[Aliantha]

Tril, I just formed a friendship with Merc for god knows what reason. It's always hard to pinpoint when a friendship begins or why. I do know that I had huge problems with him when he first came here and in particular, when he had his first real go at Ibram (he who was) all the way back years ago. I think it was in the relationships thread or something and there was something to do with BigV and Classic and their mutual relationship issues and there was a lot of shit slinging going on. Just saying this in case you want to go have a look at some of the horrible things that have been said between Merc and I in the past. I suspect you're probably not really that interested, but it's all there somewhere.

Like Bruce, I have friends on both sides of the political fence. I don't judge them for their beliefs and I often cringe when they say things I totally disagree with. Sometimes I respond, but more often than not I keep my thoughts to myself these days IRL, just as I do here as far as politics goes.

As far as not liking some of the things Merc has said, there have been quite a few times when I've said something to him privately about my views on his responses and how I think he's being cruel or harsh, but it's really not up to me or anyone else to tell any of my friends how they should behave. People travel their own path, and they'll usually do exactly as they please regardless of what others say.

I think what people like me have tried to say is that they see more than one side to Merc, and he's proven himself to have a very generous, kind and thoughtful side that he keeps hidden a lot under a pretty rough veneer. I've often wondered why he does that, but again, I guess he has his reasons and maybe I'll never know what they are, but I'm grateful for the care and concern he's shown me over the years and I wouldn't turn away from him just because he happens to be a dickhead from time to time. If I did that, I'd have no friends anywhere, and I like having friends, so I'll take the good with the bad. I know my friends aren't perfect, but they're trying and that means more to me than almost anything.

I hope this is in some way understandable. It seems a bit garbled to me, but I hope it makes sense somehow. lol