Say "Hello" to the new Arizona Senator, Jon Kyl!

[Austin Ellen]

***cough,cough*** I'm confused. Let's be clear. Are you saying you cannot insult Trump supporters? Because I've been thru hell with some of these people. And to be really on point -- when someones insults Trump they insult me. So how does that work babe???

Originally Posted by Wakeup

Y’all can insult Democrats and Republicans all you want, right up until you can’t anymore. As soon as you insult Democrat or Republican members in this forum, you’ve crossed the line...as I explained...

See folks, that’s why I warned y’all so many times. When you prepare an insult for someone, and you try to be cute with it, you very often fail without even realizing it. I realize your fails...every time...

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by Austin Ellen

Are you saying you cannot insult Trump supporters?

No. I’m saying that you cannot insult members of this forum who are Trump supporters. “Trump supporters are <insert derogatory term here>” is fine. “Trump supporters in this forum are <insert derogatory term here>” is not. Hopefully you can see the difference there.

Originally Posted by Austin Ellen

And to be really on point -- when someones insults Trump they insult me.

That’s a personal issue that you are advised to work through since it bothers you. That’s not against the guidelines here.

[Sistine Chapel]

Originally Posted by Austin Ellen

***cough,cough*** I'm confused. Let's be clear. Are you saying you cannot insult Trump supporters? Because I've been thru hell with some of these people. And to be really on point -- when someones insults Trump they insult me. So how does that work babe???

? Babe ? I presume you two are fucking?

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Wakeup

No. I’m saying that you cannot insult members of this forum who are Trump supporters. “Trump supporters are <insert derogatory term here>” is fine. “Trump supporters in this forum are <insert derogatory term here>” is not. Hopefully you can see the difference there.

Ok, then could you kindly instruct yssup to quit whining about terms he finds offensive that are not specifically directed at anyone in this forum??

Thank you!

Originally Posted by rexdutchman

Yeah, just more lib-retard obstruction...

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

By “lib-tards.”

(Why is that term OK)

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Austin Ellen

Because I've been thru hell with some of these people.

I can attest to that. Ellen has been subjected to persistent, outrageous and gratuitous abuse in the Austin sandbox. Some of the same posters who gleefully abuse her there (because she is a woman and a seemingly easy target) then turn around and whine about being the victims of imaginary personal attacks in this forum.

[Yssup Rider]

LOL!

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

LOL!

Find something amusing? Share it with everyone!

Please reassure us that you aren't giggling uncontrollably for no apparent reason.

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by Sistine Chapel

? Babe ? I presume you two are fucking?

I'm pretty sure they are not fucking.

all women say that to the males.

example: hooters waitress says "want fries with that order, babe?"

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by I B Hankering

Say "Hello" to the new Arizona Senator, Jon Kyl!.

Kyl is not exactly a new senator. Senator Flake was the one who replaced him a few years ago when he retired.


He's a fair choice to replace McCain. In earlier posts, I had thought the AZ governor should pick Kyl or Arpaio to fill out the rest of McCains term.


I'm just glad that none of the McCain family got the seat.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Wakeup

I’m saying that you cannot insult members of this forum who are Trump supporters. “Trump supporters are <insert derogatory term here>” is fine. “Trump supporters in this forum are <insert derogatory term here>” is not. Hopefully you can see the difference there.

Sounds to me like you're moving the goalposts. Here is how you answered one of my questions 3 weeks ago:

Originally Posted by lustylad

What if someone posts "you deplorables all think alike"?

Originally Posted by Wakeup

Deplorables is actually a political term now, much more than just the word itself. It has been embraced by book writers and people from both sides of the political spectrum. Feel free to use it in that context as much as you want.

Are you now making a distinction between saying “deplorables” and “you deplorables”? Is the latter verboten while the former is ok? That strikes me as hair-splitting. I’m not offended by either phrasing, but it’s not convincing to suggest one is an insult and the other isn’t. You told us you won’t be fooled by word games, but now you're forcing us to play them. Why should I dance around and say “only a fool would argue...” instead of the more forthright “you are a fool to argue...”?

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Wakeup

You realize that as soon as you added the word “here”, you automatically insulted all the liberals that are already here by saying that none of them are intelligent... you now see that, right? I’m actually going to give you a pass here... because some of you still do not get it... but no more.

I was actually trying to help you understand the roots of my personal frustration. Would it have been better if I said I am "still waiting for a liberal to show up here with sufficient intellectual acuity and debate skills that are sharp enough to challenge and advance my arguments"?

How should I have put it? There is no diplomatic way to explain my predicament.

[lustylad]

Originally Posted by Sistine Chapel

The day you can no longer insult Democrats or Republicans in general without being specific is the day I'd encourage you all to abandon this forum enmass. If you stay under such conditions then it would be a travesty. No way I'd subject myself to that type of ridiculousness...don't get me wrong I like insulting in general but I won't tip toe through the tulips I will leave that to yall...if yall had any pride yall would abandon this place and find other all insult political forums...

+1

Well what do you know? I have to agree with SC for once.

