hdnmickey

As I posted before, I hope they will keep it open and continue to deal with what is actually and people issue rather than a lack of rules, or not enough moderators. And yes, I agree the post above by maxfisher also covers it pretty well as it describes why this is a people issue.

d2cheer

I meant that to be humerus after a couple...but alas there is no joy in there and that is not how it was taken. I essentially learned my lesson.

Nick Danger

Do you mind explaining to me why the birther charge made sense to you? It baffled me that it got any traction. Normal political attacks are based on a careful selection of facts that damage one's opponent. The birther attack was entirely without basis in fact, yet it was accepted by a great many people.

For me, it was an example of the anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-knowledge attitude that changed me from an independent swing voter to an independent who votes Democrat.

Back on topic. Yes, we should keep the Politics forum. I'm taking a break from it because the tone has become so bitter, but I expect to be back. It's educational, and I like that.

dex14

Jesus... who has time to even remember that or attempt to search?

d2cheer

I must have touched them deeply????

Trevor

I was just so committed to “my team” that I was willing to believe almost anything to get a win or get rid of the other team. I don’t think I was so far gone that I’d ever have fully supported someone like Trump, but ashamed to say I can’t be sure.

Nausicaa

No, definitely not. It's not what it used to be, but neither is DVDTalk as a whole, nor the political environment in this country.

DVDTalk is populated almost entirely by people who have been posting here for well over a decade, and it's not attracting new members. There is a lot of bickering on Politics talk, but it's mostly among users who have been engaging with each other for years. It's not always productive, but what is the harm in it? Not to criticize the moderators, but I think it is misguided to ban or suspend certain long time members, and actually propose removing what is probably the most active subforum on a nearly dead website dedicated to an obsolete media format.

There is probably a lot of complaining behind the scenes I don't see with reports and PMs and such, that the mods need to deal with, and certainly some members need to chill the fuck out and get some perspective that this is just a website. But I think the political situation in this country is really entering uncharted territory and people are passionate about it.

IBJoel

Hi everyone,

I can say with 99% certainty that the Politics & Religion forum will not be shut down, for both business and principle reasons. Moderation of the forum will be enforced and rule-breakers will be banned, either temporarily or permanently. If you would not like to participate in that forum, simply don't visit it.

brayzie

Keep it open but have the moderators actually enforce the rules.

When I first started posting in the Politics forum there was no generalizations allowed, and no personal attacks. Little by little posters started breaking those rules and the moderators eventually turned a blind eye to the vast majority of it.

kefrank

I concur with this, BUT this depends entirely on people using the "Report this Post" function. I don't expect moderators to constantly scour all the activity in the Politics forum for rule violations.

Josh-da-man

The "no generalizations" rule seems to be very broad and sort of nebulous.

Discussing politics, which deals with human belief, behavior, and regulation en masse, without some degree of generalization seems unavoidable.

Alan Smithee

I don't look at that forum too much, but I voted No (as in not getting rid of it) as I do check it out occasionally, and most importantly I DON'T think that it interferes with the other sections. Other sites specifically ban political discussion outright, which I don't really think is right. And I believe in the saying "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it."

(I think the Adult forum should be brought back also, sadly when that was around I mostly read this site from work, and it wouldn't have been kosher to go into that section there.)

brayzie

It's natural to want to generalize, but it's not unavoidable.

Generalizing liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, whites, blacks, Asians, Latinos, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, etc just reinforces group-think and stereotypes, among other negatives.

For example: Individuals against the George W. Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq were generalized as pretty much all having the same beliefs and attitudes. I remember criticizing the invasion at other forums and people assuming I didn't support retaliation against the Taliban in Afghanistan, that I supported decreasing funding of the military, that I thought Saddam was an okay guy, that I agreed with candidate John Kerry's "I was for it before I was against" line, etc x infinity.
A whole lot of time was wasted going back and forth denying those assumptions, while at the same time those accusations creating their own tangents with other people arguing about Kerry's war record, George W. Bush being a coke head hypocrite, etc etc etc. The thread was about the veracity of the U.S's claims against Saddam and whether or not we were right to invade. But it devolved into right vs left.

The politics forum over here is not that great. It's very rare people like to actually discuss different viewpoints, and instead it's obvious they some just want to angrily argue or be surrounded by people who think the same way they do.

Case in point: Grundle.
He often makes threads that are misleading, cites questionable sources, is horribly uninformed and, in my opinion, brings down the quality of the forum.
People tell him fuck off, call him a troll, says he's stupid, etc. Yet some of these people still respond to him, still argue with him.
Why?

Maybe some people have issues in their off-line lives, so they get to be aggressive here and let off some steam. Which is why there's so much snark, tit-for-tat comments/insults, and "drive by" posts.

Sonic

Politics/Politicians got more filth than the porn industry go figure.

We live in a backwards society.

brayzie

I disagree.
We already have a culture and society that treats women as sexualized objects, and in light of what's been going on in Hollywood, and with the #MeToo movement, why have a sub-forum that supports an industry that perpetuates that?

Sonic

If I may, there is a difference between fantasy and reality.

Porn is not to blame for politicians and actors to harass women. It's so easy to point the finger, but nobody wants to take blame for their evil actions.

brayzie

It's reality that the porn industry does not require condoms for their performers. Exploitation is real.

No, I blame the individuals that harass women. And it's not just limited to politicians and actors.
But what we deem as acceptable in society helps shape our society for better or worse.

For example, you don't think that racist entertainment helps perpetuate and reinforce racist beliefs?

kd5

I rarely ever go to the Politics/Religion forum and I usually regret it when I do. I voted No because people need a place to discuss political & religious issues, I'm just glad it's separate from General Discussions, and I do think some of the people who frequent Politics/Religion need to grow the fuck up, or evolve into something better.

IBJoel

Kefrank, you hit the nail on the head. If you use the politics forum and are concerned about a post, PLEASE use the "Report Post" button (the red triangle under someone's username/avatar).

The Adult Forum will not be coming back, but the internet has no shortage of that kind of content.

cultshock

True, porn is everywhere, but I miss the otter commentary that went along with it. I understand the reason why it was removed though, gotta keep the advertisers happy.

The Cow

The internet has no shortage of political talk either (or anything on this site really other than maybe some of the reviews).

The folks that are here are generally here for the community, it's not built up to attract new members that stay.

(I'm not arguing that we should have an Adult Forum again)

Psi

Can you please post a few examples? Asking for a friend.

Josh-da-man

I would love to have the adult forum back, but it's either have a smut section or have advertisers.

I'd gladly ditch the advertisers, but they pay the bills and keep the place going.

Nick Danger

The adult forum was great, but it can't be recaptured. Geoff made it into its own website, and when I checked into it a few years later, it was a grim place used mainly by porn companies to post announcements.

DVD Polizei

The bolded part never occurs in Politics, which is why it's not technically a discussion forum. It's just a meme, personal attack, political jab, and circle-jerk reinforcement forum.

It could be a lot better, but discussion is shut down in that forum and always turns into a personal attack and/or accusation that particular people are defending racists, bigots, misogynists, etc.

And yes, I don't know why the adult forum isn't back because if you read the politics forum, it has the language that is easily up there with any adult content website. There may not be the images to go along with the words, but the graphic verbal assaults are well within adult content territory.