At times, as new members come aboard or as existing ones forget, the Administrators of this site will offer reminders about some of our "touchier" rules and guidelines. The following is meant to help us all enjoy this site more. We hope you accept it with that in mind.

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It’s been an interesting political year. Through it all, we’ve tried to keep a lid on political threads. We do have a "No Politics" rule. But at the same time, we do allow discussion of things political, as long as they don’t turn into political discussions. It’s not as gray and fuzzy as some might think. But it’s not a line drawn with a scalpel, either.

So, in the interest of trying to keep as much dialogue going as possible, yet not allow this to turn into the kind of high-pitched name-calling battles we’ve seen in the past, here are a few guidelines that should help.

Discussions about things that are political, are allowed. Political comments are not. What’s the difference? One is a discussion about a topic that has a political element. The other is a comment in which a political party, administration, individual, office, or other identifying element is spoken of in disparaging terms. And yes, what’s disparaging to one person, may not seem so to another. Leslie and the Moderators decide, and that’s it. No public disagreeing about it. Bring us your counter-opinions privately, please. It’s in the rules.

“Well, we had this really interesting discourse going about this particular legislation, and then this 'member' (courteous euphemism) drops this political slam in the middle of it and the thread gets closed. How is that fair to the rest of us who were trying to keep a good dialogue going?”

It isn’t. Plain and simple. But if we delete individual comments, it becomes a game of “catch me if you can” with the perpetrators who, apparently incapable of controlling their impulses, usually post similarly again and again. Killing the thread has been proven the most powerfully effective way of dealing with violators. It’s a shame, but that’s what works. And yes, we do deal with them behind the scenes as well. Finally, just so you know (and we add this humbly), sometimes repeat violators do “disappear” for 30-90 days at a time. We’re not public about it, and (obviously) neither are they. But this is a last resort before banishment and we don't like having to do it. In fact, the Mod Team will talk about it quite a bit before taking action, so it's a collective decision.

Several things to keep in mind:

First, we’ve been doing this a while and we pretty much have things under control. And while the software may give us certain “powers,” we don’t believe we’re more powerful, more knowledgeable or any great deal smarter than our membership at large, and in many cases NOT as smart as a lot of you. Nevertheless, we’re the ones who volunteer our time daily to do this. In a couple of cases we’ve been on this site, doing this day after day, for 10 years.

Second, we truly WANT you all to have as much open discussion and exchange of ideas as possible, provided the rules and guidelines are followed.

Third, we believe we have a pretty smart collection of members on this site. Most of you should be able to figure out what's allowed and what isn't. And if you have some doubts, the best advice we can offer is to read the thread, decide who you may or may not agree with, but otherwise stay out of it.

I miss Daniel.

I post on such threads as much as anyone, so I have an offer to make:

I am a long time member of the great community. I have enjoyed great interactions with many members of this community both online and in person. You are all great people, and this forum is moderated by great moderators. I truly feel priviledged to be a part of this great community of riders and thinkers.

Therefore, should I ever cross that line, feel free to call me out publicly. Use what I did as an opportunity to show all of us what an inappropriate post looks like and why -- in case it isn't obvious that is

I won't go sit in the corner and pout. I won't complain that having done a search, I found 2 previous members over the previous 5 years who said something similar and yet they weren't scolded. I won't complain that "...gee, they love member X, but not me, waaaaaah!"

I will humbly thank you for your care and attention to this great forum, and for taking the time to show me how I can be a better and more constructive contributor. This forum isn't here to serve me, it's here to serve us, and it does so wonderfully.

EffBee: you've been moderating for some time now. I want you to know that I have always greatly appreciated your oversight on this forum. Thank you!

Thank you, James. Just keep in mind that what I posted on this thread comes from the entire Mod Team, not just one individual.

Yes, I took your post as coming from the entire team. And just so we're clear, my offer extends to the entire team

Fernando,

Well said, well reasoned. Thanks.

We also have to remember that w/o "visual/auditory" cues in our communication, it is very easy to either "miss something" or "over react" to something that has been posted. I'd encourage us all to give the other person the benefit of the doubt when wondering about someone's "apparent" intent in a post. That can also serve to keep things civil, and allow the discussions to extend without crossing the line into "politics" per se, or ad hominem attacks.

And, while I'm at it here, let me again thank the moderators, admin folk, and our DB owner for their work. While this isn't a democracy per se, I constantly sense in their work a cool, tempered, well reasoned, open, and constructive approach to keeping the inmates from taking over the zoo. Thanks!

Daniel

Now you know this is going to pop into your head on the road tomorrow.
Sorry.

Its better than the Theme from Rocky that keeps playing in my head tonight. Aaaargh!

I wonder where he's hiding right now.

I miss the political threads of yester-year, they were so much fun to read, because some of you guys have some very funny ideas on how this country should be run, look at where we are now because of some of those ideas.