Getting rid of the "cute" nicknames and free-flowing homo insults was the easy part. But you can't have a Political Forum and expect the participants to behave like boy scouts. You also can't force people with a posting history spanning a decade or more to suddenly respect each other.

At some point you have to say ok, we plucked all the low-hanging fruit. If we try to force everyone to talk like robots, avoid all verbal combat and shun the type of heated, intense and sometimes personal exchanges that are normal in political discussions everywhere, then we might as well shut down the forum because we're just going to drive everyone away, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by lustylad

+1

Well what do you know? I have to agree with SC for once.

Getting rid of the "cute" nicknames and free-flowing homo insults was the easy part. But you can't have a Political Forum and expect the participants to behave like boy scouts. You also can't force people with a posting history spanning a decade or more to suddenly respect each other.

At some point you have to say ok, we plucked all the low-hanging fruit. If we try to force everyone to talk like robots, avoid all verbal combat and shun the type of heated, intense and sometimes personal exchanges that are normal in political discussions everywhere, then we might as well shut down the forum because we're just going to drive everyone away, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

it would have been a better idea to create another political forum for tamer discourse. this forum could be named "wild wild west politics" and the other new forum "civil politics".


just sayin....

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by lustylad

Are you now making a distinction between saying “deplorables” and “you deplorables”?

Yes. As always, any member is free to characterize it any way they like, but one statement is directed at no one in particular, while the other is directed at a specific group of members here. Go read the first post in the Forum Guidelines thread again.

Originally Posted by lustylad

I’m not offended by either phrasing, but it’s not convincing to suggest one is an insult and the other isn’t.

You might want to take that up with people out in the world who identify as Republicans. They long ago accepted the “deplorable” moniker as their own, they took pride in it, and rallied around it as a source of camaraderie. It was a brilliant piece of appropriation to do so during the campaign, but It’s too late to call it an insult now. You can’t have it both ways.

Originally Posted by lustylad

You told us you won’t be fooled by word games, but now you're forcing us to play them. Why should I dance around and say “only a fool would argue...” instead of the more forthright “you are a fool to argue...”?

You are not required to do anything. My advice in that particular situation would be to avoid pulling a muscle while dancing and just not say it at all.

Originally Posted by lustylad

I was actually trying to help you understand the roots of my personal frustration.

How should I have put it? There is no diplomatic way to explain my predicament.

Again, if there’s no diplomatic way to put it, then don’t put it. Staff is sorry if this is painful, but your personal frustration either with other member’s posts here, or in changing your own posts to adhere to the guidelines is quite irrelevant.

Originally Posted by lustylad

Getting rid of the "cute" nicknames and free-flowing homo insults was the easy part. But you can't have a Political Forum and expect the participants to behave like boy scouts. You also can't force people with a posting history spanning a decade or more to suddenly respect each other.

Sure we can, on both counts. There is nothing that happens on the Interwebs that is the result of pure, unadulterated human instinct. Everything y’all do here requires conscious thought. In your words, you purposefully avoid acting like Boy Scouts. Staff realizes that breaking habits can be a difficult process, and that’s why we give you 25 points worth of leeway, to help absorb those slippages while you adjust your thinking and actions. We apologize if that isn’t enough for some members here, and we hope that those members will be better trained when they return from their 90 day vacations. Think of it like a 90 day stint in rehab, you’ll be better for it.

Originally Posted by lustylad

At some point you have to say ok, we plucked all the low-hanging fruit. If we try to force everyone to talk like robots, avoid all verbal combat and shun the type of heated, intense and sometimes personal exchanges that are normal in political discussions everywhere, then we might as well shut down the forum because we're just going to drive everyone away, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

Verbal combat, heated discussion, and personal exchanges can always happen in any forum on this board. Just do it within the guidelines. Staff will remind you when the rules get broken and your discussion needs to be modified. If you’re stating that verbal combat always has to be insulting, heated discussions always have to devolve into name calling, and that personal exchanges always ends up in slurs about someone else’s sexual orientation, then Staff will politely disagree with you.

Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm

it would have been a better idea to create another political forum for tamer discourse. this forum could be named "wild wild west politics" and the other new forum "civil politics".

Would it be easier for Staff to just allow members n this board to continue insulting each other, insulting minorities, insulting genders, and using racial and homophobic slurs? Absolutely. Would it be the right thing to do? Absolutely not.

As Nina Simone says, “it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, and I’m feeling good.” The choice to feel good about it is always yours, but how you feel won’t affect whether or not the sun has risen. So, put on some sunscreen to avoid getting burned...or don’t, as always, the choice is yours. Have a good day.

[SpeedRacerXXX]

Originally Posted by lustylad

I can attest to that. Ellen has been subjected to persistent, outrageous and gratuitous abuse in the Austin sandbox. Some of the same posters who gleefully abuse her there (because she is a woman and a seemingly easy target) then turn around and whine about being the victims of imaginary personal attacks in this forum.

Ellen and I have had several battles in the Austin sandbox. However, I think she will tell you and others that I have treated her respectfully and she has done the same to me. It really is possible to disagree totally on political issues and do it without demeaning the other person.