Yeah, but the think the point is that "don't do it again" doesn't mean "don't do it again", because the same offense is "punished" like that multiple times.

That's true. If the same thing happens by the same person more than once, then sure, there should be some escalation. If there are rules, they need to be enforced and enforced consistently.

Speaking of moderators - what happened to sfsdfd?

Where are you, David?

Haven't you repeated yourself enough in this thread? ;)

I think bwvanh put down some excellent guidelines, though I'm not sure if they'd be useful as absolute 'rules'. I read the political forum more frequently than I post in it. Sometimes the discussion is very good, and sometimes it sounds like two kids insulting each other's moms. It seems like it's pretty typically the former. The most annoying thing is when a party extremist starts 5 or 6 threads in a short period, all with the sole intent of bashing the other side in some way. That seems to happen from time to time, from both Rep and Dem members.

All of that said, while I mostly agreed with bwvanh's post, this sentence cracked me up. Maybe I'm too easily amused...

I think posts where people attack the messenger rather than the message should be deleted. It's easy (and not fair) to dismiss a message or fact you don't like by saying "isn't the guy who said/wrote that a Republican?"

For much of the forum, yes. Politics is a little different beast.

Maybe not 'enlightenment', but I can think of a couple reasons:
one, to share their opinion on some bit of political news/information;
two, to discuss political ideas/news with others of like and unlike opinions;
three, to troll, flame, insult, 'throw bombs', and generally try to stir things up.

Personally, I can do without the third example; I'm no longer in grade school, and even then that type of 'argument' didn't go very far.

edit: That third type ties in with Nodeer's comment. At the very least, ad hominem attacks should be barred. I would also say single-word responses except those that answer a specific question ["Yes", "No", "$12,445,131.21"] should be barred as well, because in my opinion, those tend to be the ad hominem/'bomb' type posts.

I agree.

But I don't believe there is harm in pointing out that the source the member is using might be just a tad biased - especially when it's only opinion, and not a concrete fact.

No, there's not. But the flip side of that is the automatic gainsaying of a fact simply because it is cited from a 'biased' source [of course, virtually *all* sources are biased, this is apparently only an issue when it's a bias of a type one does not share].

edit: Then again, you say 'opinion'. All opinions are by definition biased. Thus there's no need to "point out" that the source is biased.

De facto rule of this forum: When you agree with the source, it's an "article." When you disagree it's an "editorial."

I post many editorials here. I don't agree with them all, sometimes I post them because I think they present an argument or position in an eloquent or persuasive way.

This forum might turn to
http://www.siti.com.mx/BASHFUL

If you're losing sleep over some post, me think you need a life.

The main reason I post is to sharpen my debate skills, learn something new from the other side, realize there IS another side, and finally

even though it might be 2+ people arguing back and forth, don't discount the hundreds of others who might be reading but are too scared to put forth a post. I know this is common in politics. Many people think they don't know enough so they remain quiet instead.

In those cases, when I'm beating my head against a brick wall debating with CRM :flowers: I'm doing it moreso that MY side is heard - so that anyone reading the debate knows BOTH sides. ;) You know, all that fair and balanced shit :p Let them come to their own conclusions, but they have to hear both sides imho, in order to do that. (for example: Bronkster!) :)

I disagree. There is difference between being bashful/doopy/sleepy (whichever that one is and the point you are trying to make) and belligerant. I certainly don't want the rules we impose to make people feel like they can't voice opinions... however there is a productive way to express oneself and an unproductive way. I think it is reasonable that we try to keep everyone on the productive side of things.

There's a difference between posting a strongly worded opinion and posting that "all Dems love terrorists/all Repubs want to impose a Christian theocracy". And while people shouldn't lose sleep over what they read here, that doesn't excuse people for posting total shit because they think it's OK.

To me, it's like the Red Sox vs the Yankees. :shrug:

Maybe it shouldn't be, but, that's the way I see it. We each have our "teams" and we each cheer/root for our own and insult the other.

Unless the partisanship of the country changes, I don't see the forum changing. For every member ABC banned, DEF will show up.

:thumbsup:

While your analogy works OK for you and a lot of others here, in this game I don't really have a 'team', so what I want is a well-played game. I may be a registered Democrat and therefore have some slight vestigial fondness for them, but I rarely take sides and I'm not looking for that sort of argument. I realize I'm probably anomalous in this respect.

That's why you make a good umpire :D

That's what the mods are for. :grunt:

:lol:

I just drop in to have a look at the pomposity and bloodshed from time to time, and perhaps to offer my opinion. Please don't merge Politics Talk back with Otter. The posters are certainly welcome, but some of the attitudes they (heck, and I) reserve for this forum probably aren't.

:lol: I see from time to time from certain members who seems to have a vendetta with me takes it beyond this forum. What I post here stay here. I don't include my sig in other forums. Outside of this forum, no evil liberals or evil Democrats, no political leaning.

I agree with you. And just because I don't buy your arguments doesn't mean that I learned to appreciate them. ;)

See folks, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about!

I hereby challenge Groucho to a duel. :grunt: