A family member — and a vocal critic of High Plains Blogger — recently paid me a compliment I want to share with you here.

He thanked me for refusing to resort to name-calling to identify those who disagree with the point of view expressed in this blog. He said it showed maturity, or something like that.

I appreciate the compliment.

It’s worth mentioning because I’ve been getting a bit of personal push back from other critics of this blog. Some of those on the right and the far right who read my musings have resorted to some epithets: “Democreep,” that’s a good one; “libtard” is another that also has a nice ring to it.

I can’t think of some of the others at this moment.

Seriously, I do try to avoid this kind of pejorative association when referencing those on the other side of the great political divide.

I concede that I do refer on occasion to Donald John Trump’s supporters as, um, “Trumpkins,” and “Trumpsters.” I suppose you can bust me for using those less-than-flattering terms.

However, I don’t insert parts of derogatory words — such as “creep” and “tard” — into descriptions of those who oppose whatever thought I pitch in High Plains Blogger.

Just so you know, I am not going to block those who engage in that level of name-calling when they choose to challenge a thought that comes from this blog.

Heck, I won’t even ask them to quit the name-calling. I figure it keeps those individuals out there in plain sight. Better to keep them in front of you so you can watch ’em than to let ’em run wild in the dark, behind closed doors.