rjn cajun wrote:I bet this is a dumb question but has anyone thought about a politics thread. It would save from politics getting put in the topics.
Not a dumb question at all. In fact a few years back, there was a thread like that. I think that it was left to die. At first, it started off fairly civil, but as time went on, it got more and more abusive and vile. For the administrators and the mods, it was an area we really didn't want to go into. Everyone has an opinion, and each feel they are right. There is very little compromise. And today, politics seems to be an ongoing campaign, all day and every day starting the day after an election. The major news media want to keep it on the front page and lead stories in their broadcasts. Sadly, I feel that this is dividing our nation like it has never been divided before, except for the civil war.
As moderators, we have to walk a very narrow fence. We all have our beliefs, but have to be fair in our actions and comments. That is difficult to do sometimes. If a poster attacks another for his political standings and we intervene, we then are often called Nazis, Pinkos, Commies, Tea Baggers, Right Wing wackos or whatever.
The majority of the members posting on the forum realize this and really want to get along. Most of the regulars on the forum will respect that. However, you then have the new "drop-ins" that start a fray. That is when it gets vile and the PM's are fired off to the Administrators and the Mods asking us to intervene. It is then we have to lock down the thread. We then are faced with the accusation of taking away someones "Freedom of Speech" rights and it starts all over again.
Now I am rambling on. So back to wasting tax payers money
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