@Faffi,
It's not that 'this section can now be closed', because of the implication that it 'won't alter anyone's opinion', but rather 'it
should be closed because it's simply a steaming pile of dogsh!t, and it give the entire site a putrid odour.
Compare and contrast this forum with the gstwin.com forum, which in many ways is identical apart from the specific bike. Namely both bikes are Suzuki, and both bikes are 30 year old designs. Both forums have similar amount of very knowledgeable members and both have a similar level of activity.
There are community participation threads and tech threads. However the suzukisavage site has this putrid political forum which I find to be an embarrassment. It wasn't so bad before Trump because closet racists and black hearted nationalists (as opposed to patriots) would generally be a bit reticent about coming out.
However with Trump his modus operandi to stay in power is not to win the popular vote but to strategically win key states and key lobby groups, gun rights groups, and evangelical hypocritical christian groups. The only way to use these groups in a strategic way is to divide the nation and set Americans against Americans.
The way to do this is to play on fears, which is what the immigration bs does. So knowing this Trump purposely makes it OK to be a racist prick, this is why Rosanne Barr can come out and likenl Valerie Jarrett to Planet of the Apes. This is not the first either I refer you to this article where Pamela Ramsey Taylor referred to Michele Obama as 'an ape in heels'.
https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/12/28/14100862/west-virginia-nonprofit-of...Trumps reinforces this with his 'sh!thole' countries remarks. Then after the Charlotteville racist 'there are fine people on both side', it's again a sly dogwhistle to say it's not only OK to come out as racist but it's OK to come out as a white supremacist.
Now what has this got to do with this forum today, I don't hear you ask? This... like Rosanne Barr the closet racists who on the whole are as thick as two planks and therefore unable to argue a point, find a forum for their stupidity and ugliness and feel empowered. Somehow they can now air their ugly creepy racism with apparent pride and they shore each other up.
This is what Trump has let out of the box. This ugliness is always there in any society but only in autocratic, theocratic or fascist regimes do we see it out in the open.
Whether or not opinions are changed is not the point, the point is that this forum has become just another platform for the right wing nut jobs, and as you can see from the gstwin.com forum, this political section is utterly f.ucking unnecessary.
First amendment, first amendment, they cry but there's no such thing as first amendment on a private forum, there's not such thing as 'censorship' on a private forum. And anyway there already is censorship, if I said what I really think I'd certainly be censored.
The forum has become so ugly that I can post a link to a worthwhile article to read and then the first post comes in by one of the nut jobs who post here referring to a different thread where I suggested Australia's free health care as a reason why I would not be jealous of the United States, as his only answer to a post of mine was that I 'must be jealous'. He then uses that remark as a first post in a thread with only a link to an article to say suggest I make use of my country's free health care, implying of course that I must be mentally ill.
Now one can only feel sorry for someone so creepy as to come up with that as an answer to a thread premise, but the point I'm making is that is what this forum has become. I would be embarrassed to send anyone to this Suzuki savage site now in case they came across the ugliness of this forum and I certainly will refrain from any further contributions to this site as long as the political forum remains.
However there is an alternative and that is
proper moderation and I'm willing to do it. What that means is that posts with
any personal attacks or indeed any personal references are automatically removed only what someone has written should be address, you address remarks.
Next anything that is off topic, should also be removed. After all this is a political forum. People can then feel free to post even right wing nut job stuff, but then if someone answers their post with a factual reply they don't have to worry about getting abused. So we do not censor anyones opinion but we do remove personal abuse as an answer.
So if anyone wants to complain about the removal of this forum then please explain why we all do not agree to proper moderation. We can have a debate, a sticky thread where everyone can come in an agree to a set of rules that we all follow. That way once we've all agreed then we can self moderate. How does that sound.
For example I would suggest no personal abuse at all. I can't see how anyone could possibly object to that. Then perhaps we might debate what we consider to be personal abuse and where the limits are and once we all agree then we post it up as a detail forum rule.
Then if anyone feels these agreed forum rules are broken it can be reported to a mod like Serowbot who can remove the post based not on his personal opinion but based on the agreed rules.
It's one or the other, remove the forum or agree to proper rules. The only other way is the pile of dogsh!t that we currently have.
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