Thank you everyone for your inputs. These replies confirm what I was afraid of: Politics + anonymity seem to bring out the childishness in people!
Omni: As for "Jumping right in", I would love to, but politically speaking, I'm not that well informed, and so would prefer to lurk until a question or issue popped into my head, you know? My intention here is to learn and grow, etc.
Again, thank you all.
Edited by Dubious Drewski, : No reason given.