Seriously, no more political threads

[tenniso]

first off, the rules forbid political threads and lately there have been more popping up.

second, i notice the longer the threads go on, the nastier they get.

can we please not do this anymore? we all know where we stand politically and none of us has anything to gain by arguing our point on a guitar website. lets focus on music and gear.

[El CHupacabra]

I noticed some disparity in the political thread nuking by admins. For instance, when Old Man DLT asked if anyone was buying Sarah Palin's book it got nuked, as did my news announcement that the Health Care bill passed the senate. However the COnservative/Liberal thread still exists...

[bungalowbill]

first off, the rules forbid political threads and lately there have been more popping up.

second, i notice the longer the threads go on, the nastier they get.

can we please not do this anymore? we all know where we stand politically and none of us has anything to gain by arguing our point on a guitar website. lets focus on music and gear.

[dominus]

first off, the rules forbid political threads and lately there have been more popping up.

second, i notice the longer the threads go on, the nastier they get.

can we please not do this anymore? we all know where we stand politically and none of us has anything to gain by arguing our point on a guitar website. lets focus on music and gear.

I find myself getting more angry at people over gear knowledge than politics.

[Aceman]

Hey - the liberal/conservative thing went on a long time without getting uncivil.

Then again, Admins fear me, women want to be with me.

[Robert S.]

The ban on politics is a sometimes tricky thing to enforce and we try to give some latitude for some issues to be discussed that while not political in nature, might be associated with politics because that is how they get resolved. Health care reform is one of those issues. Whether or health care system is efficient and practical seems to be separate from the fact that politicians are the ones that are in charge of deciding on and implementing those changes. Sarah Palins book is another thing that while related to politics isn't necessarily a political topic as say an election or elected candidates might be.

I know it's a fine line and it doesn't always work out for the best but we do try to give you guys something to talk about other than the weather. If you notice, no one has been banned or to my knowledge given an infraction or warning over some of the close to the line topics. Remember that our primary interest is that things stay civil around here and as long as things don't get too out of hand we do try and stay out if it as much as possible.

I hope that helps to clarify why we do what we do. If you think that a post is political in nature and for whatever reason we have missed it, just report it. If it looks like the thread is too inflammatory we will remove it. The liberal vs conservative thread doesn't seem inherently political in nature but if I am mistaken and someone thinks it needs removed then report that thread. So far no one has done so and we have a couple of guys around here with a hair trigger for reporting such things.

We rely on you guys to help keep an eye on things. It is impossible to read every thread and every post. Thanks for the question and the concern.

[Robert S.]

Then again, Admins fear me, women want to be with me.

Is this opposite day?

In that case you are a handsome man and a fine guitar player too!

[El CHupacabra]

^^ Well a guy can talk about gear and stuff for only so long.

[Ken]

For the record, I received an infraction for a thread that was deemed political.


But it also came from our Brit moderator, so it really only counts as half an infraction

[misterwhizzy]

^ Much better than an infarction. Count your blessings. (Sorry, bad heart attack joke.)

[Gr8Scott]

My thread about the global warming research emails being hacked wasn't political until it was made that way. It didn't have to be that way, but since Lew has cancer he gets all kinds of leeway where he can say pretty much anything without having to worry about consequences. I really did want an apolitical discussion of the science behind that theory. I wanted to find out what my forum bros believed about global warming theory. I didn't give a rat's patoot about liberals vs conservatives and wasn't interested in talking about that at all. I tried to laugh it off and say "we're all the same really", but it sure did get annoying to have Lew patronize the hell out me and be fairly insulting the whole time. Cancer is no excuse for being a d-nozzle. So thanks to Lew for getting my thread deleted by spewing bile all over a thread that wasn't out of forum guidelines until he made it that way. I haven't locked horns with Lew in quite some time because I just felt it was better for the forum and my blood pressure to overlook his often rude and spiteful behavior. It gets mighty tough to overlook him when he repeatedly takes a giant dump on a thread I was genuinely interested in discussing. Well at least I can say that I tried to take the high road, but I'm through with that now. Cancer or no cancer Lew, you were way out of line...

[TimmyPage]

I love discussing politics, I really do, and I love watching a heated debate on it, for both sides. Thats why I joined a few political forums, to get my jollies off there so that here I can keep it to music and embarrassing confessions about my personal life.

[dd12939]

get my jollies off

[Iron Horse]

Shouldn't this politics ban also concern all polls. After all that's politics, too. We'll just PM our answers to admins and then they won't post the results. The forum pickups etc would be the way the admins want them to be. I think this is where they're trying to get to...

