Thread deleted?

Originally Posted by NateR

I think 8 years of Bush bashing is more than enough. I don't even think the guy deserved to endure 8 years of it to begin with.

You can complain all you want here, but if you want to bash President Bush, then there are plenty of other websites out there for you. No one is stopping you from leaving this site to express your opinion.

As one who has been a forum administrator himself for several years, I tend to support Nate's approach; I don't necessarily support his political views, and in fact I know we differ on certain issues.

Here are some reasons why I agree with Nate on this:

1)There are websites which are expressly for political discussions which tend to be loosely moderated. If that's where your primary interest is then that's where you should post.

2) Discussion forums are private property which means you have to live by a forums' rules. Sometimes the rules aren't explicitly expressed but are implied. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what they are.

3) One of the real problems all secondary discussion areas, political or otherwise, is that they tend to get out of hand quickly, unless they are moderated tightly. In my experience even moderators can get caught up in discussions so often an administrator has to step in. If any of you ever read Lord Of the Flies, then you have a good idea of what could happen in a forum free for all.

4) There was a period not too long ago when the Christianity section exploded. I think Nate remembers that.

My only suggestion would be that whenever the moderator or administrator has to initiate removal. locking. or otherwise restricting a thread would be to state the reason why, either through a forum posting or (my favorite) a private message to the guilty parties.

Flame away!