As always, my bitch has always been about deliberate political provocation. Some adds spice to the proceedings, but too much is just plain bad manners, and leads to bickering, anger and bad feelings. It also crowds out other lines of discussion because every issue somehow winds up being the fault of one political party or another. And worst of all, it leads to self-censorship and pulling punches, particularly with those who feel uncomfortable with conflict. Personally, I get very upset with fighting, but I also know that trying to ignore it just encourages bullies so I feel compelled to either fight back, or leave. Neither is conducive to the social and recreational use of the board. I don't think politics should be banned, or even isolated onto a specific board, but I should think responsible posters might want to moderate their discourse, if only as a matter of courtesy to others.

Look at the Current Events TOC, look at how many threads have been deliberately initiated just to start a fight, to discredit some political point of view, or to ridicule an opponent. I'm not talking about posts in response to others, I mean deliberate, out of the blue, thread-opening provocations. One after another, day after day. It gets tiresome. Sure, where to draw the line is a judgment call, but clearly this is way out of line.

I know some of the people here don't agree with me on this issue, they feel its all just good-natured sparring and high-spirited discussion. But I wasn't raised that way, I was brought up in the Deep South in a Latin family. Enduring a perceived personal insult, or an indirect one aimed at one's creed or philosophy, was considered dishonorable so it had to be responded to immediately, since to walk away was considered cowardice and rewarded the bad manners of a bully. I was always taught that there were certain niceties and courtesies which even rivals were expected to observe, and when they are violated my tendency, indeed, my duty, is to lash out, and perhaps overreact. Gentlemen used to duel over this. Today, in a board like this, where physical response is impossible, the civilized reaction depends on the actions and cooperation of all parties.