[Robert S.]

My thread about the global warming research emails being hacked wasn't political until it was made that way. It didn't have to be that way, but since Lew has cancer he gets all kinds of leeway where he can say pretty much anything without having to worry about consequences. I really did want an apolitical discussion of the science behind that theory. I wanted to find out what my forum bros believed about global warming theory. I didn't give a rat's patoot about liberals vs conservatives and wasn't interested in talking about that at all. I tried to laugh it off and say "we're all the same really", but it sure did get annoying to have Lew patronize the hell out me and be fairly insulting the whole time. Cancer is no excuse for being a d-nozzle. So thanks to Lew for getting my thread deleted by spewing bile all over a thread that wasn't out of forum guidelines until he made it that way. I haven't locked horns with Lew in quite some time because I just felt it was better for the forum and my blood pressure to overlook his often rude and spiteful behavior. It gets mighty tough to overlook him when he repeatedly takes a giant dump on a thread I was genuinely interested in discussing. Well at least I can say that I tried to take the high road, but I'm through with that now. Cancer or no cancer Lew, you were way out of line...

A better remedy would have been for us to delete Lews posts and deal with him instead of deleting your entire thread. I didn't do it but sorry anyways.

[theboatcandream]

I'm not a big fan of rules. I believe in giving moderators the power of discretion.

That said, when I saw the Conservative-Liberal thread, I had a wtf moment.

[JOLLY]

Seriously, no more noobs telling me what to do....lol

[Lewguitar]

My thread about the global warming research emails being hacked wasn't political until it was made that way. It didn't have to be that way, but since Lew has cancer he gets all kinds of leeway where he can say pretty much anything without having to worry about consequences. I really did want an apolitical discussion of the science behind that theory. I wanted to find out what my forum bros believed about global warming theory. I didn't give a rat's patoot about liberals vs conservatives and wasn't interested in talking about that at all. I tried to laugh it off and say "we're all the same really", but it sure did get annoying to have Lew patronize the hell out me and be fairly insulting the whole time. Cancer is no excuse for being a d-nozzle. So thanks to Lew for getting my thread deleted by spewing bile all over a thread that wasn't out of forum guidelines until he made it that way. I haven't locked horns with Lew in quite some time because I just felt it was better for the forum and my blood pressure to overlook his often rude and spiteful behavior. It gets mighty tough to overlook him when he repeatedly takes a giant dump on a thread I was genuinely interested in discussing. Well at least I can say that I tried to take the high road, but I'm through with that now. Cancer or no cancer Lew, you were way out of line...

I never called anyone any names, and it wasn't me who started calling names. And it wasn't you either. Although you're calling me names now. The thread was brought down by someone who lost his self control, started calling me names, and who is now on my ignore list.

Neither was the thread ever political in the sense of arguing about which political party in the USA is correct and which is wrong. I never mentioned political parties. That never happened.

Global Warming is a world wide issue. It's not about the political parties of the USA or of one country or another.

I did mention that when the subject of Global Warming comes up anywhere in the world (not just in the USA) it's pretty predictable that those with conservative leanings (whatever conservative means...) tend to dismiss Global Warming altogether or if they acknowledge it at all, they tend to dismiss it as being caused by human exploitation of the planet and its resources and as not being caused by or influenced by humans all over the planet driving cars, etc. and chopping down the trees and rain forests which cleanse our air and convert CO2 into oxygen.

And I pointed out that those with more Progressive leanings (whatever progressive means...) tend to take the fact of Global Warming more seriously and as being caused to a large degree by humans and our pollution and our destruction of trees and rain forests for profit.

I also pointed out that every change in policy to make this world a better and more humane place for all of us was initiated by progressive thinking people - Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King for example. And that Jesus, Gandhi and Dr. King were humiliated, ridiculed, beaten and fought tooth and nail by the more conservative/reactionary folks who did not want change and so fought those social changes and tried to prevent those needed changes and the needed evolution of consciousness from taking place.

I don't see pointing that out as "spewing bile all over a thread". Nice try.

Also, since "liberal" has been made a dismissive word by people like Rush Limbaugh (who is not one of our elected leaders or policy makers - he's just a talk radio host) I never use it.

I use the word Progressive - as in making progress.

[Frankly]

Frank Lee would like to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving. As many of you know, Frank F'ing Lee is a slightly thankful guy and is especially thankful for threads like the global warming thread; they provide Frank Lee with comic relief, especially when people act silly.

Thank you.

[JOLLY]

It wasn't me who started calling names. And it wasn't you either.

Then let's string the person upside down by his balls and feed him ex-lax.