Wanted to avoid going political with the mute button suggestion because I don't know what people's views are.
I figured that...and I understand--thoughtfull, really, in a time where from the macro (national, factional) down to the micro (personal, one-on-one) level widespread divisions now exist and fractures quickly reveal and open on the spot over small incidents and comments.
It's a shame that hair trigger emotional reactions now lie just below the surface in any public discourse. None of us wishes to needlessly start that sort of thing among us here--not where we are otherwise more or less a "brotherhood" currently in mutual support in a difficult time.
On the other hand, perhaps this is as good a time and place as any to reinforce the strength of that bond--and at least agree that though we are different people who come from different backgrounds with different ideas, have varied histories and life experiences, as Gators ALL, we share a loyalty and, yes, love that lets us set all the rest aside, puts it in perspective and transcends all else. I discovered much the same for the first time when I joined the military as a teenager--then, having come to think I had left it behind, lost it for good anywhere else, REdiscovered something like it when I became a Gator, and it only grew from there.
And anyway, personally, though I hold my own opinions and ethics concerning citizenship, patriotism and politics pretty strongly and close to my heart, I do not begrudge ANYONE'S own right to theirs (as Thomas Paine put it, "I may disagree strongly with you, sir--but I will defend to the death your right to SAY it!")...Even conflict in discussion doesn't often worry or discomfort me...It is more certain individuals' compunction to rant, preach or otherwise try to ram their opinions down others' throats that tends to irritate me. Beyond all that, a sense of humor and a good heart are what I look for and value in those I encounter.