...our current campaign finance laws have given us the best government money can buy.

I think the modest disagreements we have are exaggerated and exacerbated by watching/reading partisan media outlets like FOX and MSNBC which color the news via omission/inclusion/commentator-spin in order to establish a firm grip on viewers (and revenue). In general, if you've gotten to the place where the opposing party is uniformly unpatriotic and/or evil, you've probably watched too much partisan news. Reuters seems to be a decent place to just get facts without partisan spin.

EDIT: Here is an interesting graphic about media outlets and bias... https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ho...art-2018-02-28

 

Hey, note how I said there are exceptions. I'm not trying to specifically "label" anyone, but I'm making a generalization with that statement which I feel is overall true.

You've added a caveat to your statement (quoted above) which allows some wiggle room: "uniformly." But frankly, when leaders on the left side of the aisle say they will not follow federal law and tip off immigration customs officials when they stop an illegal...and will openly flout so-called sanctuary cities, they are being highly unpatriotic. When liberal states legalize recreational marijuana usage despite it being against federal law, they are being unpatriotic. And when liberal judges and leaders legalize and protect deviant sexual behaviors, they are, in fact, evil.

Are there good people who are democrats? Of course. But boy have they sure been deceived.

 

I didn't mean you in particular, sorry. That was meant to be more of an aside on partisan news.

Immigration and marijuana laws are laws and I agree that folks should follow them or change them. I don't agree with you regarding the deviant sexual behavior...if it is consensual then I don't see why it's my business.

 

This debate will always come down to whether folks believe in God or not. If you do, you completely understand why certain behaviors should not be allowed. If you don't, then you cannot understand why folks think it should be controlled by the government. The right tends to be more religious; the left is the opposite. In the left's quest to push it's agenda, it tries to force God out, since that is an obstacle for many folks. This angers the right, who feels basic rights are being violated by what the left attempts to push. I see very little middle ground here. There is a lot of historical precedent that favors the views of the right...after all, we are one nation under God, right? Separation of church and state is also a long-standing precedent, and is promptly used by the left in order to legislate items which the right are opposed to because of their belief in God. The question becomes, what did the founders intend? Well, that is a pretty easy one to answer by any sane person, but of course the wording allows it to go either way.

Myself, I'm certainly not going to be preaching any religion to anyone, but I like to see a well-ordered society. Allowing certain sexual behaviors to be legal sets the stage for allowing any and all sexual behaviors. Your argument of 'marrying a horse' is succinct to this, although I realize that was simply an example. By creating a gender-less society in which any type of sexual behavior is legal, protected, and normalized...the basis of society, which are families...is dissolved and we no longer have order and structure.

But I digress...this topic was about why people bought their Super Duty trucks, with a sprinkling of politics tossed in.

 

Agreed. We just gave folks a little sprinkle of politics. I also stated why I bought my truck so I think we were in-bounds for the thread as a whole.

 

I'm one of those exceptions. My other car is a Nissan Leaf, a full EV, not a hybrid. I'm no tree hugger, that's for sure. It was a financial decision. The place I'm working has free charging stations. I've spent maybe $10 on "fuel"
for my daily driver in the past 7 months. I really like that the maintenance is almost zero. Brakes, tires and the car wash. That's about it.

An EV doesn't make sense for a lot of people. Rarely can it be your only vehicle.